Colleen Benelli

Colleen Benelli is a Reiki master teacher and shamanic practitioner based in the Portland area of Oregon. She came to Reiki through her horse, Dakota, after a bad injury sent her looking for ways to help him, and she went on to train in Reiki with William Lee Rand, founder of the ICRT (International Center for Reiki Training), and in shamanic studies with Jan Engels-Smith at the LightSong School, where she earned a shamanic doctorate. She is a licensed Reiki master teacher, co-directs the ICRT's licensed teacher programme, leads its programme development, and co-wrote the ICRT's Animal Reiki courses and manuals.

In 2004 she founded Reiki Lifestyle, which she now runs with her daughter, Robyn Benelli. Together they teach Usui and Holy Fire Reiki, Karuna Reiki and Animal Reiki, mostly live on Zoom, with some in-person classes in Oregon and at Omega in Rhinebeck, New York. They also created Next Step Reiki, a three-year programme of guided Reiki journeys and channelling, and Explore the 12 Heavens, a year-long course on spirit guides and higher realms. Her teaching is gentle and practical, mixing guided journeys with time to practise. She co-hosts the Reiki Lifestyle podcast and has written for Reiki News Magazine since 2005.