If you've ever Googled "what does Reiki feel like," you've probably landed on a lot of words like peaceful and relaxing and energetically balanced. Which — sure. But also, that tells you almost nothing about what actually happens when you lie down on that table. So let me tell you what I wish someone had told me. The real version. MY FIRST SESSION My first true hands-on Reiki experience came in 2018. I had started going to therapy, and after about 40 minutes of talking through what I was carrying, I was invited to lie on the table and receive. I didn't really know what to expect. I just knew I was open — open to the mystical side of this practice I'd been hearing about, and honestly, open to anything that might help. That session was magic. I don't have a more precise word for it. The hands were warm — almost hot — but deeply comforting, like being held in the most non-intrusive way. My body felt as if it was one with the table: dense and light at the same time, which shouldn't make sense but absolutely did. Emotionally, I felt energized in a way I hadn't in a long time — like the things I had been ready to release were finally ready to release their grip on me too. I left that room different than I walked in. Not fixed. Just... shifted. WHAT IT ACTUALLY FEELS LIKE DURING A SESSION Here's the honest answer: it depends entirely on you. Some people feel heat radiating from the practitioner's hands — even when they're held several inches above the body. Some feel tingling, pulsing, or a gentle buzzing sensation moving through different parts of their body. Some feel a heaviness that gives way to profound lightness. Some cry without knowing why — and that's not a bad thing. That's energy moving. Some people feel nothing. I've been there. After having sessions that were deeply visual and emotionally powerful, I've also lain on the table and felt absolutely nothing happening. It's frustrating, especially when you've experienced the alternative. But here's what I've come to trust: the absence of sensation doesn't mean the absence of healing. Reiki provides exactly what you need in that moment — and sometimes what you need is simply an hour of stillness, held by something larger than yourself, even if you can't feel it working. If you're a visual person, a dreamer, someone whose mind naturally speaks in images — you may see colors, symbols, or scenes behind your closed eyes. Others experience emotional waves: a sudden grief, an unexpected joy, a memory surfacing from nowhere. All of it is information. None of it is wrong. WHAT IT FEELS LIKE AFTER I'm going to be completely transparent here, because I wish someone had been with me: after my very first session, I needed to stay close to my bathroom for 36 hours. Which felt like a cruel joke after feeling so clear and open leaving the table. But here's the thing — Reiki is like an energetic massage. It loosens up energy that needs to move, and sometimes that movement has physical effects as the body processes and releases. Drink water. A lot of it. This is non-negotiable. What you experience after a session depends significantly on what was being worked on. Some examples, because I think this matters: Working through inner child wounds or old emotional patterns? Expect fatigue. That kind of deep excavation takes energy, and your system may need rest to integrate what shifted. Releasing an energetic cord — an ex, a toxic relationship, a belief you've been dragging around for years? You may feel a surge of energy, a lightness, like something that was heavy just isn't anymore. Let the buffet begin. Processing grief or trauma? Emotions may continue to surface in the hours or days after. Let them. This is the work completing itself. Physical healing or chronic tension? You might notice warmth or temporary intensification at the site — the energy concentrating before releasing. Some clients report sleeping better than they have in months after a single session. Reiki can continue working for days after you leave the table. Clients have reported shifts — emotional, physical, relational — occurring well after our session ended. You are supported long after you walk out the door. WHAT SURPRISED ME MOST How much fun it is. I wasn't expecting that. I expected healing to feel like work — like therapy, which I also love, but which requires something of you. Reiki asks you to do exactly one thing: receive. And in doing that, something unexpected started to come back to me. The little girl who made potions in the backyard. Who wished on stars and birthday candles. Who believed in magic without needing evidence for it. Who knew, in her bones, that things work out the way they're supposed to. She came back. Session by session, she came back. And my Friday appointments became the best part of my week. WHAT REIKI IS NOT Let me address the skeptics directly, because I respect a good skeptic. I was one. Reiki is not a massage. Traditionally, there is no manipulation of muscle or tissue — and in many sessions, the practitioner's hands hover above the body entirely. That said, my background in corrective exercises and body work means I sometimes bring clients down a different path when it serves them. Every session is built around what you need. Reiki is not a religious practice. It has no dogma, no required belief system, no deity. People of every faith tradition — and no faith tradition — receive and practice Reiki. Reiki is not a replacement for medical care. It is a complement to it. And increasingly, mainstream medicine agrees. Right here in the Boston area, Brigham and Women's Hospital has one of the largest Reiki volunteer programs in the country, offering it to patients, families, and staff. Boston Children's Hospital offers Reiki as part of their Family Wellness Program — free of charge — to help with stress, pain, nausea, and anxiety. Boston Medical Center's Integrative Nursing program actually began as a grassroots Reiki practice initiated by nurses more than two decades ago. Nationally, the Cleveland Clinic, Johns Hopkins, Mass General, Dana Farber, and Memorial Sloan Kettering all offer Reiki as part of their integrative care. The medical community is catching up to what practitioners have known for decades. Reiki is also not going to make you feel out of control, say anything you don't want to say, or experience anything against your will. You are always safe. You are always the one in charge of what you receive.