05/14/2026
Last evening, during our Reiki III Shinpiden training, we explored the topic of Reiki and social justice. As our class moves just beyond the midpoint of our five-month journey together, it feels especially important to create space for these conversations and reflections as practitioners and future teachers.
I'm deeply grateful for the wisdom and presence of our guest speaker for the evening, Erin Sweeney, whose thoughtful guidance helped open meaningful dialogue around this very important topic (scroll down to learn more about Erin).
When we think about Reiki practice, our first thoughts are often about peace, compassion, and healing. And, when we deepen our relationship with Reiki, it also asks us to become more aware of our interconnectedness and the realities unfolding around us. It invites us to notice suffering, injustice, inequality, and harm without turning away from them.
Part of embodying Reiki is learning how to bring presence, compassion, ethics, and awareness into the way we move through the world and into the ways we hold space for others. It’s allowing our clients the space to be with difficult emotions and experiences without spiritual bypassing (the tendency to move too quickly toward positivity or spiritual explanations instead of fully acknowledging pain and difficulty). While this is often well-intentioned, it can sometimes create distance rather than the deeper presence and support that clients need from us.
It's difficult to cover everything we discussed last evening in one post, but it was a deep learning experience that gave us all a lot to contemplate.
These are not always easy conversations, but they are meaningful ones, and I'm deeply grateful for the honesty and thoughtfulness this group of students continues to bring during our class time together. They are all amazingly insightful.
Erin Sweeney is a healing practitioner, antiracist group facilitator, movement + mindfulness instructor, and writer based in Lancaster, PA. You can learn more at their website: erincaitlinsweeney.com.
Thank you, too, to Elise Brenner and Nancy Spatz for helping bring this conversation into Reiki practice in their book, Reiki: A Self-Practice To Live in Peace with Self and Others (which I use for my Reiki I classes). Eternally grateful for both of you!
