Newbie Questions

Hello All,

My name is Mike and I am a practicing (primarily Theravada) Buddhist. I have become increasingly interested in Reiki and other energy work over the last year or so as a result of some medical problems with a loved one that seem to have responded to the techniques. I am interested in becoming attuned and working with the technique to see if I can use it to help myself or others.

Also, on a related note, I know it is recommended to charge but, if I become a practitioner I just wouldn't feel right to do so. What, if any, is the general consensus here regarding charging for reiki? May you all be well!

Mettaya,

Mike

Khalil Bodhi, That depends on you.

I felt shy about taking money for
Reiki sessions. I had invested in
a massage table/linens and securing
a space for clients to experience
the benefits of a relaxing place
to work on their physical,emotional
and spiritual needs. I spent time
preparing the space and then keeping
it fresh and clean. My pros and cons
about charging became an issue of the
value of my time invested

Hi Mike

We don't/can't actually charge for Reiki! (who knows how much Reiki any client is going to accept and use? )

However, as Bridget said, if, as Reiki practitioners, we invest our time and resources to allow us to offer Reiki to others then it becomes an issue of how much you value your time and yourself.

Many Reiki clients are so appreciative that they want to give something back in exchange and it can sometimes feel awkward if you refuse their offer.

Dear Mike,
I am sorry if my words might sound a bit rude for you.
As I understood you were not attuned to Reiki but at the same time you were thinking of charging somebody for future possible Reiki sessions.

Imagine somebody who comes to his first yoga class keeping in his mind: “How much can I charge for my own class when I become a teacher of yoga myself?”


You never know how everything might turn.

May be you will have a long waiting list of clients asking you for Reiki treatment.
May be you will be facing people insisting and proving you that Reiki is nonsense.

As to my personal experience I have not earned a penny with Reiki but I have other benefits from the Universe. (If I am on the proper way. )

excellent anata!

The question of whether someone should enter into the world of Reiki as a 'career' is real good to broach. Might be worth our while making a new topic if this develops!

I volunteer, but some people do it for a living and others work part-time. From what I see in alternative health, it's the speakers, teachers and writers that benefit the most financially while the practitioners don't. The only other problem is that even I can't see myself as channeling Reiki all day long. I'm just not that surrendered - not even close to complete surrendering. I tried several years ago to make a business out of it on a donation basis and it didn't work out. Also, people will eventually realize that they can get free attunements or it might be more cost effective to actually take a class than to pay a practitioner. I paid a practitioner $125/hr for two sessions. That's a lot of duckies. Learning is cheaper - henceforth why the teachers make more money. With that said, most teachers have another full time job. If they don't have a job and make 'energy modalities' a part of their lives, they have many 'tools under their belt' so that they have many things to offer, i.e. massage license, acupuncture, other healing modalities, etc.

The best thing that happened to me was volunteering. I volunteered in a cancer center, in another reiki circle and finally I branched off to volunteer for the group I follow. As for volunteering, I'd ask for a donation that doesn't go to me, but for the group I follow. Unfortunately, even people who give a donation for a 2+ practitioner to 1 person table session rarely donate enough to pay for space in the city I live in. It just wasn't financially feasible to do this on a volunteer/donation basis.

Currently I'm at the library now and it's a free venue. It's great because I do this monthly and I can freely share without the concern of "am I going to get enough to pay the expenses of the group." I don't get travel reimbursement nor advertising reimbursement, which is minimal. At the free venue, I can't request for money, donations nor advertise anything at all. I tell the guests about the free attunement and the free mp3 download the group I follow offers. It's a win-win deal until the library decides to close on the weekends, then I need to weeknight venue and that's usually filled with other more valuable things for the library.

The free venue is what works for me now and allows other alumni to practice on a group level with non-alumni. I can coordinate classes for a small pay for the group, but so far it has yet to manifest.

Good luck.