2019 Celebration of Reiki Conference Presenters
Find biographical information here for the 2019 Conference presenters. Panelists are highlighted on the Panelists page. Facilitators for interactive sessions during the morning and afternoon breaks are highlighted on the Interactive Sessions page.
Keynote Speakers
Akua Gray, Keynote Speaker: "Self-Care; When the Healer Needs to Heal"
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Akua Gray
Dr. Akua Gray, ND, a certified Reiki Master Teacher in Usui Reiki, has been teaching this healing art to thousands of students in the USA, Canada, The Caribbean, Africa and Europe over the past two decades and has written three volumes of Naturopathic Reiki training manuals. In addition to her work in Reiki she is a licensed naturopath, spiritualist and instructor for A Life of Peace Education Wellness Institute, Inc. Dr. Akua currently teaches classes in Naturopathy, Detox Therapy, Women’s Rites of Passage, Naturopathic Reiki and Holistic Doula Training. She has also authored numerous wellness books including The Natural Health and Wellness Manual, Detox Therapy, Naturopathic Herbology, Veggie Delights: Recipes for Holistic Health and Holistic Sexuality: The Practical Guide to Sexual Healing. Dr. Akua has worked to empower families and communities with the desire to encourage a healer in every home. She currently lives bi-continental between Texas and Ghana. The nurturer of three sons, she shares these accomplishments with her divine reflection of 30 years Dr. Chenu. Presentation:
Remembering the importance of self-care as a Reiki practitioner is vital especially as you move through the progressive degrees of this healing art. Each level of Reiki brings a greater responsibility and requires you to give more and more to those you serve, but how well do you care for yourself? This presentation is for those Reiki providers who give unconditionally and sometimes feel a drain or unfulfillment. Physical, mental, emotional and spiritual balance in all areas of life is the promise of Reiki for both the practitioner and the client. As vessels of light we must remember that we can only give what we have. Let’s recharge, renew, revitalize and recommit to ourselves and our communities with a mission of consistent self-care. |
Nicholas Pearson, Keynote Speaker: "East and West: Bridging the Divide"
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Nicholas Pearson
Nicholas Pearson has been a practitioner of Usui Reiki Ryoho since 2006, has received initiations into several lineages and is also a practitioner of Jikiden Reiki. A certified teacher of Usui Reiki Ryoho, he offers Reiki and crystal healing classes throughout the United States. Nicholas is the author of Foundations of Reiki Ryoho, The Seven Archetypal Stones, Stones of the Goddess, Crystal Healing for the Heart and Crystals for Karmic Healing. He lives in Orlando, Florida, with his partner Steven. Presentation: The presentation will begin with an overview of the Reiki "family tree" to illustrate how all of our practices stem from Usui-sensei's teachings, thereby underscoring the common ground all practitioners share. We will proceed with historical perspectives that provide the framework and cultural context for Reiki's genesis, transmigration and subsequent globalization. By understanding the factors present in Japan in the early 20th century, we are better able to see how Reiki has adapted and how it will continue to do so. The presentation will also include an overview of some of the "best practices" from a variety of Reiki lineages, with examples from traditional, hybrid (Eastern-Western) and nontraditional schools of Reiki practice. We will stress that the measure of value for practitioners is efficacy, e.g., historical accuracy is superseded by results with our personal and professional practices. This creates a platform for dialog and outreach among different schools of Reiki for Reiki's continued growth, thereby enabling us to better serve our fellow humankind. |
Morning Breakout Sessions
Panel: "Animal Reiki in Public and Private Practice"
Animal advocate Lisa Weese shares her Reiki practice with Oliver the pig, as part of her Animal Reiki training with Kat Forgacs in Arizona.
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This panel will discuss Animal Reiki in a variety of public and private settings, such as animal shelters and sanctuaries, private homes and other environments such as zoos. Topics will include the Animal Reiki Code of Ethics, essential Animal Reiki principles and approaches and Reiki outreach as it pertains to offering Reiki to animals.
Go to Panelists page for more information.
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Shoden student Laura Czarzasty practices traditional Reiki with a rescue horse at Aimee’s Farm Animal Sanctuary in Arizona. Reiki is a form of heart-to-heart connection with animals.
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Kerry Thompson: "Websites for Reiki Practitioners"
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Kerry Thompson, Owner, Kerry A. Thompson Website Design
A former technical writer, Kerry Thompson now designs starter websites on Squarespace and Weebly to help people share what they love to do. She has maintained the Celebration of Reiki website since 2017 and has designed websites for Reiki, massage, herbalist and sound healing practices. Kerry holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Middlebury College. Websites for Reiki Practitioners The presentation will start with the basics of website design and explain the difference between a domain and a website. Using client examples on Weebly and Squarespace, we'll look at what a Home page is and see some ways it can be designed and what information it should have. Then we'll talk about the About page and how that helps prospective clients get to know who you are and what your experience is. We'll talk about the Contact form and how it can be used by prospective clients. Then we'll look at Services pages and how to organize them to be clear. |
Akua Gray: "Naturopathic Reiki Self-Treatments"
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Dr. Akua Gray, ND
Give new meaning to your favorite self-treatment hand positions. Join keynote speaker Akua Gray to learn how to indulge the senses in the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual openings for your renewed self-care through naturopathic living principles. |
Carolyn Wilkins: "Reiki and the Creative Spirit"
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Carolyn Wilkins, Owner, Resonant Wisdom Reiki
Carolyn has been a Usui Reiki Master since 1996. She holds a Bachelors of Music degree from Oberlin Conservatory and Masters in Music Performance from Eastman School of Music. Carolyn Wilkins is a professor at Berklee College of Music. A talented jazz pianist, vocalist and composer, she has released seven albums of original music on her Tiphareth recording label. Carolyn is also an author. She has published five books: Damn Near White and They Raised Me Up (University of Missouri Press); Melody For Murder and Mojo For Murder (Pen-L Publishing) and Tips For Singers (Hal Leonard Publications). A Reiki Master and Psychic Medium, Carolyn shares her healing and intuitive insight both with private clients and students at Berklee College of Music. Reiki and the Creative Spirit The creative process can be immensely joyful. It can also be a source of tremendous emotional pain. Many creatives have brilliant ideas trapped inside them that they have not been able to fully express. In this workshop, author and musician Carolyn Wilkins will share the Reiki-based techniques she uses with her clients at Berklee College of Music to open and enhance the creative spirit. |
Late Morning Panel for Whole Conference
"Shining the Light on Hidden Bias in Reiki Practice"
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Celebration of Reiki Planning Committee and Board Members
Celebration of Reiki, Inc. has made a commitment to cultural inclusivity and reducing systemic bias in holistic health so that people everywhere can begin to have access to Reiki practice. Join members of our planning committee and board as they share their personal experience after attending Racism and Diversity training last summer. What does it look like for a community of predominantly white Reiki practitioners to understand how hidden bias and internalized privilege can be informing their practice? How do we allow ourselves to grow and evolve to recognize and see what we haven't seen before? And how is The Celebration of Reiki looking at and adjusting to these needs in order to better serve our Reiki community? |
Afternoon Breakout Sessions
Panel: "I and Thou: Enhancing the Therapeutic Relationship in Reiki Clinical Practice"
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Martin Buber, the German philosopher, recognized that we address others in two ways: I-It, wherein the I sees the other or the object as separate; and I-Thou, wherein the relationship with the other or the object is a living relationship full of meaning.
This panel will address the fundamental components we can all develop to ensure a safe, trusting and meaningful I-Thou therapeutic relationship with our clients in Reiki clinical practice. These essential building blocks include (i) the integrity with which we approach our business logistics; (ii) our professional and ethical behavior; (iii) our ongoing cultivation of self-awareness so we can be of optimal service to our clients and others; and (iv) establishing clear communication, deep rapport and compassionate solidarity in the therapeutic relationship. Go to Panelists page for more information.
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Lou Orsan: "Reiki Beyond the Table Reiki Share"
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Lou Orsan, Northeast Reiki Center
Reiki on the Table Share is back by popular request, facilitated by Lou Orsan. Enjoy the soothing refreshment of sharing Reiki with your colleagues at our 7th annual Celebration of Reiki Conference. |
Victoria Londergan: "Companioning with Reiki – Embracing the Other"
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Victoria Londergan, Spiritual Care Coordinator/Chaplain, Exeter Hospital Resource Group
Victoria holds a Master's Degree in Multicultural Education and Intercultural Communication and is also a Franciscan Spiritual Director/Midwife, Reiki Certified Level III practitioner, Clinical Pastoral Trained Chaplain Hospice, and Trained Wisdom School Graduate. Victoria lives in Exeter, New Hampshire with her husband and daughter. She is Reiki-certified, Hospice trained, an Associate of the Northeast Spiritual Formation Guild, a Wisdom School Graduate, a CPE-trained Chaplain, and a certified Spiritual Director. Tory’s personal growth is at the heart of her interest in consecrating all the ways we embrace deeper, authentic ways of knowing and bring them to our presence, and through our presence, to the world. This is healing work that humbly unfolds through Reiki in respectfully companioning others. Companioning With Reiki — Embracing the Other This workshop asks participants to actively engage with their own ability to offer companioning presence through Reiki. We explore how Reiki supports our staying in the room — remaining present — when confronted with the new, the unfamiliar, the other. It invites participants to consider how working with others in diverse settings from the cultural to the socioeconomic and beyond invites a creative synergy for the practitioner and the one being companioned. |
Hilary Harley: "Trials and Triumphs of Reiki Volunteering: Why We Do It"
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Hilary Harley, Owner, Harley Holistic Healing
Hilary holds a BFA in Journalism, holds a Southern Methodist University MLA, and a Southern Methodist University MPA. She is also a Reiki Master, Teacher, Novelist, and Counseling Astrologer. Hilary has been a resident of Boston since 1987. She began her astrological practice in 2002 upon completion of training with Dietrech Pessin, Monique Pommier and Dorothy Oja. Hilary then trained in Reiki with Annemarie Seidenberg of Celestial Beginnings in Natick and founded Harley Holistic Healing in 2016. She works with clients privately and offers Reiki to hospice and hospital in-patients as a Reiki volunteer. Hilary authored Ring of Truth in 2007 and joined Our Sight Your Light as a Soulful Practitioner in 2018, where she produces a monthly astrological blog and bi-monthly vlogs. Hilary is a member of the National Council for Geocosmic Research and the IARP. She considers her daughters Julia and Emma her most significant accomplishment. Hilary may be reached at www.hilaryharley.com. Trials and Triumphs of Reiki Volunteering: Why We Do It This presentation discusses the difference between organized volunteering (hospice and hospital) and self-initiated Reiki volunteering. We will review: requirements for Reiki volunteers in various settings; modifying your Reiki practice to suit organized delivery demands; providing optimal Reiki within unfamiliar environments; immense benefits Reiki volunteers receive; refining your own practice while serving others; where to find Reiki volunteering opportunities. |