Why I Allow 2 Hours for a Reiki Session

Allowing 2 hours for a standard hands-on Reiki session is not typical. Longer sessions grew out of my desire to facilitate the deepest healing the client is willing to accept.

Even a few minutes of Reiki can have a positive effect, as witnessed daily by practitioners who work in hospital, hospice, and palliative care settings. After 15-30 minutes of Reiki, the recipient typically feels more relaxed, is less stressed, and often experiences a lighter mood. At times significant shifts or insights may occur. In private settings, Reiki sessions are typically scheduled for one hour, perhaps with an option of shorter or somewhat longer sessions.

My goal is to facilitate the deepest healing the client is ready to accept.

Reiki never forces healing; it simply very gently facilitates the body’s healing processes. My intention during a session is to facilitate the deepest healing the client is ready and willing to accept. I approach each session without attachment to outcome—the outcome is always determined by the client in collaboration with a Higher Power. I simply allow Reiki to flow and follow its direction. The result may be subtle or it may be dramatic, and it continues to unfold in the days and weeks following the session.

The benefits I see in longer sessions include:

1. I allow approximately 15 minutes at the beginning of a session for the client to express anything they wish to share. I believe the client hearing the sound of his/her own voice, expressing their concerns and desires and stating what they hope to gain from the session starts the healing process.
2. From this initial conversation, the client forms a clear intention or focus for the session. Prior to beginning the session, I restate this intention in the form of a prayer, anchoring the words and intention in the mind and energetic body of the client. I believe this creates greater receptivity to the healing process.
3. The treatment itself usually takes about an hour and a half. Longer sessions allow me to continue working on an area of pain/distress for as long as needed. I may stay at one hand position for 15 minutes or longer. I treat both front and back of the body, using multiple options for hand positions rather than the 7-15 positions most commonly taught.
4. Following the session, I again allow 15 minutes or longer ensure the client is grounded and to answer questions, allow them to process the experience, and share insights they may have gained.
5. I share with the client any impressions or insights that may have come to me, and provide them with a handout for self-care following the session.
6. Over the nineteen years I have been in practice I have discovered that an expansive amount of time creates the space for deep healing to take place.