Three hundred sixty days of sun press down on the Pinellas Peninsula with a kind of insistence that shapes daily life in St. Petersburg in ways visitors rarely notice. Long-term exposure to that light draws retirees and sun-seekers but also generates a particular restlessness: creative transplants arriving from cooler, grayer cities often describe an excess of energy they cannot quite direct. That combination of sunlit vitality and the anxiety of reinvention — common among the young professionals and artists moving into Grand Central and Kenwood — has made St. Pete unusually receptive to practices that teach stillness. The Dali Museum anchors one kind of surreal intensity on the waterfront; the reiki studios along Central Avenue offer another, quieter version of it.
The LGBTQ+ community, which has a strong and visible presence from the Edge District through Kenwood, represents one of the most consistent client demographics in local studios. Trauma-informed healing work resonates particularly well here, and several practitioners have built explicit expertise in supporting gender-affirming care journeys and post-transition integration. The retirement population concentrated in Pasadena and Shore Acres forms a second distinct client stream, typically arriving through physician referrals or word of mouth within senior activity networks. That tension between the city’s new creative energy and its older residential base shows up clearly in the diversity of practitioners: some run gallery-adjacent studios targeting the transplant wave; others keep quiet home practices serving clients they have known for a decade.
1. Hand to Soul
Founded: Not specified
Address: 4554 Central Ave, Unit C1, St. Petersburg, FL 33711
Phone: (727) 469-3191
Website: https://handtosoulhealing.com
Services: Reiki energy healing, Thai massage, holistic balance massage, Reiki and sound healing combination sessions, sound healing with crystal and Himalayan bowls, corporate chair massage, Reiki Levels 1-3 training
Products: Gift certificates, wellness memberships
Hand to Soul is the practice of Aiyana Fraley, a Reiki Master Teacher and licensed massage therapist with over 26 years of experience serving the St. Petersburg and Tampa area. Aiyana trained in Eastern healing traditions including Thai massage, Reiki, and Shiatsu, and her practice integrates these modalities to help clients achieve peace and balance through sessions that honor mind, body, and spirit as one. Located in the heart of Central St. Petersburg just minutes from Treasure Island, the studio offers a welcoming, tranquil space with ample parking and full online booking.
2. Maddie Meditates Wellness Center
Founded: 2020
Address: 2429 Central Ave, Suite 204, St. Petersburg, FL 33713
Phone: (813) 530-6087
Website: https://www.maddiemeditates.com
Services: Reiki energy healing, spiritual life coaching, meditation, breathwork, conscious movement and embodiment, art play sessions, community events, spiritual retreats
Products: N/A
Maddie Meditates Wellness Center was founded in 2020 by Madeleine Hanlon, who offers reiki, spiritual life coaching, breathwork, and somatic movement practices that address the full spectrum of mind-body-spirit wellness. The center hosts community events in St. Pete and Tampa and organizes spiritual retreats across the United States, creating opportunities for deeper collective healing beyond individual sessions. Madeleine’s integrative approach encourages clients to explore their inner life through multiple modalities, making each wellness journey uniquely personal.
3. Circle of Light Unlimited
Founded: 2014
Address: St. Petersburg, FL (Pinellas County; mobile and in-person appointments available)
Phone: (941) 524-7594
Website: https://www.circleoflightunlimited.com
Services: Trauma-informed reiki healing sessions and classes, sacred sexuality coaching, birth and doula services, private healing sessions, couple and individual retreats, meditation classes, ceremony and wedding officiant services
Products: N/A
Circle of Light Unlimited was founded in 2014 by Niki Kissell and operates as a specialized trauma-informed healing and spiritual guidance practice in the St. Petersburg area, with particular expertise in supporting survivors of sexual trauma through customized reiki and intimacy healing programs. The practice’s broad scope encompasses birth services, retreat facilitation, and ceremony alongside its core reiki and energy healing offerings. Mobile appointments extend the practice’s services throughout Pinellas County and the greater Tampa Bay area.
Frequently Asked Questions About Reiki in St. Petersburg
Q: How much does a reiki session cost in St. Petersburg?
A: Reiki sessions in St. Petersburg typically range from $70 to $120 for a 60 to 90 minute session. Combination sessions integrating reiki with Thai massage or sound healing may be priced higher. Some practitioners offer membership programs or package rates that reduce the per-session cost for regular clients.
Q: Does Florida require reiki practitioners to be licensed?
A: Florida does not license reiki as a standalone healing practice. If a practitioner also provides massage therapy, they must be licensed by the Florida Department of Health under the Florida Board of Massage Therapy. Many St. Petersburg reiki providers voluntarily pursue training credentials through organizations such as the International Center for Reiki Training to demonstrate their qualifications.
Q: What should I expect during my first reiki session in St. Petersburg?
A: Hand to Soul on Central Avenue — where the Edge District’s LGBTQ+ community and the Kenwood creative transplant population overlap — is led by Aiyana Fraley, a Reiki Master Teacher with over 26 years of experience who integrates Thai massage and crystal bowl sound healing into sessions alongside traditional reiki. You remain fully clothed and lie on a treatment table while the practitioner places hands gently on or hovers above areas of the body for 60 to 90 minutes. Maddie Meditates Wellness Center on Central Avenue adds breathwork and somatic movement alongside reiki for clients whose Grand Central neighborhood reinvention runs deeper than a single modality can address. Circle of Light Unlimited, founded in 2014, holds explicit expertise in trauma-informed care and extends mobile sessions throughout Pinellas County for clients who cannot travel to a fixed studio. Warmth, tingling, and emotional shifts are common, and most practitioners close with a brief debrief.
Hand to Soul serves the Central Avenue corridor where the Edge District’s LGBTQ+ community and the Kenwood neighborhood creative transplants overlap, integrating Thai massage with reiki in a format that suits clients carrying physical and emotional stress simultaneously. Circle of Light Unlimited, founded in 2014, has built explicit expertise in trauma-informed care for sexual trauma survivors — a specialization that addresses a gap the Pinellas County clinical system has historically underfunded. Maddie Meditates Wellness Center completes the options for the Grand Central and Kenwood population seeking somatic coaching alongside energy work.