What if Reiki was never the beginning of the story?

Long before Mikao Usui developed Usui Reiki Ryōhō, human beings were exploring the mysteries of healing through touch, breath, consciousness, vital force, and the body's remarkable points and pathways.

India spoke of prāṇa, nāḍīs, chakras, and marma. China developed qi, meridians, and acupoints. Japan explored ki, tsubo, hara, tanden, and spiritual healing practices. In Europe, Franz Anton Mesmer proposed animal magnetism, beginning a fascinating journey that would eventually contribute to the development of hypnosis.

Then, in early twentieth-century Japan, Reiki emerged within a world already rich with healing traditions.

In Before Reiki, Dr. Constance Santego follows the healing thread across cultures and centuries to uncover what came before Usui, what he actually contributed, and how Reiki changed as it travelled from Japan to the West.

Along the way, she explores surprising evidence of Reiki Ryōhō before Usui, separates documented history from beloved legend, and asks why so many healing traditions return to the same places on the human body.

This is not a book about proving or disproving Reiki.

It is an invitation to discover its larger story.

For Reiki practitioners, healers, teachers, students, and curious seekers, Before Reiki offers a new way to honour the past without losing the mystery.

Because the story of energy healing did not begin with Reiki.
It began with humanity's enduring question:

What helps us heal?