Daily Reiki self treatments are transformative
One of the most meaningful (and sometimes most overlooked) parts of Reiki training is learning to feel how Reiki flows through your hands. Not imagining it. Not forcing it. Simply watching it, again and again, through your regular Reiki self-treatments.
For Reiki students, this isn’t an optional extra. It’s part of how Reiki becomes embodied, trusted, and quietly transformative in daily life.
Self-treatment is where your hands learn.
It’s where your awareness deepens.
And it’s where Reiki moves from concept to lived experience.
Your Reiki hands are your teachers
Every time you place your hands on your own body, you’re learning the language of Reiki through direct experience.
At first, sensations might be subtle -
warmth, heat or coolness
tingling, prickling or pulsing
heaviness or lightness
a gentle sense of flow
Some days you’ll feel a lot. Other days, the sensations may be subtler. Both are part of learning to experience the flow of Reiki through your hands.
Over time, something important happens:
your hands begin to recognize Reiki before your mind does.
This is why daily self-treatment matters so deeply for students.
Not only are daily self treatments transformative, your Reiki practice gives your hands repeated, calm opportunities to sense -
when Reiki feels strong or quiet,
when it moves in cycles (or patterns of Reiki flowing)
when it feels steady, or spacious
when it changes without you doing anything at all.
You’re not trying to control the energy. You’re learning to listen and feel.
Reiki flows differently at every hand position
One of the great gifts of self-treatment is discovering that Reiki does not feel the same everywhere.
As you move through the different hand positions, you may notice -
the head often feels expansive, buzzing, or light
the throat can feel subtle, emotional, or deeply calming
the heart may feel warm, steady, or tender
the belly often feels grounding, rhythmic, or deeply soothing
the pelvis or lower abdomen can feel slow, dense, or very peaceful
Sometimes one hand feels active while the other feels quiet. Sometimes both feel neutral, and then suddenly shift.
This teaches you something essential:
Reiki responds to the body, not to a script.
As Reiki students learn to feel these differences for and on themselves, they naturally become more present and adaptable in their practice, without trying to do anything special.
Feeling Reiki builds trust
Many Reiki students may worry -
Am I doing this right?
Is the energy really flowing?
Why does it feel different today?
Daily self-treatment gently dissolves these questions, not through answers, but through your experience.
As you feel Reiki move through your hands again and again, you begin to trust it.
Reiki flows even when you’re tired
Quiet sessions are also deeply effective
Giving yourself Reiki, happens automatically as soon as your hands touch the body.
This trust creates calm confidence, not only in Reiki sessions, but in daily life.
Your self-treatments shape your well-being, calm, and presence
When you place your hands on your body with awareness, you'll automatically start -
slowing down
listening inward
staying with yourself
allowing, rather than fixing
In only a short time, my Reiki students often notice their daily self-treatment supports -
a steadier nervous system
clearer emotional boundaries
greater patience with themselves and others
a natural sense of presence and calmness.
This presence doesn’t switch off when the treatment ends.
It shows up in conversations.
In how you listen.
In how you respond instead of react.
Reiki self-treatments become a quiet training ground for mindful relationships, with yourself first, and with everyone else.
Takata Sensei and the practice of daily self-treatments
Hawayo Takata Sensei, who brought Reiki to the West, emphasised the importance of daily self-treatments, recommending an hour each day.
This wasn’t about discipline for discipline’s sake. It reflected a deep understanding that self-treatments are foundational to your Reiki practice, not secondary.
For many modern students, an hour every day may not always be realistic, but the spirit of Takata Sensei's teaching remains powerful.
She understood that regular, attentive self-treatments -
Strengthen the student’s connection to and trust in Reiki
Supports the Reiki student's physical, emotional, and mental balance
Deepens the sensitivity in their hands
And anchors Reiki as a living practice, not 'just a modality'.
Even when done in shorter segments, daily Reiki contact and treatments matter.
A gentle way to focus on feeling the flow
If you want to deepen your sensitivity during self-treatments, try this simple approach:
Place your hands on one position
Take two slow breaths
Ask yourself quietly: “What do my hands notice here?”
Don’t search - just be aware and receive the flow of Reiki
Stay until the flow of Reiki shifts, or until it feels complete
No need to name the sensation.
No need to interpret it.
Just notice.
Over time, your hands will teach you far more than any description ever could.
A closing reflection for all Reiki students
Learning to feel how Reiki flows through your hands is not about becoming special or advanced.
It’s about becoming present and aware.
Every self-treatment is an invitation to slow down, soften, and let Reiki meet you exactly where you are. Through that daily meeting, your hands grow wiser, more sensitive and trusting, your mind grows quieter, and your relationships -starting with the one you have with yourself - grow more mindful and kind.
As Takata Sensei understood so well:
Reiki is not something you rush. It’s something you live.
And your Reiki hands, day by day, will teach you as they balance and harmonise your whole being.
