Reiki training teaches us how to learn Reiki. The Reiki master teaches us how to practice, and our practice teaches us Reiki. The more we practice, the deeper our understanding, respect, and love for this gentle, powerful healing practice. It is almost a technique-less technique, yet there is a subtle art to it, and significant discipline required to do less. Conviction in the effectiveness of the technique develops as the student practices over a long period of time. Students acquire the courage to do less as they witness the wide-ranging benefits of Reiki over time. As the practitioner becomes inwardly quieter, the ability to carry Reiki is enhanced.

When nothing is done, nothing is left undone - Lao Tzu, Tao te Ching.

Takata taught 3 levels of Reiki practice. Each level functions in a specific way:

First degree - hands-on healing
Second degree - distant healing
Reiki master – initiation and training of students to practice Reiki

Traditionally, First and Second degree training is usually given in group meetings with approximately 10 hours of class time. Reiki master training is an apprenticeship of at least a year. It is advisable to practice First degree Reiki on oneself daily for a minimum of 3 months before learning Second degree, and to practice Reiki 3-10 years before becoming a Reiki master.

Who can learn Reiki?
Anyone who has the interest can learn First degree Reiki, regardless of the age, state of health, intelligence or education. I have trained people with serious or chronic conditions such as cancer, HIV, Lyme, pneumonia, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Crohn's Disease, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, injuries and post-operative healing, heart disease, arthritis, chronic pain syndromes, insomnia, headache disorders, infertility, back pain, mild and severe emotional instabilities, various women's disorders, allergies, asthma, and auto-immune diseases. When invasive treatments such as chemotherapy, radiation, or surgery are needed, Reiki self-treatment can provide great emotional and physical comfort, lessen side effects, and speed healing. Training students in unusual or challenging situations may require the expertise of a seasoned Reiki master who can be true to the system and flexible enough to work within limitations.

Initiation
Reiki initiations are the core of Reiki training. They are the source of the defining characteristics of Reiki practice-ease, safety, and efficacy of self-treatment. The initiations extend the Reiki practitioner's inner reach beyond his/her own limited vibrational field so that healing vibrations arise directly from unlimited, nonlocal consciousness. Initiation is the reason Reiki can be practiced so easily and safely, and why even those who are seriously ill can benefit from Reiki self-treatment. I have trained many students in First degree Reiki who were so debilitated with AIDS or cancer or both that they doubted they could sit through the training. Each one felt benefit during the first class. Initiations are sometimes called empowerments or attunements. Takata gave four initiations in the First degree training, one for Second degree, and one for master level.

Since the value of initiation and practice is not well understood in Western culture, students often approach the trainings with a consumerist more-is-better mentality, assuming that since the initiations take only moments to enact, they can be crammed into short sessions. It takes moments to become pregnant, but months for the fetus to develop before it can be born. And still, the baby must be well cared for over a long period of time if he is to develop healthfully. So it is with initiation. It can happen in a moment, but the fruits take time to develop, and require on-going practice to blossom into maturity.