What Is Reiki And What Actually Happens in a Session?
If you've heard the word "Reiki" and pictured something vague, mystical, or slightly embarrassing to ask about out loud this is the article that answers the actual question, without the fog.
I’m not going to bury the lead here, Reiki is traditionally described as a Japanese practice where a practitioner places their hands lightly on or near your body in a specific sequence, with the intention of helping your nervous system shift from a stress state into a rest state. That's it. That's the whole thing.
Everything else the history, the philosophy, the language around "energy" and "ki" is real and has depth to it, but it's not required for Reiki to do something. You don't need to believe in anything for your body to relax. You don't need to have a spiritual framework. You just need to lie down (or even just recline in a chair) and let your nervous system do what it's actually quite good at, given the chance.
I say this as someone who has practiced Reiki for 15+ years, studied it formally, and built parts of my work around it. I'm not interested in convincing you of anything. I'm interested in telling you what it actually is, so you can decide for yourself whether it's worth trying.
Where Reiki comes from, briefly
Reiki was developed in Japan in the early 20th century. The word itself combines two ideas: roughly, "universal" and "life energy" and the practice was built around the idea that gentle, intentional touch (or near-touch) could support the body's own healing and regulation processes.
It spread internationally over the following decades and has been adapted by different lineages and traditions along the way, which is part of why explanations of it can feel inconsistent. Different practitioners were trained differently, and the language used to describe it varies a lot depending on who's talking.
What's stayed consistent across most approaches is the basic format: a practitioner's hands, a series of positions, and a client who is mostly just lying still.
What a Reiki session
actually looks like
This is the part most explanations skip, and it's the part people actually want to know before they book something.
You stay fully clothed. For the love of all that is beautiful in this world, if a practitioner ever asks you to get undressed RUN! Next, you lie down, usually on a massage-style table, sometimes seated if that's more comfortable. Then the practitioner's hands are placed lightly on or just above different areas of the body, typically starting near the head and moving down. There's no massage, no manipulation, nothing that requires undressing or physical effort from you. For once you truly get to do nothing (can you imagine?)
Sessions usually run somewhere between 30 and 60 minutes, my sessions are typically 75 minutes. The room is generally quiet, sometimes with soft music. If you are experiencing a virtual session, I always suggest setting yourself up in the coziest space in your home. Think: close the blinds, get into comfy clothes, grab your favorite blanket and pillow, light a candle and grab your headphones, I’ll take care of the music. Many people close their eyes (pro-tip: eye masks are a game-changer). Some fall asleep entirely (hooray!), please know this is not a failure to "do it right." It's often a sign that your nervous system finally got the permission it needed to stop being on alert.
1. Settling in
A few minutes of grounding and conversation. I always like to start by allowing you to settle into the space with some light conversation. Questions like: what's going on for you, what you're hoping for from the session, any areas you'd like attention on.
2. The session itself
You lie down, fully clothed. Hands are placed in a sequence of positions, typically beginning near the head and moving toward the torso and lower body. Most of this happens in quiet. I always begin each session with a guided meditation to allow you to drop-in.
3. Coming back
A gentle re-orientation period. Some people feel deeply relaxed, some feel emotional, some feel almost nothing notable — all of these are normal.
4. Aftercare
I always offer space for a brief conversation about what came up, if anything, and what you might notice over the following day or two. Typically that is often deeper sleep, emotional release, or simply a sense of having exhaled.
What it actually feels like
People describe Reiki sessions in fairly consistent ways, even if they arrive with very different expectations.
Warmth, especially near wherever the practitioner's hands are placed
A sense of heaviness or sinking into the table
Tingling or subtle pulsing sensations
Emotion surfacing without an obvious "reason" — sometimes tears, sometimes just a wave of feeling
Falling asleep, even if you didn't think you were tired
Afterward: deeper sleep that night, a sense of clarity, or simply feeling more like yourself
Occasionally: nothing dramatic at all, just stillness
None of these reactions are "the goal." There isn't a correct response. What's actually happening underneath all of it is fairly straightforward physiologically, your body is shifting out of a sympathetic (stress) state and into a parasympathetic (rest and repair) state, which is where digestion, healing, and emotional processing actually happen.
You don't need to believe
in energy for your body
to recognize safety.
It just needs the chance.
Is Reiki "real’?
and is it for skeptics?
This is the question underneath most people's hesitation, so let's address it directly.
If by "real" you mean "is there a measurable mechanism happening in the body" — yes. The shift into a parasympathetic state is well documented and measurable: heart rate slows, breathing deepens, muscle tension releases. Whether you frame that as "energy work" or "a structured practice of stillness that helps your body remember how to rest" doesn't actually change what's happening physically.
If by "real" you mean "is the specific framework of ki, energy channels, and universal life force scientifically proven," that's a different question, and one I'm not going to pretend to settle here. What I can tell you is that you don't need to resolve that question in order for a session to be worthwhile. A skeptic and a believer can lie on the same table, receive the same session, and both walk away having genuinely relaxed for the first time in weeks. The mechanism debate doesn't have to be settled for the experience to be real.
This is also why Reiki pairs so naturally with somatic, body-based work, both are, at their core, practices that help your nervous system access a state it's forgotten how to reach on its own.
The honest framing
You don't have to believe anything to try Reiki. You just have to be willing to lie down, stay still, and let your body do something it already knows how to do, relax, with a little support.
If your nervous system has been stuck in "on" for a long time,
that alone can feel like a lot.
Reiki in Phoenix,
what to expect
If you're local to the Phoenix/Scottsdale area and looking for Reiki, a few things are worth knowing as you look around.
Sessions are typically offered either in-person at a practitioner's space or, increasingly, as part of evening or distance sessions designed to support sleep and nervous system regulation. The desert heat here also tends to amplify how depleted people's nervous systems get; high temperatures are their own form of chronic low-grade stress on the body, even when you're indoors most of the day.
What matters most when choosing a practitioner isn't credentials alone. It's whether the person holding space for you can actually create a sense of safety. Reiki is, in many ways, as much about the container as the technique. A rushed, transactional session in a sterile room will feel very different from one where the practitioner has slowed down enough to actually be present with you.
A gentle place to start
Goodnight Reiki
If everything in this article landed, especially the part about your nervous system being stuck in "on," Goodnight Reiki is designed exactly for that. A restorative evening session to help your body remember what rest actually feels like.
