Reiki & Pokémon

"For those of you who played Pokémon on the Game Boy or DS growing up, you know what it’s like to train a Pokémon. You start with a little guy at level 1—and the only way to grow its strength and power is through experience points. That means taking it out into the wild to battle other Pokémon. Each time you win a battle, your Pokémon earns experience and begins to level up. As it levels up, it gains more power and capacity. Eventually, when it reaches a certain level, it evolves—taking on a stronger form with new abilities.

Learning Reiki is a lot like this.

When you first receive your Reiki Level 1 activation, it’s like getting a brand new level 1 Pokémon. You’ve got access to a new kind of power—but your relationship with that power is still fresh. To grow it, you have to use it. You need to take it into your daily life, work with it, and start giving it real-world “experience points.” The more you use Reiki, the more refined your relationship with it becomes. You start to notice the energy more easily, feel it more deeply, and trust it more intuitively. Your ability to channel it increases—and so does the impact it has.

But here’s where the metaphor shifts a bit.

In Pokémon, your creature evolves automatically when it reaches a high enough level. In Reiki, your evolution comes through choice. You don’t “level up” just by practicing—you receive an energetic upgrade by taking the next class. Reiki Level 2 introduces new energetic tools, symbols, and a deeper capacity to channel energy. It’s like your Pokémon evolving into a more advanced form—with expanded abilities and a more powerful presence. Then, in Reiki Level 3, it evolves again—unlocking even more energetic potential and giving you access to the deepest expressions of this work.

Here’s the key:

Just like a Pokémon trainer who never takes their Pokémon into battle, the biggest mistake I see is people getting attuned to Reiki… and then never using it. They don’t take their Reiki out into the wild. They don’t use it to build strength or expand capacity. And so it stays dormant—just sitting there at level 1, waiting.

But when you make Reiki part of your devotional practice—when you show up to it regularly, when you bring it into your real-life struggles and ask it to help—you start to evolve. Not just as a Reiki practitioner, but as a human. Your capacity expands. Your sensitivity sharpens. Your inner world begins to regulate. And slowly but surely, the version of you that began this journey starts to transform into someone stronger, softer, and more energetically attuned.

Just like your favorite Pokémon, you become someone entirely new.”