About

I’m passionate about holistic therapies and helping people achieve a greater sense of well-being, deep relaxation and transformation through Shamanic Reiki Drum, nature-focused Reiki and gentle massage. These are not only tools for deep relaxation and self-healing, but can help us rediscover our sense of oneness and wholeness. Through these practices we can tap into our lost, ancestral and inner wisdom, and our sense of interconnection with all things. A lack of connection is what many people nowadays are suffering from, so an important part of greater well-being is reconnection with the natural world and the energy (Reiki) that surrounds us, is us.”

Hello! I’m Jo Bourke and I’m a holistic therapist, shamanic Reiki drummer and creative practitioner, based in Worcester, UK, enjoying a magical mid-life! I’m a Shamanic Reiki Drum and Usui Reiki practitioner trained to ‘master/teacher’ level in both, so I can offer treatment sessions as well as teaching Reiki and Reiki Drum practitioner training courses in Worcester. I’m also qualified in Indian Head Massage, which I combine with Reiki for a very relaxing ‘ASMR-style’ Reiki Head Massage and shamanic-style ‘Energy Cleanse’. I am also trained and certified in Forest Therapy also known as Forest Bathing, Shinrin Yoku or Sylvotherapy. I can create bespoke outdoor sessions that combine Forest Therapy, shamanic drumming and journeying and reiki.

I work predominately with women and enjoy working with animals too. I am a member of the Complementary Medical Association and insured in all my practices by Balens.

My main Reiki Master/Teacher training was in what is known as the Usui/Tibetan lineage (with wonderful local teacher Lynne MacKenzie). The Reiki Drum lineage comes from the American shamanic tradition via Michael Baird in the US and through Sarah Gregg in the UK, who originally brought the teachings to England from the USA 30 years ago. I’ve also undertaken further Shamanic training in shamanic drumming and journeying as well as training in plant spirit medicine, and attended several courses over the years with different shamanic teachers and these practices are now part of my daily life.

Shamanism is a nature-based spirituality that comes from indigenous cultures who haven’t lost their connection to nature as we have in the West. The term ‘shaman’ is originally from Siberia and translates as ‘to know’ or ‘one who knows’. Every culture has a word for their indigenous wise-people. In old English one of them was ‘hægtesse’ meaning ‘hedge rider’ essentially someone who travels on the boundary and is where we get the words hedge, hag and hex from. Another more familiar word is ‘wicce’ (pronounced ‘witcher’) – a 5000 year old word meaning ‘wise woman’. It is where the word ‘witch’ is derived from but this word was sadly misappropriated and used as a negative term from about the 14th Century onwards, instead used to control women and denigrate the remains of our western indigenous shamanic traditions.

Traditional shamans are ‘seers’, able to connect to different levels of consciousness and receive guidance through ‘direct revelation’ and their spirit guides. They believe or rather experience (as it isn’t simply a belief system like modern religions), that everything has spirit/consciousness, this view is commonly known as ‘animism’. The indigenous shamans foster reciprocal relationships with everything around them, sensing the infinite web of inter-connections.

Shamanic practitioners are not shamans, but have been taught indigenous wisdom practices by teachers who have received training from shamans or from a lineage of shamanic teachers, and often developed new techniques based on ancient wisdom, such as Reiki and Reiki Drumming. Read more about the benefits of Reiki and Reiki Drum here.

Whether practicing Reiki and/or Shamanic drum techniques, the job of the practitioner is to be a bridge or channel to the innate universal lifeforce energy (Reiki) and wisdom, that’s no other than our True Nature. This connection facilitates deep relaxation and reawakens our sense of wholeness, and inter-connectedness that we most often only experience as lack, as disconnection and therefore dis-ease.

There is tremendous potential for personal and societal healing by reclaiming our relationship with nature, our ancient pagan and animist beliefs (believing all things have a spirit/consciousness & energetic imprint) and our lost Euro-indigenous wise-woman and wise-man traditions. We can re-establish our deep reverence and relationship to the land; to plants and food as medicine; to the universal lifeforce energy (Reiki) that is the underlying source energy of all and therefore, to our innate self-healing potential.

Over the years I’ve come to realise from my own experience that true personal healing (as in a return to a sense of connection/wholeness) can come from this remembering, restoring, honouring and aligning with our connection to nature, which leads us back to ourselves as nature. Western society is suffering today as a direct result of our separation from nature and commoditisation of the Earth – we’ve forgotten that what we do to the planet we do to ourselves.

Reiki, as a practice and spiritual lifestyle came from Japan (read more about Reiki here) and is deeply rooted in Shinto (Japan’s indigenous, nature-based spiritual tradition) and Buddhism. Eastern traditions are not separated from nature as our Western culture, religions and people sadly are.

So, I feel that as Westerners, we need to restore our sense of connection and sacred relationship to nature first, especially whenever we engage in any Eastern traditions (and in general, as a first step on the healing path,) so I incorporate nature reconnection by connecting to the elements, in all my sessions and Reiki/Reiki drum teaching. What’s wonderful is that more people than ever are realising that nature heals and that they are nature beings and this is reflected in the fact that nature-based spirituality such as shamanism and Druidry are now the fastest growing traditions in the West.

In my Reiki treatments and teaching sessions in Worcester, I utilise guided meditations to reconnect my clients to the earth and the other elements, and use fresh and dried herbs and local stones in the same way we use crystals. Using local herbs, plants and stones and honouring our local land can help us on our healing path and restore our connection to our lost western, indigenous, shamanic roots. I also like to hold my sessions outside and surrounded by nature whenever I can.

More About My Background & Experience

From young age I’ve been interested in and connected to nature, spirituality, and mysticism, as well as creative pursuits such as art, writing and music. I have always felt drawn to the natural world, wanting to spend time around plants and animals, and appreciating the healing potential of nature.

In 2015 I began studying and practising meditation in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition and have found that the Buddhist/Dharma teachings really help to take my therapeutic practices deeper and informs my understanding of the causes and cessation of suffering we experience. In 2020 I began exploring shamanic practices more seriously, studying the traditions and practices that helped connect me directly to the land and plants around me, especially through drumming and drum journeying. I learned more about our country’s Celtic history and my family’s Celtic roots; about animism, paganism, Druidry and other nature-based beliefs and philosophies. I eventually found that nature-centred, shamanic practice resonated with me more and were so helpful on my own healing journey, especially when combined with Reiki, which I had already been practising for some time.

I feel very much aligned with nature-based spirituality for their reverence of nature and teachings that remind us we are nature! I observe the natural cycles of the seasons (known as the Celtic wheel of the year) and enjoy simple rituals and ceremonies that ground me and connect me to nature and the Earth’s sacredness and cycles. I began seeing those cycles played out in the macro and micro, inner and outer, as above, so below, and how these cycles and tides affect our physical and mental health. I began including these rituals and nature connecting meditations into my Reiki, Drum and massage practice with wonderful results for myself and positive feedback from clients.

I’ve been a Usui Reiki practitioner since 2017 and I’ve previously worked as a freelance writer/author, large events organiser and social media/marketing manager. Just before the covid lockdowns I had taken up shamanic-style frame drumming and taken courses in shamanic drum journeying and core shamanic practices with US shamanic teachers, with the drumming forming a big part of my own healing and spiritual practice. I’ve found it so helpful to let go of tension and work through stuck thought patterns and energy.

It felt natural to me to combine drumming and Reiki and there were a big synchronicities happening for me in 2021 when I found out there was an existing and recognised practise called Reiki Drum, which is a wonderful bridge between Reiki and traditional shamanic healing practises. Read more about Reiki Drum here.

My drumming practice over the years has also inspired me to write my own chants and songs for drum circles and other drummers. My drumming songs (recorded simply to share with other drummers, nature-centred practitioners and circle holders,) are available on all music platforms (Apple, Spotify etc) as ‘Jo-Willow’ and can be streamed freely with lyrics on bandcamp.

Part of my practice is also connecting to the magical and energetic properties of trees, plants and herbs. Reiki connects so perfectly with working with nature and plants for land healing, self-healing and working with others. I’ve also researched the folklore, magical and medicinal properties of different plant allies. I enjoy bringing this ancient wisdom into my Reiki practice too. I also create my own blends of natural herbal incense as well as herbal talisman sachets to wear from the herbs I grow.

My other creative pursuits include making Crone Spirit Dolls (something I found a helpful and meaningful way to honour the journey of menopause) as well as crafting candles, incense, rattles, drum beaters and other ritual items, which I sell through my Etsy shop and will also be offering occasional sacred craft workshops.

I live in Worcester, UK with an amazing view across to the Malvern Hills – the oldest hills in England and Wales. The Hills, known to many as an ancient Earth Goddess with her sacred wells and pure spring water, have had a profound influence on me. Through shamanic journeys I’ve connected to the Hills felt guided to use the 680 million year old granite and volcanic rock from there in the same way crystals are used, having found these rocks to have powerful, grounding energy.

My own health has been a rollercoaster ride! I’ve experienced chronic illness and anxiety for most of my life and found Reiki and later Reiki Drum one of the most beneficial things for my own well-being, which made me want to learn more about it! Although I still have to pace myself when it comes to work and my own healing journey is a continuous practice, my experience with chronic illness has been an incredibly valuable experience. It has put me on this path of self-healing and wishing to help others, through a chronic illness and trauma aware lens.

I especially enjoy working with women on their menopause journey to help them honour that powerful portal of transformation through shamanic reiki practice and nature connection.

Do contact me for more information about what I offer, whether remotely, or in person in the Worcester area.