Reiki Healing: An Integrative Ally in Your Journey to Balance 

At Flourish, we believe in treating the whole person—not just symptoms. That’s why our integrative treatment team includes Functional Medicine, seeking root causes and crafting individualized treatment plans. Reiki healing can be a wonderful complementary approach in this environment. In this article, we’ll explore Reiki healing in depth, how it fits with functional medicine, and what you might expect from a Reiki session at Flourish. 

What Is Reiki Healing? 

“Reiki” (pronounced ray-kee) is a Japanese-origin energy-healing technique. The word combines rei (universal) and ki (life force energy). Practitioners believe that there is a universal life energy that flows through all living things. When the flow of that energy becomes blocked or out of balance, it can contribute to physical, emotional, or energetic distress. 

During a Reiki healing session, a trained practitioner places their hands lightly on—or just above—the client’s body, using a sequence of hand placements across energy centers. The idea is that the practitioner acts as a conduit or channel for healing energy rather than “giving” energy themselves. 

Clients often describe sensations of warmth, tingling, waves of energy, or deep relaxation. Each session is unique, and how one person experiences Reiki may differ from another. 

Why Include Reiki Healing in a Functional Medicine Model? 

Functional Medicine and Reiki may seem like different worlds, but they actually complement each other beautifully: 

Just as functional medicine emphasizes one person’s unique biology, Reiki healing supports a personalized energetic approach. Two people with the same physical diagnosis might get different insights or energetic releases during Reiki. 

Chronic stress, poor recovery, and dysregulation of the nervous system are common obstacles in healing. Reiki healing often induces deep relaxation, which may help shift the autonomic balance (parasympathetic “rest and digest” activation). This supports the body’s capacity to heal. (Some reviews report reductions in anxiety, pain, and improved well-being in people receiving Reiki) (PMC) 

One of the core principles at Flourish is that we don’t replace conventional or evidence-based care—instead, we integrate additional modalities to support healing. Reiki healing fits well in that philosophy: gentle, noninvasive, low risk, and potentially beneficial when used alongside standard medical care. 

Thus, at Flourish, Reiki healing can act as a supportive layer—awakening and unblocking energy, fostering calm, and complementing the root-cause work done by functional medicine. 

What Happens in a Reiki Session? 

Here’s a walk through what you might expect when receiving Reiki healing, especially in a Flourish-style integrative setting: 

You’ll be guided into a calm space. You remain fully clothed. The practitioner may ask you to remove shoes, metal accessories, or electronic items (to reduce interference with the subtle energy flow). 

Often, the practitioner or you will set an intention (e.g. “balance my stress response,” “open energy for healing,” “release blockages in the gut/liver/etc.”). This aligns the session with your individualized treatment goals. 

The practitioner will work through a sequence of hand positions—on or just above the body—over the head, torso, limbs, feet, back, etc. They may pause where energy feels stuck or where there is pain or tension. 

During the session, there is minimal verbal interaction. You are encouraged to breathe, relax, and notice sensations. The room is typically serene—soft lighting, quiet or gentle ambient sound. 

At the end, the practitioner will “close the circuit,” bring the energy to rest, and gently bring you back from the experience. You might rest a minute before rising, and the practitioner might offer reflections or suggest journaling. 

Sessions generally last 45 to 60 minutes (sometimes up to 90 minutes) depending on goals and how deeply the energy work flows. 

How Reiki Healing Helps (What Clients Commonly Report) 

While scientific evidence is not conclusive, many people report meaningful effects from Reiki healing. Some of the common reported benefits include: 

Some controlled studies and reviews suggest that Reiki can outperform placebo for outcomes like pain reduction, anxiety relief, and improvement in quality of life—though the quality of the existing trials is variable and more rigorous research is needed.  

Importantly, Reiki healing is generally considered safe, with no known adverse side effects, because it is noninvasive.  

When Reiki Healing Might Be Less Effective or Limited 

It’s important to maintain realistic expectations. Reiki healing is not a guaranteed “cure,” nor a magic wand. Some caveats: 

Reiki should never replace essential medical or functional medicine therapies—but can accompany them. 

Some people feel immediate shifts; others may feel subtle or gradual changes. Some may feel nothing perceptible—but that doesn’t always mean “no effect.”