Reiki was developed in 1922 in Japan by Mikao Usui. He had an enlightenment experience that gave him powerful healing abilities and wanted to share those abilities with others. He created a method for using energy which is known as Reiki today. His focus was on it as a personal growth and spiritual development tool. As Reiki evolved the focus became more on healing.

The word Reiki roughly translates as 'universal life force energy'. It refers to the energy in the universe that we're all connected to and part of. This is the energy we learn to tap into and use for healing. The word Reiki is also used as the name for the healing modality, although its proper name is Usui Reiki Ryoho. ​

You channel Reiki energy through your body, out your hands and into the person you're working on. Reiki then works with the subtle energies in their body, known as ki in Japan, qi in China and prana in India. It clears out blocked and stagnant energy, restoring physical, mental and emotional balance and wellbeing and giving a feeling of relaxation, calmness and vitality. It's natural, gentle and non-invasive, can be hands on or hands off and can be done remotely.

Balancing the body in this way supports the immune system and the ability to cope with every day stresses. Reiki can also support the body through other medical treatment, increasing our ability to handle interventions and helping us stay calm, clear and grounded.

Over the last 100 years, different people have evolved Mikao Usui's teachings and there are many different styles of Reiki available to learn. Japanese Reiki is traditional Reiki, taught as closely as possible to Mikao Usui's teachings. Western Reiki is more modern and was developed in the West. It has less focus on spiritual development and many branches include new age practices.

I'm trained to teach both styles of Reiki but I believe that traditional Japanese Reiki is an essential foundation for any Reiki practitioner so it's the basis of what I teach.

You'll be able to do Reiki after just one course. It can be hard to believe, but Reiki is not like anything you've learnt before. It's not about aquiring knowledge and learning information, and you knowing more doesn't make you better at it.

Reiki is something you can already do. We all have the ability to harness and use universal energy. But it's not something we do in our culture so most of us don't do it. And all the stuff that happens to us, our conditioning, trauma and limiting beliefs get in the way of our connection to source and it's harder for us to access that natural healing ability.

A Reiki training isn't really about learning, it's about clearing the things that are blocking or limiting your connection to source. When that's out of the way, you can do Reiki.