For many people, the first introduction to Reiki is as something one person offers another.
But learning Reiki begins with yourself.
When I first learned Reiki, I didn’t yet understand the role it would eventually play in my life. I was already learning to listen to myself differently and beginning to recognize parts of myself that I hadn’t known how to name.
Reiki gave me a practice for that exploration.
Over time, it became more than something I did. It became one of the ways I practiced presence, awareness, discernment, and self-trust.
That is why I think about learning Reiki as a practice of self-mastery.
Not mastery through control.
Mastery through relationship with yourself.
The Practice Begins With You
Reiki Level I traditionally begins with self-Reiki.
I think there is something important in that beginning.
Before Reiki becomes something you might offer another person, you have an opportunity to experience the practice for yourself—to become familiar with it, notice your own responses, and develop a relationship with the practice through experience.
There is nothing you need to perform.
You practice.
You notice.
You learn.
And over time, experience gives you something that explanation alone cannot.
It gives you your own relationship with Reiki.
Awareness Before Answers
One of the things Reiki taught me was the value of creating space before deciding what something means.
Not every feeling requires immediate interpretation.
Not every question requires an immediate answer.
Not every moment of uncertainty needs to be resolved.
Sometimes the practice is simply becoming quiet enough to notice what is present.
That awareness can become part of how we learn to discern what feels true, what belongs to us, and what may be coming from habit, expectation, fear, or the voices around us.
For me, this became deeply connected to self-trust.
I wasn’t learning to look outside myself for someone to tell me what was true.
I was learning to listen.
From Practice to Self-Trust
Self-trust isn’t something we simply decide to have.
It develops through relationship with ourselves.
We notice.
We listen.
We make choices.
We experience those choices.
We learn.
And then we listen again.
A personal Reiki practice can become one place where that relationship develops.
This doesn’t mean Reiki gives us answers or makes every decision clear. It means the practice can create intentional space in which we become more familiar with ourselves.
That distinction matters to me.
The goal isn’t dependence on Reiki. The practice supports a deeper relationship with yourself.
Reiki and Self-Mastery
I don’t use the word self-mastery to mean perfect control over our thoughts, emotions, energy, or lives.
Life will continue to surprise us. We will continue to change. There will be things we don’t know.
For me, self-mastery is much closer to self-awareness and self-responsibility.
Can I recognize what is happening within me?
Can I discern what is actually mine?
Can I make a conscious choice rather than simply repeating what is familiar?
Can I support myself in living that choice?
These are also questions that eventually became central to my work with Truth, Integrity, Courage, and Love and the larger framework I now call Coherence.
Reiki and Coherence are not the same thing.
But in my own life, the practice of Reiki helped create space for many of the questions that eventually shaped that work.
You Don’t Have to Become a Practitioner
Learning Reiki doesn’t require a professional goal.
Some people learn because they eventually want to offer Reiki to others.
Some want a personal practice.
Some are simply curious and want to experience Reiki more deeply.
All are valid reasons to learn.
Certification marks your training. What you choose to do with that training is yours.
For me, the most important place Reiki begins is inward.
Learning Reiki With Me
I teach Usui Reiki through Prana Blessings, where Reiki education has a dedicated home separate from my private Reiki and Coherence Coaching work here.
Training is available both online and through scheduled in-person classes in Santa Fe.
The courses include Reiki instruction and certification, but the intention goes beyond learning a technique.
I want students to have enough understanding and experience to develop their own relationship with the practice.
View Upcoming In-Person Reiki Classes →
View Classes at Prana Blessings →
A Practice You Can Make Your Own
Reiki became meaningful in my life because I experienced it for myself.
I practiced it.
I lived with it.
And over time, I discovered how it connected with questions I was already asking about awareness, choice, authenticity, and what it means to trust myself.
Your relationship with Reiki doesn’t need to look like mine.
That’s part of the practice too.
Experience. Notice. Discern. Trust what you learn.