One of the most powerful exercises that can be helpful for honoring your feelings and letting go of challenging days, is “clearing out the day” or “emptying the trash.” We all know how important it is to feel our feelings, honor them and then release them. Unexpressed emotions can build up in the body, mind, and spirit, throwing you off balance and moving you towards imbalance and disease.
This is especially important for those working in the “helping professions” who deal with stressful situations as well as the pain and suffering of others every day. This includes doctors, nurses, therapists, social workers, massage therapists, drug and alcohol counselors, mental health counsellors, physical therapists and many others that work in physical, mental, or emotional health-related fields.
When challenging situations arise, you may often find that you have to be the strong one, even an anchor in a crisis, and maintain a composed, professional presence. No one can sift through their own emotions in that kind of situation. Instead, you hold them in—put them aside or compartmentalize them—so that you can get through the crisis and help everyone else do so as well. The following exercise is helpful in releasing those experiences and addressing and honoring your emotions.
Technique:
- At the end of the day, check in with yourself.
- Place your hands on your heart, bring in SHK (the mental/emotional symbol) and let Reiki fill you for a few minutes. (If you are a Karuna Reiki© practitioner, you can also bring in Harth and Iava or any others you feel guided to.)
- Begin a dialogue with yourself that brings up your feelings. Allow yourself to feel them. Listen to what they have to say to you.
- Let the tears flow. Let the anger out.
- Keep the Reiki flowing as you say to yourself:
“That was hard when I had to_________________.”
“That was hard to watch that person suffering.”
“What _______ said hurt my feelings.”
“I am really angry about _______.”
This exercise reminds you that “the only way out is through.” It takes courage to be with emotional pain. Go slowly at first and be gentle with yourself as you begin this allowing. Treat yourself with warmth, support, and encouragement, as you go through each release. Be especially mindful of feelings of self-judgement that might arise. If you are not ready to face some of the feelings that arise—remember that this exercise is a process. There will be more opportunities to bring ease to those feelings as well. Be there for yourself every step of the way, turning your compassion inward, caring for yourself in the same way you would for anyone you care about.
Emotions are energy and keeping them bottled up only hurts you in the end. If you cannot do it for yourself, ask a friend or therapist to support you in positive ways and/or give you Reiki as you have this inner dialogue.
© 2025 Kathie Lipinski
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Kathie Lipinski RN, MSN, CH, is a Holistic Nurse, Master Teacher of Usui/Tibetan Western Reiki, a Shihan Teacher of traditional Jikiden Reiki, a Certified Hypnotist and is Board Certified in Massage Therapy and Bodywork. Kathie has over thirty three (33) years’ experience working with and teaching Reiki and other mind-body healing modalities. With her nursing and Reiki background, she specializes in helping people prepare for surgery with Reiki and hypnosis/guided imagery.
Kathie’s extensive nursing career has taken her from Intensive Care to Diabetes Education and now Holistic Nursing.
She currently has a private practice Healing from the Heart NY LLC, where she uses various modalities to help individuals identify and heal imbalances in their lives. She also trained with Brian Weiss in Past Life Regression Exploration.
Kathie has taught Reiki to more than 4000 people, lay people as well as health care professionals. She was an adjunct professor teaching Reiki for college credit in the Nurse Practitioner program at Stony Brook University and the College of New Rochelle. As part of the Innovations in Care Grant in 2011 and 2012, Kathie’s taught the staff at the VA Medical Center in Northport, NY. She also taught for the NY Presbyterian Hospital System in New York City from 2014- 2017 and most recently at the NYU Langone Hospital in Mineola, NY.
Kathie has been a guest speaker at various Reiki and Holistic Health Care conferences across the country including Reiki Rays of Hope in Cleveland, OH: The Mid-Atlantic Conference in Maryland, and the Celebration of Reiki conference in Boston, MA.
Some of her most popular topics have included “Reiki and PTSD”; “Making Reiki Real: What is Credible Reiki Practice?”; “Reiki and Mental Health”; “Teaching Reiki”; “Reiki Myths and Misconceptions”; and many more.
Kathie has written many articles for Reiki News Magazine which are available on her website. She is the co-author of the chapters “Reiki: Defining a Healing Practice for Nursing” and “Reiki, Nursing and Health Care” in the Nursing Clinics of North America Journal Winter 2020 edition on Complementary and Alternative Therapies.
You can reach Kathie via e-mail at kathiekaruna95@aol.com
Website: kathielipinski.com
Facebook: Reiki Healing from the Heart
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