COUNCIL & STAFF
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Kate Jones Council member
OOOOOOOOOOOO Following my initiation as a master I was invited to join the Board of the Association and in 1992 I became the Association’s Administrator. I was therefore involved in much of the early development and attended all the meetings and gatherings that took place. I began to see the patterns and energy pulses of the living being that is the Association.
Alongside my part time (!) work for the Association I continued to teach Reiki and give occasional treatments. With a particular passion for the aspect of public practice I also participated in conferences about this question (including one I organised in the UK). I was also fortunate enough to be invited to speak at a conference in Australia about the work of the Association.
In 2004 I decided it was time to leave the job and concentrate more on my personal Reiki work. It has been a real joy to deepen my Reiki practice and do more of what I enjoy most: enabling people to learn more about Reiki! I was also able to develop my interest in working with animals, training as an ACT2 Animal Communication practitioner with James French. However my connection with the Association continued as a member of the PSP/DPN team, allowing further exploration of my interest in public practice.
I live in the beautiful county of Shropshire, close to Ludlow, with my wonderful husband Alec and lovely dog Kai. I love singing with my community choir and occasionally solo, taking photos and painting with a Chinese brush. The community of The Reiki Association has been an important part of my life for almost 18 years and continues to be so.
Julia Hathaway Council member Paul Prakash Dennis Council member Harry ThompsonWith a background in languages and teaching, Kristin’s reiki life started as a result of establishing a centre for complementary therapies on the Welsh borders. There she was able to follow up on a lifelong interest in natural health and spiritual philosophies. A visit from reiki master Marta Getty in 1985 led to several years of organising classes and practising before being initiated as a reiki master in early ’89.
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Kristin was closely involved in the founding of The Reiki Association, holding the vision of both a network of practitioners and of supporting students desiring to enter public practice. The Reiki Alliance, the international body of masters founded after Mrs. Takata’s death, has also been an important part of her reiki life. She was also invited to participate in the Master Education Programme and spent several weeks over three years with Phyllis Furumoto, Paul Mitchell and a dedicated group of masters, finding ways to deepen the practice of reiki and learn more about the elements that make up the System, Usui Shiki Ryoho.
An accident five years ago put a stop to extensive teaching and treatments, and since then Kristin’s focus has been more on networking, committee work and holding small retreats with those already initiated into reiki. The deepening connection with reiki, with the Usui System and with the community of dedicated students has been very rewarding.
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In recent years I have been part of the Practitioner Support Programme (which became Deepening Practice Network), and feel very proud of the events that we have organised – especially the workshops with Phyllis Furumoto and Paul Mitchell.
So it had been saddening in the past few years, to realise that TRA was somehow losing its way, losing the sense of connection and inspiration that had been important to many of us in the early years, and it was with some trepidation that I came to the EGM in March. I had no intention of volunteering for any role at all (after all, I had been on Council from 2001 – 2003), but I found myself unexpectedly volunteering for Council again, with absolutely no clear idea of what this might bring, either for me, or for the Association. And in many ways this is still true. But I simply felt drawn to volunteering, despite all my logical-brain’s persuasion to the contrary. And here I am.
I have a passionate wish to simplify the workings of TRA; to make the Association work for ALL its members; to make it accessible, simpler to both access and operate; and especially to be part of bringing TRA into the 21st century, so that a new generation of Reiki practitioners may benefit from the sense of support, creativity and excitement that being part of our community can bring.
My journey with the Reiki Association also began with a love affair; this time one that endures to this day.
At the very first TRA Board Meeting that I witnessed on January 14th 1992, I met a certain Margaret Pauffley for the third time and the strong Reiki must have pushed us over the edge! We are still together; both very much the children of this community almost from the very start.
Kristin Bonney and Kate Jones were also at that meeting. Kristin invited Margaret and I to go to Spain to meet Phyllis and the Reiki Alliance. I will always bless Kristin for this, for I was from a very different Lineage and System of Reiki and I found my true home. Phyllis eventually “adopted” me as a Master /Student in 1994.
Ah those wonderful early days when we were all young with Reiki and such eager community beavers! There was very little structure, terrific enthusiasm and so much grass roots energy that people competed with each other to be the Area Co-Ordinators!
I served on all sorts of TRA entities over the years, returning to TRAC in 2003 to try and get Grass Roots activities happening again but with limited success because fewer eager beavers and volunteers could be found.
The new call to refresh and decentralise TRA appeals to me. I never ever liked the top heavy mock professional Nanny State structure we have struggled under for so long since 1995
This time I really feel the doors to renewal are ready to open. I want to put my energy into harnessing all the new techie tools; emails and our website to help recreate our community and help it and us to fulfil its huge potential..
I am especially happy to serve with Kristin, Kate and Julia whom I have worked with for many many years and love very dearly.
We live in exciting skrunchy TRA times!
Council Member
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO I hold the Usui Master/Teacher Certificates and I am also a Registered (No.UKM-07-012) Karuna Master/Teacher. It has been a great experience, and pleasure, to have attended the last three Masters Gatherings at Buckland Hall, where I had the opportunity to meet so many like minded people, and together as a 'community' share our experiences, and give Reiki to each other. It was also a privilege to meet and listen to the 'Bearer of our 'Line' - Phyllis Furumoto, with her wonderful way with words, and her inspiration to all of us!. I also enjoyed the tremendous 'input' from Marta Getty, who certainly made us aware (well it did to me) of ourselves and gave me certainly a lot to think about!
At the AGM in 2008 I was elected to The Reiki Association Council, and also to the 'Working Group', which culminated in the EGM earlier this year. Since then I have been 'out of action' due to illness, which I hope has now been 'contained', and look forward shortly to taking a full and active role in bringing our Association away from the 'Them and us' situation which was apparently unfolding, and get back to becoming an Association which has a place for everyone - without exception, to ensure that this Association is, as was originally set out to be by the 'Founding Members, a 'community of people' interested in Reiki, of whatever teaching, to meet and share their Reiki Experience without 'constraint' (for the want of a better word) and to be respected for their 'Ideals'.
The Association is based on the teachings of Dr. Usui, but the message which should be made absolutely clear in our future deliberations, and 'broadcast' to all through whatever 'media' is available, that ALL are welcome to our 'Community. THAT IS MY AIM.
| At the EGM I was very saddened to see that all the work done by past members over 18 years appeared to be in vain. Two days later I was asked if I could be co-opted onto the new RA Committee. I agreed on one condition: to fill a space for a year so that the RA could continue, albeit in a new form. | Jan Robinson OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO |  |
I have been giving Reiki to myself and others for 14 years and have been a Master for 4 years. I love Reiki. I have more verbal skills than written ones and find talking much easier then writing! My experience in business and with computers is limited. However I can see things from a different space and, because I have never been involved with past RA committees, I can view the future and the past with a different eye. I shall do my best and hope that I can be of service. |
 | John Nye Subscriptions Secretary |
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