Ask a Reiki Master: The 7 Most Common Questions Healers Receive [FAQ]

I receive tons of questions in my inbox every day. 

I’m more than happy to respond to them - after all, it shows that there are many people who care about their practice. Most of the questions I receive revolve around bettering their own practice or advice on certain techniques.

But recently I’ve received a lot of questions from healers…

...about how to respond to questions!

These questions have been forwarded to me over and over again...and rather than repeat what I’ve said in multiple emails, I’ll address them all here.

In today’s post, I’m going to be sharing my personal responses to just some of the questions that I and many others have received.

All answers are my own and may differ from what other people may have said or say. 

Now, these may be questions that you’ve been asked or that you may have asked others... 

...and of course, these aren’t all of the questions I receive...the post would be way too long for that! 

Whether you’re an aspiring healer, someone who wants to know more about Reiki, or needs more clarification on certain subjects, I hope this guide will answer your questions.

Let’s begin…

Q: What exactly IS Reiki?

A: As a Reiki Master, I’ve been trained in this history and call it from scratch…

...but to save you the boredom, Reiki was developed by Mikao Usui in the early 20th century as an energy balancing system. By focusing on the energy of the Seven Chakras, Reiki works to restore balance, positivity, and radiant light to one’s energetic field, Chakras, and Aura.

People study and use Reiki to heal any number of conditions that plague the body, mind, emotions, or spirit, since these issues are rooted in an energy imbalance.

In fact, many hospitals have begun offering Reiki sessions as a form of therapy. 

It can be effective in aiding the healing process when patients are undergoing chemotherapy or are recovering from illness, injuries, or surgeries.

However, Reiki practitioners do not prescribe medicine or perform ‘medical’ treatment. It is a means to channel positive energy into living beings and requires extensive study in order to truly master and adapt its powers to every person and condition. 

What may work for one person, may not work for another. It all depends on the factors involved, which may include: energetic field responsiveness, auric tension, Chakra directional changes, etc.

But to avoid getting too technical, Reiki has been shown to positively negate the effects of a variety of different illnesses.

Q: What makes Reiki different from other forms of Energy Healing?

A: Many energy healing circles differ, but in general...

...the learner cultivates healing energy, stores it, and then channels that healing energy into another person or living creature through objects, talismans, breathwork, movement, or different manifestations of energy.

This is an arduous process that can take many months or years of intense practice to master.

Now, in Reiki, current widespread belief says that you need an attunement in your body in order to channel energy. I don’t think this is true...as I’ve taught and seen many who have been able to heal with Reiki who don’t have an attunement.

For example, take a look at this Lifeforce Energy Optimization image that essentially outlines the process for Reiki…

Does an attunement help? Surely.

However, no prior experience, knowledge, or technique is necessary to begin studying Reiki. All one needs is commitment, dedication, and trust in themselves that they will be able to do well and heal themselves and others. 

Attunements serve to align and shift the energy pathways of a person’s body without intermixing or affecting their own individual bioenergy. In Reiki, practitioners call upon and channel from the outside to cleanse the inside through the palms of the hand. 

One can learn how to do this with proper technique and execution without an attunement. Sound interesting to you? If you are ready to take the next step, you can check out my Reiki Home Course here. 

Q: Do healers use their own energy when they heal others?

A: Reiki healers do not use their own energy - to do so would interfere with the principles of Reiki itself! 

In Reiki, we channel the Universal Energy or UE, which exists all around us and within us. Using our own energy would cause problems for the patient and weaken the healer who needs the energy to survive. 

Think about it this way - when someone comes in for a session, they want to remove negative, harmful, and destructive energies from their body. By using one’s own personal energy, they may be affected by these dark, murky forces and sabotage the healing process. 

Not to mention that this may cause a harmful chokepoint to a healer’s connection to UE.

So in short, Reiki healers do not use their own energy because of the potential negative ramifications doing so would cause or create. 

Q: Does this mean that healers need to make 'energy shields'?

A: Not at all - it may offer boosted protection, surely, but a great healer will not need to protect themselves from clients. 

Doing so could create an ‘energy wall’ or ‘energy armor’ that displaces the healing effects of the session. By blocking oneself off from another, the Universal Energy will respond in a similar way.

However, healers do make energy shields to protect themselves when they are NOT in session…

...as you may know, there is a lot of negativity in the world. We must protect ourselves from that - but never a client. 

Q: Do Reiki healers self-heal?

A: Yes! More often than not, this is exactly the reason why many healers begin practicing! (You can check out an example at my Reiki Home Course.) 

Remember that the Reiki practitioner is channeling UE, not their own precious energy, to administer each Reiki session. 

But regardless of one’s own energy level, any healer can provide self-treatments and be their own healer.

A major part of the reason why I began my healing practice was to do just that. Like many others, I too sought to cleanse myself of negativity. 

The best thing about Reiki is that it is extremely simple to learn and manifest that you can even use Reiki healing sessions for your cats or dogs!

And best of all...it works!

If you’re interested in healing yourself, you can check out my Reiki Home Course here. 

Q: What if someone doesn’t ‘believe’ in Reiki? Will it still help them?

A: Universal Energy is universal for a reason...it exists independently of someone’s belief systems or core values. 

A person does not need to believe in the effectiveness of reiki in order for it to work. Reiki works for non-believers just as well as for believers. 

In fact, people of all faiths, religions, sects, and belief systems can practice Reiki. It is not a religious practice, but a healing practice.

Q: If I’m running short on time, can I just get a session where the symptom of my pain is located?

A: Yes! 

Some healing sessions can be covered in under 10 minutes due to the acuteness of the pain, problem, or source. This is very true and also very powerful.

But I want to elaborate...

I will always advocate for giving Reiki treatments to the entire body. You’ll feel more recharged, balanced, and energetic if you do so. Why?

When you allow Reiki energy to permeate through the Chakras…

...you create balance both within the Chakras and between them.

This is a very important principle for Reiki, as you can negatively harm someone if you do not keep this in mind. 

I’ve seen many cases where someone has a specific problem or disorder and needs healing for that...but that pain’s energy has leaked into other areas as well. 

In other words, just because 80% of the symptoms show in one area, doesn’t mean you should just focus your attention there.

Certainly, you need to prioritize which areas are hurting the most...but also make sure to do a body scan every once in a while or you or your client will still feel the residual, harmful effects of that injury.

Also, remember that working with Reiki is working directly with energy. Reiki helps to balance the energy in the body, but for this, a complete treatment is necessary. If there is too much energy in one area, then, there is not enough energy somewhere else. 

A good analogy would be a clog in a drain. If the energy is not flowing well through the channel and is backing up, you can’t just remove the clog...you need to make sure that the chances for that clog to happen again are minimized.

Reiki energy fills in the gaps to move the energy that may have become stagnant or irritated into a cleansing stage.

Another consideration is that the cause of the pain may not necessarily be where it is being felt…

Headaches are a great example of this. It may make intuitive sense that the pain is located in the Crown or Third-Eye Chakras…

...but you may find out that it is exactly located in the Heart Chakra. 

Providing a full treatment allows you to effectively diagnose the source of your pain so that you can then administer Reiki therapy to the right location.

From there, you can channel energy into that specific spot.

In short, there are times when channeling energy into a specific spot is the best practice...but you have to know where the source of the pain is before you do so! Otherwise, you risk irritating the problem even further…

These are just some of the answers that I have to the most common questions I receive from students, healers, and other masters. If you like what you see, let me know and I may follow up with a part two…

As a reminder, these answers are purely my own and result from years of experience. Your experience or knowledge may differ from mine. If you have a health-related concern and are thinking of using Reiki as a way to heal your pain, make sure that you consult multiple sources first - Reiki may not be exactly what you need…

...However, if you are ready to take the next step and are serious, you can check out my Reiki Home Course here. 

---