Most of us assume time moves like a river, the past flowing behind us and the future approaching. But if we examine our own experience carefully, we see something different. When you regret the past, you are not entering the past. You are activating memory. When you worry about the future, you are not entering…
Over the years, I’ve noticed a quiet shift in how people arrive at Reiki. In the beginning, students want clarity. They want to know what is happening, whether they are doing it correctly, and how to make it work better. Questions are natural, and they have their place. Explanations help orient the mind while the…
Why I Am Naming This Lineage Now Reiki has always evolved through human hands. It was shaped by the people who practiced it, the cultures that received it, and the lineages that carried it across oceans. When I chose to name the Koshin Reiki Style, I did so to honor the transmission that shaped my…
Most Reiki students learn a simple tale: Mikao Usui fasted on Kurama mountain, received a revelation, and a healing system was born in a flash of light. But the real history, the one revealed through the work of Reiki historian Justin B. Stein, PhD, is far more interesting. It’s more human, more complex, and—ironically—much truer…
On October 19th, 2025, at the sacred Okunoin on Mount Kurama in Kyoto, Japan — the heart of Reiki’s spiritual heritage — I had the deep honor of initiating Brian Battjer of New York City as a Reiki Master in the Usui System of Natural Healing, Usui Shiki Ryoho. This initiation was witnessed and held…
The Reiki Precepts are not commandments, but tools for training the mind to return to the present moment. Spoken morning and evening, they help us pause, breathe, and respond with awareness instead of habit. Over time, they become part of our nervous system and our way of being. I’ve found that practicing the Precepts daily…
NYC Reiki Center offers a traditional, lineage-rooted approach to Reiki training spanning Level 1, Level 2, and the advanced Reiki Master Practitioner (RMP) Program all taught by Brian Brunius. Below is an in-depth guide to each level and how we honor the Usui Shiki Ryoho lineage passed down through Hawayo Takata. 🔹 Reiki Level 1…
Honoring a New Wave of Healers On Tuesday, July 29, 2025 at 5:30 pm, we gathered at Hotel Hugo’s Bar Hugo Rooftop in SoHo to celebrate the Class of 2025 Certified Reiki Practitioners. It was a hot summer day with bright, sunny skies — the perfect backdrop for a rooftop ceremony with sweeping city views. Guests arrived in summer casual attire,…
A Transformative Beginning In 1993, Brian Brunius experienced a profound, near-death spiritual encounter in a hospital, which led to both physical healing and a clairvoyant sensitivity to the energy fields of illness. Inspired, he walked into a Reiki class a few months later and embarked on his lifelong path in Usui Shiki Ryoho. Mentored by…
If you practice Reiki or have ever wondered what Mikao Usui actually taught to his early students, we have exciting news for you. For decades, very little was known about Usui-sensei’s original methods and philosophy. Original source material was either lost or inaccessible in hard-to-understand pre-war Japanese texts. But now, that’s finally changed. ✨ A…