A Foundation in Reiki, Energy Awareness & Self-Healing

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Welcome to 4Gratitude Energy Healing.

We are energetic beings, and this course is an invitation to become more aware of the energy within and around you—and to experience it for yourself.

Reiki is one of the foundations we'll explore. You'll be introduced to the practice and receive your Reiki Level 1 attunement while also exploring grounding, chakras, intention, breath, intuition, and other practices that have become meaningful parts of my own journey.

My intention isn't to give you everything there is to know about energy healing. It is to give you a meaningful foundation you can experience, explore, and make your own.

This is an invitation to become still, connect with your energy, listen within, and discover more of yourself along the way.

There is no particular sensation you need to feel, experience you need to have, or outcome you need to reach. Your experience belongs to you.

There is one Sacred Pause I want you to carry throughout this course:

Gratitude is woven into the heart of 4Gratitude. It invites us to recognize what is already here—the breath in our body, the people we love, the lessons we've learned, the beauty around us, and even the smallest moments we might otherwise overlook.

Healing can naturally draw our attention toward what we want to change.

Gratitude gently brings our awareness back to what we already have. Throughout this course, you'll discover a simple 4Gratitude practice that will become part of your journey. For now, simply notice:

As you move forward, remain open and curious. Notice what arises, allow your experience to unfold in its own way, and trust that your journey belongs to you.

Throughout the course, we'll return again and again to three simple words:

Modern Reiki traces its roots to Mikao Usui, who developed Usui Reiki Ryōhō in Japan in the early 1920s. Usui's teachings included hands-on healing, meditation, spiritual principles, and practices intended to support personal and spiritual development.

According to Reiki tradition, Usui spent a period of fasting and meditation on Mount Kurama, a sacred mountain near Kyoto. During this experience, he is said to have received a profound spiritual insight that became an important part of the development of his Reiki practice and teachings.

Usui went on to practice, teach, and share Reiki with others, beginning the lineage that would carry his teachings forward.

One of Usui's students, Chujiro Hayashi, continued developing and teaching Reiki in Japan. Hawayo Takata, a Japanese-American woman from Hawaii, later studied with Hayashi and became a Reiki teacher herself. She played an important role in bringing Reiki to Hawaii and introducing it more broadly throughout the West.

As Reiki traveled across cultures and generations, different lineages, techniques, and teaching styles developed—all growing from the foundation that began with Usui.

A Reiki lineage is the line of teachers through whom Reiki training and attunements have been passed, connecting each generation back to Mikao Usui.

This lineage is part of Reiki's tradition and distinguishes it from the broader practice of energy healing.

My Reiki lineage connects my training to the teachers who carried Reiki before me.

While my documented Reiki lineage traces through my teachers to Mikao Usui, my spiritual understanding of healing reaches much further back.

I see the healing work of our brother Jesus—His laying on of hands, His faith, His Love, and His connection with the Divine—as part of a much older expression of spiritual healing.

For me, the lineage on paper leads back to Usui, while the Source of the energy is God. My own spiritual journey has deepened that understanding and strengthened my connection with Jesus and the Divine.

Section 2 — Building Your Foundation

Reiki is about more than what happens when we place our hands on ourselves. The practice extends beyond a Reiki session and into the way we move through everyday life. At its foundation are principles that invite us to become more conscious of our thoughts, emotions, choices, relationships, and how we respond to the world around us.

The Five Reiki Precepts remind us that Reiki is not only about working with energy—it is also about cultivating awareness, gratitude, kindness, integrity, peace, and presence in our daily lives. In this way, the practice becomes something we can carry with us long after our hands have moved away.

The Five Reiki Precepts are traditionally associated with the teachings of Mikao Usui. You may encounter slightly different English translations depending upon the teacher or lineage, but the heart of the teaching remains simple:

These are invitations to awareness, and perhaps the most important words are the ones that come first:

You don't have to figure out the rest of your life today. You aren't being asked to never feel anger or worry again. You are simply being invited to become more conscious of how you move through this day.

And tomorrow?

For me, the Five Reiki Precepts are simple reminders: embrace peace and trust, feel and release what you are ready to let go, return to the present moment, recognize what is worthy of gratitude, live with integrity, and offer kindness to yourself and others.

Gratitude is woven into the Reiki Precepts, and it has become an important part of my own practice. Gratitude reminds us that even during difficult moments, there is still something in our lives we can appreciate—a person we love, the warmth of the sun, an animal beside us, a beautiful sky, a lesson learned, a kind gesture, or simply another breath.

Our gratitudes can be big or small. What matters is that we notice them.

Throughout 4Gratitude Energy Healing, I invite you to develop one simple practice:

As I reflected on the Five Reiki Precepts, I felt called to carry their wisdom beyond “Just for Today” into Today & Always—not to replace the traditional precepts, but to express their wisdom through unity and how we can choose to live, grow, and move through this world together.

So, I created my own reflection inspired by the Five Reiki Precepts:

There is another practice I want to share because its message beautifully complements what we've explored here:

Ho'oponopono comes from Hawaiian tradition and centers around restoring harmony and making things right within relationships.

A modern adaptation has become widely known through four simple phrases:

Ho'oponopono is not Reiki, and these four phrases don't represent the entirety of traditional Hawaiian Ho'oponopono. I'm sharing this modern practice because it offers another simple way to become still and reflect upon:

You might quietly repeat:

You may direct the words toward yourself, hold another person or situation gently in your awareness, or simply allow the words to become a meditation.

Forgiveness doesn't mean denying what happened or returning to something that isn't healthy for you. Sometimes it simply means creating space within yourself to release what you're ready to release.

Before beginning Reiki or another energy practice, you may enjoy taking a few moments to prepare yourself and the space around you. And I want to emphasize the word: MAY

Reiki requires nothing outside of your intention, presence, and openness to receive. It can be practiced almost anywhere, at almost any time. The tools introduced in this module are simply options that may help you slow down, become present, and create an environment that feels peaceful and supportive.

There is something beautiful about intentionally preparing a space before beginning. Lighting a candle, opening a window, holding a crystal, saying a prayer, or taking three intentional breaths can become a simple signal:

Sacred space can be an entire room, a quiet corner, or simply the space you intentionally create within yourself.

Many spiritual and cultural traditions include practices for cleansing or preparing a person or space through smoke, sound, prayer, visualization, crystals, fresh air, water, movement, or intention.

I'll introduce a few that I personally enjoy or that you may encounter as you explore energy healing. These are complementary tools—not requirements of Reiki.

Water can also become part of an intentional clearing practice. A spiritual bath is simply a bath taken with intention—a time to slow down, become present, and allow the water to symbolize cleansing, release, renewal, or whatever feels meaningful to you.

You might add Sea Salt, Epsom salt, herbs, flowers, essential oils, candles, music, prayer, or simply use the water itself. None of these are required.

Before stepping into the bath, take a moment to set an intention. You might say:

Then simply soak, breathe, become still, and allow the experience to be your own.

Energy clearing doesn't have to be complicated. You can open a window, ring a bell, play peaceful music, say a prayer, take several intentional breaths, visualize light, place your hands over your heart, step outside, or simply state your intention.

You might say:

Sometimes simplicity is the most powerful choice.

Whether you've prepared your space or not, take a moment to ground yourself. Bring your awareness back to your body, your breath, the Earth beneath you, and this moment.

Place your feet on the floor or directly on the Earth when comfortable. Relax your shoulders, unclench your jaw, and allow your hands to rest naturally.

Notice the surface supporting you.Notice your body.Notice your breath.

If visualization resonates with you, imagine roots extending from the bottoms of your feet deep into the Earth—deep, steady, supported, and connected.

With each exhale, imagine releasing what you don't need to carry. With each inhale, allow yourself to become more present.

As we talk about grounding and connecting with the Earth, I want to introduce another beautiful idea:

Across many Indigenous cultures are diverse teachings about relationship and responsibility within the natural world. Rather than treating these traditions as one universal teaching, we can allow the broader idea of reciprocity to invite us to reflect on our own relationship with the Earth.

Rather than only asking what we can receive from the Earth, we can also consider how we can honor what we've been given. This might look like caring for the land, wasting less, respecting water, treating plants and animals with greater awareness, or simply becoming more conscious of our everyday choices.

Gratitude becomes more than saying, "Thank you for what I have received." It also invites us to ask, "How can I give back?"

Once you feel grounded and present, consider how you would like to enter your Reiki experience.

Your intention can be as simple as:

We'll explore intention more deeply in the next module. For now, choose words that feel natural to you. Your intention belongs to you.

Over time, you may discover what helps you transition into a quiet, intentional space. It might be palo santo, a crystal, music, a candle, prayer, nature, three intentional breaths, or simply becoming still.

The tools may support the experience.They are not the source.

Sometimes your entire preparation can simply be:

You've learned about energy, grounded yourself, and set your intention.

Now bring your awareness to one of the primary tools used in Reiki:

In Reiki, the hands are placed gently on or slightly above the body, becoming part of the experience of giving and receiving energy.

Rub your palms together gently for several seconds to bring your awareness into your hands.

Then stop and hold your palms facing each other several inches apart.

Relax your shoulders. Soften your hands.

Slowly move your hands a little closer together, then farther apart. Pay attention to what you experience. You may notice warmth, tingling, pressure, pulsing, coolness, subtle movement, a sense of magnetism or resistance—or something entirely your own.

As you continue practicing Reiki, your awareness may deepen and change. Allow your experience to be exactly what it is.

Bring your palms together gently at the center of your chest.

This position is known in Japanese as Gassho—bringing the palms together.

Take:

Bring your awareness to your hands and then to your heart. Recall the intention you created in the previous module.

You might quietly say:

Remain here for a few moments.

In the next module, you'll learn a sequence of Self-Reiki hand positions to give you a foundation for your practice. As you become familiar with them, continue paying attention to your own awareness.

Perhaps your hands naturally remain somewhere longer. Perhaps you feel drawn toward a particular area.

The hand positions give you a map.Awareness teaches you how to explore.

Allow your own rhythm to develop naturally. Over time, beginning Reiki may become beautifully simple. You may rub your hands together, bring them into Gassho, set your intention, and begin.

Or your entire beginning may simply be:

Receiving your Reiki attunement is the beginning of your Reiki Level 1 experience. At a ceremony I once attended, a woman shared something that stayed with me: the ceremony itself wasn't the entire experience—the real journey began when you went home. The ceremony was simply the initiation, opening the door for everything that would unfold afterward.

That is how I see the Reiki attunement. It is an initiation—a doorway. What follows is where you begin exploring Reiki for yourself and discovering what unfolds through your own practice.

After your attunement, I encourage you to spend the next 21 days practicing Self-Reiki and intentionally observing yourself. In many modern Reiki traditions, this is described as a 21-day cleansing, purification, or self-healing period. I prefer to think of it as your:

The number 21 has become significant within modern Reiki teaching and is often associated with accounts of Mikao Usui's period of fasting, meditation, and spiritual reflection on Mount Kurama. Over time, many Reiki teachers began encouraging students to spend 21 days practicing Self-Reiki following an attunement.

You may hear this called a 21-Day Cleanse, Purification, Self-Healing, or Integration period. However you choose to think of it, these 21 days are about giving yourself:

These 21 days can also be an opportunity to become more aware of what you're continually taking in—not only through your body, but through your eyes, ears, mind, and energy.

Perhaps you're inspired to become more intentional about social media, television, news, noise, certain environments, or anything else that may leave you feeling depleted. You may also choose to become more mindful of the foods that nourish your body, but this is not an invitation to fast from food.

Ask yourself:

Everyone's experience following a Reiki attunement is different. You may become more aware of physical sensations, emotions, thoughts, memories, dreams, energy, habits, patterns, peace, clarity, or intuitive experiences. Your experience may also be very subtle.

There is nothing specific you need to experience. Simply observe what unfolds.

After my attunement, I experienced what felt to me like a very real physical cleansing—my body seemed to purge.

That was my experience, and yours may look completely different. Pay attention to your body, remain curious, and seek appropriate care for any physical symptoms that concern you rather than assuming they are connected to Reiki.

Your 21-day journey is about connection, not perfection. Some days you may spend 10 or 20 minutes with Self-Reiki; other days you may have only a few. Use the time you have and return to the rhythm you've already learned:

Use your 4Gratitude 21-Day Reiki Integration Log to record your experience each day. Think of it as leaving breadcrumbs for yourself—sometimes we don't recognize what has been changing until we look back.

Notice anything that stands out and reflect on what you may be learning about yourself. A few words may be enough.

Life happens. If you miss a day, simply return when you're ready. Continue where you left off, begin again, or allow today to become another beginning.

Perhaps Reiki becomes an important part of your life. Perhaps it becomes something you return to whenever you want to become still and reconnect with yourself. Perhaps it opens another doorway entirely.

And wherever your journey takes you:

Section 5 — Deepening the Experience

Reiki is not a religion, and the energy we are exploring does not belong to any one religion, belief system, or spiritual tradition. I believe the Soul and the Divine energy that connects all life exist far beyond the labels and structures humanity has created to understand them.

Throughout this course, I use words such as God, the Divine, Source, and Creator because they reflect my own understanding. You may use different words. Honor the language and connection that feel true to you.

Self-Reiki is your foundation, and your 21-day integration journey is an opportunity to discover what healing means for you. As you continue practicing, I want to share two simple things that have become meaningful parts of my own journey—an invitation that changed the way I saw my own healing, and a deeper way of connecting with the breath.

One of the greatest gifts I received on my own healing journey was a simple piece of advice:

When we're seeking healing, so much of our attention can become focused on what hurts, what feels wrong, or what we want to change. This invitation turns our attention toward another possibility:

Consider asking this question during a quiet moment of prayer, meditation, or Self-Reiki. Then let it go. Become still. Remain open.

I asked God this question once. My answer didn't come immediately. It revealed itself over time, eventually through a vision. Your answer may come in an entirely different way.

This is why two teachings from Scripture have become so meaningful to me:

For me, these are reminders to become still and go within. There is no need to force an answer or decide how it should arrive. It may come through a thought, a feeling, an inner knowing, a vision, an experience—or reveal itself gradually over time.

Throughout this course, you've experienced intentional breathing again and again. Now let's take it a little deeper by bringing your awareness into the breath.

The breath is always with us, creating a natural bridge between the body, mind, heart, and present moment. Sometimes, coming back to yourself begins with something as simple as coming back to your breath.

Bring your hands to your heart and take

THREE INTENTIONAL BREATHS

As you breathe, imagine your breath flowing into your heart and connecting with your mind. Allow your heart, mind, and breath to come together as you become still and present.

There is nothing to force or accomplish.Simply breathe and notice.

You can return to this connected breathing during Self-Reiki, meditation, prayer, grounding, or anytime you want to reconnect with yourself.

Throughout this course, Reiki has begun with YOU. You've learned to become still, connect with yourself, listen within, and develop your own relationship with Reiki.

Reiki can also be offered to others, and perhaps one day you'll feel called to explore that path. For this Level 1 foundation, however, I have intentionally chosen to keep our focus on Self-Reiki—working with your own energy, deepening your awareness, and experiencing the practice for yourself.

Give yourself time to practice, observe, and discover what Reiki becomes for you. If you eventually feel called to offer Reiki to others, I encourage you to seek additional guidance and training in permission, boundaries, ethics, and responsible practice.

Throughout this course, you've practiced becoming still, noticing your body and energy, and listening within. As your awareness deepens, you may begin recognizing something that has likely been with you all along:

Intuition is the ability to sense or recognize something without consciously reasoning your way to the conclusion.

The conscious mind often works step by step—thinking, analyzing, comparing, questioning, and reaching conclusions.

Intuition can be different.

The awareness may arrive before the explanation does.

Sometimes we know something before we understand why we know it.

Intuition may come through:

Sometimes intuition is unmistakable. More often, it is subtle.

A quiet nudge.

A sudden knowing.

A shift in your body.

A thought that seems to arrive from nowhere.

Or simply:

People understand intuition in different ways.

Our subconscious minds continually process information, experiences, patterns, emotions, memories, and sensory details outside our immediate awareness. Sometimes the mind recognizes something before conscious thought catches up.

Others experience intuition as something deeper—a connection with the Soul, higher self, or deeper levels of consciousness and awareness that we are only beginning to understand.

Perhaps these possibilities do not have to compete.

You don't have to define intuition to begin recognizing it.

Your intuition may not feel like someone else's.

Instead of asking:

Begin asking:

Become still. Notice what arises. Pay attention to what repeats.

Over time, you may begin recognizing your own patterns and learning the language of your inner knowing.

As you experience Reiki, intuition may begin showing itself in subtle ways.

Your hands may naturally remain somewhere longer. You may feel drawn toward a particular area, notice a sensation, or experience a thought, emotion, image, or memory.

You don't need to immediately decide what it means.

Intuition and discernment belong together.

You may sometimes wonder:

You may not know immediately.

Intuition is not the same as certainty. Fear, hope, expectation, and past experiences can also influence what we feel.

Sometimes the wisest response is simply:

Then let experience teach you.

Over time, you begin to recognize your patterns. Awareness becomes discernment, and discernment deepens self-trust.

Teachers, books, healers, experiences, and life itself can all teach us.

And there is another teacher I want you to remember:

Learn from others. Ask questions. Explore. Remain curious.

Then come back to yourself.

You may already know more than you realize.

Sit comfortably, ground yourself, and take:

Place your hands over your heart and become still.

Ask yourself:

Then listen.

Perhaps a word, feeling, image, memory, thought, or knowing comes forward.

Perhaps there is simply stillness.

You don't need to make something happen.

Allow whatever arises to unfold in its own time.

Just as we intentionally begin Reiki, we can intentionally close the experience. Closing is simply a moment to acknowledge:

Pause, breathe, and allow the experience to come to a close.

Sometimes you'll complete all of your hand positions. Sometimes you'll have a certain amount of time available. And sometimes you'll simply feel complete.

Allow your awareness to guide you.

Bring your palms together at your heart in Gassho, or place both hands gently over your heart.

Take THREE INTENTIONAL BREATHS and notice your breath, your body, and how you feel.

Whatever your experience was—powerful, peaceful, subtle, or somewhere in between—allow it to be complete.

Now return to the heart of 4Gratitude.

Name FOUR THINGS YOU ARE GRATEFUL FOR.

They may be enormous or tiny—a person you love, your body, the warmth of the sun, a meal, a conversation, a moment of peace, or something beautiful you almost overlooked.

Simply notice what is already present in your life for which you can genuinely say:

Gratitude doesn't ask us to ignore what is difficult. It simply reminds us that even within difficulty, there may still be something worthy of gratitude.

Bring your awareness back to your body and surroundings. Feel the surface beneath you, notice the room, move your fingers and toes, and stretch if it feels good.

Listen to what your body needs—water, quiet, rest, reflection, or simply a return to your day.

During your 21-Day Reiki Integration Journey, record anything that feels worth remembering.

What did you notice? How do you feel now? Is there anything you want to remember?

A word may be enough. A sentence may be enough.

When you're first learning, remember this simple flow:

Closing Reiki doesn't mean leaving the experience behind. The awareness you cultivate here can move with you into everyday life.

Perhaps you remember to breathe, listen more closely to your body, notice something beautiful, or offer a little more compassion.

Perhaps you simply find yourself saying:

You have arrived at a very special part of your journey.

Throughout 4Gratitude Energy Healing, you have explored Reiki alongside energy awareness, grounding, intention, breath, Self-Reiki, intuition, and gratitude.

Now, you are ready to receive your:

I received my Reiki training and attunements through the lineage you learned about earlier in this course. As your Reiki Master/Teacher, I am honored to now share this experience with you.

Before beginning the video, choose a time and space where you can be comfortable and uninterrupted. Allow yourself plenty of time for the ceremony and for the stillness that follows.

There is nothing you need to make happen.

Simply come as you are.

At the completion of your attunement, I will guide you to pause the video so you can remain within the experience for as long as you wish.

There is no time limit. Allow yourself to be still, receive, and simply be with whatever the moment brings.

After pausing the video, take three slow, intentional breaths, gently bringing your awareness back to your body and the present moment.

Then, when you are ready, resume the video and we will complete the ceremony together.

Prepare your space as you wish and when you are ready, begin the video below and allow my voice to guide you from there.

4Gratitude Energy Healing has given you a foundation from which an entire world of possibility can unfold.

As you become still, connect with the energy within and around you, listen to yourself, and deepen your awareness, you may discover new interests, new questions, and paths you never expected to explore.

Let curiosity lead you. Follow what lights you up. Learn, experience, question, and discover. Trust your discernment and remain open to where your journey may take you.

Where you go from here belongs to you.

Your next step is your

For the next 21 days, spend time experiencing Self-Reiki and observing what unfolds. Use your Integration Log to leave breadcrumbs for yourself along the way.

And each day:

Before you complete this course and begin your 21-day journey, let's finish where we've returned again and again:

Place your hands over your heart and take

Think about where you were when you began, what you've learned, what you've experienced, and what you're curious to discover.

Then ask yourself:

Simply notice.

And now, your:

Today, I am grateful for...

Take ONE FINAL INTENTIONAL BREATH.

Feel your hands over your heart. Notice yourself. Notice this moment.

And simply say: