The Reiki Teaching Institute is an accredited Reiki school. This means that we have been approved by the American Holistic Nurses Association to teach Reiki to nurses for professional credit.
Peace and blessings, Grace and Sophia
Grace is a Reiki master teacher, author, teacher, and entrepreneur. She earned a B.A. in Sociology from the College of William and Mary and a M.A. in Sociology from the University of Virginia. She has worked for 13 years in policy and statistical research and strategic planning, contributed to several academic and professional publications, and continues to serve as an independent consultant though Friel Consulting.
From June 2005 to January 2007, Grace completed the Reiki I & II, Reiki Drumming©, and Reiki Master Teacher levels with Laurelle Gaia and Michael Baird of Infinite Light Healing Studies Center in Sedona, AZ. She has been practicing and teaching ever since. As their practice has grown, Grace and her business and life partner Sophia Pettett were interviewed on TV about Reiki by the ABC affiliate in Winchester, Virginia. They recently moved the company to Buffalo, NY. Grace is a member of the American Holistic Nurses Association for her work in sharing Reiki with nurses.
Grace loves traveling and new adventures. She's lived in 7 states and visited 13 countries and 15 states, including driving two round-trip journeys across America. Just to name a few adventures, she's flown a plane AND jumped out of a plane (though not in the same trip!), biked 100 miles in a day as part of the AIDS Ride 2000, wilderness backpacked as part of a spiritual vision quest in 2006, and lived by choice for two months in a pop-up camper in Arizona and California (some of that time off-grid). As a counter point to all of this activity, she loves teaching, giving, receiving, and meditating with Reiki, doing just about anything with her partner Sophia, and walking with their dog Stella.
Sophia is an author, teacher, and entrepreneur. She earned a bachelor's degree in anthropology from the University of Chicago, and a master's degree in anthropology from Yale University. She has taught classes in cross-cultural gender and sexuality studies at several universities, and has presented and published academic research on lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender issues. A one-time professional singer in her youth, you can now meditate as Sophia sings the Reiki Principles in her lovely soprano voice.
Sophia's first experience with the power of energy work was using Transcendental Meditation to heal a once-persistent malignancy. She was first attuned to Reiki I & II in 2006 and began working daily with Reiki. Attuned to the Reiki Master Teacher level in 2007, she began working out of the store and school run by her Reiki teachers, Laurelle Gaia and Michael Baird.
As their practice has grown, Sophia and her business and life partner Grace were interviewed on TV about Reiki by the ABC affiliate in Winchester, Virginia. They recently moved the company to Buffalo, NY.