Feeling Worse After Reiki: Causes and Solutions

Did you go into an energy work or chakra balancing session expecting to feel cleansed and clear — only to be feeling worse after Reiki? Never fear — there are easy explanations and simple solutions so you can get the benefits of your sessions in the future, without these negative emotions.

As background, I am a Reiki practitioner in Boston who has worked with hundreds of clients since 2018, and all the information here is from numerous hands-on sessions — as well as being an energy work client, myself. My hope is to provide information that helps you feel empowered.

Feeling Worse After Reiki

When we talk about feeling crummy after Reiki energy work sessions, this could either refer to physical, mental, or emotional symptoms. Let’s address each in turn.

Physical Causes and Solutions

Physically, if you have a headache after Reiki, there is a very simple cause and solution: Dehydration and hydration! People do not realize how much work their body is doing during the “energetic workout” of a Reiki session, and thus often neglect drinking water afterwards — thus causing headaches. Just grab your water bottle and you’ll feel better.

If you’re feeling tired after a Reiki session, that could be either physical or emotional in cause, so let’s address the physical first: Allow yourself to rest. Again, see the session as having been a workout of sorts, so understand that you’ll need extra sleep and down-time to process.

The final physical cause of feeling worse after energy work is if you were starting to get sick to begin with (but didn’t realize it yet), or caught some germs from the studio. As I explain in my article about Reiki intake forms, both of these issues can be avoided by rescheduling the session to a later date if either the client or practitioner feels even the least bit sick.

Emotional Reasons and Fixes

Now let’s move to the mental and emotional causes of feeling worse after chakra balancing. First, the reasons could be closely linked to what also causes shaking during Reiki: something is starting to reveal itself to you, but you’re resisting it.

This resistance is normal and understandable — big life realizations can be scary and jarring — but ultimately, it is important to allow them to appear. Often feeling not-so-great after energy work is a sign that you are “stuck” halfway to the next step, and thus need to continue. See “How Many Reiki Sessions Are Needed?” for explanations of why a follow-up session may be helpful.

Note: As I explained in my article about how to spot a Reiki scam, it is possible that the energy worker you had your session with is not a good fit for you — even if they’re not a scam, per se. Given this, if you’re feeling in your gut that they’re not a match, do try another (well-reviewed) practitioner, and/or consider another healing modality like acupuncture or talk therapy.

Feeling Worse After Reiki, in Sum

When people discuss the question of is Reiki real, they sometimes cite examples of this phenomenon of feeling worse after Reiki to explain why it’s a bogus modality. I would push back on that assertion to point out that there are easy fixes for it, and in some ways, these feelings merely indicate that is IS working powerfully — it just needs physical and emotional supports to help guide you to the next chapter.

As one of the 5 Reiki Principles states: “Just for today, I will not worry.” What have been your experiences with this topic of difficult feelings after energy work? Do share in the comment section below!

Want more? See this easy and effective technique for cleansing Reiki breathing.