Why write a book about Women in Reiki?

Women in Reiki began as a spark of inspiration Silke Kleemann received while meditating one day. She saw that, though the majority of people practicing Reiki were women, the vast majority of those who were in the public eye speaking, researching and writing about Reiki, were men. The inspiration was to write a book about some of the women across the world who are working and living with Reiki today. She wanted to help bring women into the bigger picture, to give them a greater voice and for people to see examples of diverse individual paths and women’s life stories with Reiki. She knew she would need a partner in this project, and instinctively knew who that would be… a friend, colleague and fellow author.

When Silke contacted me (Amanda Jayne) to propose the idea, I didn’t hesitate, I knew it was a great idea and something I wanted to be a part of immediately.

How the book, Women in Reiki changed over time

Very soon, it became clear to us both that the stories of women today weren’t complete without us learning more about the stories of the women who had come before us all. Those who worked hard, practiced daily and sometimes made sacrifices to ensure that Reiki survived. Women in Reiki grew substantially as we began to research and learn the stories of Japanese women in the 1930s and beyond who carried Reiki from its inception to people around the world today.

The Japanese women in the book, Women in Reiki, have quite different yet equally fascinating lives. Chie Hayashi, Chiyo Sugano, Katsue Komatsu, Chiyoko Yamaguchi, Hawayo Takata and Kimiko Koyama all played a role the survival and continuation of Reiki. We wrote about their lives as factual stories so they are easy to dip in and out of, and we put their situations and the decisions they made into historical context to help us all gain a wider understanding of who they were and why they chose what they did.

Inspiring Qualities

As we wrote Women in Reiki, we noticed that the stories and the choices each of the women made inspired us. The qualities they navigated their lives with were not only inspiring, but they were lived examples of the words of the gokai (five principles) that Usui sensei chose to help his students on their path of inviting happiness and for the improvement of mind and body.

The world needs more women stepping up today

I hope we can all appreciate that many women across the world are sharing and encompassing inspirational qualities in every day life. What we find inspiring in the Japanese women we have featured in our book are qualities much needed as we navigate a world where current logics of power, domination and business are increasingly unhealthy. It is pertinent, even necessary, to bring forward another way of connecting, caring, leading, being and finding balance and harmony with nature as well as each other.

We are going to write a series of blogs here on this Women in Reiki website and look at some of the qualities embraced in the lives of those women on whose shoulders we all stand, no matter which school of Reiki we practice. We look forward to bringing you along with us...

Silke Kleemann's website: www.jiruka.de

Amanda Jayne's website: www.learnjikidenreiki.com