We know that you need to have a teacher to learn Reiki, but you also need a lot of practice
There are a few different ways to practice, and I recommend doing a mix as long as you have learned the concept
For example, if you are in Reiki 1, you don’t need to practice symbols because you haven’t learned them yet
The 9 Reiki exercises that I use to practice are:
- Energy ball
- Hand exercise
- Practice drawing Symbols
- Visualization practice
- Trusting intuition
- Sending loving energy to others
- Meditate with Reiki principles
- Deep breathing and meditation
- Morning and night routines
You can do most of these while you are at any Reiki level, and I recommend doing as many as you can as often as you can
Energy ball
Evergy balls are one of the most well know Reiki exercises for beginners
An energy ball is often one of the first experiences that people have while working with energy
To do this, go to a place that allows you to focus
I tried doing it with my kids in the beginning, but I was not able to focus enough to get any results
Once you are able to concentrate, sit down in a comfortable place and start rubbing your hands together
Keep rubbing them together until you can obviously feel the heat building
Then pull your hands apart slowly while cupping your hands like you are holding a ball
You might feel tingling, heat, pulling, or nothing
There is no right feeling and you’ll get more sensitive to the feelings with time
From here, you can pull your hands away slightly and push them together
You can play with that energy ball a little
When you are ready to stop, think about something good that you want inside that energy and give it to someone
You can throw it at your pets, children, or put it in yourself
If you have a headache, you can think of pain relief and then put the energy ball into your head
This is a simple way to get started
Don’t get frustrated if you don’t feel anything for a while
All good things come with practice
Hand exercise
The hand exercise is a Reiki 1 exercise
It is very similar to the energy ball, but it has more visualization and a couple more steps
To do this, sit somewhere comfortable with your palms up
Being able to focus is important for this too
Close your eyes and take a few deep breaths
Visualize a white light waterfall coming from above you and surrounding you
It is warm, peaceful, and calming
Then visualize white light coming from your left palm
It could look like spirals, starts, or anything that feels right
That light grows and starts to surround you
Look at your right hand in your mind’s eye
Light starts to come from that palm too just like the left side
Now gently rub your hands together and pull them apart slightly
You can feel resistance, like something is in your hands, tingling, or heat
Or you may feel nothing
Every experience is ok and valid
Play with the energy in your hands for a while
Then compress it into a ball
Think about what intentions you want for this energy
Do you want to add confidence? Pain relief? Peace?
Imagine putting those things into your energy and then push it into your heart
Practice drawing Symbols
Once you are in Reiki 2, you will start learning symbols
This requires some memorization so practicing the symbols could be helpful
You can practice in your daily Reiki practices, or you can draw them over and over to help with memorization
It is helpful to memorize the symbol, name, and uses
You will likely start with learning 3-5 symbols
So it won’t be super overwhelming
But practicing and memorizing them as you learn them prevents overwhelm later
Visualization practice
Visualization is a skill
It is hard to completely focus on one thing and to build detailed images in your mind
The good thing about visualization being a skill is that you can practice
Note: People with Aphantasia are unable to visualize images in their mind. If that is you, do the best you can. Try talking yourself through it out loud or test out other options
The easiest way to practice visualization is to sit down somewhere comfortable and try to play a memory in your mind like a movie
Think about as many details as you can and play it in your mind
Doing it this way helps you with focus and keeps your attention because it is very personal to you
I highly recommend using a very happy memory
Trusting intuition
Your gut feeling is your intuition
You can practice Reiki by learning to listen to your intuition and trusting it
We get so used to ignoring it and pushing it away that we struggle to understand it in the future
Practice paying attention and respecting it
Your intuition is a powerful and close friend
Sending loving energy to others
There are different ways of sending loving energy to others
You can do it through hugs
Hug someone (or yourself) and think about what you want to give them
I love doing this
When someone is hurting and upset, I give them a huge and visualize myself giving them peace
I can feel them relax in my arms when I do this and I am often told that I give the best hugs
But you don’t have to touch people to do this
You can practice living at a higher frequency so the people around you get that loving energy just by being around you
Meditate with Reiki principles
The five Reiki principles are simple but hard to follow
Meditating with them and using them as mantras and affirmations can help a lot when you are trying to change your life
The five principles are:
- Do not worry
- Do not be angry
- Be grateful
- Work diligently
- Love every living thing
This doesn’t mean that you never feel worry or anger
But you don’t live your life by them
To learn more about these principles, read my article on them
Deep breathing and meditation
Life can get overwhelming
Deep breathing and meditation are excellent tools to bring you back to a high vibration
Or to help prevent the overwhelm in the first place
When my kids are having a bad moment or getting overwhelmed, the first thing we practice is our deep breathing
Once you are regulated, we can talk about what happened and find a solution
The same works for you
Meditation can also help you sleep better
Meditating calms your mind and allows it to rest
Morning and night routines
Morning and night routines are my favorite
They are customizable with the exercises above, but you do them every morning and every night instead of as needed throughout the day
Starting your day with Reiki helps start your day off right
It allows you to choose your intention for the day
Think about the days when it felt like you were chasing your tail all-day
Then remember the morning
Most likely, those tough days started on the wrong foot and never recovered
Night routines help you put the day and the chaos to bed before going to sleep
You can heal yourself and reset yourself before lying down to sleep
If you are like me, you may have trouble falling asleep too because of the millions of thoughts going through your mind
A Reiki night routine will calm those thoughts so you can fall asleep easier as well