What is Okuden
Okuden is the second level of Usui Reiki Ryoho. The word translates as inner teachings. Where Shoden laid the foundation, Okuden deepens it - refining attention, expanding practice, and inviting a more intimate relationship with the system.
What Okuden Covers
Okuden builds directly on the foundations of Shoden. The precepts, the breath practices, and hands-on healing remain central - Okuden assumes these are already part of your daily life rather than introducing them again.
What is new at this level:
Symbols and mantras are introduced - not as tools to increase power, but as methods of refining attention. They gather the mind in the same way that breath and chanting gather the body. Working with them over time tends to bring a subtler, more settled quality to practice.
Distance healing is introduced - the practice of offering Reiki beyond physical proximity. This extends the reach of the work and opens a wider field of application. It also tends to shift something in how a practitioner understands connection itself.
The quality of mind behind the practice receives more direct attention at this level. Rather than focusing primarily on where the hands are placed, Okuden invites the practitioner to notice what is happening internally - the quality of presence, the degree of effort, the movement between doing and allowing.
What Okuden is Not
Okuden is not a qualification that enables you to charge for Reiki. It is not a graduation from Shoden or a sign that you have mastered the first level. It is not about accumulating more tools or becoming a more powerful healer.
It is also not a necessary next step for everyone. Shoden contains everything needed for a complete self-practice. There is no obligation to continue further, and no hierarchy implied in where a practitioner chooses to remain.
Who Okuden is For
Okuden is for those who have completed Shoden and feel genuinely drawn to deepen their understanding of the system - not because they feel they should, but because the practice itself is calling them further.
This might be someone who wants to work professionally with others. But it is equally for someone who simply wants a more intimate relationship with the practice - a deeper connection to the energy, the symbols, and the system as a whole. The professional application is one possibility, not the primary reason.
The most useful preparation for Okuden is not a fixed amount of time since Shoden, but a daily practice that has genuinely settled in. When Shoden feels like home rather than something being learned, Okuden tends to make itself known.
How I Teach Okuden
I offer Okuden as a two-day in-person class held over a weekend in Coomba Park on the NSW Mid North Coast. Two days allows the material to be covered without rushing, and gives space for practice, questions, and integration - both within the class and overnight between the two days.
Shoden with me is the prerequisite.
If you feel drawn to explore Reiki, I offer Shoden - the first level - several times a year and Okuden - the second level - twice a year, both in Coomba Park on the NSW Mid North Coast.
