A Reiki session begins Long before the first hand position.

There’s a lot that has already happened before this moment.

When we think about a Reiki session, we usually think about the part where someone is actually on the table.

Hands are placed lightly on or above the body.

Reiki is flowing.

Maybe there’s music playing.

Maybe essential oils are diffusing.

Or maybe we’re talking about life, work, kids or what somebody needs to pick up at the grocery store on the way home.

There’s something really, really important that happens before any of that.

Grounding. Clearing. Protection. Intention. Invitation.

We don’t need a 20-minute ceremony, three candles facing north and a full moon before we can put our Reiki hands on somebody.

And we also don’t wander in from Costco, throw the car keys on the counter and announce, “Okay, let’s Reiki.”

There’s something in between.

And that something is intentional preparation.

As Reiki practitioners, we get grounded.

We clear the space.

We protect ourselves, the space and the person on the table.

We set our intention,

We invite Reiki energy to flow.

Then we begin.

Grounding: get here first

Grounding is about being present and anchored.

Before we begin Reiki with another person, we need to actually arrive ourselves.

Energetically.

Mentally.

Emotionally.

Physically.

Grounding brings us back into our body and into the present moment instead of leaving pieces of our attention scattered through the rest of the day.

There are different ways to ground.

One of the simplest is to become aware of your feet and your connection to the Earth beneath you.

Feel where your feet meet the floor.

Imagine that connection continuing downward, almost like roots moving from your feet deep into the Earth.

Let yourself settle into that connection.

Breathe.

Notice your body. Your thoughts. Your emotions.

Notice where you are.

Allow yourself to become steady before you begin working with someone else.

Some people visualize energy moving up from the Earth through their feet and body. Some use breath. Some use a physical connection with the floor or the ground. With practice, grounding can become something you recognize and move into very quickly.

The method matters less than the result.

And once you’re grounded, you don’t have to spend the next hour desperately protecting that state from normal human life.

Your mind doesn’t have to become completely empty.

You’re still a human being.

So is the person on the table.

If they want quiet, the session can be quiet.

If they want to talk, we can talk.

They can tell us about work, their kids, their mother-in-law or what they forgot at the grocery store.

And somewhere in there we may suddenly think, Oh, crap. I forgot the carrots.

Still grounded.

Grounding gives us somewhere solid to return to.

That’s very different from demanding that nothing human happen during a Reiki session. That would be ridiculous.

Clearing: reset the energy before you begin

Clearing is more than tidying the room and fluffing the blanket.

Energetically, clearing is about intentionally releasing what doesn’t belong in the Reiki work you’re about to do.

We all carry energy into a space.

So does the person receiving Reiki.

The goal isn’t to decide that somebody’s day, emotions or energy are somehow bad.

The goal is simply to give the session a clean starting point.

There are different ways Reiki practitioners clear.

Some use Reiki symbols they’ve been trained to work with.

Some use sage smoke or essential oils to clear the treatment space.

You may use sound, breath or another clearing method that belongs naturally in your own practice.

The tool can change.

The intention stays clear:

This session gets a fresh space.

And clearing isn’t only something we do before the first client of the day.

When one Reiki session is finished, clear again.

Clear yourself.

Clear the table and the space.

Reset before the next person comes in.

Because the person coming in at 4:00 doesn’t need the energetic leftovers from whoever was on the table at 2:00.

Their Reiki session gets to belong to them.

Protection: establish the energetic boundary

Once the space is clear, protection is the next piece.

Protection is about purposefully creating the boundary around the work you’re about to do. Be clear about what is welcome in the space and what is not.

Reiki Level 2 practitioners and Master/Teachers may use the Reiki symbols to protect.

Some practitioners use essential oils or cystals to protect.

Others use visualization, creating a sense of a protective field or boundary around the practitioner, the receiver and the room.

A prayer, mantra or a few words spoken silently or aloud can also be used to clearly establish what the practitioner is inviting into the space.

Protection says:

This is the space.

These are the boundaries.

This is the work we’re here to do.

Once that boundary has been intentionally established, trust it.

You’re not a German Shepherd. You don’t need to spend the next hour mentally patrolling the perimeter.

You’ve established the boundary.

Time to move on with Reiki.

Intention: be clear about the work

Intention is simply being clear about what we’re here to do.

We’re here to offer Reiki.

Not to fix.

Not to diagnose.

Not to decide what the person on the table needs to experience.

Our intention is to be present, allow Reiki to flow through us and give the person space to have their own experience.

Clear intention keeps us in our role.

Invitation: begin the Reiki

Once we're grounded, the space is cleared and protected, and our intention is clear, we invite Reiki into the session.

That invitation may be quiet or it may include a familiar phrase, mantra or opening that has meaning to the practitioner.

This is the moment we intentionally open to the Reiki energy and allow it to flow where it’s needed.

Then we begin.

As a receiver of Reiki, most of this may be invisible

You may never see any of this preparation happening.

That’s okay.

You’re there to receive Reiki, not supervise how the practitioner prepares.

And once the session begins, you still get to be yourself.

You can talk.

You can be quiet.

You can laugh.

You can fall asleep.

You can think about dinner.

You can remember the carrots.

None of that interrupts Reiki.

As a Reiki practitioner, preparation is your first responsibility

It is our responsibility to create a safe, welcoming and energetically cleared and protected space.

Ground.

Clear.

Protect.

Set the intention.

Then we invite Reiki and begin.

It may take longer when you’re learning. With practice, it becomes familiar and much more natural.

The purpose isn’t to create a complicated ritual.

It’s to prepare intentionally before the Reiki hands go on.

How you finish matters too

Remember, the session also needs an intentional ending.

Give thanks.

Clear yourself and the space.

Get grounded in the now.

Close the Reiki work.

Grounding. Clearing. Protection. Intention. Invitation.

That’s the preparation.

Then put your Reiki hands on.

Trust your Reiki hands.

Allow Reiki to flow.

Start where you are.