Reiki tends to get described in one of two unhelpful ways. Either it is dismissed as nothing, or it is sold as everything. The truth sits in a quieter place, and after years of practice as a Reiki Grandmaster, I would rather describe it honestly than dramatically.
The simple explanation
Reiki is a gentle, hands-on or hands-above energy practice that works with the body's own capacity to regulate and repair. The practitioner does not push anything into you. The session creates conditions calm enough for your system to stop defending itself and start restoring itself.
Most people arrive with their nervous system stuck in a low-grade alarm state. Deadlines, grief, caregiving, unresolved anger. In that state the body prioritises survival over repair. Reiki interrupts the alarm long enough for the balance to shift.
What a session feels like
You stay fully clothed and lie down or sit comfortably. I place my hands lightly on or slightly above different points, working through the chakras. Sessions run forty to sixty minutes. Some people feel warmth or a soft pulsing, some feel a wave of tiredness, and some simply fall asleep, which is often exactly what the body wanted.
Emotion sometimes surfaces without an obvious reason. Tears arrive with no story attached. That is not a problem in the session, it is usually the point of it — stored feeling finally finding an exit.
Where Reiki genuinely helps
- Sleep quality, especially the racing mind at bedtime
- Stress that has become your normal baseline
- Emotional heaviness after loss, burnout or a long caregiving stretch
- Physical tension that keeps returning after massage or medication
- Feeling disconnected from your own body
What it is not
Reiki is a complementary practice. It does not replace medical or psychiatric care, and any honest practitioner will tell you the same. If you are managing a diagnosed condition, keep your doctor in the loop and treat Reiki as support, not substitution. I have worked alongside oncologists and physiotherapists, and the results are best when everyone stays in their lane.
Choosing a practitioner
Ask about their training and lineage. Ask what they will and will not claim. A practitioner who promises to cure a named illness is one to walk away from. You want someone calm, clear about boundaries, and comfortable saying I do not know.
If you want to learn it yourself
Many clients begin as recipients and later train. At Prana Mitra the Reiki path runs from Level 1 self-healing fundamentals through Level 2 emotional and distance work, to advanced practice and the teaching programme. Learning to self-heal changes the relationship you have with your own stress, because you stop waiting for someone else to settle you.
Reiki will not fix your life. It will make you steady enough to do the work that does.
Written by
Rashmi N Bhartia
Life & Mindset Coach, Healing Coach and Reiki Grandmaster. Recipient of the Healer Luminary Award 2024, with 8,000+ lives transformed through coaching, chakra healing and inner child work.
