Giving talks on “Living the Reiki Precepts” and “Reiki as a Self-Development Path” at the 2024 Virtual Reiki Evolution National Gathering on 31st August and 15th September
I started my career in the late 1990s working in biomedical research ethics, lobbying government and working with the public to create a strong ethical framework for medical research involving human beings as test subjects.
I loved it, but it was intense and political and sometimes in the public eye, and by the time I reached 30 I was close to burnout and experiencing health issues due to stress. I felt there had to be more to life than being a brain on a desk!
So starting over in my 30s, I set out to find a creative and holistic approach to life that would use all of me.
Which is when Reiki found me.
I fell head over heels, and proceeded to spend the next four years completely retraining – in yoga, meditation teaching, flower essences, life coaching and, of course, Reiki!
I’ve been running weekly classes, holistic retreats, treatments and trainings ever since, and I continue to add to my expertise, most recently through training as a shamanic counsellor. My training and treatment practice is based in central Winchester, and I am delighted to work with people from all walks of life to share how Reiki offers a route to healing, not just for body, but also for heart-mind and soul. I specialise in nurturing life’s carers, so their cup doesn’t run dry.
Holistic Retreats, RMT Online Support Group and Hampshire Reiki Shares
Joanne provides practical, inspiring Reiki training courses from her clinic in central Winchester, as well as holistic retreats throughout the year – both one day, weekend and longer – where she is joined by other Reiki Master Teachers to provide supportive treatments.
More information can be found at: www.joannesumner.com.
For information on her Reiki Master Teacher online support group and in person Reiki shares in Hampshire, please email her at jo@joannesumner.com.
About Jo’s presentations:
Living the Reiki Precepts (August 31st)
A foundational part of the Reiki ‘system’, the 5 precepts give us a way to find calm in the centre of life’s storms.
In this talk, Joanne will tease apart the meaning of these commitments, taking examples from real life, and applying the precepts in real time to demonstrate how they help us to increase our emotional fitness.
Over the 16 years of her journey with Reiki, the precepts have become increasingly important as a guide to self development for Joanne, with continual new learnings from each group of students.
Living life in the now, with delight, compassion and a sense of joyful self-responsibility is possible through these simple yet profound ideas. And for the days when it feels less possible, Joanne will also share a mindfulness technique for dealing with difficult emotions that gets consistently good results in her mindfulness group!
Reiki as a self-development path (September 15th)
Before Reiki was a healing tool, neatly packaged and taught on short courses across the west, it was a path for developing self-knowledge and transcendence. This is still available to us now, through the different elements of the Reiki ‘system’, if we immerse ourselves in them.
In this talk, Joanne will explore how different aspects of Reiki offer practical help and support for daily life.
- For example, through becoming aware of our own energy, working with the tanden, and with techniques such as Hatsu Rei ho, we learn how to become responsible for the energy we put out into the world. We can become more resilient, more confident, and better able to centre ourselves when taking on difficult situations. We may discover a new balance of giving and receiving, one that provides a sustainable and nourishing approach to life through our ongoing access to this conscious life force.
- Through self-healing meditations and treatments, we may find greater health and relief from pain, but also an increase in positivity and autonomy. What else may we take (back) into our own hands?
- Through the precepts, we find guideposts for every day life that serve us but also all those with whom we come into contact.
The more you surrender yourself willingly to your Reiki journey, the more the energy can bring balance and enlightenment to your life. In the moments when you’re offering or receiving a treatment or training, yes, and also in your developing sense of life purpose and partnership with Life altogether.
It is, literally, a path of empowerment.
Where might it take you next ?