What Tai Chi Taught Me as a Reiki Practitioner
A reflection on Reiki, Tai Chi and embodied energy practice
Complementary therapies encompass many different traditions and methods, but energy-based practices often share a concern with the quality of the practitioner’s presence. For practitioners, concepts such as energy, grounding, intention and connection are not merely philosophical ideas. They shape how we prepare ourselves, meet another person and hold a healing space.
As a Reiki practitioner, these qualities have always been central to my own practice.
Not every tradition approaches energy in the same way
Over time, I began to recognise that different traditions can work within different energy frameworks.
In Reiki, energy is commonly understood as universal life-force energy channelled through the practitioner. The emphasis is often on receptivity: allowing Reiki to flow rather than trying to control it through personal effort. That receptive quality remains one of the things I value most about Reiki.
Tai Chi offers a complementary perspective. Within its traditional framework of Qi, practitioners cultivate their own energetic foundation through continued embodied practice. The questions therefore become:
Am I grounded and centred?
Are my mind and intention clear?
Can I remain connected without becoming tense?
What happens to my internal state when conditions change?
Tai Chi explores Qi through the body
I train traditional Yang-style Tai Chi as an internal martial art. Within this tradition, Qi is not only something to sense. It is cultivated through standing practice, posture, relaxation, movement, attention, intention and partner work.
Energy is therefore not treated as something separate from the body. It is explored through the body: through how we stand, soften, organise ourselves, move and connect.
This fascinated me because it complemented rather than contradicted my experience as a healer.
What if connection could be trained?
One of the most valuable insights Tai Chi gave me was that energetic connection is not only something we hope to experience. It is something we can practise.
Traditional Tai Chi includes solo practices such as Qi Gong and form, alongside partner exercises that provide immediate feedback.
If I become tense, the connection changes.
If I lose my grounding, I feel it.
If my attention becomes scattered, the connection becomes less clear.
If I force the connection, I meet resistance.
Tai Chi trains grounding, relaxation, intention, sensitivity and connection as interdependent aspects of one embodied practice. Within its traditional framework of Qi, energy work becomes something that can be experienced, examined and refined.
What changed in my own Reiki practice
Healing sessions are rarely identical. Sometimes the person becomes emotional. Sometimes what we sense changes unexpectedly. Sometimes our own body becomes tired, or our hands remain in uncomfortable positions.
Tai Chi has helped me become more aware of my own state during these moments. I understand this as part of energy sensitivity: sensing not only what may be changing in the energetic interaction, but also what is happening within my own body, mind and Qi.
In my Reiki practice, I have found myself more able to remain relaxed and grounded, notice subtle changes and respond without accumulating as much unnecessary tension. I have noticed this in both in-person and distance sessions. The benefit has not been a new technique to apply to another person. It has been a more stable and sensitive practitioner entering the session.
A traditional practice through a healer’s lens
I see Tai Chi as a valuable complementary practice for practitioners like me. Many healing traditions cultivate receptivity, allowing, sensitivity and presence. Tai Chi adds another dimension by exploring how our own cultivated energy is shaped by posture, grounding, relaxation, intention, movement and connection.
Its martial origins also create a distinctive training environment. Partner practice asks whether we can remain sensitive and connected when another person moves, changes direction or creates pressure—without becoming rigid, collapsing or forcing.
For me, Reiki and Tai Chi have illuminated different aspects of energy practice and enriched one another.
Why I created Tai Chi for Healers
This experience inspired me to pilot Tai Chi for Healers. The course does not turn healing into a martial practice or teach a new healing modality. Its focus is the development of the practitioner.
It explores how traditional Tai Chi training may support qualities many healers already value:
grounding without rigidity;
sensitivity without losing stability;
clearer mind and intention;
relaxation without collapse;
energetic and structural connection;
adaptability when conditions change.
The material comes from my traditional Yang-style Tai Chi lineage. The underlying system and principles are not changed. Instead, the emphasis and learning sequence are adjusted to make its energy practices especially relevant to people already familiar with healing work.
An invitation to explore
This is a small pilot course, and it will not be for everyone.
Reiki practitioners, energy healers and embodied practitioners who are curious about cultivating their own energetic foundation may find something valuable in the conversation between these traditions.
Tai Chi for Healers is an invitation to explore the practitioner behind the healing: the body that grounds, the mind that intends, and the sensitivity that allows connection to remain clear as conditions change.