Recently I’ve been receiving a lot of questions from extreme beginners. A lot of them relating to the best way to actually get started with Reiki. Where to begin… so to speak. So I thought I’d jot down a few things here for those wishing to to get you off on the right foot with Reiki but really have no idea where or how to begin.

To get started you might also want to take a look at my post on The Top 10 Things to Consider when Choosing a Reiki Teacher for some specific advice relating to getting a teacher… although finding a good teacher is not the only consideration for beginners. There are many different types of Reiki, many different types of classes, and many different types of teachers… and not all of them are created equally. So before even considering a teacher, you need to know something about Reiki.

For beginners, I would recommend a basic Reiki class. Either Western Style or Traditional Reiki are fine for getting started and names like Usui Reiki, Reiki Ryoho, Usui Shiki Ryoho, Gendai Reiki, Komyo Reiki are all basic Reiki classes that are the type of thing you want to start with. Styles of Reiki such as Karuna Reiki, Lightarian Reiki, Angelic Reiki, Dolphin Reiki, Violet Flame Reiki, Kundalini Reiki, etc. are all Reiki variations, and you steer away from them until you have reached a certain comfort level with basic Reiki.

You also need to make a decision between a distance attunement and training and face to face. I’d venture to say that 95% of the distance Reiki classes out there are shams with a few exceptions. Contact me directly if you’d like my opinion on a distance class or teacher. Most of these Reiki ‘Masters’ offer no support, really have no idea how to actually send a distance attunement and/or are just in it for the money. In there defense I have to say that its not their fault, they learned this way and consider their learning valid. It may very well be… but in most cases I have my doubts. In any event I would go for a local teacher and a live class if at all possible and leave the distance classes for those that are really desperate to find a teacher.

So deciding live or distance, which style you want and which teacher are the first three steps that you should not rush into. Take your time and find the right class and the right teacher and you’ll be quite happy you did in the long run.

A few other things you might wish to consider are reading a good Reiki book (I recommend William Rand’s Reiki: The Healing Touch for getting a good introduction) joining a few online Reiki forums, and browsing some Reiki Websites for some unique and interesting viewpoints. A very good idea would be to start keeping a Reiki Journal even before you get started to keep track of and help you notice changes along the Reiki Path… again, further on down the line you’ll be quite happy that you did.

Of course you are free to contact me with any questions or concerns you may have and I’ll be more than happy to help you get started. I am not teaching distance classes at the moment but I’d be quite willing to support you any way I can.

Best of luck with your Reiki practice… again, don’t rush into it… you only get one chance to start off on the right foot.

For further explanation or discussion, your thoughts are most welcome and highly encouraged, please feel free to comment below!!!