Reiki 1st Degree: Shoden

The Reiki 'First Degree' course lasts for 15-16 hours, which is equivalent to more than two day's training. You spend approx. nine hours working through a multimedia study pack, at your leisure, and then attend a single-day live course. During the live part of your training you will focus on practical energy work, guided by an experienced Reiki teacher and in the company of a few other students - there will be no more than four students on any of our First Degree courses.

This approach provides you with a complete training in the basic Reiki technique. You can learn at your leisure, in the comfort of your own home, allowing all the information to sink in and allowing you to realise any questions that you might have, and you then arrive on the course well-prepared and already knowing a great deal about Reiki. Then we spend the live part of your course working with energy and putting what you have learned into practice.

The Study Pack
You will have a chance to go through your study pack for usually a few weeks before the course, and this gives you a good grounding in the basics of Reiki. Imparting a load of information on a live course is a really ineffective way to learn or to teach, so we help you to get to grips with the 'knowledge' side of Reiki before you arrive on your day-course. The study pack consists of a comprehensive, professionally-printed 170-page 'Shoden' manual and a two specially-produced audio CDs, one containing 70 minutes of commentary and the other containing guided meditations that you will be introduced to on your course and which you will use subsequently. Your pre-course reading and listening will focus you on these areas:
  • What Reiki is and where it comes from (the History, Background and Development)
  • What Reiki's founder taught and how we can follow the original system in the modern world
  • The Reiki 'precepts', mindfulness, and the use of empowerments
  • How to benefit from daily energy exercises and self-treatments
  • How to use Reiki on other people

We will review this information briefly on the day of the course, but most of the training day concentrates on hands-on practice rather than theory.

During the morning of your course, you will go through three simple and powerful 'connection' rituals, called 'Reiju' empowerments. These traditional Japanese empowerments open up the channels through which Reiki flows. They are equivalent to Western-style Reiki 'attunements' and enable you to use Reiki for your own benefit and for the benefit of the people around you - your family and friends. This ability will stay with you for life, you will never lose it, and Reiki works for everyone!
During the morning, you will start to work with your energy in different ways. You will learn to feel your own energy and you will practice feeling other people's energy, and we will run through and practice some Japanese energy exercises that you can use every day to balance your energy system and to make you a stronger and clearer channel for Reiki. These energy exercises come from Japanese Reiki, in its original and later forms, and have been missing from Western Reiki for 50 years.

Course Schedule
Note: Arrive at 9.30am. Finish time no later than 5.00pm
General Overview of the course, introductions
  • 'Reiju' spiritual empowerment (First of three connections to Reiki)
  • Learn to work with energy: Simple exercises to feel your energy and that of other people
  • 'Reiju' spiritual empowerment (Second of three connections to Reiki)
  • Energy exercises: Learn the Japanese 'Hatsu Rei Ho' technique
  • 'Reiju' spiritual empowerment (The last of the three connections to Reiki)
  • Self Treatments: Carry out a Japanese self-treatment 'meditation', and learn how self treatments are done Western-style.
LUNCH
  • 'Treating Other People': Demonstration and Explanation
  • Feeling the Energy Field: Practice
  • 'Scanning': Practice
  • Treat another student: Practice giving a Full Reiki treatment
  • Be treated by another student (Now see what it feels like for yourself!)
  • Final comments

Certificate
All courses are accompanied by an attractive certificate signed by your teacher. In this case your certificate confirms that you have received instruction and Reiju empowerments and have satisfied the requirements of the "First Degree" of Reiki.

Course fees
The fee for the First Degree Course is £160, with an £80 deposit paid in advance, and the balance of £80 paid to your teacher, by cash or cheque, on the day of your course.

Ongoing support and advice
Once you've been on your First Degree course we want you to know that your teacher will be on hand to deal with any questions or queries that you might have. As a teacher through www.reiki-evolution.co.uk all of my students have access to the various ways that Reiki Evolution can support you, and our students can support each other. This is what Reiki Evolution offers at the moment:
  • Internet Support/Discussion group for all our students who have an e-mail address. You can contact approx. 1,200 other Reiki people (September 2007 figures) who have done the same training as you, Reiki1s, Reiki2s and Masters. If you have any queries, if you have any ideas that you want to share, if you want to simply enthuse about something, then go ahead.
  • Free distant Reiju empowerments each week anytime on a Monday. Every week you can 'tune yourself in' to a Reiju empowerment from Taggart, anytime on a Monday (and more than once if you like!). This will give your Reiki practice a real boost and echoes the way that Reiki was taught by Mikao Usui, with empowerments week-in week-out throughout your training.
  • Access to a network of regular Reiki shares (get-togethers) at various UK locations where you can meet other Reiki Evolution students, chat, receive Reiju empowerments and swap treatments
  • Access to updated versions of your Reiki 1 manual. You can access future versions of the manual for free via the homepage of our Internet discussion group.
  • Free ongoing support and advice by e-mail or telephone.

Please click here for course dates and booking information
Human Reiki Course dates & booking