July 2026

Years ago, my Reiki student asked me, “What if my Reiki Master is not perfect?” I was dumbfounded at her question. Seriously? I was in the kitchen preparing lunch for my students and almost dropped the plates in my hands. Nobody is perfect – not your Reiki Master, not your Reiki Master’s Master, not the shaman from the forests, not the Buddhist monk, nor the Catholic priest, not your parents or your boss. Nobody. We’re all human.

But what is most important is that we continue to work on ourselves. What is important as healers and spiritual teachers is that we continue to heal our woundedness to become more whole, and in modern-day technological parlance, aim to become better “versions of ourselves.” It’s not exactly my favourite phrase as it sounds like you’re creating a more advanced iteration of a software: transforming Germaine version 1.0 into Germaine version 5.0. No, I am not AI!

So then what is a Reiki Master? It is not about having earned the title in a few workshops – although this is a good start. The true essence of a Reiki Master is someone who continues to work on themselves. Someone who has chosen this path of humility, of knowing that we are not perfect, and that we are just “on our way.” It is a commitment to continue healing, growing, and developing ourselves to become better human beings.

The desire to grow is inherent in being alive. All living things have that impulse. Not to remain stagnant, nor to regress – clearly, we are not happy when we are in these states! I believe our purpose in life is to reach our full potential – as opposed to achieving “perfection.” Perhaps this is exactly what we could aim for in our path of self-healing and personal development.

Photo (2025): Germaine at the UNESCO World Heritage Site – Wat Phra Ram in Ayutthaya, Thailand, capital of the Siamese Kingdom from 1350 until its destruction by the Burmese Army in 1767.