Create the right atmosphere

Creating the right atmosphere in which to give Reiki does help to enhance the experience. Ideally, when you are giving someone else a Reiki treatment you should have a quiet, comfortable and soothing environment in a designated room or area and find somewhere you will not be disturbed. 

You might want to make the experience special by having a candle burning there, and playing appropriate music to suit the mood.  Some people like to burn incense or use essential oils, but it’s probably best to make sure that your client actually likes the smell of the fragrance before you fill the room with it.

Using a space clearing spray before a Reiki treatment is also recommended and it’s a good, easy way to improve the energetic quality of the space in which you are working.

Make sure you are comfortable

It’s a good idea that both the Reiki practitioner and the recipient should wear comfortable loose clothing, take off their shoes, their watches and remove any jewellery that might inhibit the free flow of energy.  If the receiver wears glasses, ask them to remove them before the treatment.

Hygiene

Hygiene is also important, especially if you are treating someone you do not know.

Always wash your hands before and after a Reiki treatment. Try and keep your breath fresh, so maybe suck a mint or clean your teeth beforehand, especially if you have been eating spicy or garlic laden foods, or are a smoker.

Reiki treatments

Treatments can be given with the recipient either sitting in a chair or lying down on the floor, a mattress, a futon or even a treatment couch. Make sure they are comfortable by placing pillows under the head of the recipient and also under the knees if they find this a comfortable way to relax their legs. Some people may want a blanket as there are often variations in body temperature when receiving Reiki.

It is also very important for you as the practitioner to be comfortable as well.  Pay particular attention to your posture. If you end up giving a few treatments a day and are not taking care of your spine then you will notice it very quickly.

For the treatment itself you should take a few moments to prepare yourself energetically and mentally. You might wish to spend a few minutes doing the aura cleansing technique.

Alternatively you can simply carry out another simple grounding exercise by imagining your feet firmly rooted to the floor and feeling your connection with the planet (it doesn’t matter if you live on the fifth floor of a block of flats as energy follows thought).

> Practice Gassho Meditation before a Reiki session

Then imagine a beam of light extending from your heart chakra down your spine, out of your body and all the way down into the earth, going all the way down into the very centre of Mother Earth. Feel or imagine that energy anchoring down in the centre of the Earth and bring it all the way back up into your heart chakra and feel the grounding energy coming up into your body.

Imagine or see a beam of light extending from your heart chakra up your spine and out the top of your crown chakra, up through the ceiling, up through the rest of the building and then out through the sky and the Earth’s atmosphere and out into the Universe.

Connect and ground

Intend to connect with the Highest Source of Reiki, feel  or imagine and then intend the connection and allow the Reiki energy to come back down your beam of light and into your heart chakra and allow it to mix with the grounding energy.

You might like to say a prayer and/or call upon the assistance of Dr. Usui, Dr. Hayashi, Hawayo Takata and other high level Reiki guides to help making this treatment a success for the receiver’s highest good.

Then feeling grounded, protected and connected with Reiki you can begin the treatment by brushing down the receiver’s aura from the head to the feet two or three times.  Whilst doing this keep your fingers together to keep the energy focussed and intend to clean the recipient’s aura.

Proceed with giving them Reiki. Whether you use Reiki in a hands-on or hands- off manner is a matter for your discernment and you and your client to discuss.

You can either touch the receiver lightly or hold your hands a few inches above their body, staying in each position for between one and five minutes. At first, you might find some of the hand positions a little tiring, so you can start off with a shorter amount of time if you need to and progress upwards.

Both the recipient and the practitioner should keep their legs and arms uncrossed to ensure the free flow of the energy and the practitioner’s feet should always be connected to the ground.

During the treatment, no particular conscious effort has to be made. You have already intended that the treatment is for the recipient’s highest good and just maintain this intention throughout the treatment. You can also “tune in” to the recipient if you like and notice what you notice, but always without judgement.  If your mind wanders off, just gently bring it back to your present experience of the flow of Reiki.

The end of a Reiki treatments

The end of every treatment should be on the final position (number 18) which is the recipient’s feet. This should always be a hands-on position and you should use your intention to ask that they are fully grounded.

Give the recipient a few minutes to come to. They may have been asleep or awake (there is no right or wrong here) but in either case they will hopefully have been deeply relaxed, so let them come to slowly, maybe have a stretch and if possible offer them a glass of water.

Before you let them out into the wide world, talk to them for 10 minutes or so, firstly to discuss their experiences and also to make sure they are sufficiently back with the programme to go off and do whatever it is they have to do next.

Reiki treatments vary from person to person, but in my own case for an hour’s treatment, I will have a 10 or 15 minute chat at the start followed by 30-40 minutes Reiki, which is then followed by another 10-15 minutes talk at the end. 

> READ HOW TO GIVE A REIKI TREATMENT – A USEFUL REIKI PROTOCOL FOR REIKI PRACTITIONERS

Hand Positions for a standard treatment

During a Reiki standard treatment, the receiver is lying down, first on their back, then on their front.  A full standard treatment may take anywhere between 1 to 1.5 hours depending on the requirement and the method of working.

THE FRONT OF THE BODY

From behind the head:

1)  Cover eyes and cheeks, Third Eye Chakra

2)  Cover temples and jawbones

3)  The back of their head rests in your hands, Third Eye & Crown Chakra

4)  Hold your hands above the throat area, Throat Chakra

From the side:

5)  Upper chest, Heart Chakra

6)  Lower chest, solar Plexus Chakra

7)  Abdomen, Sacral Chakra

8)  Lower abdomen, pubic bone, Root Chakra

9)  The knees

THE BACK OF THE BODY

From behind the head:

10)  The crown, Crown Chakra

11)  Neck and upper shoulders, Throat Chakra

From the side:                       

12)  Shoulder blades, Heart Chakra

13)  Lower lungs & kidneys, Solar Plexus Chakra

14)  Lower back, sacrum, Sacral Chakra

15)  Coccyx, Root Chakra

16)  The back of the knees

The receiver lying on their back again

17)  The ankles.

18)  Top and bottom of the feet.

Bear in mind that a Reiki Practitioner is not a medical professional, therefore it is not appropriate to diagnose illnesses and do not feel any pressure to do so.

> READ HOW TO GIVE A REIKI TREATMENT – A USEFUL REIKI PROTOCOL FOR REIKI PRACTITIONERS

> Benefits of Reiki Healing

Thinking Of Learning Reiki? You may want to check our Usui/Tibetan Reiki and Holy Fire Reiki courses.

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