Heart Reiki: How to Do it and What it Is

Recently, I got the following question from a “Reiki Colors” reader: “Have you noticed Reiki pouring out of your heart in addition to your hands?” Yes indeed — Heart Reiki is a topic I’ve thought about a great deal, as I experience it too. Let’s explore it in depth!

First, some background. My name is Lillie and I’m a Boston Reiki practitioner and teacher who specializes in helping people understand and balance their unique chakra energy. All of the thoughts in this article are from real-life, hands-on experience with hundreds of clients over the years.

What is Heart Reiki?

You will know Heart Reiki when you feel it: the sensation of warm, beautiful energy emanating outward from your chest or 4th Chakra region. Though the Heart Chakra is associated with a green aura, I don’t always see green during it — rather it’s more of a physical sensation than a purely visual one.

Now as we learned in the article, “What is Reiki?” the gentle Japanese relaxing touch practice known as Reiki is traditionally done by placing or hovering the hands over a receiver — but in fact, the heart can also be used! Here are four methods.

How to Access Heart Reiki

How does one channel the wonderful Reiki energy that can emanate from your heart during a session? Looking at these options, pick the one that best fits you and your context in order to get the full Heart Reiki benefits.

1. Visualize the flow to channel it.

Visualization and intention have great power to channel energy. Thus, to activate Heart Reiki, the easiest method is to visualize the Reiki energy coming down from above, passing through your heart (thus infusing it with that beautiful 4th Charka energy), then flowing through your hands into the receiver. If you’d like to leverage chakra colors, picturing this energy as a green light can be effective, but the color is not necessary for this to work.

2. One hand on heart, other on client.

Another simple yet effective method of accessing Heart Reiki is to place one of your hands on your heart (either flat against it, or at a 90 degree angle — like a half prayer position), while you continue the hand placements on the receiver with the other hand. I find this works very well in tapping into that love power, and often use it in the middle and end of each session. You may choose to combine this with visualizing Reiki symbols such as Hon Sha Ze Sho Nen to further energize it.

3. Both hands on client but chest close.

If you recall, Reiki energy can be channeled by hovering the hands instead of placing them directly on the receiver — and the heart can function similarly. In this method, have your hands placed on or above the client as usual, but bring your body closer in, so that it hovers just a few inches above. From this position, you will feel the Heart Reiki emanating warmly towards the receiver, energizing your hands and them. Do ensure that your client feels comfortable making requests for any adjustments if you’re using these closer positions.

4. Using heart as hands.

This fourth technique is an advanced one, and should only be used if there is a high level of trust and communication between the Reiki giver and receiver — as with a romantic partner, not a client. In this technique, the Reiki practitioner can lay her chest upon the receiver, in a similar way as one would lay on Reiki hands, so that the energy and Reiki breath may flow directly from the heart.

In an intimate setting, this is similar to a hug or cuddle position, and many of us have experienced its joys and benefits in a non-professional realm, as couples. In a professional setting, however, this heart-as-hands technique can sometimes be a match (with ample communication and other safety measures in place) when placed in the receiver’s lower leg area, as that helps it feel less intimate, and more therapeutic.

Heart Reiki, in Sum

I hope this exploration of using the heart to channel Reiki energy has been useful. If you’ve tried it — either giving or receiving — what has your experience been? If you haven’t tried it yet, what questions do you have about this, aura colors, or any other aspect of Reiki? Do share!