I do reflections regularly. Not only at the end of the year. The beginning and end of each month are often natural moments for me to pause and look back.

This month I had something different to work with. I ran the 21 Gokai program through May and wanted to look at the month through that lens. Through the five principles. As an honest look at where I was close to myself and where I wasn’t.

Before I continue, a few words about Gokai. Gokai are the five Reiki Precepts that form the foundation of Reiki practice. Rather than rules to follow, they are daily reminders that invite us back to presence. Each begins with the words “Just for today.” It’s an invitation to return to the present moment and meet life exactly where it is.

So here is how I experienced May, through Gokai.

Just for today.

Every Gokai principle begins with the same two words. Not tomorrow. Not next week. Not when everything falls into place. Just for today. This is not a limitation. It is a reminder that I only have this moment. And through that lens everything that happens can be met differently. I don’t need to resolve everything at once (uf!). I don’t need to be further along. I only need to return to what is already here.

That is the whole instruction.

Just for today do not anger.

This principle was present in May in a very gentle way. And I have to admit I am proud of that. It showed me how grounded I am in hara, how much in contact with myself. When I think about this principle now and about what happened in the small and bigger moments when anger could have exploded and stayed longer (because yes, being human beyond all titles) I can summarize my May with one sentence.

The situation is rarely the problem. The distance from yourself is.

Just for today do not worry.

I’ll be honest this one had the most work. I have a very well developed ability to create scenarios, to live in control, to anticipate what could go wrong. I know this about myself. And for a long time I called it responsibility.

What I saw more clearly this month was how much energy I was giving to a version of myself that felt comfortable-uncomfortable. A version that talked about abundance but lived in lack. That waited for things to be different before allowing herself to feel okay.

You cannot live in abundance and lack at the same time. The one you feed is the one that shapes your reality.

Just for today be grateful.

May is the month I returned to evening swims in the sea. Living close to the sea has always been my dream so having a beach five minutes by bike from home cannot be wasted (even by bad weather 🙂 ).

Every time I push through the cold (yup, Baltic Sea) and start swimming I have this feeling that I don’t want to think about what happened during the day, what still needs to be done, what tomorrow looks like. I just want to be there. In that water. In that moment. This experience is so beautiful that I don’t want to ruin it by not being present for it.

That is gratitude for me. Not a technique. Not a list. A moment I choose not to leave.

Just for today be honest in your work.

This principle is not about professional work. It’s about whether I’m living in alignment with myself, with what I do, how I speak, how I use my time and energy.

I recently saw a poster of an exhibition called “being safe is scary” and it became the most accurate summary of my month. Because isn’t that exactly what stops us? Letting go of what limits us so we can actually live in peace instead of waiting for peace to arrive once everything falls into place.

The comfortable-uncomfortable place feels safe. It’s known. It’s familiar. But staying where you no longer belong has its own cost. And at some point that cost becomes higher than the discomfort of change.

Being honest in your work means noticing when you’re living in the costume of an older version of yourself. And choosing, just for today, to take it off.

Just for today be compassionate to yourself and others.

There is no separation — you, others, experience, place. It is one field, one energy.

The moment I start comparing, I leave myself. And when I leave myself, everything outside begins to look like proof of what I feared. Not because anything changed. Because I stepped out of contact with myself.

Compassion doesn’t start with others. It starts here. With the way I speak to myself in the moments when things don’t go as planned. With the willingness to be human – not a project, not a problem to solve.

I wrote more about this principle and how I experienced it here.

May reminded me of something I want to carry forward. We are only human. Each of us has our own layers, our own path, our own goals. And all of that can be met through experience, through the feeling of our True Self, with Gokai as a compass.

I have to admit that working with this program made me more attentive in how I use my time and how I speak. And then there was one more thing. Simple but deep. Something that might sound trivial but showed me how much I had let go of control, of thoughts, of constant mental noise.

While listening to music I noticed the words. Not because I was trying to. Not because I had to. I simply noticed the moment I was in and instead of running through another scenario in my head, another to-do list, another analysis of what had happened…

I just listened to music.

Sounds simple, right? For me it carries something much bigger.

And speaking of songs, here is one for you 🙂

If you want to start this conversation with yourself, the 21 Gokai program (for everyone, not only Reiki practitioners) is here.

This text was originally published on my Substack, @kasiawacenergia, on June 1, 2026.

About the author: Kasia Wac is a Reiki Master Teacher based in Copenhagen. She creates Reiki courses, programs and educational resources in English and Polish, with a focus on daily practice, Gokai and spirituality as a lived experience.