Reiki Curious? Here's What To Expect During Your First Session

Again, it depends: You may have an in-person session where you and the reiki practitioner start by speaking for a while, more similar to a therapy session or counseling. Then you may do some healing exercises such as breathwork or EFT (emotional freedom technique) before lying down on a massage table (fully clothed) for the reiki portion, which could last around 35 to 45 minutes.

While most people feel the effects of reiki right away, others may feel the impacts after their session. Common feelings include tingling, warmth, and deep relaxation. (You may even fall asleep because you become so relaxed and wake up from your session with a new sense of awareness, clarity, and/or connection.) Some say they feel as though a hand is touching a part of their body, when, in fact, it is not.

Reiki is typically all hands-off; however, in my lineage, we touch the back of the head and the feet. Clients are always fully clothed, and I will often put a blanket over them so they can feel warm and relaxed. Again, each practitioner is different, and some may touch other areas of the body, like the knees, shoulders, or arms.

Not at all. While many people come in for sessions because they are feeling things like pain, overwhelm, depletion, or anxiousness, reiki can support us in so many other aspects of life. I love working with clients who just want to receive reiki with no intention or expectation. That way, there is a whole world that can be explored during the session.

This one varies. Some people charge $75 and some several hundred. There may be a price gap between virtual and in-person work, too. Each healer is very different in how they work and what they charge. It can also depend on where they are located; in LA, for example, the pricing will be very different from in Grand Forks, North Dakota, where my parents live and get reiki.