Reiki treatment  is usually, and so it should always be, as far as possible, preceded by a short interview with the Reiki-therapist, who will broadly inform himself of why you want to undergo the treatment, of your general physical health. and of particular cases (for example an ongoing pregnancy) or of important diseases (such as diabetes ), and of your contingent emotional state. 

This short interview serves both to put the patient at ease and, above all, to give the therapist some information that may prove useful on managing the session. For example, if the patient came to try Reiki just out of curiosity but in those days he is having pain in any part of the body, the therapist will take it into account.

After the short initial interview, you will be asked to lie down , usually on a low mattress or on a classic massage table, remaining fully dressed , and removing only your shoes and personal effects (especially metal) such as glasses, belts, bracelets, earrings, necklaces, which you can store next to you. 

You will also be advised to stay with your eyes closed during the treatment, not because you don’t have to see something, but because closed eyes promote relaxation and contact with your heart and inner world.

The right environment for Reiki treatment

Reiki treatment – which can be practiced anywhere in an emergency. When done by appointment in a Reiki center it is practiced in a quiet environment , with soft lighting (usually salt lamps and candles), an incense that burns perfuming and delicately purifying the air, and relaxing background music. 

There are CDs designed specifically for Reiki and you can recognize them by the rhythmic repetition every 3 minutes of the light sound of a bell, which indicates to the therapist when to move your hands. (In this regard, if you pay attention to the bells and notice that the therapist does not move his hands, do not be surprised: the therapist adapts the treatment to the individual and can therefore decide to dwell more in one point rather than another for the maximum good of the patient).

The caressing of the aura

Once you are lying down and relaxed, the person who will practice the Reiki treatment will place himself behind you at the height of your head and will remain for a few seconds in silence with his hands resting on his own heart: defined heart centering , this procedure. it constitutes the start of the treatment and allows the therapist to concentrate and the patient to detach himself from everyday life to get in touch with his own self.

After centering on the heart, the therapist will pass your hands from head to toe three times without even touching you: this is the caress of the aura , a very relaxing procedure for the patient, who opens and then closes the treatment. it allows more experienced therapists to “scan” the patient to “feel” which are the points to be treated the most, because they are congested with too much energy or, on the contrary, lacking in vital energy.

The actual treatment

The caressing of the aura is followed by the actual treatment. If the therapist decides to proceed with a first level Reiki treatment – the most delicate, which acts more superficially and takes care of the patient’s physical body – he will begin to place his hands on your head. If instead he decides to proceed to a second level Reiki treatment , or to a deeper treatment that also acts on the mental-emotional level, the therapist will trace in the air, or directly on your head (depending on the school of origin) two symbols that convey energy. It is also possible to ask Reiki for help to deal with particular situations, and in this case the therapist will draw a third symbol, before placing his hands on your head. 

During a “classic” Reiki treatment , the points that are “touched” (sometimes the hands will not be placed directly on the body, but a few millimeters from it) are generally the following (in this order): upper part of the skull, eyes , ears, back of neck, occipital bone, thyroid and throat, heart, stomach, navel (two fingers below), hips, knees, ankles, soles of the feet when you are on your stomach. 

You will then be asked, in a low voice so as not to disturb the state of relaxation in which you are, to turn on your stomach , and here we will proceed to treat the following points: cervical, lungs, center of the torso, lower back, coccyx, hips, back of the knees, ankles and feet. Depending on the school attended and the individual case in front of him, the therapist can add or remove some points to be treated or modify the path, but (except in the case of diabetic subjects) the treatment will always proceed from head to toe and not vice versa.

Balancing of the chakras

Sometimes the therapist decides not to opt for a classic treatment and to practice what is called balancing of the chakras : usually a shorter treatment (about 30 minutes compared to about 60 minutes of the classic treatment) that can be carried out in several ways. I will list the two most practiced: the first is a “mirror” balancing  for which we proceed to balance the upper chakras with the lower ones by placing one hand on the upper skull and the other at the height of the pelvis (the Sahasrara  with Muladhara ), one hand on the eyes and the other two fingers below the navel (the Ajna  with the Svadhisthana ), one hand on the thyroid and theM anipura ), both hands on the heart (Anahara, the most important chakra). 

The second balancing method is intended for the resolution of a particular problem, whereby the therapist will put each chakra in communication with the chakra in which the problem resides. Taking a concrete example: the patient suffers from painful menstruation, the therapist will keep one hand fixed on the Svadhisthana (seat of the female internal genitalia) and the other hand will instead be moved to the other chakras always starting from the top and therefore from the Sahasrara, and descending up to Muladhara.

The Reiki treatment, whether it is balancing or classic treatment, ends as it began, with the caressing of the aura. 

Sho Ten procedure

At the end of the treatment you will be left on the mattress or bed to rest, and you can get up and return to reality, very slowly, as soon as you feel it. Some therapists precede the Reiki treatment with the Sho Ten procedure : it is a method of balancing the yin and yang in the patient’s body. This procedure also further relaxes the patient and prepares him to accept the treatment he is about to receive. Whatever the type of Reiki treatment you have undergone, among those listed above, you will wake up rested, sometimes full of energy, other times so relaxed that you want to doze a little.

The therapist will advise you to go to the bathroom to pee to eliminate waste (the Reiki treatment also has a detoxifying function ), to drink a nice glass of water, and to spend the rest of the day as much as possible. quiet as possible in order to maximize the feeling of peace and contact with your deepest self that the Reiki treatment has transmitted to you.

Costs of Reiki treatment

Then comes the time to pay for the treatment. Although some reikists do not require payment in cash, many professionals (and others) do so, not only to compensate for the time spent in therapy but also for other factors such as: the cost of training courses, the rent of the room or the price of the cot, any use of candles, music, incense, etc. Depending on the school or the level of Reiki applied, the price (when requested) for a session of about one hour can vary between 30 and 70 euros .