Reiki Is Not a Trend—It’s Sacred Medicine Rooted in Japanese Ancestral Wisdom

By: Laura Bonetzky


In today’s spiritual marketplace, Reiki is everywhere — offered in yoga studios, online trainings, and weekend certification courses. But what most people don’t realize is that Reiki is not simply a healing technique. It is a sacred, spiritual practice rooted in Indigenous Japanese wisdom—interwoven with the esoteric spiritual philosophies of Shintoism and Buddhism.

This isn’t just theory for me. It’s something I’ve lived and continue to walk—through healing trauma, chronic illness, and rediscovering spiritual integrity. This is about remembering what was lost, not to shame anyone, but to honor the depth of what was originally given.


My Journey: From Western Reiki to Returning Home

When I began my Reiki journey nearly two decades ago, I entered through the only doors available to many of us in the West—Western Reiki as it had been adapted and taught at the time. I was blessed with teachers who were kind, committed, and genuinely devoted to healing. They shared what they had been taught, with compassion and grace.

They are not to blame.

The version of Reiki many of us first encountered in the U.S. was already incomplete by the time it reached our shores, altered by war, trauma, translation, and time. And for me, that Western Reiki path was still a blessing. It helped me survive what felt un-survivable. It laid a foundation.

But as I healed deeper layers—surviving domestic abuse, losing my children, and reclaiming my spiritual identity—I began to feel a call toward something more. The system I had learned felt helpful, but fragmented. I started asking deeper questions:

  • What is Reiki really?
  • Who were the original teachers?
  • What cultural soil did this practice grow from?
These questions led me to Jikiden Reiki—which means “directly taught” in Japanese. Through this lineage, I began to feel a deeper resonance. I wasn’t just learning techniques—I was connecting with a tradition, a spiritual path, and a culture that carried thousands of years of wisdom.

It changed everything.


This Is Not Gatekeeping—It’s Cultural Integrity

Let me speak plainly: This is not a dismissal of Western Reiki or the people who teach it. Many of us would never have found Reiki at all if not for those early teachers and the partial transmission that made its way out of postwar Japan.

But as we evolve in consciousness and access, we are called to take deeper responsibility. We must ask:

  • Are we honoring the cultures these practices came from?
  • Are we carrying the medicine, or repackaging it for convenience?
  • Are we willing to unlearn, to listen, and to walk with humility?

This is not gatekeeping. This is stewardship.

It’s about preserving something sacred, not hoarding it.

It’s about respecting the people, the language, and the history, not excluding those who want to learn.


Where the founder of Reiki has his enlightenment experience at Mt Kurama, Kyoto Japan.

What Reiki Is—and What It’s Not

In its original Japanese form, Reiki is NOT:

  • Chakra balancing
  • Aura cleansing
  • Pendulum dowsing
  • Psychic readings
  • A quick title earned in a weekend

Those things may be meaningful in other systems, but they are not Reiki.  When we mix and match practices from different cultures and label it all “Reiki,” we distort its medicine and erase its origins.

Reiki as it was originally taught in Japan is:

  • A spiritual path of daily practice and self-refinement
  • A method of healing illness by restoring life force energy (ki) by addressing root issues and removing toxins from the body
  • Taught in-person through direct student-teacher transmission
  • Rooted in the Gokai (Five Reiki Principles – direct translation matters)
  • Deeply informed by Japanese language, worldview, and esoteric spirituality

Jikiden Reiki Practitioners gather at Healing With Spirit in Hingham, MA 2024

Why This Matters—Especially in the West

In a culture obsessed with speed, success, and status, we’ve turned sacred traditions into products. Reiki has become:

  • A spiritual commodity
  • A branding opportunity
  • A fast track to self-declared mastery

But healing isn’t instant.

Spiritual growth isn’t a race.

And sacred traditions are not ours to bend into personal gain.

The harm caused by spiritual appropriation and commodification is real. And in a time of collective trauma, disconnection, and reckoning, we are being asked to return—not to purity or perfection—but to truth, integrity, and right relationship.


The Invitation: A Return to the Source

If you’ve felt disconnected from the Reiki you’ve learned… if you’re craving something deeper, more rooted, more reverent… this is your invitation.

Come experience what Reiki feels like when it’s taught as it originally was—as a spiritual path, not a product.

Whether you’re new or experienced, all are welcome—especially those willing to approach this practice with openness and humility.


Upcoming Jikiden Reiki Trainings (In-Person Only)

Held at Healing With Spirit in Hingham, MA

  • Shoden (Level 1) | July 18–20, 2025
  • Okuden (Level 2) | July 27–28, 2025

Limited space available to maintain intimate, sacred space.

Also available:

The Secrets to Healing: An Invitation to Healing Trauma and Other Root Causes of Chronic Illness Using the Japanese Reiki Gokai

By Laura Bonetzky-Joseph

Available on Amazon + at Healing With Spirit, Hingham MA

Register or learn more, click here

Events www.LauraHealingWithSpirit.com

Explore more: https://linktr.ee/HealingWithSpirit

Learn Animal Reiki Certification

With 40 percent of Americans having tried alternative medicine—and 60 percent of U.S. households’ home to at least one pet—many people are increasingly turning to Reiki and other holistic therapies to help their animals.

This class is for students who are interested in receiving an extremely in-depth and practical foundation in Reiki with animals.

In this level of reiki you learn reiki for physical healing and self-care and the uses for your animal friends. It is considered a student level and introduction to the world of reiki. Students will learn the basics of human energy and its relationship to health and receive an intro to applications of reiki with animals.

What you learn includes:

  • Meditation
  • Reiki Talk, the different levels, and applications of use
  • What is Rei-ki and how does it work?
  • Accurate Reiki History and terminology
  • Gokai
  • Gassho meditation
  • Reiki I attunement (Reiju)
  • Practical hands-on Reiki training and experience
  • Byosen Scanning
  • How to work with animals,
  • How to treat certain illnesses etc.,
  • How to understand specific cues given by our pets

With Laura’s support, the lessons will allow you to experience successful animal Reiki treatments, thus giving you the experience, you need to practice animal Reiki with all kinds of animals and in any situation with groundedness and confidence.

Click here for more information

Click here for reiki stories and experiences including uses on animals.

Click here for the use of reiki after a dog bite

INVESTMENT: $175

To Register:

Via check, email me for the Registration form, or register via Eventbrite here:


ABOUT YOUR TEACHER:

Laura Joseph is an approved Jikiden Reiki® Shihan from the Jikiden Reiki® Kenkyukai in Kyoto, Japan, and a Reiki Master Teacher in the Usui/Tibetan Tradition.

She has studied with leading reiki historian and expert, Frank Arjava Petter and Tadao Yamaguchi, current President of the Jikiden Reiki® Kenkyukai in Kyoto, Japan.

She is always seeking ways to learn and improve her practice by taking appropriate courses with organizations, conferences, and classes with experts in their respective fields.

She has been practicing spiritually based integrative holistic health enrichment including reiki since 2006 for animals and humans alike. Laura has over 15 cumulative years in the holistic and allopathic health fields.

Laura is also the author of the book “The Secrets to Healing: An Invitation to Heal Trauma and Other Root Causes of Chronic Illness Using the Japanese Reiki Gokai”

Laura believes that animals, wild and domestic, know who to seek out for help when in need. Throughout Laura’s entire life, animals have sought her out and those in her family for help whether it was a seagull that was shot, a mother duck and ducklings searching for food, a pigeon who broke its wing, a dog who jumped into the car then delivers babies, or a stray cat who never leaves the front door. The stories are countless. Laura’s lifelong fondness for animals and her actions of what she has done, speaks for itself.

Laura is also passionate about finding solutions to the epidemic of abuse while providing healing to those inflicted including animals.

Learn Animal Reiki Certification

With 40 percent of Americans having tried alternative medicine—and 60 percent of U.S. households’ home to at least one pet—many people are increasingly turning to Reiki and other holistic therapies to help their animals.

This class is for students who are interested in receiving an extremely in depth and practical foundation in Reiki with animals.

This level of reiki you learn reiki for the physical healing and self-care and the uses for your animal friends. It is considered a student level and introduction to the world of reiki. Students will learn the basics of human energy and its relationship to health and receive an intro to applications of reiki with animals.

What you learn includes:

  • Meditation
  • Reiki Talk, the different levels, and applications of use
  • What is Rei-ki and how does it work?
  • Accurate Reiki History and terminology
  • Gokai
  • Gassho meditation
  • Reiki I attunement (Reiju)
  • Practical hands-on Reiki training and experience
  • Byosen Scanning
  • How to work w animals,
  • How to treat certain illnesses etc.,
  • How to understand specific cues given by our pets

With Laura’s support, the lessons will allow you to experience successful animal Reiki treatments, thus giving you the experience, you need to practice animal Reiki with all kinds of animals and in any situation with groundedness and confidence.

Click here for more information

Click here for reiki stories and experiences including uses on animals.

Click here for use of reiki after a dog bite

INVESTMENT: $175

To Register:

Via check, email me for Registration form or register via Eventbrite here:


ABOUT YOUR TEACHER:

Laura Joseph is an approved Jikiden Reiki® Shihan from the Jikiden Reiki® Kenkyukai in Kyoto, Japan and a Reiki Master Teacher in the Usui/Tibetan Tradition.

She has studied with leading reiki historian and expert, Frank Arjava Petter and Tadao Yamaguchi, current President of the Jikiden Reiki® Kenkyukai in Kyoto, Japan.

She is always seeking ways to learn and improve her practice by taking appropriate courses with organizations, conferences, and classes with experts in their respective fields.

She has been practicing spiritually based integrative holistic health enrichment including reiki since 2006 for animals and humans alike. Laura has over 15 cumulative years in the holistic and allopathic health fields.

Laura is also the author of the book “The Secrets to Healing: An Invitation to Heal Trauma and Other Root Causes of Chronic Illness Using the Japanese Reiki Gokai”

Laura believes that animals, wild and domestic, know who to seek out for help when in need. Throughout Laura’s entire life, animals have sought her out and those in her family for help whether it was a seagull that was shot, a mother duck and ducklings searching for food, a pigeon who broke its wing, a dog who jumps into the car then delivers babies, or a stray cat who never leaves the front door. The stories are countless. Laura’s lifelong fondness for animals and her actions of what she has done, speaks for itself.

Laura also is passionate about finding solutions to the epidemic of abuse while providing healing to those inflicted including animals.

Learn Animal Reiki Certification

In 2010, Dr. Oz declared Reiki his number one alternative medicine secret. With 40 percent of Americans having tried alternative medicine—and 60 percent of U.S. households home to at least one pet—many people are increasingly turning to Reiki and other holistic therapies to help their animals.

This class is for students who are interested in receiving an extremely in depth and practical foundation in Reiki with animals.

This level of reiki you learn reiki for the physical healing and self care and the uses for your animal friends. It is considered a student level and introduction to the world of reiki. Students will learn the basics of human energy and its relationship to health and receive an intro to applications of reiki with animals.

What you learn includes:

  •  Meditation
  •  Reiki Talk, the different levels, and applications of use
  • What is Rei-ki and how does it work?
  • Reiki History and terminology
  • Gokai
  • Gassho meditation
  • Reiki I attunement (reiju)
  • Practical hands on Reiki training and experience
  • Byosen Scanning
  • How to work w animals,
  • How to treat certain illnesses etc.,
  • How to understand specific cues given by our pets

With Laura’s support, the lessons will allow you to experience successful animal Reiki treatments, thus giving you the experience you need to practice animal Reiki with all kinds of animals and in any situation with groundedness and confidence.

Click here for more information.

Click here for reiki stories and experiences including uses on animals

INVESTMENT: $175
*For those already certified in some form of reiki – $111.00

To Register:

Please fill out the attached form and mail to contact listed on form.

 

ABOUT YOUR TEACHER:

Laura Joseph is an approved Jikiden Reiki® Shihan from the Jikiden Reiki® Kenkyukai in Kyoto, Japan and a Reiki Master Teacher in the Usui/Tibetan Tradition.

She has studied with leading reiki historian and expert, Frank Arjava Petter and Tadao Yamaguchi, current President of the Jikiden Reiki® Kenkyukai in Kyoto, Japan.

She is always seeking ways to learn and improve her practice by taking appropriate courses with organizations, conferences, and classes with experts in their respective fields.

She has been practicing spiritually based integrative holistic health enrichment including reiki since 2006 for animals and humans alike. Laura has over 15 cumulative years in the holistic and allopathic health fields.

Laura believes that animals, wild and domestic, know who to seek out for help when in need. Throughout Laura’s entire life, animals have sought her out and those in her family for help whether it was a seagull that was shot, a mother duck and ducklings searching for food, a pigeon who broke its wing, a dog who jumps into the car then delivers babies, or a stray cat who never leaves the front door. The stories are countless. Laura’s lifelong fondness for animals and her actions of what she has done, speaks for itself.

Laura also is passionate about finding solutions to the epidemic of abuse while providing healing to those inflicted including animals.

Learn Animal Reiki Certification

With 40 percent of Americans having tried alternative medicine—and 60 percent of U.S. households’ home to at least one pet—many people are increasingly turning to Reiki and other holistic therapies to help their animals.

This class is for students who are interested in receiving an extremely in depth and practical foundation in Reiki with animals.

This level of reiki you learn reiki for the physical healing and self-care and the uses for your animal friends. It is considered a student level and introduction to the world of reiki. Students will learn the basics of human energy and its relationship to health and receive an intro to applications of reiki with animals.

What you learn includes:

  • Meditation
  • Reiki Talk, the different levels, and applications of use
  • What is Rei-ki and how does it work?
  • Accurate Reiki History and terminology
  • Gokai
  • Gassho meditation
  • Reiki I attunement (Reiju)
  • Practical hands-on Reiki training and experience
  • Byosen Scanning
  • How to work w animals,
  • How to treat certain illnesses etc.,
  • How to understand specific cues given by our pets

With Laura’s support, the lessons will allow you to experience successful animal Reiki treatments, thus giving you the experience, you need to practice animal Reiki with all kinds of animals and in any situation with groundedness and confidence.

Click here for more information

Click here for reiki stories and experiences including uses on animals.

Click here for use of reiki after a dog bite

INVESTMENT: $175

To Register:

Via check, email me for Registration form or register via Eventbrite here:


ABOUT YOUR TEACHER:

Laura Joseph is an approved Jikiden Reiki® Shihan from the Jikiden Reiki® Kenkyukai in Kyoto, Japan and a Reiki Master Teacher in the Usui/Tibetan Tradition.

She has studied with leading reiki historian and expert, Frank Arjava Petter and Tadao Yamaguchi, current President of the Jikiden Reiki® Kenkyukai in Kyoto, Japan.

She is always seeking ways to learn and improve her practice by taking appropriate courses with organizations, conferences, and classes with experts in their respective fields.

She has been practicing spiritually based integrative holistic health enrichment including reiki since 2006 for animals and humans alike. Laura has over 15 cumulative years in the holistic and allopathic health fields.

Laura is also the author of the book “The Secrets to Healing: An Invitation to Heal Trauma and Other Root Causes of Chronic Illness Using the Japanese Reiki Gokai”

Laura believes that animals, wild and domestic, know who to seek out for help when in need. Throughout Laura’s entire life, animals have sought her out and those in her family for help whether it was a seagull that was shot, a mother duck and ducklings searching for food, a pigeon who broke its wing, a dog who jumps into the car then delivers babies, or a stray cat who never leaves the front door. The stories are countless. Laura’s lifelong fondness for animals and her actions of what she has done, speaks for itself.

Laura also is passionate about finding solutions to the epidemic of abuse while providing healing to those inflicted including animals.

Jikiden Reiki Seminar in Okuden (Level II Training)

Jikiden Reiki® Okuden (level 2)training is recommended for people that want to learn more about Reiki and deepen their practice, be able to treat psychological problems, give treatments over any distance.

Curriculum:

  • Receive 2 more Reiju
  • How to use Reiki specifically for psychological issues
  • How to use Reiki for bad habits and/or addictions.
  • Distance Reiki Variations of distance Reiki method for easier self treatment including for psychological issues.
  • Practice sessions and practical demonstrations

You will be able to treat a greater variety of problems with more convenience to yourself and those you give Reiki to.

For more about Jikiden Reiki®Training and classes, click here.

*Pre requisite – Satisfactorily completed Jikiden Reiki® in Shoden

Class Times:

Friday,  7pm – 9:30pm
Saturday,  9:30am-6pm
Non-Refundable deposit required to hold your spot: $200
 

TO REGISTER: 

Please mail in the Registration Form complete with payment.

JIKIDEN SEMINAR REGISTRATION FORM (3)

Usui Reiki Level II Workshop

In Reiki II the focus is higher – in the emotional and mental bodies. Physical healing (learned in Reiki 1) means the clearing of disease and other negative physical body conditions. Emotional and mental healing means the clearing and revising of what the student thinks and feels.

Learn the Reiki symbols and how to use them in distance healing, scanning, and healing techniques. The use of these symbols increases the power and focus of the hands-on healing technique learned in Reiki I. This workshop will also continue with the knowledge learned in Reiki I including: meditation, chakra clearing, hands on healing, and grounding the energy.

You must have completed your Reiki Level I training and attunement to study Level II. Extensive notes & hands-on training. Expect change in your life with this workshop.

Tuition: $250 Resits: $100

** Prerequisites: Reiki Level 1 certification is required to take this course.

Testimonials About Reiki

“The Reiki one course was a unique and powerful experience and yet another opportunity to open the portals into the spiritual world. Laura walked us through the important aspects of the origin of Reiki, led each of us through the attunement process and gave us ample opportunity to practice what we had learned. She is a knowledgeable and a patience teacher….”

“…She is an awesome teacher and a beautiful soul!!!”

“It was an awesome learning experience…”

“I left my skeptism at the door because I’m curious if all I’ve known and all that I’ve had is really all that I’ll ever be…After just a couple visits I know I’m more…I’ve learned to cut the string of baggage past…”

“Without the help I have received here I do not know where I would be today or who I would be.”

TO REGISTER: Call/text 857-880-0365 or email us

♡♡ Please NOTE: There are different schools, thought, and practice. It is important to find a teacher who will give you all that you seek in your reiki studies and with whom you align with. For me, this is one of the most important elements in learning Reiki.

♡♡ This is not Jikiden Reiki which is a different Reiki style that is a deeper more traditional Japanese practice pre-Mrs.Takata. Please visit www.laurahealingwithspirit.com OR the Facebook event page for class dates and information

FOR THE LATEST INFORMATION, visit https://www.facebook.com/events or www.laurahealingwithspirit.com

*Must have text book and copy of your certificate to qualify for discount. Add $30 for text book if it needs to be ordered.