The patient when they walk through the door should, once they are greeted and settled in, they should discuss with the practitioner what their needs are, why they came. Do they have a certain problem like pain in their knee or did they just come because the want to be relaxed? Maybe they feel things are a little bit off in their life and they want to feel refreshed, do they want balance restored. Some people are very in tune with that and some people aren't. It depends on what the person wants. From there the Reiki practitioner will judge what needs to be done. The client then lays on the massage table, usually on their back first. They can start by lying on their stomach but technically they start by lying on their back on the massage table. They don't need to remove any clothes although they will probably want to remove their shoes. Different practitioners will do things different ways but many work on the feet so they ask that shoes be removed. Otherwise, they stay clothed. They don't have to worry about changing into anything or taking anything off. It depends on how long you wanted go for, you can go for an hour, an hour and a half, or thirty minutes. Depending on the length the practitioner is going to go through all of the hand positions, starting with the head, lightly placing their hands in a certain hand position on the client's body. Usually they will start with the face or sometimes the head. The client can expect to be touched. Some people who claim to be Reiki practitioners don't actually lay their hands all the way onto a person's body; but will sort of let their hands hover above. That is not actually Reiki. With Reiki you will place your hands directly on the person. Be gentle, the person will not feel any pressure or pain, there is no manipulation of tissue like there is with massage. It is just placing hands in certain areas. They move over the face and the head, down the chest, the stomach, the hips, and some practitioners work on the feet. The client can ask if they have a certain problem where there is not a normal hand position for, such as the calf or toe or knee. They can say that they are really having problems with that one area and request that the practitioner work on that area also and he will do that. Once they are done on the front they will do the same thing but you will just turn over and lay on your stomach and the practitioner will start with the head and work their way down to the toe. Different patients feel different things. They can feel intense heat, sometimes tingling or their body will twitch. Basically nothing is abnormal. Your body is just doing its own thing. Everyone's body responds differently to the Reiki. A lot of people fall asleep. The patient should know that anything that happens with their body is normal but if they feel uncomfortable they should let the practitioner know. The practitioner will be able to communicate with you.
