How to Perform Reiki Healing

Simply put, the meaning of the word Reiki stems from the Japanese combination for two words that collectively mean ‘spirit energy’ or more precisely, ‘spiritually guided energy’. This ancient form of natural healing has been in use for thousands of years. 

1. Know where you wish to begin. Reiki healing is used to treat the human being on three different levels: the body, the emotions and the soul. Knowing where to begin on your client is paramount to the completion of a successful session.


2. Lay your client down on a massage table and cover them with a blanket. Your client need not be undressed to receive a reiki treatment. Indeed, this aspect of the treatment has led to its rising popularity in health clinics and independent practitioner's offices. 


3. Center yourself. Before you can begin a healing treatment on another human being, you must first be sure that your own spiritual house is in order. Release any stress, anger or expectations you might be withholding and allow yourself to relax completely. This allows you to enter a state of complete acceptance of your own present state of being and that of your client, which is the true first step to reiki healing. 


4. Begin at the head. As you seek to balance the overall energies of your client, the first and most conspicuous place to begin is at their head. Position yourself so that you are standing at the head of the client as they lie upon your massage table and position your hands at the top of their crown chakra. It is not important that you touch the client, so if they are body shy or have an issue with physical contact, you can still preform without inference. Just keep your hands roughly four to six inches away from the body of your client whilst working. 


5. Hold your hands a few inches above the face of your client and visualize a release of sacred energy emitting from your hands and into/on the face and crown chakra of your client. 


6. Move to second position. The next area you will want to treat with healing energy is on the sides of the face, just over the ears. This is known as ‘second position’. Release your energy in a slow, steady stream, envisioning it being absorbed by the body of the client as you work.


7. Switch to third potion. Without moving from your position at the head of the client, position your hands beneath their head where it rests on the pillow of the massage table. Release your energy and hold this potion for approximately two minutes. 


8. Follow the chakras. Once you have completed the three positions at the head of your client, you will follow their chakra sequence down their body, releasing your healing energy at every point along the body for approximately three minutes at every chakra; focus on each chakra absorbing the energy you release at every point. 


9. Close the circuit. Finish your healing session by spending time energizing the points at the base of the feet and then move to stand once more at the head of the client. Sweep their aura three separate times to ensure that you expel any unwanted or unhealthy energies from the body of the client. 


10. Allow the client time to recover. Many find their first treatment of Reiki to be a deeply personal and profoundly relaxing experience. Allow the client a few minutes of quite personal time before rousing them back to the ‘here and now’. Five to ten minutes should be sufficient.