In this blog post, you'll discover everything you need to know about hand positions in Reiki.
We'll explore what they are used for, how many positions there are, and even some alternative techniques you can try.
What are Reiki hand positions used for?
Hand positions are usually used as guides to help the practitioner locate specific areas to clear energy blockages, balance chakras, and support the body's natural healing processes.
However, not every type of Reiki has these mandatory or fixed-hand positions. For example, in Practical Reiki we just use our intuition as a guide to heal ourselves or others.
How many hand positions there are?
The amount of hand positions depends on the type of Reiki you’re learning, as I mentioned some don’t use these hand positions, and some have up to 20 different hand positions that you can memorize.
Here I’ll show you the twelve most important Reiki hand positions.
- Face: Gently place your palms on the recipient's forehead, cupping fingers lightly over the eyes, ensuring not to obstruct breathing by keeping the nostrils clear.
- Crown (top of the head): Wrap your hands around the recipient's head with inner wrists touching, letting your fingertips rest on the ears.
- Back of the head: Tuck your hands under the recipient's head to form a cradle, allowing the back of your hands to relax on the table or pillow.
- Chin and jawline: Surround the recipient's jawline with your hands, fingertips under the chin, and the heels of your hands gently over the ears.
- Neck, collarbone, and heart: Lightly place your right hand on the neck (or hover if uncomfortable) and your left hand over the heart center.
- Ribs and rib cage: Place your hands on the upper rib cage just below the breasts, avoiding private areas.
- Abdomen: Rest your hands on the tummy above the navel, targeting the solar plexus area.
- Pelvic bones: Place one hand hovering over each pelvic bone, providing balanced energy to the area.
- Shoulder blades: After the recipient turns onto their stomach, place your hands on the shoulder blades to help release emotional burdens stored there.
- Midback: Position your hands on the middle back area to support and balance this part of the body.
- Lower back: Continue down the body by placing your hands on the recipient's lower back to provide relief and energy.
- Sacrum: At the session's end, comb the recipient's aura with your hands to clear away any lifted energetic debris, and silently request that any negative energy be transformed into positive energy and returned to the Universe.
How long do you hold Reiki positions?
How much time you spend in each position solely depends on the recipient's needs. Some energetic centers may need more care and attention than others.
As we explained in our blog post about Chakras, different life situations such as stress, anxiety, illness, etc, can affect different parts of the body, meaning we store more negative energy in those areas.
But on average you can spend around 3 minutes in each position and have a successful Reiki session.
What are the alternatives to using hand positions?
In Practical Reiki, there are no mandatory hand positions; the hands help the practitioner observe the sensations of the energy flow and get a sense of how the Reiki energy is helping their client.
The practitioner sets the intention and gently focuses on where the energy is being received, acting more as a facilitator of healing rather than a healer.
There are no mandatory hand positions; the hands help focus attention on the energy flow.
The recipient absorbs the Reiki energy where it's needed for balance, guided by the practitioner's hands and intuition.
You can check out FREE Introduction to Practical Reiki to see what we mean by setting the intention and how your hands tell you where the recipient needs the energy the most. Plus a lot more Reiki knowledge.