What Is Reiki? A Gentle Introduction to Energy Healing

Healing through hands, heart, and presence.

Reiki is something that’s difficult to fully explain with words, but I’ll try to share how I’ve come to know it over the past 23 years—not just as a practice, but as a way of being.

At its core, Reiki is a form of energy healing that supports the body’s natural ability to balance, restore, and release. The word comes from Japanese:

• Rei meaning universal, sacred, or spiritual

• Ki meaning life force energy (similar to “chi” or “prana”)

Together, Reiki is often translated as universal life energy—a gentle current of healing that flows through all living things.

How Does Reiki Work?

During a Reiki session, the practitioner acts as a channel for this energy, allowing it to flow through their hands to the recipient. This can be done with light, non-invasive touch or with the hands hovering just above the body. Reiki can also be shared at a distance—across rooms, time zones, or emotional states.

The energy itself is not mine or yours—it’s universal, intuitive, and always working for the highest good. The practitioner is not "giving" their own energy, but allowing a deeper source of healing to move through them.

Benefits for the Client

Every Reiki session is unique, but here are some common ways clients describe the experience:

• A deep sense of calm and safety

• Emotional release or softening

• Relief from physical tension or pain

• Restored mental clarity

• Feeling more connected to self or spirit

• Improved sleep and mood regulation

• Support during grief, trauma, or transition

Some feel warmth, tingling, or images. Others simply fall asleep. The energy goes where it’s needed, whether we’re aware of it or not.

How Reiki Nourishes the Practitioner

One of the beautiful truths about Reiki is that it flows both ways. As a practitioner, I receive the energy just by channeling it. It moves through me as I share it, replenishing my own system as it supports others.

Practicing Reiki has taught me to slow down, to listen deeply, and to trust what can’t always be seen. It has helped me become more centered, more intuitive, and more present in my own life.

Even self-Reiki—placing hands on my heart, belly, or shoulders—can shift my entire day. It’s like checking in with my spirit and saying, “I see you. I’m here.”

A Final Thought

Reiki isn’t a cure-all or a miracle—though it can feel like one, sometimes. It’s a practice of presence. Of holding space. Of allowing energy to flow where it needs to go.

Whether you are curious about receiving Reiki or drawn to learning how to offer it, know that this work meets you exactly where you are—with gentleness, grace, and an open hand.

With warmth, Crysania