Reiki Attunements
What is a reiki attunement, and are they necessary in order to practice reiki? Not everyone in the reiki community agrees on the answers to these questions, so in this chapter, we’ll look at various opinions so you can decide for yourself.
First off, what is an attunement? Many teachers describe this as the process of opening the student up to become a channel for reiki. Some assert that you aren’t able to channel reiki at all prior to an attunement, while others believe that your ability to channel reiki was always present and simply becomes more powerful following the attunement. A common metaphor is that of a plumbing pipe or a river. The pathway can become obstructed, allowing for very little to no water flow, and an attunement is akin to declogging the pipe or un-damming the river.
The more traditional teachings seem to share the idea that we are all channels for reiki, regardless of whether or not we have been attuned, but our ability might be so limited, due to numerous factors, such as lifestyle or mental outlook, that we can’t channel sufficient energy for effective healing, either of ourselves or of others. Thus, an attunement helps increase this ability, opening us up to a greater flow of reiki. These teachings also share the idea that one must practice consistently to maintain the openness of this conduit and to gradually increase the overall amount of energy one is able to contain and channel. Practice could include using the various reiki techniques, which we’ll get to in Chapter 14, regular meditation, and living in accordance with the reiki precepts (you’ll learn about these in Chapter 13).
Another belief is that successive attunements can be used to open the student up to different types of energy, and we might think of this as a radio that is programmed to pick up more than one station. For example, some teachings assert that one attunement opens the student to reiki energy as a whole, with additional attunements giving them the ability to use certain symbols or perform attunements for others. Another variation on this idea is that different attunements work on different levels of being, such as physical, emotional, and so on. Other teachings, however, assert that reiki works on whichever level is most appropriate for the student in that moment, which is not for the teacher to decide.
In my previous book, Living Reiki, I proposed that an attunement is, in part, a ritualized way of granting reiki permission to work more powerfully in your life. This is not to say that reiki isn’t present in your life beforehand, but the attunement could release conscious and unconscious beliefs and other limitations that prevent reiki from operating most effectively. Another way of saying this is reiki helps us remember our True Self, and an attunement is a powerful dose of remembrance.
I believe that reiki contains and conveys divine information, including what I call your blueprint of original wholeness, a template of who you really are before the mind steps in and creates limitations and layers of the persona, thereby obscuring your True Self. An attunement is akin to downloading a fresh copy of this blueprint and seeing yourself through the eyes of the Divine. After the experience, you have the opportunity to live more in alignment with this holistic self-image, honoring the True Self through your choices, thoughts, and actions instead of submitting to the mind’s fears and false beliefs.
Distance Attunements
Some teachers give attunements distantly, sometimes requiring the name and location of the student in order to “send” the energy to the appropriate place. I have received a reiki treatment from a practitioner who was attuned distantly, and it was just as effective as treatments given by practitioners attuned in person, so I feel both methods are valid. Due to time zone differences, you might receive an attunement during a time when you are normally asleep. Many teachers assert that this is completely fine, that there’s no need to set an alarm to wake up; the attunement will work just the same (and I would agree). That said, with the abundance of attunement options out there nowadays, not all of them are created equal, so just as with in-person courses, use your smarts and your intuition to determine whether a potential long-distance teacher feels right for you.
Another form of distant attunement is one obtained from books. For example, Chris Comish has a book entitled 45 Free Reiki Attunements that states, “The attunements are received by all who read this book regardless of name of recipient, location of recipient, or time zone of recipient. The attunements are received instantly the moment the recipient reads the words in this book.” 1 The attunements are presented in a specific order, and Comish recommends starting with the Usui attunements before progressing to what he describes as more advanced systems, such as Golden Ray Empowerment and Shamballa Multi-Dimensional Healing. Given that the attunements are presented without any accompanying teachings, aside from a one- to three-paragraph summary of each system, this method doesn’t seem to do justice to the modalities in question, which I imagine would be more beneficial in the context of more in-depth study.
Receiving an Attunement
The process of receiving an attunement varies quite a bit from teacher to teacher. Some teachers prepare the physical space, perhaps by cleansing it with reiki and/or other tools, like sage or bells. Others might light a candle and display a photo of Usui or a scroll with the five precepts. Students are often given instructions beforehand—for example, “place your hands in gasshô and close your eyes.” My teacher took a small group of us into a separate room where we were seated in a row of chairs. We closed our eyes, and she performed a series of movements and breaths in front of and behind us, occasionally tapping us on the shoulder to cue a small movement on our part. For my final level, I was the only one in the class, so my attunement was one-on-one but was otherwise carried out in the same fashion. It was said that Usui did not use any particular ritual when performing an attunement (which he would have called a reiju), and it was enough for him to simply touch or be near the student for this energetic process to take place.
Attunements typically take only a few minutes, during which time the recipient may experience mild or deep relaxation, physical sensations, or imagery, although if you don’t experience any of those things, this alone isn’t reason to suspect that the attunement didn’t “work.” I received a reiki treatment from a friend who felt nothing out of the ordinary during their attunement, and they were channeling reiki just fine. Many traditional teachers advise not to get overly attached to the “bells and whistles” one might be expecting during the attunement and simply allow the experience to unfold, setting the intention to receive whatever is needed at this time.
Before receiving the attunement, the teacher might advise a variety of preparatory practices, such as a light fast, saltwater bath, or meditation, but other teachers simply ask you to show up as you are. Either method works. For me, I like to mark the occasion and prepare as I might for any special ritual, which, for me, looks like a hot saltwater bath, meditation and journaling, and a short tarot reading. I also recommend drinking plenty of water, as I have found energy work (whether giving or receiving) to be more effective and less likely to leave me feeling out of whack when I’m properly hydrated. After my first attunement, my teacher asked that we give ourselves reiki treatments for twenty-one days, mirroring Usui’s experience on Kurama-yama, and I highly recommend it not only as a wonderful experience but a great way to build the habit of using reiki on a regular basis.
Ultimately, the choice to receive an attunement lies with you. Unless it is prohibitively costly or otherwise unavailable to you, my recommendation is to explore using reiki prior to an attunement, and then receive an attunement to see if and how the energy changes for you. While an attunement may not be necessary to channel reiki, in my opinion, it can be a lovely experience that is well worth seeking out.
1. Chris Comish, 45 Free Reiki Attunements (self-published, Lulu.com, 2010), 3.