Why Your Therapist's Energy Matters

Does it matter who gives you Reiki?

It is often taught that Reiki bypasses the energy of the person channeling it. According to this view, the client should only feel the Reiki energy itself, the universal energy, rather than the person providing Reiki.

However, my own personal experience is that receiving energy work from different therapists has a different feeling to it. Some feel aligned and comforting, while others feel a bit off, as if the energy is not quite suited to me.

I was curious if I was alone in this feeling, so I put up a poll on Instagram to find out if others felt the same.

What the Data Says

In the Instagram poll, I asked four questions about how Reiki feels with different practitioners:

If we remove the results from people who have only ever seen one therapist, the data is clear: 90% of the people who voted feel that Reiki feels different from one therapist to another.

Why Could Reiki Feel Differently?

If Reiki is not the therapist's own individual energy, why would it feel different? A few possibilities could be:

• Frequency: Could it be that during the process of channeling, as the Reiki energy comes through the therapist, it picks up a little bit of their own frequency?

• Proximity: It’s also possible the client is picking up the therapist’s frequency externally. If the therapist is not in the best mood, the client might pick that up just from being in close proximity to them, rather than the mood coming through the channeling itself.

There are also several external factors that can cause these different feelings:

• Your Connection: How well do you know the person? Do you feel an instant connection or a sense of trust with them?

• Environment: Does the room match your personality? How comfortable do you feel in that specific space?

• Belief Systems: If you prefer a neutral session, you might prefer someone who doesn’t use sage or crystals. You might also find you prefer someone who follows the Japanese 3 Diamonds rather than the Chakra system.

What Does This Mean?

Because 90% of people feel a difference, there could be more to Reiki than what was originally taught regarding whether the therapist impacts the feeling of the energy. But without further research this can not be confirmed.

The main takeaway is to pay attention to how you feel. If a session doesn't feel right, it might simply be that the therapist's frequency or environment isn't the right match for you.