Practitioner

A Reiki practitioner is a person who has received attunement in one or more levels of Reiki training and practices energy healing through touch or proximity.

Practitioners are categorized by degree:

• Level 1 (Shoden) — the practitioner can perform hands-on healing on themselves and others, using a standard set of hand positions
• Level 2 (Okuden) — the practitioner learns symbols that are used to focus intention and can perform distance healing (sending energy to someone not physically present)
• Level 3 / Master (Shinpiden) — the practitioner can perform attunements on others, initiating new practitioners into the practice

The training model is lineage-based: each practitioner traces their attunement through a chain of masters back to Mikao Usui. This lineage structure is significant within the tradition because attunement is understood not as the acquisition of a skill but as the activation of a capacity — the master does not teach the student to generate energy but opens a channel through which energy flows.

In practice, reiki practitioners work in a wide range of settings: private practice, integrative medicine clinics, hospice and palliative care, wellness centers, and personal self-care. The practice requires no specialized equipment — only the practitioner’s hands and attention.