Reiki for Rest and Renewal: What to Expect in Your First Session
Have you ever felt like your body is in one place, but your mind is running five steps ahead?
Reiki offers a moment to pause, soften, and return to yourself. It’s one of the most gentle forms of care we offer yet deeply effective at helping your nervous system settle and your energy find its flow again.
Whether you’re brand new to energy work or simply curious, here’s what you can expect from a Reiki session and how it might support your overall well-being.
First thing’s first: What is Reiki?
Reiki (pronounced ray-key) is a Japanese healing technique that works with your body’s energy system. Through light touch or by hovering the hands above the body, a Reiki practitioner helps encourage the free flow of energy throughout your system.
When energy flows more freely, the body can rest more deeply, release emotions more gently, and reset from a state of stress to one of ease.
Reiki is often used to support:
• Stress relief
• Emotional balance
• Mental clarity
• Improved sleep
• A deeper sense of inner calm
Reiki as part of your self-care rhythm
Reiki doesn’t manipulate muscles or bones — it’s all about subtle shifts. This spiritual technique makes Reiki a beautiful complement to other bodywork or wellness practices, especially when you’re navigating emotional stress, fatigue, or burnout.
Think of Reiki as a form of nervous system care. Just as a massage helps your body unwind, Reiki can help your entire system soften and breathe again.
What to expect during your session
When you arrive, your practitioner will spend a few moments checking in on how you’re feeling, asking about any areas of concern, and seeing what you’d like to focus on (if anything).
You’ll lie comfortably on a massage table, fully clothed for a traditional Reiki session or partially draped if you’re combining Reiki with massage. Calming music and cozy blankets are often used to help you relax. Your practitioner will begin the session by gently placing their hands either lightly on or just above your body, typically starting at the head and moving downward.
You might notice warmth, tingling, or a sense of heaviness or lightness. You might even fall asleep. Some clients feel emotions surface and then release. Others feel quiet and calm.
There’s no wrong way to receive Reiki. Your body will take exactly what it needs.
After your session
At the end of your session, take your time as you slowly return to your body and mind. Sip water. Notice how you feel physically, mentally, and emotionally. Sometimes the effects unfold gently over hours or even days.
We often hear clients say they feel “lighter,” “more grounded,” or “like something shifted,” even if they can’t quite put it into words. That’s Reiki at work.
Make space for stillness
At Resonance, we know healing often begins with softening and stillness. You don’t need to force anything. Reiki invites your body to do what it already knows how to do: restore balance, return to center, and breathe into rest.
If your body is craving stillness or your spirit needs a moment of quiet, we’re here for that.
Book a Reiki session or try it as part of a fusion service and reconnect with the part of you that knows how to heal.