Are you interested in being able to practice Reiki, either for yourself and your family or to start a professional practice? There are two crucial parts to becoming a Reiki practitioner. The first is education. You must learn about the energy, how to conduct a session, and how to be a prepared healer. The second (and arguably the most important for all practitioners) is attunement. Attunement is exactly what it sounds like; you will be constantly and forever attuned to the divine universal lifeforce. In attunement, your Reiki master teacher will create a new channel in your aura or energetic body, opening your crown, heart, and palm chakras, and connecting you to the unlimited source of reiki energy. Many find this a very personal, special, and sacred experience. There are three levels of attunement: First Degree, Second Degree, and Third Degree or Master Level. Each level brings greater knowledge and ability. 

First Degree Reiki creates the initial connection between the individual and the universal life energy. It has been compared to plugging in and tuning a radio; the radio waves have always been present, but the radio will only receive the frequencies when it is powered on and turned in to the right channel. At this level, students learn the first Reiki symbol, basic healing hand positions, and how to administer reiki to themselves. 

Second Degree Reiki gives students access to higher energy and additional symbols that they can then use to do distant healing as well as more advanced and effective forms of mental and emotional healing. 

Third Degree Reiki, or Master Level, is two parts – mastery and teaching. After showing dedication to Reiki and gaining solid experience with healing sessions, a practitioner can pursue mastery attunement, giving them additional education and more advanced healing techniques, as well teaching qualifications for training and attuning others to all Reiki levels. 

After becoming attuned at any level, new Reiki practitioners will experience a 21-day clearing process. The new channel takes a time to adjust to, and the existence of it often clears out emotions, toxins, and things that need to shift in a healer’s life. This process can be intense, but your master teacher, and your new attunement to reiki, will give you tools for supporting yourself through this transition. Mediation and self-care are especially important.

While Reiki originated in Japan, it has grown in popularity across the globe. There are many schools and masters teaching the practice, or varieties of the practice. Most, if not all, will trace back to Mrs. Hawayo Takata, the woman who brought Reiki to America from Japan. Some schools charge thousands of dollars and train their students for months before attuning them, some schools offer a few hours of education through video then do their attunements entirely online, with no personal or hands-on interaction. Those are both extreme examples, and most master teachers offer some mix of something in-between those extremes. Usually attunements are given one level at a time, separated by waiting periods. This is not the case in Sammi’s Reiki course.