What Is Reiki? A Complete Beginner's Guide

🕑 10 min read

The Reiki Definition: Rei and Ki

The word reiki is Japanese, and like many Japanese compound words, its meaning sits in the combination of its two parts.

Rei carries a range of meaning: universal, spiritual, or the intelligence that permeates all things. Ki is the Japanese term for life force energy, the animating current that flows through every living being. The Chinese call this same principle qi or chi. In India it is called prana. The specific reiki definition, then, is something like "spiritually guided life force energy."

The underlying premise is that this life force energy moves through the body along particular pathways. When the flow is strong and unimpeded, we tend toward health and vitality. When it becomes weak or disrupted, the conditions for illness or imbalance may arise. The Reiki practitioner works to support and restore that flow, acting as a conduit rather than the source.

Origin and History: Usui to Takata

Reiki as a formal system originates with one man: Mikao Usui, born in Japan in 1865. Usui was a lay Buddhist who spent decades studying spiritual texts and healing practices. The system he developed is sometimes called Usui Reiki Ryoho, meaning Usui Reiki Healing Method.

Hawayo Takata (1900-1980) was a Japanese-American woman from Hawaii who traveled to Japan in the 1930s seeking medical help and instead received Reiki treatments at Hayashi's clinic. Her health improved dramatically. She trained intensively with Hayashi, returned to Hawaii, and spent decades introducing Reiki to Western audiences. Takata trained 22 Reiki Masters before her death, and it is primarily through their lineages that Reiki spread across the United States and Europe. She adapted the presentation of Reiki for Western audiences, sometimes simplifying or changing aspects of Usui's original teachings, which is why there are now differences between Japanese and Western Reiki traditions.

The Five Reiki Principles

Usui considered the ethical and philosophical dimension of Reiki as important as the hands-on practice. He distilled this guidance into five short precepts known in Japanese as the Gokai.

"Just for today, do not be angry. Just for today, do not worry. Just for today, be grateful. Just for today, work hard. Just for today, be kind to others." - Mikao Usui (the Gokai, or Five Reiki Principles)

Usui reportedly wrote these principles on a folding fan and kept them visible as a daily reminder. The phrase "just for today" is deliberate: it acknowledges that transformation happens one day at a time, and that the aspiration is to embody these qualities in ordinary life, not to achieve some permanent exalted state.

The Three Degrees of Reiki

Reiki training is organized into three successive degrees, each opened through a process called attunement, in which a Reiki Master ceremonially opens the student's capacity to channel the energy.

Shoden (First Degree) is the foundation. It covers the history and principles of Reiki, the basic hand positions for treating oneself and others, and the student's first attunement. At this level, the practice is hands-on and direct contact (or very close proximity) is used.

Okuden (Second Degree) introduces distant healing and the first three Reiki symbols. These symbols, originally kept secret within lineages, are now widely published. The three symbols associated with Second Degree are Cho Ku Rei (a power symbol used to focus energy), Sei He Ki (associated with emotional and mental healing), and Hon Sha Ze Sho Nen (the distant healing symbol, used to send Reiki across time and space). Working with these symbols deepens the practitioner's ability to hold and direct energy.

Shinpiden (Master Level) is the third degree. At this level, the student receives the Master symbol and learns the attunement process itself. A Reiki Master can initiate new students. This level carries significant responsibility and is typically not rushed; many teachers advise spending at least a year practicing at Second Degree before pursuing the Master Level.

What Happens in a Reiki Session

For someone considering their first reiki session, knowing what to expect makes the experience more accessible and less mysterious.

The client arrives and briefly discusses any concerns or intentions with the practitioner. No undressing is required: the client lies fully clothed on a massage table, usually with soft music playing and the room kept dim and warm. The session lasts between 60 and 90 minutes.

The practitioner begins at the head and moves systematically down the body, using 12 to 15 standard hand positions. Hands rest gently on the body or hover slightly above it, depending on the practitioner's training and the client's preference. Each position is held for two to five minutes.

Clients report a wide range of sensations: warmth or heat from the practitioner's hands, tingling in parts of the body, a feeling of heaviness or deep relaxation, occasional emotional release such as unexpected tears, or simply a pleasant drowsiness. Some clients fall asleep. Some feel very little physically but report a sense of calm afterward. Responses vary widely, and practitioners generally discourage attaching expectations to any given session.

How to Find a Reiki Healer

There is no universally recognized licensing body for Reiki practice, which means the quality and depth of training varies significantly from practitioner to practitioner. Some people complete a weekend workshop and begin practicing professionally; others spend years in study before working with clients. Navigating this landscape requires some discernment.

What to look for: Ask what lineage the practitioner trained in (Usui Shiki Ryoho is the most common Western lineage). Ask how many hours of training they completed and whether they have a named Reiki Master teacher. Practitioners who have received Second or Third Degree training have a deeper foundation than those who completed only a basic First Degree weekend course.

Questions worth asking before a session: How long have you been practicing? Do you have professional indemnity insurance? What does a typical session involve? What should I expect afterward?

Red flags to watch for: Avoid any practitioner who promises to cure a specific illness or disease, who claims to diagnose medical conditions, who discourages you from continuing conventional medical treatment, or who pressures you into expensive multi-session packages without explanation. Reiki is a complementary practice; it works alongside medical care, not instead of it.

What the Research Says

Reiki sits in an interesting position in the research literature. It is neither dismissed by mainstream medicine nor fully validated by it. The honest picture is that the evidence base is growing but remains modest.

The Thrane and Cohen 2014 review remains one of the most cited: examining 12 studies across cancer, pain, and anxiety populations, it found that Reiki produced significantly better outcomes than no treatment on pain and anxiety measures, though the effects were smaller than those seen with standard medical care. A 2017 review in the same tradition found similar patterns, with consistent small-to-moderate effects across several conditions.

The methodological challenges are real. Designing a convincing placebo control for hands-on energy work is difficult. Many studies lack blinding, have small sample sizes, or rely heavily on self-reported outcomes. Skeptics rightly note that relaxation from any attentive human contact might explain the results without requiring a specifically "Reiki" mechanism.

At the same time, dismissing the effects entirely because we cannot yet explain the mechanism would be premature. The National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health lists Reiki as a biofield therapy under active research. Hospitals including those in the Cleveland Clinic network have integrated Reiki into patient care programs not because the mechanism is proven, but because the patient experience data supports it as a safe, low-cost complement to standard care.

Usui, Karuna, Holy Fire: The Main Lineages

The Reiki world has diversified considerably since Hawayo Takata's day. Understanding the main lineages helps a newcomer make sense of the options they will encounter when looking for a practitioner or teacher.

Usui Shiki Ryoho is the most widespread Western lineage, tracing directly back through Takata's 22 Reiki Masters. It emphasizes the traditional hand positions, the three original degrees, and Usui's five principles. This is the baseline that most other Western systems either build on or respond to.

Jikiden Reiki is a Japanese lineage that explicitly attempts to preserve Usui's original teachings as transmitted in Japan, before Takata's Western adaptations. It is taught only in Japanese and English by teachers authorized through the Jikiden Reiki Institute and places more emphasis on the traditional Japanese elements of the system.

Karuna Reiki was developed by William Lee Rand in the 1990s and is taught through the International Center for Reiki Training. It adds additional symbols said to address deeper healing work, operating as a complement to Usui Reiki rather than a replacement.

Holy Fire Reiki is also taught through the International Center for Reiki Training and represents a further evolution in Rand's work. It incorporates a different attunement process (called an ignition) and is positioned as a higher-frequency version of Usui Reiki, though these claims are theological rather than empirical.

For someone new to Reiki, the lineage matters less than the quality and integrity of the individual practitioner. A well-trained, ethically grounded practitioner in any lineage is a better choice than an undertrained one in a more prestigious lineage.