10 Lessons from 10 Years of Being a Reiki Master

On 1/19/14, I became a Reiki Master in the Western System of Reiki. I followed up in 2023 by earning my Reiki Master certification in the Eastern system.

For 9 years, I was blessed with a space to provide Reiki sessions and classes at White Dove in Wichita. I'm now in Phoenix, Arizona, offering online Distance Reiki (Enkaku Chiryo) sessions.

I will describe what that process of growth was like. But first, I want to express my gratitude to Dale Martin, the owner of White Dove! He gave me more than just a space to rent. He was a great teacher and mentor to me through the years.

Since I chose to move to Phoenix, I've hoped a new healer would step into the space I once occupied and offer Reiki (or something similar). Dale is very kind, nurturing, and understanding with those on the path. I came to him as a new Reiki Master in 2014 and I'd never done my own thing before. I started as "You Deserve Reiki" and then changed to Destiny Architecture® in 2016 when I began to work toward my life coaching certification.

Now, onto the lessons... 🧑‍🏫

1) You DO Deserve Reiki

My first lesson in offering Reiki sessions was that most people considered them a luxury. If massage was a luxury, Reiki seemed even more of one to customers.

My early customers—all women—seemed to feel guilty about taking time for themselves for self-care. This was before self-care became a social media buzzword and craze. This was also what I was attracting in at the time because I was one of those people who were learning to practice self-care.

Reiki is self-care. If you're a Reiki Level 1, you can and should be practicing self-Reiki daily. If you have no desire to learn the system of Reiki and want to be the recipient of energy work, find a way to work it regularly into your life. Get a session monthly, quarterly, or twice a year.

Everyone deserves to lay down on a table and have a Reiki Master channel Source Energy to them. Your time on the table is for your own healing, spiritual growth, and relaxation—all at the same time.

2) Reiki is a System That Provides Endless Personal Growth

You're going to grow from receiving and practicing Reiki because this Source Energy, or Universal Life Force Energy, does several things:

✨ It connects you to Source

✨ It connects you to your Highest Self

✨ Balances your chakras

✨ Helps you relax

✨ Clears any blockages (real or perceived)

✨ In brings people to you who can benefit from Reiki and who can also benefit you

The best personal growth will come from creating a Reiki habit. You can do this even if you're not a Reiki practitioner by regularly receiving Reiki.

If you are a Reiki practitioner, you will find growth through daily self-Reiki and practicing the precepts. For most of us, the first part of growth will come simply from building the daily habit!

I haven't met one Reiki practitioner who speaks proudly of their daily self-Reiki habit. Every single one of us battled with creating this habit. Much like going to the gym, meditating, or any other habit you want to start that's good for you—your mind will fight you on this.

Make time for self-Reiki. Schedule it if you have to, but don't overthink it. You can always give yourself Reiki while you sit and watch TV (or sit in a meeting). Be creative and find ways to work it into each day.

3) Reiki Led Everywhere; It Was The Catalyst That Led To So Many New Things

I started out offering Reiki sessions to friends, family, and coworkers. That led to doing the Alternative & Holistic Fair. There, I met Dale's daughter, who told me that her dad had a space for rent. I hung up my shingle and got to work!

Then I had to learn how to run a business and market my Reiki sessions. I put up a blog (it was terrible 😂 ), and learned different software like Square, Acuity, WordPress, and I can't even remember what. My monthly budget to get my business online was $29.

I had become pretty good at social media from working in radio, but I decided to go deeper. I learned all I could about marketing, branding, and running my own social media accounts. (All that marketing knowledge would later get me work as a freelance social media copywriter and marketer).

🔭 ⚷ As Dale would tell you, I have quite a bit of Chiron influence in my natal chart, so I went down the path of the wounded/conflicted healer on my personal Reiki journey, which started in 2012.

Taking Reiki Level 2 influences major changes in a person's life.

For me, that meant getting sober in 2013. In 2015, I left radio to work in the addiction field. That led to sober coaching, which I loved because I was making a difference in people's lives. I decided to go deeper into coaching and completed a transformational life coaching certification in 2017... None of that would have happened if not for becoming a Reiki Master first!

Reiki led me to places where I could be my true self and follow my passions of writing, creating, and helping others.

These may not be your passions, but I find Reiki gets everyone in touch with their interests.

Reiki will amplify what needs more signal in your life while muting the noise.

4) Reiki Gave Me a Fascination with the Body + Energy Work That Led Me Deeper Into Yoga

Working with people as a Reiki Master made me want to learn more about the human body, the energy body, anatomy, and yoga. How did all these systems work together? How could I feel better? How could I help others to feel better?

This is why you'll see my focus today as a yoga teacher is to make sure people are practicing with their bodies in proper alignment. I want to keep people safe from injury. I also want us all to practice yoga into our 90s!

5) Reiki Is a VERY Complimentary Modality

I believe Reiki does enough on its own. However, I also believe that Reiki works great as a complementary modality. It can be potent when used with:

• Psychology
• Yoga
• Meditation (which is a part of Reiki practice)
• Sound healing
• Art therapy
• EFT

This list goes on and on.

6) Reiki Helped Me Learn Practitioner Boundaries—and Teach Them

I began offering Reiki sessions in 2014 when I was barely one year sober. I had begun tackling my codependency when I first got sober in the summer of 2013, but I had a lot to learn.

Most of us who are drawn to the healing modalities have a lot to learn in this regard.

Don't feel bad if you're new to Reiki and struggling with learning proper boundaries. I created a quick guide to the boundaries all Reiki practitioners must have, and it's FREE in the new Destiny Architecture® Community. All you have to do is join.

When people come to us for Reiki, it's important to make that session a deeply sacred space that promotes a person's healing. ❤️‍🩹 You're going to learn as you go about a lot of things, but boundaries shouldn't be one of those. That's why I created a crash course.

7) Reiki Aligns Perfectly with Yoga's Yamas

The 5 Reiki Precepts align perfectly with yoga's yamas. First, the Reiki precepts:

How do the 5 Reiki Precepts Stack up to Yoga's Niyamas?

🪷 "Practice gratitude" = aparigraha, or "non-greed."

🪷 "Do not worry" = Brahmacharya, or "right use of energy."

🪷 "Practice diligently" = Asteya, or "non-stealing" and it can also align with Satya, or "truth."

🪷 "Be kind to all living things" = Ahimsa, or "non-violence."

🪷 "Do not anger" also aligns with Brahmacharya, or "right use of energy" along with Ahimsa, or "non-violence."

8) Reiki Is More Well-Known & Popular Now

Reiki's popularity has grown since 2014 to the point where most people have heard of it—but still ask me to explain what it is.

Reiki is a traditional, gentle, Japanese laying-on-of-hands technique in which the Reiki Master channels energy to the recipient. Although it can be channeled through the hands, it can also travel time + space through Distance Reiki, aka Enkaku Chiryo. Reiki energy relaxes the recipient and promotes healing.

When I became a Reiki Master, it was still sort of this unknown, magical thing people came to mostly through massage. Now, the Cleveland Clinic is on board with it.

A few years in, I realized the market had become flooded with Reiki practitioners. Reiki began to morph into different types of Reiki. People can call it what they want, but there's only one Reiki. Source Energy is Source Energy is Source Energy.

I'm just a traditionalist.

9) Reiki Always Offers Something New to Learn

Whether it comes from my personal practice or from working with others, there is always more to be revealed. Reiki often leaves me with more questions and a continuous desire to learn.

That's why I enrolled in classes to learn the Eastern system of Reiki (under my instructors, Conrad & Donna Jestmore, who teach under their instructor, Frans Steine with the International House of Reiki).

I saw the changes to Reiki over the years and how a few people were bending the rules they once taught in order to profit. This made me become more of a purist who wanted to learn the roots of Reiki rather than the "hippy-dippy-woo-woo" stuff you see on TikTok.

Spoiler alert: You don't need to do wild, dancy hand motions to channel Reiki.

When you see that on TikTok, that's not Reiki. That's not the way it's been taught. That stuff is just for show on social media.

It's also worth noting that Reiki cannot be taught online. It can only be taught in person because of the attunement process that is an energetic transfer from teacher to student.

10) Reiki Must Always Be Given with an Intention of Service

Service is the only way if you're called to do this work.

If Reiki isn't given as an act of service, one must question their motivations in providing it.

Reiki loses its power without proper intention. If you intend to bolster your ego or line your pockets, your Reiki will be weaker and you're after the wrong things. Your Reiki will also weaken if you share the symbols with those who are uninitiated as the Reiki symbols are sacred.

While the ego-driven, pocket-lining element is out there, I believe most of us pursue the Reiki path for the right reasons. I continue to practice Reiki and share it with others because it's a gift I've been given. It's my sacred duty to share it.

I hope you enjoyed reading this blog about the lessons I've learned in my first 10 years of sharing Reiki with the world. Do you have any questions? Feel free to ask them here in the comments (you'll have to sign up for a free account).

If you'd like to book a Distance Reiki Session (Enkaku Chiryo), you can do that at DestinyArchitecture.com.

Learn more about Reiki.