Connection Reiki – Distance Reiki explained

I read an article on distance Reiki the other day that called it “Connection Reiki” which really struck a cord with me since we’ve been social distancing these past several weeks due to the COVID-19 pandemic. What we’re all craving right now is meaningful social connections with people we care about despite not being able to safely gather in our communities. We are social beings and being deprived of being physically together has a detrimental effect on our emotions and psyches.  

Since temporarily closing my home massage and bodywork practice several weeks ago, I’ve been focusing on sending distance Reiki sessions to clients instead of in-person sessions. Distance Reiki is still relatively unknown in massage and bodywork circles despite there being Reiki practitioners all over the globe.

People prefer touch to connect with others through hugs, handshakes, fist-bumps, cuddles, eye-contact, body language, physical proximity, not to mention massage therapy for physical and emotional well-being, so how can something like Reiki feel as good being offered by a practitioner who is not in the same place as you?

Here’s an explanation from an article on Reikirays.com of how it works:

“The telephone, cable TV and internet all use energy frequencies we can’t see in order to function. The electricity in our homes does the same, as does a radio. All of these have to be tuned to the particular frequency they operate at in order to work. They all have ways to adjust the flow of energy built in so that we can turn them on, off or use them in a different way. And all of them were thought too unbelievable to be true when people first heard of them.

Distant Reiki works the same way. It is energy that must be “tuned” to the person it is being sent to. Once it is “tuned in” it will flow through the energy currents that exist naturally, just the same way that a phone signal or wifi signal does. Distance is no object for it, just as it is no object for the internet or phone communications. The energy that surrounds us carries all of these energies to the intended receiver. With Reiki, the practitioner is the conduit of the energy.

It can be a difficult concept to understand that our thoughts, intentions and emotions are energy. Yet most people can feel that their emotions create an energy sensation in the body. They may also understand that the nerve endings and spinal cord help to carry these energies throughout the body. If you go one step further, you can see the relationship between our thoughts and our emotions. It’s not much of a leap from there to see that our thoughts and emotions have an effect on our perceptions and the people around us. These things truly change our environment! It is all energy.” (from “Explaining Distance Reiki published on 11/13/13, www.reikirays.com)

During the Stay-at-Home order, I’ve been staying connected to my clients and their energy through providing distance Reiki sessions to them during times that are extremely stressful for us all emotionally, mentally, and physically. I’ve been shown again and again with each session that we are all connected energetically, and no amount of social distancing can erase that.