What Is Reiki and How Does It Work? A Guide for Curious Moms

Perhaps you’ve seen signs around town, or your friend mentioned she got a session.  Reiki is the energy healing modality that you come across most frequently in the West.

This may be because Reiki is one of the most gentle and accessible energy medicines available to us today.  It is especially suitable for moms, as it provides energetic support and can never do any harm. 

So, if you’ve ever wondered, “What is Reiki and how does it work?”, you’ve come to the right place.  In this post, I will cover the Reiki basics: what it is, how a healing works, and how you can harness its power.  

What is Reiki and How Does it Work?

After I learned Reiki and actively started working with it, my life changed in many ways. I have so much more physical energy.  I am more patient with my kids.  I fall asleep more easily and wake up refreshed.  Life’s big and little challenges are more bearable to ride out.

How did I get here? Well, one of the major steps was Reiki.  But more on that later. 

Reiki (rei-ki in Japanese) refers to the life-force energy that flows through all of nature. 

The term is also used to describe the practice of using this energy to help heal someone.  While energetic healings through the laying of hands have existed all around the world, Reiki comes from Japan.

The story goes that Dr. Mikao Usui, who lived in Japan around the turn of the last century, went up to the mountains for a fasting retreat.  After 21 days of meditation, he received a download of the Reiki energies, which he understood to be tools to aid in healing himself and others. 

As such, this school of energy healing began, eventually crossing the waters to the United States by one of Dr. Usui’s students.  Today, it is said that Reiki in Japan is very different from that in the United States.  And indeed, the Reiki you experience may depend on the lineage it comes from.

How Does Reiki Work?

With Reiki, a practitioner who has received attunements of its sacred symbols and been trained in their proper usage can give you a relaxing and energizing healing session.  Let’s look at these in more detail.

• Reiki symbols represent specific healing frequencies.  These frequencies are thought to have their own consciousness and know exactly what to do. (See this site for explanation of the symbols and their meanings.)

• Reiki attunements are sacred rituals during which your teacher gives you a download of the frequencies.  It’s just like when you download a new app onto your phone!

For example, cho ku rei is the power symbol that is used to strengthen and empower.  When you get attuned to cho ku rei, it’s as if you are getting a memory of that frequency or quality into your subconscious.  The more you work with it, the stronger it becomes as a part of your energy. 

Other Usui Reiki symbols include frequencies for clearing, balancing, emotional healing, distance healing, disentanglement at the quantum level, and dynamic power.

• Reiki is based on the belief that energy fields exist right alongside our physical bodies at the unseen level.  Each of your body parts, organs, etc., has its own energy field. 

• Chakras or energy centers are like stations that help distribute and manage the energy that we receive from our environments, food, and water.  Your energy body extends beyond your physical body; the size and health of this field vary by the individual. 

• Healing begins when Reiki practitioners channel these frequencies to help cleanse, balance, and strengthen your energy fields.  When your energy is thus strengthened, barriers to mental, emotional, and physical healing dissipate.  You naturally begin to heal. 

Physical healing may take some time to catch up to energetic healing.  This is because everything happens at the energetic level first and manifests in the physical. 

How Do You Know It’s Working?

People can usually feel the energy working in and around their bodies. 

I’ve had people fall asleep on the table, start crying, or make gurgling noises from the tummy.  I’ve been told that they felt icy coolness come down their limbs, felt heat coming from my direction, and sensed a blanket of energy on top of their skin. 

Some see colors or have meaningful visions.  They ALL feel extremely relaxed. 

It would be rare to see lasting changes after just one Reiki healing session, although it is definitely possible.  But it usually takes multiple sessions for the energy to heal deeply. 

As my Reiki teacher always says, it’s the client’s readiness that determines the success of the healing.  Reiki practitioners can facilitate change only to the point allowed by the client, consciously and unconsciously. 

I will say, however, that different Reiki practitioners can “pull” varying levels of the energies.  If the practitioner has not connected to the symbols in a while or is otherwise distracted, it may influence the quality of the healing.

Find the Right Practitioner or Teacher Near You

It’s likely that many practitioners offer Reiki sessions right in your local community.  However, it is totally appropriate and effective to find one remotely. 

[As you might already know, I also offer one-on-one Reiki sessions and would be honored to connect with you. See my booking page for more info!]

Reiki energies transfer beautifully over distances and even time.  Still, an in-person session is always there for the full, sensory experience.     

Look for a practitioner who is well-respected in the community.  More experience usually means more practical knowledge on how to help you. 

But more experience also means higher rates.  You should weigh your options depending on your needs. 

More research and discernment might be necessary if you are looking for a teacher.  Getting a Reiki session from a potential teacher is a great start.  Then, you can take note of how they make you feel from start to finish.

Become a Healer Mom with Reiki

The beauty of Reiki is that it requires only the first attunement for you to embody its frequencies for self-healing.  After the first class, you can channel Reiki for yourself every night before bed and whenever you feel in need of its support. 

It is so simple to do, and there are so many benefits.  At bedtime, you feel incredibly relaxed and can fall asleep fast with just a little bit of Reiki connection. 

If you ever feel frazzled or overwhelmed, you can meditate on or simply connect to the symbols and ask for their help.  In my experience, the frequencies definitely land (and that’s what it feels like, landing) and help me feel grounded, more balanced, and peaceful.

As a mom, Reiki is great to have in your toolbox, even if you only do the first level.  While giving Reiki to another person technically requires second-level attunement, just running the energies for yourself while holding your child can benefit them. 

I’ve used Reiki to help calm my children and to help them fall asleep at bedtime.  It seriously works every time.  

For my son, I’ve used Reiki to calm the waves of his allergic reaction.  It does NOT replace an epinephrine injection, but I have seen it calm a wave of hives.

Connecting to Reiki energy directly benefits your family and others around you.  As you raise your vibration, you help raise their energy.  And, the more you work with the symbols, the stronger their presence and support for your life.

How Do You Learn Reiki?

People become Reiki practitioners after taking a class and getting attuned for the appropriate level of Reiki that they are ready for.  For Usui Reiki, which is the first-level Reiki in the United States, there are three levels:

• Reiki Level I: Practitioner is attuned to the Reiki energy and learns the basics of self-care using this energy.
• Reiki Level II: Practitioner is attuned to three Reiki symbols—cho ku rei, sei he key and hon sha zei sho nen—and learns how to practice Reiki on others.
• Reiki Level III or Mastership: Practitioner is attuned to two more symbols—dai ko miyo and raku—and learn how to teach and attune others. 

There are higher levels of Reiki, including Karuna and Holy Fire.  Reiki teachers in the United States developed these levels.  They take you deeper into the Reiki practice and provide additional symbols. 

Check out a Usui Reiki class near you if you’re curious. 

I once heard someone call Reiki “the gateway drug” to energy healing, and I completely agree!  It is accessible, gentle, and effective.  It might be time to find out for yourself.

How Has Reiki Changed My Life?

My Reiki Beginning

I became interested in energy healing after having experienced the coherence healing technique at a Dr. Joe Dispenza meditation retreat. 

But it wasn’t after I moved to Connecticut and gave birth to my son, and he started to show signs of eczema and allergy as an infant, that I became more serious about learning an energy healing modality.

I signed up for a Reiki I class taught by a local teacher, and the introduction was potent.  The first attunement shook me up inside and brought tears to my eyes, and I had no idea why. 

I continued to study with this teacher and finished her Reiki master class.  Still, I felt like I had more questions than answers, and didn’t know what to do with it other than self-Reiki at night. 

Finding a Reiki Home

Many months later, I moved to another town and found another Reiki teacher, Sierra North, at the Muktinath Holistic Center. 

I saw that Sierra’s Reiki mastership program would last over 10 months. It would also include requirements for actual sessions and other rigorous requirements.  I was intrigued. 

Taking her Reiki I on a whim, I found that Sierra was able to answer ALL of my questions.  Her attunement was so powerful, it had me weeping and laughing on the floor for a little while before I could compose myself. 

I still couldn’t tell you exactly why I had such a strong reaction.  But I felt moved and incredibly present. 

“And so it begins,” is what I heard in my head, through all my tears.  As to what?  I believe that I am living it now. 

My training with Sierra continues to transform my life.  If my first Reiki training could be compared to taking a sip of water from a cup, then my second training was like standing in the middle of a river and drinking directly from it. 

My Reiki Benefits

Embodying the Reiki energy more fully under Sierra’s guidance allowed me to have SO much more energy.  Physical energy. 

It feels like I’m the Energizer Bunny sometimes, going and going and doing.  This has helped me be more patient and loving with my kids. Because I literally have more to give!

I also have more tools to find my equilibrium as I go through life.  Cutting cords, energetic hygiene of my body and environments.  I know how to ground myself when I feel off. All of these tools are at my disposal.

Interestingly, an unexpected benefit has been that I no longer fear the unseen energies that I sometimes felt but couldn’t explain.  Because I learned what they are and how to deal with them, the fear charge is completely gone.  I guess I feel like a grown-up energetically.  

Finally, the Reiki symbols feel like my old friends.  Like a wise grandparent you can always call on, they are there when I need them.

Final Thoughts

Reiki is a great first step in befriending the benevolent energies that want to help us. Reiki can never harm, and will accompany you wherever you want to take it.  Still, it is a POWERFUL ally that will support and protect you.

I hope you get to experience and benefit of Reiki as I have.  But you won’t know until you try, right? 

I hope this post answered the question, “What is Reiki and how does it work?” I hope you go out and see for yourself.  If you do, PLEASE tell me how it went for you!