Simon had his first contact with the world of energetics in his final year at Cambridge University when he studied taiji. This was in the early 1990s when the AIDS epidemic was at its peak in the UK. Simon was very impressed by the heroic efforts of the shiatsu practitioners and massage therapists who did everything they could to improve the quality of life of those living with the disease. After his studies, Simon graduated in holistic massage and then in Traditional Chinese Medicine. As often happens in life, the encounter with Reiki was completely accidental. Before graduating, a classmate made him sit on a stool in the corridor and gave him ten minutes of Reiki: he was hooked.

It was his work in the field of HIV/AIDS that shaped Simon as a Reiki therapist and Chinese Medicine practitioner. Witnessing firsthand the difference Reiki made in the lives of people who, in those years, had little to hope for, taught Simon the enormous value of Reiki; losing others to the virus taught him his limits.

In 2002, Simon moved to Puglia, where it was difficult to find supplies for the practice of Chinese Medicine. He had to discover other approaches to preserve the supply of needles as long as possible. Initially, Simon used Reiki only in cases where there was a marked lack of energy (yang or qi) or substance (yin or blood), but over time, he learned to rely on Reiki's intelligence and  the body's innate ability to heal itself. Over and over again, client after client, Simon found that when we have enough energy, we can get out of many of the problems we encounter in life. 

Simon gradually realized that his role as an acupuncturist served less and less in his clients' healing process. When he placed his hands on a client's abdomen, the energy flowed. From then on, it was the inner intelligence of the customer that decided how that energy was going to be used. Reiki went where the client needed it most, not where Simon believed it was needed.