Shortly after I became a Reiki Master Candidate, my Teaching Master Penelope Jewell flew down to Texas from New York. Before her arrival, my task was to schedule free public Reiki talks and demonstrations around my small town, and to promote and assist a Reiki training workshop to be hosted at my studio and led by Penelope.
This was no small undertaking. In 2008, very few people in Kerrville had heard of Reiki. Individuals, businesses, and organizations were understandably wary about participating in something they knew little or nothing about.
I kept at it — making phone calls, posting notices, sending press releases. The editor of the new local magazine Kerr County People invited me to write an article about Reiki for the March issue, which turned out to be perfect timing for Penelope’s first trip to the Texas Hill Country.
By the time Penelope arrived, I had arranged public talks at Schreiner University, Dietert Senior Center, and Unity Church. Flyers were posted at those venues and around town — at Hastings Book Store, the library, coffee shops, cafes, and grocery stores. (This was before social media became the powerful promotion tool it is today.) Thanks in large part to my magazine article, we had eight registrations for the Reiki I workshop.
During the week of public talks leading up to the training, calls kept coming in from people asking if there was still room. Penelope graciously welcomed them all — including one who phoned just an hour before we began. That evening, we launched the first Usui Shiki Ryoho Reiki Level I training in Kerrville with thirteen students.
There was no “typical” student. The class included people in their twenties and one spirited soul in her seventies, along with a massage therapist, a PhD, a sculptor, a biologist, a singer, a life coach, a substance abuse counselor, a retired Marine Lieutenant, and two married couples.
By the end of the training, they all had something in common: Reiki — and the privilege of practicing it in their own unique way. Each left aware of the innate healing power that Reiki carries, and prepared to experience its potential in their own life. For some, it would become a new path. For others, it would be at the very least a catalyst for change.
At the closing, Penelope encouraged us all to give ourselves Reiki for ninety consecutive days and, in those three months, to give ten full treatments to others. She assured us that if we immersed ourselves in Reiki, we would come to know and understand our practice of this energy.
After the workshop, Penelope returned to Albany. Before she left, she suggested I host Reiki Shares for the new practitioners — gatherings where we could continue giving and receiving Reiki with one another. Over the years, these Shares have grown into something deeply valued: a dedicated time to exchange experiences and questions, practice hands-on Reiki, and refresh our connection to the work.
Reiki Shares are an opportunity for students to experience, build, and sustain a Reiki community — a convergence of individuals, each with their own expression and understanding of Reiki. These Shares honor us and our practice.
All students are warmly invited to free monthly Reiki Level I & II Shares at my studio.