Career as a Reiki?

[John Griggs]

Hello,

A few months ago, I went to a metaphysical bookstore with a friend. In one of the rooms of the bookstore, a spiritual healer was doing healing/readings for donations. When he did my reading, one of the things he said was that I was also a healer. He told me that he offers Reiki training for people that are interested in pursuing a career in this.

Very recently, I went to spiritual group that I found on Meetup.com. The organizer of the meetup was also psychic, and she also said that I was a spiritual healer.

This sounds like a very interesting career path. So, I have some questions... maybe someone who is already in the Reiki field or someone with knowledge can answer.

Do only certain people have the gift of becoming a Reiki? Or is this something pretty much anyone can do? If I do take the classes, how do I get clients and make it a profitable business? It costs $100 for the initial class, and there are three more classes to take after that to become a Reiki Master. So if I'm going to make an investment like that, I want to make sure it pays off. Any advice or telling me about your experience with Reiki training would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[Luciddd]

Sounds like a scam to me, hope I am wrong.

[earthmoonchild]

The field of spiritual/energy healing is not the way to go if you are in it for money.

I know people who do Reiki as part of their main practice, not just calling themselves a Reiki Master and getting clients. Most practice as a massage therapist or nurses, etc.

From what I know anyone can be taught Reiki, but some are just better at it than others. I also heard it only takes 3 classes and you can call yourself a Master. Somehow I think if you are a Master at anything it should take more than 3 classes.

[taylor]

The money is pretty bad as a Reiki practitioner. You can also get attuned at a Master level without payment if you find the right person. Also check out Quantum Touch as it is a healing technique that works on its own or can intensify Reiki effects.

I'm pretty skeptical of anyone who tells you that you're born to be a healer and that they happen to offer classes for $$. This doesn't mean you can't pursue it though if it interests you.

[JSB]

Anyone can be attuned to Reiki and learn how to use it. "Reiki Master" is not the same kind of thing as Qigong Master or Kung Fu Master --- it does not signify mastery of a field, but an attunement to what is called the master symbol which enables one to attune other people to Reiki energy.

I think the title can be a little misleading too.

Making Reiki a profitable business is difficult only because supply can easily outpace demand --- anyone can learn Reiki, so there is less incentive to pay someone for regular Reiki treatments and a lot of other Reiki practitioners to compete with.

It seems that the people who are most successful are those who:
A. combine Reiki with something else (massage, bodywork, other forms of energy work/healing, etc.), or B. are particularly skilled Reiki practitioners with a good reputation for helping people to heal.

Reiki is good to learn anyway, even if you just learn Reiki level 1. You can use the energy to help yourself, your family, friends, and even pets.

[Tanemon]

I believe that earthmoonchild answered well, above, about the basic question of spiritual healing (incl Reiki) and money.

I do not feel Reiki is a scam. I've been attuned to Reiki. After many self-help, growth, and meditation trainings (& practice), my inner negative reactions (emotional stuff) still bothered me. Then, some years ago, I broke my leg in an accident. While mending I decided to take a course and an attunement in Reiki. I thought I was doing this for my leg, but it resulted in several other benefits: The attunement itself immediately and unexpectedly acted to clear away a whole lot of the emotional background that had remained since my difficult childhood and adolescence — an inner sludge of sadness, frustration, shame, and anger.

In looking back on my life, I could see that in reaction to emotional pain, I had put up walls inside myself. With my Reiki attunement, both the original pain/fear and the walls I had undeliberately made just dispersed. Afterwards, I felt more stable and more able during the day under all circumstances. My sense of intimacy with nature (for instance, birds, dogs, horses) markedly increased — and, also, about three times as many people as before acted like they really liked me.

Now the topic has been opened "do some people have more inborn aptitude as healers?" - and I'd say "yes, in all probablity". I do not consider myself to have great inborn aptitude as a healer.

Some people who have been attuned to Reiki say they have seen some pretty miraculous healings (by which I mean physical healings) occur during or as a result of Reiki sessions. I can't make that claim. But I have seen it help people, to varying degrees. Just not 'big miracles'.

Well, without being hugely verbose, this sums up my experience. But don't feel that I've defined the situation... don't feel limited by the account I've given. Follow your own lights.

[AngelPsychic444]

I'm a second degree Reiki healer, and have done many healings as well as receive many healings (from Reiki masters) over the years. I never went for my master atunement because the teacher that was training me wanted too much money, I also didn't see the results I wanted from Reiki, I got meager results (this is both giving and receiving healings).

On the positive side, I was very new at hands-on-healing and getting involved with Reiki helped me break into all this and learn from also seeing others being trained... so I could compare notes. For a beginner with this is very important. The downside was the amount of money I had to pay for the 3 progressive atunements.

I also started to experiment, after I received my second Reiki atunement, with just bringing light down into my head and then channeling it into people. I read about this in a book, and decided to try it to compare how well it would stand up to my Reiki healings. I soon found out I could eaily channel energy into people with just some quick easy steps, and these healings worked as good as or even better than my Rieiki healings. So I realized that going to for my master atunement would be a waste of money.

So there are good things and bad things involved with Reiki training. You have to watch you don't get taken for too much money My Reiki teacher made all her money atuning others and very little just doing healings.... so atuning others is the real payday.

I would say get into some kind of hands-on-healing modality as soon as you can, and try to not pay too much money for it, and also start to experiment with other ways of using your energy to see if you can just do it yourself.... you'll find out they didn't tell you this in your training, doing it yourself works just as well, but you have to have some background to really do that, but I guess it's not impossivle for a beginner to go down that path.

Good luck with your healing training!

[angel A]

Originally Posted by John Griggs

Hello,

A few months ago, I went to a metaphysical bookstore with a friend. In one of the rooms of the bookstore, a spiritual healer was doing healing/readings for donations. When he did my reading, one of the things he said was that I was also a healer. He told me that he offers Reiki training for people that are interested in pursuing a career in this.

Very recently, I went to spiritual group that I found on Meetup.com. The organizer of the meetup was also psychic, and she also said that I was a spiritual healer.

This sounds like a very interesting career path. So, I have some questions... maybe someone who is already in the Reiki field or someone with knowledge can answer.

Do only certain people have the gift of becoming a Reiki? Or is this something pretty much anyone can do? If I do take the classes, how do I get clients and make it a profitable business? It costs $100 for the initial class, and there are three more classes to take after that to become a Reiki Master. So if I'm going to make an investment like that, I want to make sure it pays off. Any advice or telling me about your experience with Reiki training would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

I took my level 2 Reiki attunement in April, and had a wonderful Reiki Master teacher.Anyone can be attuned to Reiki and you do get the benefit of receiving certificates, which are needed if you want to practice healing proffessionaly.Too be honest i was doing exactly the same thing on my own,using my own intuition,so i was told.It's all to do with intention really but i think some people can heal more effectively than others, rather like you get a bunch of doctors,all having the same knowledge,but some are more thorough than others.
My advice is to find a good Reiki Master, who does not charge extortionate fees,and offers more than just the attunement. You only need level 1 and 2 to practice but need the next level if you want to teach. My Reiki Master accepted payment for the course in installments and gave all students a manual, for each level,which contained the history of Reiki,hand positions,chakra's and possible symptoms of blockage ect and she is always available for advice or to offer support.(Meeting regular for Reiki shares with other practitioners)
I am just in the process of starting a part time mobile Reiki business.I would advice you to do some research in your area. Find out how many Reiki healers are in your area, what they offer and what they charge. I just give Reiki Healing but others offer crystal therapy,psychic reading ect.You need to take out some insurance but only take out what you need.Some companies quote you therapists insurance,which can be up to £400(uk) you would be better looking for companies who have a special insurance, just for Reiki. They usually require that you have Reiki level 2, and that you have a space of 12 months, inbetween taking level 1 and 2.Personally i agree with this because it took me that long to find my feet and to heal myself first.With Reiki you need to have 21days of self healing after each attunement. Otherwise if you are not healed how can you heal others! I was sceptical and didn't think i needed healing but was suprised to find out how much healing i did need, in all areas of my life.(mind body and soul)I joined an association and got cheap insurance along with knowing that, although i will be working for myself,have the support of a group if i need them.It also makes clients feel more at ease when they know that you are set codes of practice,to follow, by a group.
Lastly try and be competitive with fees without selling yourself short.I charge almost half to what some healers charge but i am running my business along side my main job for now.It takes some time to get established so it is wise to do the same if you can. Ive done over 18months of healing for free. It's good practise and ,it helps to build up a good reputation and, hopefully,(it doesn't always work)to build up a paying clientelle base.It took me quite some time to feel comfortable with charging a fee but my Reiki Master explained that;

a.I had paid for tuition
b. bought equipment such as a good therapy bed and covers and meditation
cd's
c. If you give something away for free most people start to think that it must
be worthless
These points made me think! It's ok to want to heal the world but we still have to eat and pay the bills. Having said that i would never turn anyone away just because they can't afford to pay. I thought long and hard and i charge a moderate fee, which includes my petrol expenses.
I wish you well in your healing journey, if you do decide to take it, and hope that i have answered some of your questions

[Andrew Gubb]

I think that it's not so very hard to be good enough at reiki to be a decent practitioner and be able to charge for it. It's like a massage, anyone can do it. A bit of practise and you could be good enough to charge for either.

That said, it's not necessarily easy to earn a living as a reiki practitioner. Marketing is going to be your main work, at least unless you're good enough to generate a lot of word of mouth referrals immediately (i.e. very good).

I have a couple of people who come to me as a therapist from time to time. It's not my main work, though I'm happy to have it as a side. I'm pretty sure I could make it my main job with enough marketing, but I'm not sure it'd feel worth the effort in my case.

Personally I would want to have more practise to overcome some of the blocks I have to getting more clients. It's a sort of insecurity in my case. People expect me to be a complete expert, and I don't know how to answer when someone asks "How many sessions will it take to feel X effect?" or "Can reiki cure me of X?". I know the answer is "It depends and is hard to predict," but even so I'd like more experience to be able to answer these in a bit more depth. If I were to go further into reiki I think I'd offer a bucketload of healings either free or at a practise rate.

[AngelPsychic444]

Personally I would want to have more practise to overcome some of the blocks I have to getting more clients.

As a Reiki healer myself, I understand what you're saying here, but I think becomeing a more skilled healer would easily get you more clients, rather than say using all your time in marketing and advertising.

Obviously, beoming a more expert Reiki healer is not a easy thing to do, so there are problems with that too.

Oh, and btw, your blog on how football is manipulating us is very good, I agree with it 100%... more people need to understand what you wrote, it's very important! You should do a separate post on this so we could discuss it.

[Andrew Gubb]

Originally Posted by AngelPsychic444

As a Reiki healer myself, I understand what you're saying here, but I think becomeing a more skilled healer would easily get you more clients, rather than say using all your time in marketing and advertising.

Obviously, beoming a more expert Reiki healer is not a easy thing to do, so there are problems with that too.

Oh, and btw, your blog on how football is manipulating us is very good, I agree with it 100%... more people need to understand what you wrote, it's very important! You should do a separate post on this so we could discuss it.

Oh, you mean a forum post? Thanks!

I bet becoming more skilled would get you more clients That's what people are looking for: someone who is amazing, who can cure diseases with an incredible success rate. However, some people know what a normal reiki professional is like and is willing to go with that.

As for English teaching, my main earner, no-one's ever really that good; what most people are looking for is a glorified conversationist plus coach and grammar-explainer(...uhh... person). You can't get so brilliant that people will talk to each other about you much. So I've learned not to rely on word of mouth for that; the need for marketing is very real. I've learnt to get comfortable with it.

In general so long as you feel you could recommend your own service to a friend, there shouldn't be any problem with marketing to the people who could be interested.

Of course that doesn't mean manipulative marketing - for me marketing is, most of all, letting people know my service exists and what it is exactly, so they can know whether they might want to use it. Those who don't know a service exists, can't use it.

[ChannelingMyself]

I was told the same thing about being a healer in the last reading I had. I would like to see a Reiki practitioner and have a session to see what it is like, but just haven't gotten around to it yet.

[Tanemon]

I don't want to end or divert this valuable thread that John started. (Hope my post here does not do that.) But I'm quite impressed by the posts from people who are familiar with Reiki and with other (including their own) approaches to energy healing.

So it's got me wondering... Would people here participate in a thread intended to discuss the topic of energy/spiritual healing in itself? (Apart from career opportunities)

It seems to me we could learn good stuff from each other and maybe point out some valuable directions for experiment and development. Personally, I'd welcome such a thread - but it wouldn't make much sense to start it unless enough Pavlina posters would jump in on the topic. So let me know. If you want it, we'll do it.

[angel A]

Originally Posted by Tanemon

I don't want to end or divert this valuable thread that John started. (Hope my post here does not do that.) But I'm quite impressed by the posts from people who are familiar with Reiki and with other (including their own) approaches to energy healing.

So it's got me wondering... Would people here participate in a thread intended to discuss the topic of energy/spiritual healing in itself? (Apart from career opportunities)

It seems to me we could learn good stuff from each other and maybe point out some valuable directions for experiment and development. Personally, I'd welcome such a thread - but it wouldn't make much sense to start it unless enough Pavlina posters would jump in on the topic. So let me know. If you want it, we'll do it.

Great idea! i would be straight in there lol

[PrinceOfFire]

Originally Posted by earthmoonchild

The field of spiritual/energy healing is not the way to go if you are in it for money.

I know people who do Reiki as part of their main practice, not just calling themselves a Reiki Master and getting clients. Most practice as a massage therapist or nurses, etc.

From what I know anyone can be taught Reiki, but some are just better at it than others. I also heard it only takes 3 classes and you can call yourself a Master. Somehow I think if you are a Master at anything it should take more than 3 classes.

In regards to your last sentence, Reiki is very often misunderstood. It is not about the lecturing part and spending enough time with the teacher in order to be a good healer. The classes are mainly for activation. The real learning comes from practice. Therefore, do not judge a Reiki practitioner because of only 3 classes. I can not speak on behalf of the traditional line from USA, but I am initiated in the Japanese and Tibetan lineages which are quite different. Being initiated into Reiki is the first step of a spiritual path or process that will take years to master. The student itself is doing most of the work here. Like your given a set of toolbox, you don't know how to use it in the beginning, but have to find your own unique way to use it. My master requires a minimum of 12 months of practice between level 1 and 2. I know that in the traditional line in USA you can take level 2 shortly after level 1, and sometimes even together in a week. That is totally crazy and misunderstood! That is why many think of it as "just a class" that you have to pay money for. Like a big business. Some teachers just want to initiate as many people as possible without doing what is best for the student. My master even requires an individual application and conversation to get into level 3. That is because he claims not every student has developed level 2 enough, or simply are not ready for the next step and receive the master title. But again, in the traditional lineage from USA students receive Master level without mastering level 2 and Reiki energy in general. Because it has become a business. Therefore, be careful when choosing your Reiki practitioner. A level one practitioner with the right intension and a good teacher might be just as good or better as a master practitioner with the wrong intentions and poor teacher.

Again, it is not about just taking classes. It is a spiritual path that will do many things to the student except from the healing part. Like development of intuition. Development of paranormal abilities. Like some students start to see chakras after a year of level 1. Or some starts to hears voices in their head guiding them during a healing session.

But I totally agree that any healing for money is not the way to go. If you want to become a healer so you can make a living of it, you will most likely be a poor healer. Then you will focus too much on making money for yourself rather than helping others. Believe it or not, that makes a huge different in the healing process.

[Orca]

Just thought I'd throw my .02 in on this. I appreciate that my perspective might be a bit different.

I'll just say that healing is like any other profession. There's nothing that makes it more or less special, in terms of earning a living, etc. Just because it is spiritual in nature, I think sometimes people have different ideas on how it should be, as far as doing it. Maybe there's the fear that there would be no demand for it, or that people would think less of us for charging to do spiritual stuff, or that one should not want to charge for one's time. There are all kinds of things that get in the way of healer's abundance. I always say that the fee is not for the work itself, which, as we all know, is through us not by us. It's for one's time.

I guess I just wanted to say that it is possible to earn a living doing this. I'm not buying a yacht or anything but I'm doing fine.

Personally, I also think it is good if healers learn more than one tool. Reiki is only one tool, one way of working. There are dozens more ways of working with energy. It makes a healer more versatile to learn them rather than to only use Reiki. I suggest people explore and research for themselves. The only way to do that is to actually do the work. Go out and learn what works best for what kinds of situations. Reiki is wonderful. Yet, sometimes I think Reiki is a bit too non-curious because it doesn't always foster curiousity and expansion in what is possible and building from that. Yes, everything is as it should be but sometimes some things simply work better for some situations than others. And if you want to be a good healer, wouldn't you want to be curious and learn? Not from a book or a method or a school, but from your own experience? What works, when and why? Not from an egoic attachment to outcome, but from an experienced healer who is curious about how things are moving. If you you work with cancer a lot, each client you see helps you with the next one. That is, if you are learning and paying attention from your experience.

I'll also say that IMO, doing healing work part time is just as valid and valuable as doing it full time. Not everyone will be called to do this full time, and that is just as valuable as someone who is. I encourage people to delve in gradually, without feeling like they have to give up their day job right away. I've also known successful fulltime healers that did this work for a while and then moved on to other endeavors. So it is like any other profession. There's no one-path-fits-all.

So if healers are struggling financially, that might be because their path may not be to be full time and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that at all. It might also be because they're worried about charging for their work, or some beliefs about money are in their way, or they feel conflicted about money and spirituality. It might be they are really supposed to combine Reiki with something else, even if it is something like accounting or engineering. The healing energy is still there and they are still contributing as a healer! It may be that their healing journey was primarily for themselves, rather than for others. It finally, it may be that they are not ready yet to be working with a lot of people, and there is still some more healing that needs to happen personally for them.

All of these factors may be going on. But you won't know until you go there and go within to see what is going on. It isn't possible to know beforehand, just thinking about it. It has to be experienced first hand.

I've had days when I was absolutely overwhelmed with clients and exhausted. I've had days just the opposite. I've had clients that touched me inside in a very profound way. I've had clients I couldn't wait to get out the door. I've had clients who were quite angry, as well as clients that were depressed or in shock or confused. I've had clients very sick and in pain physically, yet rich spiritually. I've had clients just the complete opposite. It's just something that has to be felt through yourself. There's no way to really describe it. And then you will know if this is the right path for you.

It's never boring, though. That's for sure.

No matter what, just keep expanding and growing inside. That is where the real power is anyway, the real healer within. Know that the right people will find you at the right time, and whether that is fulltime work or part time or some combination thereof. The path will be shown to you.

Hope that helps!

Orca

[angel A]

Very well said orca!

[Merrick1]

Oh yes, I also fully agree with Orca .

Merrick

[PrinceOfFire]

Originally Posted by John Griggs

Hello,
If I do take the classes, how do I get clients and make it a profitable business? It costs $100 for the initial class, and there are three more classes to take after that to become a Reiki Master. So if I'm going to make an investment like that, I want to make sure it pays off.

If you want to take a Reiki class to jumpstart your healing path, great! But do it because you think the 100 dollars are worth every penny for your own good, not thinking that it is an investment that your clients will finance. Just for your own personal development, in my opinion, it is worth the fee thinking that you can give your self Reiki every day the rest of your life without having to see a Reiki practitioner. THAT is an investment! Do it for your self. 100 dollars is ridiculousy cheap compared to where I live. ($500 for level 1 and $1000 for level 2). Still I think the class was worth the price because it is something I use on my self every single day and I feel more vital and balanced than ever. I don't have to pay my master $100 for a Reiki session anymore.

And like Orca said.. there is nothing wrong with charging your clients for the time you spend on healing. But do not think of this as a business idea with easy cash from the beginning. Start slowly part time if you feel like and do it because you want to help people, not paying down your class fee.

And by the way.. you might wanna check out other Reiki masters in your area to compare and find the one you like the most. I would never trust a person giving me a reading telling me I'm a healer and then offer me a Reiki class for money. It's sad but there are too many masters out there that do it because of the money.