What are the Five Reiki Principles?
Answered by Vanessa Chugani · Updated October 2026
The Five Reiki Principles are short daily lines taught alongside the hands-on practice in Usui Shiki Ryoho: just for today, do not anger; do not worry; be grateful; work hard on yourself, honestly; and be kind to yourself and others. They are a way of carrying a session's calm into an ordinary day, not a moral test.
The Five Reiki Principles are a short list that sits next to the hands-on side of Usui Shiki Ryoho. They are not a philosophy to study or a code to pass. Most students read them once in training and then meet them again on ordinary days, usually in the morning or at night.
The five lines
The version most people encounter runs like this:
- Just for today, do not anger.
- Just for today, do not worry.
- Be grateful.
- Work hard (on yourself, honestly).
- Be kind to yourself and to others.
Wording shifts a little depending on who is teaching, but the shape holds: two things to put down, three to pick up.
Why "just for today"
The phrase is doing the real work here. Usui Shiki Ryoho does not ask anyone to swear off anger or worry forever, which would be an odd thing to promise a person. It asks for one day, the same way the practice itself works one session at a time. That is a smaller, more honest request than most self-help language makes, and it is easier to actually keep.
Where they sit alongside training and sessions
These lines are taught as part of Reiki training, from Level 1 onward, alongside the attunement and the symbols. They are not required reading before a private session: a session is simply an hour of rest and support for a nervous system that has been running hot, and nobody is asked to recite anything first or afterwards.
Where they do matter is for anyone training as a practitioner. Vanessa teaches them as a steady, repeatable frame rather than a mood to perform. Someone who has just finished a session, with the jaw unclenched and the shoulders finally down, often finds the gratitude line easier to feel than to force on a hard Tuesday. The principles are there for the hard Tuesday, not just the good hour.
Who this suits
Anyone curious about the thinking behind the practice, not just the hands-on part, will get the most from this. If you are deciding between trying a session first or going straight into training, read preparing for an attunement for what Level 1 actually involves.
Related questions
Do I need to memorise the Five Principles before training?
No. They are taught as part of Level 1, not a prerequisite for it. Most students meet them properly for the first time in the training itself, alongside the attunement and the symbols, and keep returning to them afterwards rather than learning them by heart in advance.
Are the Five Principles religious?
No particular religion is attached to them. They read more like short, practical reminders (patience with anger, patience with worry, gratitude, effort, kindness) than doctrine. Vanessa teaches them as useful daily language, the same way she teaches the chakra system as useful vocabulary rather than fixed belief.
Do the principles come up during a private session?
Not usually. A private session is simply an hour of rest and support, and nobody is asked to read or recite anything. The principles belong more to training, where they sit alongside the hands-on practice and the symbols as part of what a practitioner carries forward.