Ifetayo White, Sydnye Oyugi & Jamila White

May 2026 Issue

by Mary Hope Roseneau
Photography provided by Ifetayo White

Ifetayo White is a lively 81-year-old phenomenon with a couple of cats, a tortoise, two daughters, and two grandchildren. She is a Reiki instructor and healer with a peaceful studio in her beautiful home on St. Helena Island. I was honored to get to visit with her in person, after a Zoom call earlier with her two daughters.

Ifetayo’s home is at the end of Coffin Point Road, which is down a couple of winding dirt roads, past a homemade sign of a hand with fingers pointing three different ways at the intersection of three more dirt roads. It’s a serene, quiet community, and just a short walk to the beach, passing homes with gardens, chickens, and horses.

Ifetayo’s front door was open, but I still knocked. “Come on in,” she called. And came to greet me with a warm smile and arms open wide for a hug. We hadn’t met before in person, but I felt like I already knew her and she knew me.

Her home is full of Reiki symbols, paintings, sculptures, incense, wall hangings, and furniture arranged with visiting in mind. Tall stacks of books are everywhere. Her home looks busy, filled with projects but calming at the same time. She led me to a room at the back with walls of windows, surveying the huge backyard with towering oak trees. It was shady, cool, and quiet, except for the songbirds in the tree limbs.

We talked about the loves of her life, her daughters Sydnye and Jamila, and her grandchildren. Sydnye and her family live in Maryland, and Jamila is staying with her mom until a move back to Barbados.

The younger daughter, Jamila, favors her mother quite a bit. She too is a Reiki master, as well as a psychic healer, medium, life coach, podcaster, and writer. She recently published A Year of Self-Love Journal (available on Amazon) with prompts and directions for each week of the year to reflect and record your meditative thoughts, dreams, and goals.

Jamila is a natural for live podcasts and can chatter easily with listeners as they sign on and offer comments. Also like her mother, Jamila is a graduate of Howard University, summa cum laude, and a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority. She is a modern young woman with entrepreneurial plans, and it’s easy to see the many principles her mother imparted her, coming full circle in her life.

Sydnye is married, with a son, 18, and a daughter, 20. She is an Emmy-nominated writer for a television station in the Washington, D.C. area. Like her mother and sister, she is also a author, has written three novels, and is in the query letter process to have them published. As far as Reiki, she practices it personally but doesn’t teach it or offer seminars like her mother and sister.

The family is remarkably close, though separated by distance. Sydnye calls her mom every morning at 7:30. And the two sisters choose a theme or topic to discuss with each other weekly.

Ifetayo began her journey with Reiki as a single mom, working as a Russian translator with the U.S. government. Secure in her job but constantly seeking answers regarding life’s deepest questions, Ifetayo hesitated when a friend offered her free training in Reiki. She said she would “think about it.” It was at the Unity Center of Truth in Washington, D.C., a place that welcomed speakers and practitioners of all types of religions, that her friend offered Reiki training. As she thought about it, she distinctly heard the answer, “Receive the gift!” She accepted the offer and went on to obtain Levels I, II, and III and Reiki Master attunement.

Meanwhile, she moved her career to work in mental health counseling and also trained as a massage therapist. When she began to learn about the healing properties of “hands on” therapies, the mind/body connection started to make sense to her. As a counselor, Ifetayo learned two of her unwed, teenage clients were pregnant. With them so young and lacking a support system, Ifetayo became concerned about their physical and emotional well-being. In order to help, at 62 years old, she earned credentials to be a certified doula to coach pregnant women before, during, and after delivery. These credentials allowed her to be present in the delivery room alongside the girls and women to help guide them through their journey. She has assisted in more than 100 births and considers her experience a special gift and calling.

Not long after, she left D.C., she moved to St. Helena Island, calling Beaufort “the home of my heart.” She learned she was the only Reiki teacher in the area and began a new career teaching Reiki classes, offering retreats and seminars, and giving keynote addresses to prestigious groups, such as the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta.

Ifetayo has recently published: Reiki Heart and Soul: Many Stories, One Bright Light, a book featuring 21 people sharing their stories about how Reiki entered their life and made a difference. Accepting her friend’s offer has made a huge difference both in Ifetayo’s life and her daughters’ futures.

And that is the beauty of us.

 

Up Close:

Five Daily Principles of Reiki:
Just for today I will not anger.
Just for today I will not worry.
I will be grateful.
I will be true to my way and being.
I will be compassionate.

Reiki Heart and Soul: Many Stories, One Bright Light is available locally at Beaufort Bookstore, Penn Center, and Zen Den in Port Royal. It is also available online at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Books-a-Million.

To learn more about Ifetayo:
log onto www.ifetayowhite.co or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.