What is the Releasing Exercise?
I love the way that the Reiki precepts, and the effects of learning Reiki, blend and merge with each other. So if you could encapsulate in words the effects of Reiki on a person, you would probably say that they were largely free from anger and worry and that they were more mindful.
And at the same time we have a set of precepts that encourage us to be mindful, and to let go of worry and anger.
Mikao Usui’s precepts are such an important part of the original system and something that can sometimes become overlooked during the head-long rush to get to all the cool energy stuff! But they are really the foundation of Reiki, there to guide us and also to represent and give form to the many changes that Reiki can bring us.
And that got me thinking about whether there was a way of actually using the energy of Reiki to directly experience a precept.
What I came up with was my “Releasing Exercise”.
The Releasing Exercise is a way of directly experiencing the effects of a precept in terms of energy flow and the people that I have shared this with have found it to be very powerful.
Maybe you’ll find it powerful too.
I am setting you a challenge: to carry out my Releasing Exercise each day for 10 days.
How to perform the Releasing Exercise
I would like to suggest that you do the following, for a couple of minutes at a time, twice a day, for ten days: Sit with your eyes closed and your hands resting in your lap, palms up. You are going to be releasing energy through your hands.
Stage One
Sit comfortably with your eyes closed and your hands resting in your lap, palms up. Take a few long deep breaths and feel yourself becoming peaceful and relaxed. Your mind empties. Say to yourself “I now release all my anger…”; say this three times to yourself if you like. Allow energy to be released through your palms, and be still until the flow of energy subsides. This may take a little while, particularly the first time you try this exercise.
Stage Two
Now say to yourself “I now release all my worry…”; say this three times to yourself if you like. Again allow a flurry of energy to leave your hands and be still until it subsides. Again this may take a little while, particularly the first time you try this exercise.
Try this variation
I really like this variation: try carrying out the releasing exercise in time with your breath. Breathe in gently, say to yourself “I now release all my anger…” and then breathe out, allowing your anger to flood out of you on the out breath, flooding out of your palms. Gently breathe in, and repeat.
Let Taggart Talk You Through It
If you’d like me to talk you through the exercise, use the audio track below. Click play and then get yourself comfy during the several seconds of silence that begins the track:
Here’s what people experienced
I have included some representative feedback below, so you can see the sort of thing that the exercise has done for people.
Here’s what I received from Loretta in Iowa, who has started to use the exercise with her clients:
“I use the release in the morning as I lay in Relaxation pose after finishing yoga and when I feel an emotion I need to work with during the day. I use it for more than anger and worries and the feeling leaving my hands is very emotional. I have also begun using in it in my Reiki practice. I take my clients through breathing exercises and relaxation steps and depending on what is going on with them I introduce the releasing exercise either before the Reiki session or at the end of the session.
Practicing the release is so healing on many levels, it allows us to focus on one issue at a time, allows us to take time for ourself, to dig deep on issues we may want to push to the background. This process makes my day wonderful, I feel so much more on an even keel with the world and with myself.”
Emma in Scotland has experimented with the exercise, focusing the energy on releasing other emotions:
“I have tried the 10 day releasing exercise and found it really beneficial – I’m going to continue doing it everyday. It’s really effective and so simple! I have a lot of bottled up emotion and I feel much more relaxed after doing this and feel quite a powerful flow of energy leaving my body.
I have tried other variations which also seem to work such as saying “I release sadness” or “regret” or sometimes even “I release any unnecessary or unhelpful emotion”. I even tried it lying down imagining the energy flowing out through the soles of my feet so that I could do it last thing at night before going to sleep. I’m not sure that’s as effective but I did feel relaxed! Anyway, thank you for the idea and I will continue to use it.”
Here’s what I received from Vivien in the UK, who found the exercise worked well when dealing with a difficult issue that arose:
“Well your exercises arrived at a very good time for me. We had a very difficult “political/social” issue at work whereby I got so angry (on someone else’s behalf). This person had offloaded her problems to me and I was surprised how angry I felt inside at the injustice that she had suffered. It was one of those situations I took home with me.
I did offer her advice and suggested various courses of action which helped her but, despite that, I still had this real burning anger inside me which I took home with me on a Friday. I did your ‘anger releasing’exercises on the Friday and over the weekend and it certainly helped! I practiced it a few times each day and hey presto, I was chilled by the Monday and everything has now been resolved thankfully!
I didn’t need to do it for 10 days but in future if I find myself in a similar situation, I will know what to do. I will also try out the others. So a big thank you!!!!”
Teresa in the UK sent me her feedback, and she found that the exercise helped her to just ‘be’:
“This is a wonderful exercise for letting go of anger and worry. The more I practised this the more I became lighter and freer in my thoughts and actions. Being in the present, no past, no future, simply alive in the moment.
Thank you very much for this.”
Paul from the UK contacted me to say that the exercise helped to change his perception of things:
“I’m very new to Reiki and started your releasing exercise as another “string to my bow”. Before starting my Reiki journey, I was already practicing mindful meditation. I’ve found your release exercise a natural extension of this.
I work in a quite highly stressed office environment, a place where small irritations can rapidly grow into something more. I’m generally very relaxed and laid back anyway, but over the last ten days my colleagues have seen fit to comment about how even MORE laid back I seem to have become.
I’ve been self-reflecting on this. At first I thought the exercise was helping me become more tolerant, but I now realise that’s not the case at all. “Tolerance” is more about “putting up with the irritation”. I think I would say I now have more “acceptance”. Because I’m free from anger and worry, I can “accept” things that would have been seen as irritants. Because I “accept” them, I don’t have to “tolerate” them.
I’ve passed your exercise to a number of my Reiki friends who expressed an interest. I’m waiting to hear back from them.”
Pat explained how the exercise has helped her with two specific situations recently:
“I started the releasing exercise before Chistmas and have found it very effective. I felt the release of energy in my palms and very often in my third eye area. I sometimes felt warmth, almost like a hot flush!!!
Two things happened during the time that I was doing the exercise which would have normally been very upsetting under normal circumstances but I dealt with it using this practice. I have tried both ways of the practice as you suggested and they were both equally effective.
The first situation that I mentioned above was a very cutting comment made by someone which was hurtful and as soon as it happened, I did the release exercise and the effect was very comforting. The second was some health news that made me angry and concerned. I again used the practice to release the anger, worry and blame. I found the exercise very helpful in both of those situations.
I have continued to do the practice and yesterday started to add fear as well as anger and worry to my routine. I will definitely continue with this exercise. I am very grateful to you and thank you very much for telling us about this.”
Finally, Marilynne explains how she feels that this exercise is very much in line with the way that we do things at Reiki Evolution:
“I have not done the releasing exercise regularly over 10 days. However when I do use it, it is very effective in releasing thoughts of both worry and anger, the two detrimental, mischievous little devils that can be so disruptive in their negativity. I cherish the precepts and accept them as powerful ideals and daily reminders. I have just had my Reiki 2 session last weekend and feel the energy so much stronger now through my hand and down to the tan-den. The releasing exercise seems so natural, and very much ‘in tune’ with all that I have learned and experienced through Reiki Evolution. Practicing control of the flow of Reiki energy, including the release of worry and anger, is just a wonderful privilege.”
Time For You To Take The 10 Day Releasing Exercise Challenge!
So now it’s over to you: your turn to carry out my releasing exercise for ten days, if you want to!
Post your feedback below to let me know what you did, how it went and how you feel now.
Pass this exercise on to another Reiki person!
Make sure that you pass this exercise on to another Reiki person: someone you meet or someone who you are in contact with over Facebook or Twitter or other Interweb thingy.
Show them or tell them how to do the exercise, and see how they get on with it.
Author: Taggart King
Photo credit: Marina Boyarkina
Thanks for this Taggart: I’ve been doing something very similar using breath for a few months and have found a great difference. I too use other emotions/issues in the meditation, which works well. Bless you.
I’m glad that you’re finding the method useful, Chris, and that we arrived at a similar conclusion!
I found this really helpful. And I found it useful to develop each statement after a few days. So, for example, as well as releasing worry I also release ‘the need to harbour fears’. I will certainly keep using it :-). Thank you
I think that’s a very good idea to develop the statements, based on what you need yourself. I’m glad you found this helpful, Ros.
Thank you Taggart this has come at a right time for me as I have been facing a tough 18 months ? xxxx
Oh, I’m glad that this has come at just the right time for you. I’m sure that the exercise will make a big difference to you if you use it regularly.
I totally agree, the precepts are so important to our overall experience of the benefits Reiki offers us. I practice meditation on the precepts as part of my daily self Reiki. Over the years it has evolved into a ‘letting go’ practice similar to the one you so kindly share with us, but I’ve never really explored it or refined it. So, thank you Taggart, I am looking forward to incorporating your releasing exercise into my daily practice. Laurie.
That’s great. Do let me know how you get on with it, won’t you?
I found this a peaceful release started before your email will continue thank you
Namaste Anne
I really enjoyed this releasing exercise and felt really refreshed after just a few moments, and now make it a habit of doing it every evening. Thank you Taggart for the recording as it makes it real easy to exercise with a mentor in mind.
Just started this today and will let you know how it goes . Thank you so much for the audio as it’s so calm and helpful. Is there anyway it could be downloaded or could you please provide a download link? That would be great! Thank you Taggart.
I will e-mail you the mp3 version, Karishma 😉
Hi Taggart, I am planning to try this tonight – may I please have the mp3 version of the audio?
Many thanks
Anne
I will e-mail you the mp3 version, Anne 😉
What a great meditation & I found it really helpful.
Would it be possible for you to send me the MP3 version so I can do the meditation when not connected to the internet?
Many thanks in advance ❤️?❤️
No problem. I will send you the mp3 in a moment, Helen, and I am pleased to hear that you found it helpful 😉
Hi Taggert,
Just started it and feel great. I am travelling at the moment and it helps so much… Normally I would be quite anxious but it just vanished.
Will definitely do the 10 days but probably keep using it after those 10 days!
I would like the MP3 version as well if possible? ??
Many man thanks
Jeanette
I’m glad you are enjoying it, Jeanette. Well done. I have just e-mailed the MP3 to you.
Would it be possible to ask for the MP3 version.
Love the Releasing Exercise. Thank you. Blessings
No problem. I’ll send it in a moment 🙂
I use the releasing exercise after the Precepts each morning and find it of use and important, I also release during the day especially if facing a situation.
In the evening I think over the Precepts again and use them for ‘the rest of the day’ I release again.
After the Precepts and Release I have begun to add my own further acceptance by saying ‘I embrace: Gentleness; I embrace reassurance; I embrace honesty; I embrace humility and I embrace compassion, just for today.’
Those additional comments you use sound lovely, Andy. And very powerful.
I have been using the relaxing exercise for about 3 weeks now and have found it very helpful. I do it when doing your symbol meditation. I do anger, worry, anxiety and pain for each of the 2 symbols. Either power and mental or the 2 dai ko myo symbols. It’s very effective. At first my palms were really burning and tingling but now it’s easing off. The ‘sinking’ feeling I have when I wake up is easing and the pain I feel from two past spinal fractures from osteoporosis are easing a lot. Thank you so much for this Taggert, it’s helped a lot.
Dear Susan, I was so pleased to hear that the releasing exercise is making a difference to you, especially in terms of the pain that you have been experiencing. Take care x