Reiki and Everyday Living Part 4: Be Grateful
Today’s Gokai lesson is “Be Grateful”. This is the last of the five precepts in this four-part series. I combined “Do Not Anger” and “Do Not Worry” into Part One. Even though I am covering “Be Grateful” last, it is actually the third principle and, in my opinion, the most important one.
What is Gratitude
Gratitude is “the quality of being thankful, readiness to show appreciation for and to return kindness”. It is a trait, a mood, and an emotion. The origin of the word is the Latin word gratus, which means pleasing or thankful. Over time, the word transformed into the French word gratitudo and then morphed into the current word gratitude.
While thankfulness is an emotion, gratitude is an attitude under any circumstance, happy or sad. It is more difficult but extremely powerful to be grateful and find gratitude when circumstances are challenging.
Measuring Emotional Frequencies
When you operate from a grateful place or resonate with that energy frequency, it is much harder to be angry or worried. Several studies use The Scale of Positive and Negative Experience (SPANE). This technique “measures the frequency of positive and negative affect. It consists of two subscales, one for positive and one for negative affect, with six adjectives each, and assesses a broad range of emotions”.
Low-frequency emotions are jealousy, resentment, anxiety, desperation, unfulfillment, confusion, extreme fatigue, and unforgiveness. High-frequency emotions are joy, happiness, love, self-awareness, self-discipline, self-love, inspiration, and gratitude.
Gratitude vibrates at a frequency of 540 Hz and is one of the highest vibrations, along with love. Love vibrates at 528 Hz. Both anger and worry vibrate at lower frequencies: anger vibrates at 150 Hz; worry (fear, anxiety) vibrates at 100 Hz.
The Reiki Method Teaches Gratitude
When we practice the Reiki Method, we become aware of all the good things in our lives. We connect to the higher frequencies by opening our energy centers and pathways. Of course, it is much easier to be grateful for special privileges or blessings, as Sensei Takata wrote in her May 1936 diary entry about her coursework with Sensei Hayashi.
What was more than pleasing was that Mr. Hayashi has granted to bestow upon me the secret of Shinpiden-Kokiyo-ho and the Leiji-ho (Reijiho, or attunement)-the utmost secret in the Energy Science. Know one can imagine my happiness to think that I have the honor and respect to be trusted with this gift-a gift of a lifetime.
The more we engage in the Reiki Method, internalize the five Gokai, and give and receive hands-on and distant Reiki, the more we observe the happier and healthier we are, and gratitude deepens and expands.
Ways To Increase Gratitude
Maintaining high vibrational frequencies daily takes effort and hard work (going back to Part Three in the Series). It requires focus and awareness of everything around you at all times. Noticing those small miracles that occur and acknowledging them. For example, it could begin by being grateful when you wake up, having access to shelter and food., or reading books that feed your mind and soul. Here are eleven ways to increase your gratitude:
- Start a Gratitude Journal and record your feelings.
- Say “Thank you” or “I appreciate that” to someone 11 times daily.
- Create something homemade and gift it to someone at least once a month.
- Meet a friend for lunch or coffee/tea once a week.
- Do something for someone else that they enjoy doing.
- Take your pet or yourself for a daily walk.
- Reach out to someone you haven’t spoken to in a while
- Practice active listening skills and connect with someone on a deeper level.
- Donate your time, attention, or money to worthwhile organizations.
- Practice or receive Reiki Healing daily.
- Meditate, carry, or wear Celestite.
Resources
Reiki For The Heart and Soul by Amy Z. Rowland