The Touch of Reiki

It is commonly thought that the system of Reiki is all about touch. And even if people say that it goes beyond that, then they point out that when you have a Reiki session it is all about touch.

However, a Reiki session does not have to be based on touch at all…

When we look closely at Mikao Usui’s teachings, we can see that a Reiki session is about way more than just touch.

This we can clearly see if we look at the precepts:

Do not anger

Do not worry

Be grateful

Be true to your way and your being

Show compassion to yourself and others

Within the precepts we do not see anything at all about touch. The precepts are all about a state of mind. The word precepts also stands for instruction; thus the precepts are instructing us on what the essence is for a Reiki session. A Reiki session is about our state of mind of no anger, no worry, being grateful, being true to our way and our being and being compassionate to ourselves and others.

This state of mind is a deep state of healing for the practitioner and thus also a deep state of healing for the client during a Reiki session. This state of mind/state of healing of course can be shared through touch, but that is only one very small element within Mikao Usui’s teachings.

You could in fact sit opposite your client in that state of mind of the precepts without touching! Sometimes this can trigger a very deep healing as some people do not like to be touched due to trauma or other elements. Sometimes sitting opposite each other in a Reiki session without touch also can take you to a deeper place than with touch, as touch can at some times become a distraction.

You also could chant the precepts in Japanese as a form of healing for your client; this is a very common practice within Japanese traditional spiritual practices. As you sit opposite each other and the practitioner chants while the client is bathed in this healing vibration, again no touch necessary.

We also can do this with the mantras taught within the system of Reiki, sitting opposite each other while the practitioner chants the mantra and the client sits in that space which is created by the chanting. Again, no need to touch.

Then there are the meditation practices, like joshin kokyu ho for example. As a practitioner we can sit opposite our client and practice this meditation as a form a healing with our client, again no touch needed.

As you can start to see, within the system of Reiki there are many ways healing can take place during a Reiki session, with or without touch.

Of course touch can be a great tool for healing to take place, and sometimes people want and enjoy the physical feeling of hands placed on their head, heart, or areas of pain. But these other ways of healing as taught within Mikao Usui’s teachings also are wonderful tools. And sometimes these ways can touch even deeper levels of healing, without the physical action of touch.

So open your mind as a teacher and/or practitioner, explore the deeper layers of healing without touch and see how that effects you as a teacher and/or practitioner, and of course as a client.

Don’t limit yourself, step out of the box of the need to physically touch and let your energy flow. Let the mind of interconnectedness touch instead of the hands.