Marti Bruening

Since childhood, I’ve known I was a little different – deeply sensitive, drawn to the mystical and “weird” things, and curious about spirituality.

And I’ve walked a path of healing in my own life – recovering from childhood trauma, divorce, chronic pain, an eating disorder, depression, anxiety, and corporate burnout – to get me here today: steady and strong in my ability to walk alongside my clients on their healing paths.

I first experienced Reiki in college, when I wrote an article for the student newspaper about holistic wellness and received a Reiki treatment as part of my research. I was enamored immediately. I felt soothed, cared for, calm, and balanced after my session, and I have been a regular Reiki client ever since. I received the first level of Reiki attunement in 2021 and the final level, Master Teacher, in 2024.

Through the years, I’ve continued to explore many other modalities: crystals, essential oils, yoga, cognitive behavior talk therapy, Internal Family Systems “parts” work, somatic experiencing, and meditation to name a few. All of them have been meaningful additions to my life, but one practice rose to the top as the most transformational – breathwork. I attended my first Be Free Breathwork ™ retreat in the fall of 2020 and walked out a changed woman.

Breathwork has allowed me to process stuck trauma and shift from a reactive space to an empowered, open-hearted mindset. After an intense 10-month training, I became a Be Free Breathwork facilitator in 2022.

Today, I combine my natural intuition, Reiki, and breathwork training, as well as other therapies I’ve learned over the years, to bring healing, love, and support to my clients' hearts, minds, bodies, and souls. I have learned how to connect to my highest self and my spirit guides, and my hope is that my clients are empowered to connect with their higher selves as well.

I hold space at the beautiful and nurturing Be Free Healing Center in Fort Collins, Colorado for private Reiki sessions. I also offer private breathwork journeys, hold small group healing circles, do distance/virtual Reiki sessions, and facilitate other workshops, too. It is my deepest honor to walk with you toward your healed and highest self!

Credentials

  • Usui Reiki Level I – March 2021

  • Usui Reiki Level II – July 2021

  • Usui Reiki Master Practitioner – October 2021

  • Usui Reiki Master Teacher – July 2024

  • Be Free Breathwork ™ Facilitator – July 2022

  • 200-hour Certified Yoga Instructor - August 2025

  • Therapeutic Sacred Sound – August 2023

  • Personal Trainer and Indoor Cycling/Spin Instructor

  • Reiki practitioner in medical facilities

  • Corporate business meditation guide

What is Akamai?

The word “akamai” is Hawaiian (pronounced "ah-ka-my") and means wise and skillful. I firmly believe our bodies are very wise teachers if we can slow down and get quiet enough to hear them. But that’s not why I chose to name my business Akamai Healing. I have a personal connection to the word.

I am named after my mother’s sister, my Aunt Martha Ann. Martha passed away in a car accident about a year before I was born. She was an artist with beautiful red hair and a free spirit. Martha had spent some time in Hawaii in her 20s and fallen in love with the place and the people. When she later got a pet parakeet, she wanted a Hawaiian name for it, so she chose Akamai. My mother followed in Martha’s footsteps and moved to Hawaii after college, where she met my father. They lived the first six years of their marriage in Hawaii before moving back to the mainland, where they had me and my brother.

Akamai the bird outlived my aunt, but when the bird did pass away, my grandparents buried him next to Martha’s grave, so their final resting places are together in a small cemetery in Del Rio, Texas.

I believe Martha is one of my strongest spirit guides. She first came to me in my 30s during a dark time, and she manifested herself to me in the form of large black wings wrapped around me, telling me I was cared for and all would be okay. The wing in my logo is a dedication to her.

I thank Martha, and all my teachers and guides, for the opportunity to bring that same sense of love and care to the clients of Akamai Healing.