You can learn REIKI

Learning Reiki
Everybody can learn how to use reiki. There are three courses, or degrees, which are taught by a Reiki Master.

Reiki Degrees
Finding a Reiki Master


Reiki Degrees
There are three reiki degrees:
Reiki I
During the first degree course you will receive the attunements that will open you up to reiki energy and allow you to receive the energy and pass it on. You also learn the hand positions for applying hands-on reiki.

Reiki II
During the second degree course you will receive one attunement. You also learn three symbols that will enable you to send reiki over a distance.

Reiki III
The third degree course will make you a Reiki Master, so you can start attuning others.
Some Reiki Masters have split this course up into two courses to accommodate students who want to take reiki a step further without necessarily becoming a Reiki Master. These courses are called Reiki IIIa and Reiki IIIb, or Reiki III and Reiki IV. The first of these courses offers just the third-degree attunement and the second one will make you a Reiki Master.

How to plan the courses
Each attunement is followed by a three-week cleansing period, in which you may experience illness and/or emotional instability. This is nothing to worry about, it is just your body getting rid of physical and/or emotional blockages.

The general consensus is to wait at least three months between taking Reiki I and Reiki II, and at least a year between taking Reiki II and Reiki III. This is because every attunement opens you up to new experiences (which can differ for each individual), and it takes time to get used to this and to practise your new reiki skills. It is also important to try and incorporate the reiki principles into your daily life, which can also take time.





Finding a Reiki Master
There are no real rules for finding the right Reiki Master. The most important thing is to find someone you trust and feel comfortable with and to take your time finding a Reiki Master who is right for you. Many Reiki Masters organise introductions, so you can see and experience for yourself what reiki is, what the Reiki Master is like and whether you "click".

However, there are a few things to keep in mind.

Beware of Reiki Masters offering "crash courses", for example offering all three degrees in one weekend course or only weeks apart. It is best to stick to the recommended time periods for taking the different degrees (at least three months between Reiki I and Reiki II, and at least a year between Reiki II and Reiki III). If a subsequent degree is taken too quickly, you may not be able to handle the new experiences and skills you are opened up to.

I would not recommend a "distance course", i.e. a course where all the attunements are being performed over a distance and you never get to actually meet your Reiki Master. In a course like this, the Reiki Master can't see what is happening to you after the attunement, and may therefore not be able to give you all the necessary support.

There are also Reiki Masters who seem to think that reiki is only about the attunements and the symbols, and they will just give you the attunment and the symbols, and that's it. Sometimes they don't even cover the reiki principles, which are a very important aspect of reiki.

In the end, everybody should of course choose the Reiki Master and the course that they like best. But keep in mind that you may get what you bargain for, and that by taking one of those "crash courses" you may not get as much out of reiki as you could have if you had taken the time for a more elaborate course.