Reiki

What Do You Learn in Reiki Level 1?

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A Level 1 class centers on three things, according to the International Center for Reiki Training: receiving the attunement, being shown how to give a treatment, and practicing on others in class. The ICRT says it is taught over a weekend. Afterward, you can use Reiki on yourself and on family and friends; treating the public is a later level.

What happens in the class?

The ICRT says a beginning class is taught over one or two days on a weekend, and recommends at least six to seven hours. In that time, it says, students need to:

  • Receive the attunement, which the ICRT describes as the process by which a person receives the ability to give Reiki treatments, administered by the teacher during the class.
  • Be shown how to give treatments, including the hand positions. The ICRT’s description of a standard treatment uses positions around the head and shoulders, the stomach and the feet.
  • Practice giving treatments in class.

The ICRT also describes the Reiki ideals, a short set of guiding principles that it says Mikao Usui added to the practice several years after developing it.

What does Level 1 qualify you to do?

In the description used by Cancer Research UK, Level 1 means you can use Reiki for yourself, your family and your friends, but not treat other people or charge for treatment. The ICRT adds that once you have received the attunement, you can treat yourself as well as others.

A Level 1 certificate does not license you to practice in any official sense; the ICRT itself says there are no governmental licensing programs for Reiki.

What comes after the class?

Practice. Because a first class is short, what you do in the weeks afterward, such as regular self-treatment or practicing with willing friends, is where you build experience at this level. If you want to treat the public later, that is the territory of Level 2.

Questions to ask before you sign up

Use some of the questions the ICRT itself suggests asking a teacher about the class: What do you cover? How many hours of class time are included? How much of that time is instruction and how much is hands-on practice? What will I be able to do after the training? And what are the fees?

This article is general information, not medical or psychological advice; talk with a licensed clinician about your own situation.

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