Picture this. You're lying on a massage table in a quiet room. Soft music, maybe a candle or two. Someone stands beside you and gently places their hands on your shoulders. And then... nothing dramatic happens. No lightning bolts. No angels descending from the ceiling.
But about ten minutes in, you notice something odd. Your hands are tingling. Your legs feel heavy, like they've been poured full of warm honey. Your mind, which was rattling through tomorrow's to-do list just moments ago, has gone strangely, beautifully quiet.
That's Reiki.
And if you've never experienced it before, you probably have a dozen questions. So let's walk through exactly what happens during a Reiki session, step by step, so you know what to expect before you ever walk through the door.
A good Reiki practitioner won't just march you onto the table and start channelling ki like some kind of energy vending machine. There's a conversation first. Think of it like a GP appointment (only considerably more relaxed, and nobody's going to ask you to say "ahhh").
Your practitioner will want to know what brought you in. Maybe it's chronic back pain. Maybe you've been dealing with anxiety that won't quit. Maybe you're just curious and your mate told you it was bonkers good. All valid reasons.
At Om Reiki, the session is tailored to the person in front of us. Reiki can be used for physical issues, emotional stress, energy depletion, spiritual opening, or simply to give the whole system a chance to reset. The practitioner will usually ask what you want help with, explain how the session works, and make sure you are comfortable with hands-on or hands-off healing.
This initial chat usually takes five to ten minutes. It's also where you can ask any questions. And here's the single most important thing: you stay fully clothed. Shoes off, yes. Clothes off, absolutely not.
You lie face-up on a padded treatment table. Most practitioners will have a pillow for your head, maybe a bolster under your knees, and a blanket over you, because here's something nobody warns you about: during a Reiki session, your body temperature can drop as you relax deeply. It's the same thing that happens when you fall asleep. Your body cools down as your parasympathetic nervous system kicks in.
The room is usually dim. Quiet. Some practitioners play gentle music, others prefer silence. Neither is better or worse. It's simply a matter of style.
Now close your eyes. That's it. Your only job for the next hour is to lie there and do absolutely diddly-squat.
Once you are comfortable, the practitioner begins placing their hands either lightly on the body or just above it.
There is no massage. No manipulation. No cracking, poking, prodding, or heroic attempt to wrestle your shoulder into enlightenment.
Reiki is much simpler than that. The practitioner connects to Reiki energy and allows it to flow through the hands. In Reiki Flow, Jeremy describes the practitioner a little like a pipeline full of Reiki energy. The client draws what they need. The practitioner’s job is not to force the healing. It is to stay open, relaxed and connected.
This is why a good Reiki session feels spacious. The practitioner is not trying to “fix” you with grim determination. They are creating the conditions in which your body, emotions, mind and energy field can receive what they are ready to receive.
People can feel all sorts of things during Reiki: warmth, tingling, pulsing, heaviness, lightness, waves of energy, emotional release, sudden calm, colours, memories, or a deep sleepy state that is not quite sleep.
And sometimes?
Not much.
This does not automatically mean nothing happened. Some people are so desensitised by years of stress that the first session is quiet. The Reiki may be working more subtly, perhaps on the auric field, the nervous system, or layers that are not immediately obvious.
Jeremy makes this point in The Perfect Reiki Course: the important thing is not whether the session arrives as a boom or a whisper. The important thing is what you take away afterwards.
Some people feel a huge energetic release on the table. Others simply sleep better that night, wake up lighter, or realise the next day that the knot in their stomach has loosened. Reiki can be dramatic. It can also be sneaky.
Both count.
Here's a metaphor that might help you understand why some sessions feel more dramatic than others.
Imagine your energy body is a river system. When everything's flowing nicely, water moves smoothly through every channel, every tributary, every tiny creek. But life being what it is, things get blocked. Stress drops a boulder here. Old grief piles up sediment there. Physical injury creates a dam somewhere else.
Now, when a Reiki practitioner channels ki into this system, the energy goes to work on those blockages. If you've got a small bit of debris, the clearing is gentle, barely noticeable. But if you've got a major blockage, one that's been building for years, then when the ki starts shifting it, you feel it. Sometimes intensely.
This is why your second session might feel completely different from your first. And your third different again. It depends entirely on what your energy body is ready to release at that particular moment.
Some people come in with a specific physical complaint, lower back pain, say, and are surprised when they spend the whole session processing an old emotional wound instead. That's because the body has its own priority list, and it's not always the priority list you'd expect. The body is extraordinarily intelligent. Trust it.
From the outside, a Reiki practitioner may look as if they are doing very little.
This is mildly inconvenient for marketing purposes, because “person stands quietly with hands still” does not sound thrilling. But it is also the point.
In Reiki, less is often more. The practitioner is not trying to shove energy into you like someone stuffing clothes into an overfull suitcase. They are staying relaxed, connected and present. They may focus on the energy in their hands, their body, the hara, or the simple feeling of Reiki flowing.
Sometimes they will follow standard hand positions. Sometimes intuition will guide them to stay longer at the head, heart, belly, knees or feet. The hand positions are useful, but they are not a prison. They are more like a map. Helpful when needed. Put aside when the road itself becomes clear.
The best sessions usually happen when the practitioner gets out of the way and lets the Reiki do what it knows how to do.
When the practitioner finishes, they'll gently let you know. Don't leap off the table. Seriously. Take your time. Wiggle your fingers and toes. Open your eyes slowly. Sit up when you're ready.
Most people feel deeply relaxed, sometimes almost groggy, like waking from a deep afternoon nap. Some feel energised, alert, buzzy. Others feel emotional. All of these are completely normal responses.
Your practitioner will offer you water (drink it, your body is processing and hydration helps) and take a few minutes to chat about how the session went. They might share what they noticed, areas where the energy felt particularly strong or blocked, any impressions they received. You can share your experience too, or not. There's no obligation.
In the days following your session, pay attention. Reiki keeps working after you leave the table. You might notice vivid dreams, shifts in your mood, old memories surfacing, changes in your digestion or sleep patterns. Some people experience what's called a "healing response," a brief period (usually a day or two) where symptoms feel slightly amplified before they improve. This is the energy body clearing itself out, and it's a good sign, even if it doesn't feel terribly glamorous in the moment.
Let's be straight about this. Reiki is not a substitute for medical treatment. If you've got a broken arm, go to hospital. If you're dealing with clinical depression, see a qualified mental health professional. Reiki works beautifully alongside conventional medicine, but it's not an either/or proposition.
And Reiki won't "fix" you in one session. Can a single treatment produce remarkable results? Absolutely. But for chronic issues or deeply ingrained patterns, you'll generally see the most lasting results from a series of sessions. Three to six treatments, spaced a week or two apart, is a common recommendation. Think of it like fitness: one gym session won't make you fit, but a regular practice over time absolutely will.
For a deeper look at what Reiki can help with, have a read of our article on the five key benefits of Reiki healing.
At the Om Reiki Centre, we offer Reiki healing sessions in Melbourne (Fitzroy North) and in Brisbane. Whether it's your first time or your fiftieth, each session is tailored to where you are right now, physically, emotionally and energetically.
And if your experience on the table leaves you thinking, "I want to learn to do this myself," well, that's how most Reiki practitioners start. A single session that makes them think: hang on, what just happened? If that curiosity strikes, take a look at our Reiki Level 1 course in Melbourne, our Brisbane Reiki courses, or our Daylesford retreat-style courses. You can also browse all our upcoming dates on the 2026 course calendar.
But that's getting ahead of ourselves. For now, the thing to know is simple: a Reiki session is one of the few places in modern life where your only job is to lie down, close your eyes, and let something intelligent take care of you for a while.
In a world that's constantly asking you to do more, think more, produce more, that's not nothing.
That might, in fact, be everything.
For more on Reiki, browse our full collection of Reiki articles.
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