Reiki is a form of spiritual healing that incorporates knowledge and energy that is passed on from teacher to student. The first things a person who wants to become a reiki practitioner must do is to find a master teacher and take a reiki level 1 class. A master teacher is a person who has been certified in all three levels or degrees of reiki. One can become a reiki practitioner after becoming certified in first level reiki alone, but two more levels of reiki teachings and initiations are required before one can become certified to teach reiki to others.
During the first-degree reiki class, one of the first things the student learns is that reiki is a spiritual healing technique that was developed in Japan in the early part of the 20th century. The student who wants to become a reiki practitioner will learn to gently place hands on the client’s body in a learned pattern and not to rub or massage. He or she will also be told that once the reiki treatment has started, the practitioner never removes both hands from the body at the same time. The hands are moved one at a time from each position to the next. It is believed that keeping one hand in contact with the body at all times helps maintain the flow of reiki healing energy.
Reiki is a spiritual healing force that enters the practitioner’s body through the head and shoulders, then flows down through the hands and is transferred to the client’s body. The student who wants to become a reiki practitioner is taught to let the reiki energy flow naturally without trying to consciously direct it. Reiki is an intelligent energy that knows exactly where to go to achieve the best healing results. Traditional reiki is used alone without any manipulation or massage, and after becoming initiated and certified in first-degree reiki, the individual can become a reiki practitioner.
A person certified in first-degree reiki is able to perform reiki treatments on the physical body only. In order to transmit the energy to help effect emotional healing, certification in second-degree reiki is required. The person who wants to become a reiki practitioner and master teacher must then go on to take the third-degree reiki class. In this class, the student will learn how to perform long-distance healing treatments using reiki, and how to teach others the three levels of reiki training.