The Safe Space No One Tells You About: My Reiki Story

If you've ever wondered what Reiki actually is - beyond the crystals, the "energy healing" label, the slightly hippie reputation - this is for you.

I first came across it in October 2008, on a charity trek to Machu Picchu for the Parkinson's Disease Society. A fellow trekker mentioned it had helped his mother with her symptoms, and something in me quietly sat up and paid attention.

By May 2009, I was living in Northern Thailand, where spirituality wasn't a niche interest tucked away in a corner - it was just part of daily life. I was gifted a Reiki treatment for my 26th birthday and found it fascinating: colour, pattern, heat moving through me. If I'm honest, though, I didn't feel any different afterwards. I filed it away as "interesting" and carried on travelling.

It wasn't until later that year - back in Northern Thailand, the place that had quietly become my safe place - that a close friend saw I was struggling and offered me three Reiki treatments over three days. I had nothing left to lose, so I said yes.

Wow. Wow. Wow.

Nothing was quite the same after that.

What no one tells you about Reiki

From the outside, Reiki can look like something offered by "holistic types" - a bit vague, a bit alternative. What no one tells you is that it's a safe space to heal. From the things you're aware of. And from the things buried so deep you'd forgotten they were even there.

For years, I struggled with my mental health without really understanding why. I went to the NHS for support and was offered antidepressants, again and again, with no one asking the deeper question of why. It took a long time — and a lot of my own searching - before I discovered I have PMDD. That explained decades of struggle in a way no prescription ever had.

I'm 43 now, navigating perimenopause and HRT on top of everything else. I share this not for sympathy, but because I know I'm not the only woman who has felt let down by a system that reaches for a prescription pad before it asks a real question. Reiki and meditation gave me something the NHS couldn't: a place to actually feel what I was feeling, and the tools to slowly, gently heal.

Why I teach Reiki 1

Reiki has had a profound impact on my life, and I've had the privilege of holding space for others too - in 1-2-1 sessions and group teachings, watching people open up and let go of what was never meant to be carried.

Reiki 1 is an introduction - to the practice, to the energy, and for those who let it, to the start of a real journey of self-discovery. It opens you up to a universal energy that's around all of us, available to all of us, whether we've noticed it yet or not. You don't need any experience, any belief system, or any particular background. You just need to be open to it.

(For those who want to go further afterwards, Reiki 2 builds on this - but that's a story for another day.)

If this resonates with you

I've spent time teaching Reiki for a wonderful local charity, and I'm now excited to bring everything I've learned into my own IPHM-accredited Reiki 1 course, right here in the Heatons.

If you've ever felt unheard, or like you're searching for something the system can't give you - I'd love to hold space for you too.

Want to be the first to know when doors open? Register your interest here and I'll keep you posted on dates, pricing, and everything you need to know.

Claire, Wild Lotus Wellbeing