Reiki Meditation Techniques: Gassho, Joshin Kokyu Ho & Hatsurei Ho Guide

A step-by-step guide to the seated Japanese Reiki meditations: Gassho, Joshin Kokyu Ho breathing, Kenyoku Ho, Seishin Toitsu and the full Hatsurei Ho sequence, plus Gokai Sansho precept recitation, posture fixes and a 20-minute guided script you can follow tonight.

What Is Gassho Meditation and How Do You Practice It?

Gassho meditation is the foundational Reiki meditation technique taught by Mikao Usui to all his students. The word Gassho means "two hands coming together" in Japanese and refers to the position where the palms are pressed together in front of the heart with the fingers pointing upward. In Gassho meditation, the practitioner sits comfortably with eyes closed, brings the hands into Gassho, and rests all attention on the point where the two middle fingers meet. This single point of focus works the way watching the breath works in Vipassana or a repeated word works in mantra practice. When the mind wanders, you return attention to the fingertip contact point without commentary. Practitioners often notice warmth, tingling, or a pulse at the point of contact as Reiki begins to move in the hands. Usui recommended Gassho for 20 to 30 minutes morning and evening, which makes it the most frequently repeated technique in the system, and its simplicity keeps it open to beginners while remaining the backbone of experienced practice.

Gassho comes from Japanese Buddhist practice, where it is a gesture of reverence, gratitude, and centering. In Usui's system it became a meditation method rather than a ceremonial gesture alone. The Usui Reiki Ryoho Gakkai in Tokyo still opens meetings with group Gassho, following the pattern Usui established. Hiroshi Doi, a Gakkai member and author of Modern Reiki Method for Healing, describes how meditation stayed central in Japan even as Western Reiki drifted toward a therapy model organized around treating others. That difference in emphasis is the reason a Western Level 1 class can pass without a student ever hearing the word Gassho. Practitioners who already sit in another tradition usually keep it and simply place five minutes of Gassho at the front of the sitting, which brings the Reiki element in without disturbing an established method.

What is the correct hand position for Gassho?

Press the palms together firmly but without strain, fingers together and pointing upward. Hold the hands at heart level or slightly above, with the forearms roughly parallel to the floor and the elbows dropped rather than winged out to the sides. The contact should be clear enough that you can feel the middle fingertips touching. Some practitioners hold the hands higher, at nose level, following certain Buddhist forms, but heart level is standard in Reiki.

How do you handle distracting thoughts during Gassho?

When thoughts arise during Gassho meditation, notice them without judgment and return attention to the fingertip contact point. Do not try to suppress thinking or treat its presence as failure. The practice is the returning, not the absence of thought. Over weeks the stretches of steady attention lengthen on their own. Beginners often find that thought is nearly continuous for the first several sessions, which is normal.

What sensations are common at the fingertips during Gassho?

The sensations most often reported at the middle fingertips during Gassho are steady warmth, a fine tingling, a pulse that seems to sit between the two fingers rather than in either one, and a sense that the hands have grown heavier. Some practitioners feel nothing at the fingers and a great deal in the palms instead. None of this marks a better or worse session; the sensation is a focus object, not a score.

What Is Joshin Kokyu Ho and How Does It Build Reiki Energy?

Joshin Kokyu Ho translates to "focusing the mind with the breath" and is the Reiki breathing technique that draws energy in through the crown on the inhale and stores it in the hara, the point roughly two inches below the navel, on the exhale. To practice Joshin Kokyu Ho, sit comfortably with the hands on the thighs, palms facing upward. On the inhale, breathe through the nose and picture white light entering through the crown of the head, flowing down the central channel, and collecting in the hara. On the exhale, let that light expand from the hara outward in all directions, filling the body and the space immediately around it. With each cycle the hara is felt as brighter and denser. Continue for 10 to 15 minutes. Practitioners use Joshin Kokyu Ho to build reserves in the hara, which Japanese tradition treats as the body's power center, and to settle into the centered state that makes the rest of a session steadier.

The hara, also called the tanden, is treated as the body's energetic center across Japanese martial arts, healing, and spiritual practice. In aikido and kendo, developing hara is inseparable from developing power and stability. Mikao Usui trained in martial disciplines before he developed Reiki, and Joshin Kokyu Ho sits comfortably inside that lineage. The idea parallels the lower dantian in Chinese qigong, where practitioners spend years accumulating qi through breathing sets. Slow abdominal breathing of this kind also shifts the nervous system toward its rest-and-digest state, which is why Joshin Kokyu Ho is the step most often lifted out of Hatsurei Ho and used on its own during a working day.

What is the hara and why is it important in Reiki?

The hara, also called the tanden, is the energetic center located about two inches below the navel and inward toward the spine. Japanese tradition reads the hara as the seat of vitality, will, and authentic self. A developed hara is described as giving stable grounding for channeling Reiki. Practitioners with a strong hara report steadier flow, clearer intuition during scanning, and less fatigue after a long treatment day.

How is Joshin Kokyu Ho different from pranayama?

Joshin Kokyu Ho and pranayama are both conscious breathing practices that work with life force, but they come from different traditions and feel different to do. Pranayama, from Indian yoga, covers many techniques with prescribed ratios, retentions, and locks. Joshin Kokyu Ho is a single technique aimed at drawing Reiki into the hara, with no counting, no breath retention, and no forceful action. The visualization of descending light is central rather than optional.

Can you practice Joshin Kokyu Ho before a Reiki session?

Yes, and experienced practitioners treat it as standard preparation. Five to ten minutes of Joshin Kokyu Ho before treating a client centers the practitioner, builds reserves in the hara, and establishes a clear connection before hands touch anyone. Many report that sessions prepared this way feel steadier and more intuitive. The same five minutes is useful before a difficult conversation, an exam, or any situation that asks for composure.

How fast should you breathe during Joshin Kokyu Ho?

Breathe at a natural, unhurried pace during Joshin Kokyu Ho, roughly five to seven breaths a minute for most people, without forcing length. The inhale carries the light down to the hara and the exhale spreads it outward, so the exhale usually ends up slightly longer than the inhale on its own. If you find yourself straining, running out of air, or feeling lightheaded, the breath has been pushed too far; return to ordinary nasal breathing for a minute and start again more gently.

What Is Hatsurei Ho and How Do You Practice the Complete Technique?

Hatsurei Ho is the complete daily Reiki meditation practice Mikao Usui taught his students, assembling several techniques into one sequence. The full practice takes 20 to 30 minutes and runs in this order. First, sit in seiza or another comfortable position and perform Kenyoku Ho, dry bathing, sweeping the hands diagonally across the chest and down the arms three times each side to clear stagnant energy from the aura. Second, enter Gassho meditation for several minutes to quiet the mind. Third, move into Joshin Kokyu Ho breathing, drawing energy through the crown into the hara. Fourth, practice Mokunen, setting a clear intention such as "I begin Hatsurei Ho now." Fifth, perform Seishin Toitsu, breathing Reiki out from the hara through the palms on each exhale. Sixth, close with Gokai Sansho, reciting the five Reiki precepts three times. Finish in Gassho with gratitude. Practitioners keep the order fixed, because each step prepares the one that follows: clearing, then settling, then filling, then directing, then dedicating.

Hatsurei Ho was largely unknown in Western Reiki until the late 1990s, when Hiroshi Doi and Frank Arjava Petter separately brought Japanese material to an international audience. Doi, who trained with both Western Reiki Masters and the Usui Reiki Ryoho Gakkai in Japan, describes Hatsurei Ho as the single most important daily practice in his writing, and notes that the Gakkai treats personal spiritual development as the primary purpose of Reiki, with hands-on healing as an application of it. That is close to the reverse of the Western emphasis. Petter's research in Japan pointed the same way: Usui's students practiced Hatsurei Ho daily and regarded it as what kept the channel clear. Practitioners who have sat through a large group version usually notice that the Seishin Toitsu step feels markedly stronger in a room of people doing it together.

What is Kenyoku Ho and how do you perform it?

Kenyoku Ho, dry bathing, is the aura-clearing step that opens Hatsurei Ho. Place the right hand on the left shoulder and sweep diagonally down across the chest to the right hip. Repeat with the left hand from the right shoulder to the left hip. Then sweep down each arm from shoulder to fingertips, right arm first, then left, with the sweeping hand's palm facing the arm. Perform the whole sequence three times, exhaling on each stroke.

How does Seishin Toitsu differ from Joshin Kokyu Ho?

Joshin Kokyu Ho draws energy in through the crown and stores it in the hara; Seishin Toitsu reverses the direction, sending stored hara energy out through the palms on each exhale. Seishin Toitsu is practiced with the hands raised in front of the chest, palms facing each other, and it develops the ability to emit Reiki on demand, which is why it sits immediately before treatment work in the daily order. Together the two steps make a complete cycle of receiving and transmitting.

What is Mokunen and why is it included in Hatsurei Ho?

Mokunen is the short intention-setting step in Hatsurei Ho, performed in Gassho with the eyes closed, in which the practitioner states inwardly that Hatsurei Ho is beginning now. It draws a boundary between ordinary activity and practice, the way a bow marks the edge of a dojo. Teachers keep it because a session entered deliberately tends to hold attention better than one drifted into, and because the same habit of clear declaration carries over into starting a treatment.

Can beginners practice the full Hatsurei Ho sequence?

Yes, though building up in stages works better than attempting the full Hatsurei Ho sequence on day one. Start with Gassho meditation alone for the first week, add Joshin Kokyu Ho in the second, bring in Kenyoku Ho in the third, and run the complete sequence from the fourth week. Each technique gets learned properly before the next is layered on. The 21-day integration period that follows an attunement is a natural window for this build-up.

How Should You Sit for Reiki Meditation, and What Helps With Knee or Shoulder Pain?

Reiki meditation is traditionally practiced in seiza, kneeling with the shins on the floor and the buttocks resting on the heels, but the position matters far less than an upright spine you can hold still for 20 minutes. Four setups cover most practitioners: seiza over a low kneeling bench that takes the weight off the ankles; cross-legged on a firm cushion with the hips clearly higher than the knees; a straight-backed chair, sat on at the front third with both feet flat and the spine holding itself upright; and, where injury rules out sitting, a reclined position with head and knees propped. Every step of Hatsurei Ho, including the Kenyoku Ho sweeps, works unchanged in a chair. Stack the spine so the ears sit over the shoulders and the shoulders over the hips, tuck the chin very slightly, and let the eyes close. For knee pain in seiza, put a rolled towel under the ankles and a folded blanket behind the knees, or switch to the bench. For shoulder fatigue in Gassho, drop the hands from heart level to the base of the sternum, keep the elbows close to the ribs, or rest the forearms on a cushion laid across the lap so the palms stay together without the deltoids working.

Seiza became the default in Japanese Reiki for a practical reason rather than a mystical one: the practice grew up in rooms with tatami floors, where kneeling was simply how people sat. Nothing in Hatsurei Ho depends on the knees. What the tradition does insist on is the vertical line, because the whole of Joshin Kokyu Ho is built on a felt channel running from the crown down to the hara, and a slumped spine collapses that line so the breath stops reaching the lower abdomen. Practitioners who sit in chairs usually lose the effect not through the chair but through sliding back into the seat and rounding the lower back; sitting on the front third with the pelvis tipped slightly forward restores it. Twenty minutes is also close to the limit of most untrained knees, which is one reason the classic schedule is two moderate sessions a day rather than one long one.

How long can most people hold Gassho before the arms tire?

Most beginners can hold Gassho at heart level for three to eight minutes before the shoulders start to burn, and that limit extends to 20 minutes or more within a few weeks of daily practice. Rather than fighting the fatigue, lower the hands slightly, bring the elbows in against the ribs, or rest the forearms on a cushion. Some practitioners split a long sit into two Gassho periods with a hands-on-thighs Joshin Kokyu Ho section between them, which is how the sequence in Hatsurei Ho is arranged anyway.

Should your eyes be open or closed during Reiki meditation?

Closed eyes are standard for Gassho and Joshin Kokyu Ho, because both techniques use inner sensation and visualized light as their objects. Practitioners who get drowsy with the eyes shut can borrow the Zen approach instead: eyelids lowered, gaze soft and unfocused on the floor about three feet ahead, without looking at anything in particular. Half-open eyes tend to keep the mind alert at some cost to the vividness of the light visualization, so many people close the eyes for the breathing steps and open them slightly for the closing Gassho.

What Other Japanese Reiki Meditation Techniques Are There Besides Hatsurei Ho?

Beyond Hatsurei Ho, the Japanese Reiki repertoire includes several short meditative techniques that practitioners use for specific purposes. Gassho Kokyu Ho is breathing while holding Gassho, drawing Reiki in through the palms on the inhale and letting it fill the body on the exhale, which practitioners use as a compressed five-minute version of the daily practice. Hikari no Kokyu Ho, the breath of light, expands the Joshin Kokyu Ho visualization so that the light drawn to the hara is then breathed out to fill the whole aura, and is often used before working on a group. Reiji Ho is the three-step intuition practice: hands in Gassho at the heart, a request that Reiki flow where it is needed, then hands raised to the third eye while waiting to be moved to a position. Nentatsu Ho places one hand on the forehead and one on the back of the head while a single clear intention is repeated, and is the technique traditionally used for habit change. Byosen Reikan Ho, the scanning technique for sensing where energy is disturbed, is covered in Reiki & Chakras: Hand Positions per Chakra, Byosen Scanning & Japanese vs Western Approaches.

These techniques reached the West late and unevenly. Most were not part of the material Hawayo Takata taught in Hawaii and North America, so Western Reiki grew up around hand positions, symbols, and client treatment, while the Japanese line kept the breath-and-intuition methods at the center. When Japanese teachers began sharing them internationally in the 1990s, many long-practicing Western Masters encountered Reiji Ho and Hikari no Kokyu Ho for the first time. The ordering difference is worth understanding: a Japanese-influenced curriculum tends to teach Reiji Ho before fixed hand positions, on the reasoning that a practitioner who has learned to wait for guidance will not need a chart, while Western curricula teach the chart first and intuition later.

What is Reiji Ho and when do you use it?

Reiji Ho, meaning indication of the spirit, is the Japanese Reiki technique for letting intuition rather than a chart decide hand placement. The practitioner brings the hands into Gassho at the heart, asks that Reiki flow where it is needed for this person, then raises the joined hands to the forehead and waits, without deciding, until an impulse to move toward a particular area arises. It is practiced after Hatsurei Ho and before hands touch the recipient, and beginners are told to follow the first quiet impulse rather than the most interesting one.

What is Hikari no Kokyu Ho, the breath of light?

Hikari no Kokyu Ho, the breath of light, is an expanded Reiki breathing meditation in which light drawn through the crown is gathered at the hara on the inhale and then breathed outward on the exhale until it fills the body and the aura around it. It differs from Joshin Kokyu Ho mainly in scope: Joshin Kokyu Ho concentrates and stores, while Hikari no Kokyu Ho concentrates and then radiates. Practitioners use it before group work, before entering a crowded or heavy environment, and as the closing step of a longer sitting.

What is Nentatsu Ho used for?

Nentatsu Ho is the Japanese Reiki technique for working with habits and mental patterns. One hand rests on the forehead and the other on the back of the head at the occiput, and while Reiki flows the practitioner repeats a single short, present-tense intention, holding it steadily rather than arguing for it. The hands stay in place for several minutes after the repetition stops, and practitioners work one intention over a run of consecutive days rather than switching phrases each session.

How Do You Meditate on the Gokai, the Five Reiki Precepts?

The Gokai, the five Reiki precepts, are meditated on through Gokai Sansho, reciting them three times with the hands in Gassho, which is the closing step of Hatsurei Ho. In Japanese the lines run: kyo dake wa, ikaru na, shinpai suna, kansha shite, gyo o hageme, hito ni shinsetsu ni. In English: just for today, do not anger, do not worry, be grateful, work diligently, be kind to others. The traditional instruction attached to the precepts is to recite them morning and evening, aloud and in the heart, with hands in Gassho. Three repetitions is standard, and practitioners describe the first as reading, the second as hearing, and the third as meaning it. A deeper contemplative version takes one precept per day: recite all five, then hold the day's precept alone for five minutes in the hara, letting the mind produce the concrete moments from the past day when that precept held or broke, without arguing with what appears. The phrase kyo dake wa, just for today, is the working part of the whole set, because it reduces an impossible lifetime standard to a single day that can actually be attempted.

The precepts predate Reiki as a genre. Short moral maxims of this kind circulated widely in Meiji-era Japan as material for self-cultivation, and Usui's set reads as a Reiki-specific member of that family rather than an invention from nothing. The order matters in practice: anger and worry come first because both throw the practitioner out of the present, which is precisely the state Gassho is training. Gratitude follows as the corrective, then diligence, then kindness, moving from inward to outward. Practitioners who keep a journal often log the precepts as one line each morning and find, after a few months, that the same precept keeps reappearing, which is usually the useful information. Where the precepts are being used against persistent anxiety or low mood rather than as daily practice, Reiki for Anxiety & Depression: Calming Positions, Research & When to Seek Therapy covers that ground and the point at which professional support belongs alongside it.

Why are the Reiki precepts recited three times?

Three repetitions of the Reiki precepts, called Gokai Sansho, are prescribed so the words move from recitation to absorption. Practitioners describe the first pass as mechanical, the second as the point where the meaning registers, and the third as the one that lands somewhere below thought. Triple repetition runs through the system generally, appearing in the three sweeps of Kenyoku Ho as well.

Should you recite the Reiki precepts aloud or silently?

The traditional instruction is to recite the Reiki precepts with the mouth and in the heart, which practitioners generally take to mean aloud where circumstances permit and silently where they do not. Speaking the lines aloud adds the physical sensation of the voice in the chest, which many find keeps attention from drifting. Silent recitation is standard in group settings after the first spoken round and for anyone practicing in shared living space early in the morning.

How do the precepts fit into the rest of Hatsurei Ho?

Gokai Sansho is the final step of Hatsurei Ho, coming after Seishin Toitsu and before the closing Gassho and gratitude. Its position is deliberate: the earlier steps clear, fill, and direct energy, and the precepts point that state toward how the day will actually be lived. Practitioners who drop the precepts and keep only the breathing usually report that the practice becomes a relaxation exercise, which is a fair description of what Reiki meditation is without them.

What Is a Complete Guided Reiki Meditation Script You Can Follow?

Here is a complete 20-minute guided Reiki meditation you can practice daily. Sit with the spine upright and the feet flat on the floor. Close the eyes and take three slow breaths, letting tension go on each exhale. Bring the hands into Gassho at heart center and rest attention on the point where the middle fingers meet. Hold that focus for three minutes, letting thoughts pass without following them. Now lower the hands to the thighs, palms up. Picture a column of white light descending from above and entering through the crown of the head. On each inhale, draw that light down into the hara, two inches below the navel. On each exhale, let it expand outward from the hara until it fills the whole body. Continue for five minutes. Then move attention through the energy centers from root to crown, one minute each, letting the light clear and settle each one. Bring the hands back to Gassho, recite the five precepts three times, and sit still for a final minute in gratitude for what moved through you.

The sequence above follows the shape of Hatsurei Ho, compressed for someone practicing alone without a teacher present. Guided formats suit beginners because remembering the order is the main obstacle in the first month, and having it supplied frees attention for the practice itself. Experienced practitioners modify it in predictable ways: extending the silent Gassho to ten minutes, adding a symbol at each energy center, or replacing the center-by-center pass with a single long Joshin Kokyu Ho. For that portion, the hand placements and correspondences are set out in Reiki & Chakras: Hand Positions per Chakra, Byosen Scanning & Japanese vs Western Approaches. Group practice of the same script is common in Reiki circles, on the premise that collective practice amplifies what each person generates alone.

How should you prepare your space for Reiki meditation?

Choose a quiet room where you will not be interrupted for 20 minutes, dim the lights or light a candle, and set out whatever you sit on so the setup itself takes no decisions. Turn off phones and notifications. Burning sage, palo santo, or incense beforehand is optional. Practicing in the same spot builds a strong association, and most people find that after a few weeks sitting down there starts the settling before the meditation does.

What if you cannot visualize light during the meditation?

If light will not appear in the mind's eye during Reiki meditation, work with a different sense instead. Feel warmth spreading down from the crown, sense weight or thickness gathering at the hara, listen for a tone, or simply hold the intention that energy is moving and let the sensation follow. A significant number of people cannot generate visual images at all, and the practice functions for them unchanged. Trust whichever channel reports most clearly and stop trying to force pictures.

Can you meditate on a Reiki symbol instead of the fingertip contact point?

Yes. Level 2 and Master practitioners commonly use a Reiki symbol as the object of meditation, drawing it mentally at the point where the light gathers and holding it in place of the fingertip contact point, letting it stay as long as it stays and redrawing it when it fades. Each symbol is used for a different purpose in this context, and the full set of meanings and drawing sequences is set out in Reiki Symbols & Meanings: Cho Ku Rei, Sei He Ki, Hon Sha Ze Sho Nen & Dai Ko Myo.

Can this Reiki meditation script be recorded and played back?

Yes, and recording the script in your own voice is one of the better ways to learn it. Speak slowly and leave real silence between instructions, roughly the length of the step being described, rather than reading the text at conversational pace. Record in a quiet room and keep playback quiet enough that the voice does not jolt you. Once the sequence is memorized, most practitioners drop the recording, since its pauses never match the day's actual pace.

What Do You Do When Emotions Surface During Reiki Meditation?

Emotions surfacing during Reiki meditation are treated in this tradition as material moving rather than a problem to fix, and the instruction is to let them arise without suppressing or analyzing them while the breath and the hand position stay as they are. The steps that most often trigger it are the long silent stretch of Gassho and the storing phase of Joshin Kokyu Ho, when the usual mental activity drops far enough for older material to come up. Practitioners report waves of grief, unexpected relief, laughter, trembling in the hands or jaw, or an old memory arriving with unusual clarity, generally followed by a settled lightness. If the feeling is strong, move the hands from Gassho onto the heart or the hara, which most people find steadying, and keep breathing. Do not stop the session to think about what came up; write it down afterward, since the pattern across weeks tells you more than any single sitting. Where difficult material keeps returning at the same intensity, working with a practitioner or therapist alongside the daily practice is the sensible course rather than sitting harder alone.

The five precepts recited at the close of Hatsurei Ho are doing quiet work here. Anger and worry are named first among them, and a practitioner who meets the precepts every morning is repeatedly asked to notice which of the two is currently running. Over months that noticing tends to arrive earlier in the sequence of a reaction, which practitioners describe as the practical fruit of the practice more often than any dramatic experience during a sitting. The stance is deliberately non-directive: nothing that arises is fought, and nothing is chased.

Is it normal to cry during Hatsurei Ho?

Crying during Hatsurei Ho is common and is generally read in this tradition as release rather than as something going wrong. It most often happens during the extended Gassho or on the first few exhales of Seishin Toitsu, and it usually passes within a minute or two if the practice continues. Let the tears come, keep the hands where they are, and finish the sequence including the precepts.

How should you keep a Reiki meditation journal?

Keep a Reiki meditation journal short and same-day: date, which techniques you practiced and for how long, what the hands felt like, anything that surfaced, and one line on the day's precept. Three or four lines is enough. The value appears at the month mark, when repeated entries show which precept keeps recurring and whether morning or evening practice is working better for you.

Should you stop Reiki meditation if it feels uncomfortable?

Stop a Reiki meditation session if the discomfort is physical and sharp, such as knee or back pain, and change position rather than pushing through. Emotional discomfort is treated differently: the standard instruction is to stay with it for the remaining minutes if you can, then close with the precepts and gratitude rather than breaking off mid-sequence. If sessions consistently end in distress, shorten them to five minutes of Gassho and rebuild slowly.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do you need a Reiki attunement to practice Reiki meditation?

Many Reiki meditation techniques, particularly Gassho and the Joshin Kokyu Ho breathing exercise, can be practiced by anyone regardless of attunement status. The full Hatsurei Ho practice and the steps that involve emitting Reiki through the palms are usually taught after at least a Level 1 attunement, which in this tradition is said to open the energy channels. Without attunement, the meditations still function as calming concentration practices, but practitioners describe the specific Reiki component as absent or faint.

How long should a Reiki meditation session last?

A complete Hatsurei Ho practice takes 20 to 30 minutes. Gassho meditation on its own is usually practiced for 10 to 20 minutes. For beginners, starting with 10 minutes of Gassho and adding the other steps gradually works well. Consistency matters more than duration in this practice: a daily 15-minute Reiki meditation session builds more sensitivity in the hands than an occasional hour-long sitting.

What is the best time of day to practice Hatsurei Ho?

Traditional Japanese Reiki instruction places Hatsurei Ho in the morning, before the day's activity, with a shorter repetition in the evening. Morning practice sets the tone before the nervous system has picked up the day's tension, and the precept recitation at the end of Hatsurei Ho is phrased for the day ahead. Practitioners who work with clients often add a five-minute Joshin Kokyu Ho immediately before a session. Avoid a full Hatsurei Ho straight after a heavy meal, since the hara breathing is uncomfortable on a full stomach.

What is the difference between Gassho and prayer?

Gassho and prayer both bring the palms together, but they are used for different ends. Gassho is a meditation technique that uses the hand position as an object of concentration: attention rests on the point where the middle fingers touch, and nothing is spoken or requested. Prayer is communication with a divine being. Gassho requires no religious framework.

Can you practice Reiki meditation lying down?

Yes, though seated positions are traditional because they keep the spine stacked and the mind alert. Lying down suits a practice that combines Reiki meditation with self-treatment, moving the hands through the standard positions covered in Reiki Self-Healing: 12 Hand Positions, Daily Routine & Signs of Energy Flow. If you tend to fall asleep on your back, bend the knees with the feet flat on the floor. A common arrangement is seated Gassho and Joshin Kokyu Ho first, then a lying-down self-treatment afterward.

Do you have to recite the Reiki precepts in Japanese?

No. The Gokai can be recited in Japanese or in translation, and most practitioners outside Japan use their own language. Some teachers keep the Japanese opening line for its rhythm and recite the five lines in English. The instruction that matters in the tradition is repetition three times, morning and evening, with the hands in Gassho, rather than the language used.