Gwen Allison 9-11

Because Reiki isn't only something we do with our hands, right? A lot of us, some people don't actually know that, but for me, it's a spiritual practice.

It's a way of living my life.

And the Reiki principles give us a framework for how we can meet ourselves, how we can meet other people, and especially the person that we love, you know, energetically meet them.

So relationships are also one of the places where our spiritual practice gets tested the most.

Hands up if you would meet her.

It's really easy to feel calm, compassionate and centered when we're sitting quietly in meditation.

It can be really different, though, when our partner's just said something that's triggered us, pressed our buttons.

And so that's why I don't see the Reiki principles as rules that we have to follow perfectly.

I kind of see them as anchors that we can return to when we become triggered, distracted, anxious.

angry, disconnected or just simply human, the phrase that sits underneath all of the principles is just for today.

And I love that so much because it immediately takes away the pressure to get everything right forever.

You know, we can try again tomorrow.

Every day we can ask ourselves, you know, how do I want to love this person today? How do I want to show up in this relationship today? So we're going to start with just for today.

Just for today really does remind us to be present.

One of the lessons I've had to learn in my own relationship is how important it is to really listen.

You know, my partner really helped me to see that sometimes because, you know, this is a couple of years ago he was talking about talking to him on the phone, whatever it might be.

And typically, a couple of days later, he'll ask me about that thing or say he's going to be doing something, going somewhere.

And I'd act as if I'd heard it for the first time.

And then he actually started to get a bit worried.

And he was like, I'm worried.

Is it your memory? Is it brain fog? But you never listen to me.

And I realized really what it was is I just wasn't present.

I was already thinking about what I wanted to say next, what was on my mind.

And I wanted to share that quickly.

So I was never really present or there for him.