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

Book Launch Party & Soft Opening of NEW Space

After 20 years since Laura embarked on this journey and 10 years writing, it is finally happening. The 2nd book in 2022 (her 1st book) and her first solo book, will be released on 10/10/22.

This book takes a real honest look at how we address and heal the growing chronic illness and trauma rates through the eyes of a domestic violence and sexual assault survivor, Reiki teacher, wellness professional, and advocate with over 20yrs experience working in a medical environment & legislative policy.

Laura weaves her personal story, work, training, and social justice work in this must have book.

I assure you … there is no book on the market like it that addresses the root issues and solutions like she does through this lens.

This book also includes a special insert on Shintoism by our dear friend, Reiki teacher, mentor, and Vice Representative of the Jikiden Reiki Institute, Kyoto, Japan, Frank Arjava Petter.

ABOUT TICKETS:

The cost to attend is solely for the purchase of the book.

Every attendee registered will receive an autographed copy of “The Secrets to Healing: An Invitation to Healing Trauma and Other Root Causes of Chronic Illness Using the Japanese Reiki Gokai”

NOTE: If you have already purchased your book and would like to attend, please reach out via text message 857-880-0365 with a photo of you holding the book or receipt of purchase, and if tickets are still available, we will grant you a ticket at no extra cost – unless you wish to purchase an extra book as a gift.

Again, the purchase of a ticket for this event is for the book.

Light refreshments served.

Plus, we will be offering raffles prizes and gifts throughout the event.

This is a ticketed event due to space limitations & advanced book orders.

Due to immense interest in this event and book, we advise to purchase your tickets early to ensure you do not miss out.

We will also have limited copies of our first co-authored book, “Feisty: Dangerously Amazing Women Using Their Voices to Make An Impact” available for purchase as well.

To learn more about these books, services, podcast, social media and more, click here

Get Your Tickets Here

Learn About “MY WHY” I Launched on Patreon

I did it. Say whaaaatttttt?

After partaking in another Patreon as a member with strong social justice goals, and watching the benefits unfold, I finally created a Patreon account to give you a better virtual experience, expand our virtual reach, offer exclusive specials and offers while broadening my social justice goals that are so important to me.

I want to share with you more about myself with you.  So, I would be honored & grateful if you could take a moment and read my WHY I launched on Patreon.

  • My why
  • What I have done in the past
  • What is happening NOW
  • What I can offer It take a community to make this happen.

Let’s join forces AND BREAK The CYCLE of the Perpetuation of Unresolved Unhealed Trauma TOGETHER.

To be honest ….

I am a bit Nervous.

Excited.

Anxious.

AND that is all ok.

I am putting the trust and faith in this journey and allowing it to unfold as it needs to.


Have you ever heard of Patreon before?

Here is the dish … It is a wonderful subscription service for content creators and in my case content creators with a social justice or social impact mission in mind.

What is unique about this platform, it lets people financially support and reward content creators — such as podcasters, writers, and YouTubers — through a monthly subscription.

Creators can set up multiple membership tiers with various rewards so each subscriber can choose the amount of money they feel most comfortable giving to a project and in my case – healing the perpetuation of unhealed unresolved trauma that is plaguing our society.


So, please check out my “My WHY” Patreon post, and if the message resonates, please consider
  • commenting on the original post
  • sharing with loved ones or those in your community who identify with my mission.
  • joining to support my social justice impact goals
  • or joining for the great benefits such as FREE 1:1, FREE events, and up to 40% off classes offered.

Would LOVE your thoughts AND …

I am new to learning how all this works and working on building a team to make my dreams and missions come to light so I can show up more effectively and more impactful for YOU.

Me doing THIS work is and always has been about BE-ing of greater service to the community & our Mother Earth.

Like everyone else, I am learning HOW to show up BETTER to meet that soul journey mission.

If you decide to become a patron on Patreon, you become active participants in the work I am doing while supporting a cause we all love and NEED especially during these challenging times where the trauma epidemic is running wild like an uncontrolled unchecked avalanche or a volcano that is about to explode.

Let’s DO THIS … TOGETHER … Shall we?

Click here to learn more about this initiative.

I have so much love and appreciation in my heart for all your support in my journey.

Thank you.

Laura


To learn more about me, visit “About” tab.

To learn more about my work healing trauma, click here.

Can Spiritual Based Therapies Heal Trauma?

I am incredibly honored to been asked to be a guest on Mal Duane’s AMAZING podcast “Awaken Divine Wilderness” recently where we talked about the successful spiritual & integrative processes I’ve learned over 15 years in healing trauma.

There are too many children and women that are subjected to abuse. I’d like to share that conversation with you on how spiritual based practices can heal trauma associated from domestic abuse and rape .

How can we help more of them feel loved and safe?

Listen in

Apple http://apple.co/2lBZ60s
Or on www.MalDuaneCoach.com

Thank you for supporting my journey.

With appreciation,

Laura