YOU & YOUR HEALTH
Reiki Survey
Global REIKI Survey The Reiki Centre recently undertook a global survey of reiki users. The results make interesting reading for all Holistic Therapists. Elaine Hamilton Grundy shares some insights‌
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terms of the benefits received by practitioners.
Client support The vast majority of Reiki teachers provided support for their students after class with only 14% having no further interaction. The most common forms of support were social media (71%), email or phone support when required (56%) and gatherings (both face to face (52%) and online (34%)). This support is also seen to have a positive impact on results, respondents with ongoing interactions with their teacher reported more significant benefits than those with no further teacher interactions.
URING lockdown, The Reiki Centre surveyed 1288 Reiki users in 68 countries, with three quarters of the respondents being from the USA, UK, India, Singapore and Canada. 83% of respondents were female and 78% were between 41 and 70 years old. Reiki teachers made up a quarter of those surveyed, with 36% professional Reiki healers. While not wholly representative of the global population of Reiki users, it is believed to be the biggest survey of its kind, providing quantitative and qualitative data about the benefits users report. One of the most striking survey results showed that the respondents were very experienced and had a high level of Reiki education. 72% of those surveyed had either a Level 3 qualification or were Reiki Masters. Almost half had seven or more years’ experience, suggesting that the path takes considerable dedication. This is borne out by the majority of practitioners applying self-Reiki at least once a week, with over three quarters practicing for over an hour each week.
Trends in Reiki education There has been a proliferation of styles of Reiki over the past decade as well as the growing online availability of Reiki classes.
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courses. This may have wider implications for those offering courses in other modalities Online versus face to face delivery methods do not significantly differ in the results reported in
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53% of respondents reported Usui Shiki Ryoho, 10% reported the newer Japanese lineage styles, and 29% reported Usui Reiki Ryoho Gakkai. 15% were unsure and 20% reported other styles. This seems to be down to some confusion over names and the differences between different schools. Those with more experience and higher levels of qualification were more likely to have trained under several teachers, in order to broaden their knowledge, to move to a teacher or Reiki style that they felt more connected with, or because of circumstances/location/availability. Overall 11% of respondents trained online, but this appears to be trending over time. 34% of respondents with less than a year of Reiki experience chose online learning, perhaps because of COVID-19 and the lack of availability of face to face alternatives. Those who trained online were more likely to combine Reiki 1 and 2 in the same training (30% as opposed to 10% of face to face trained respondents). Online courses were longer than face to face training at levels 1-3, but shorter at Reiki Master level. Reiki Masters who taught professionally were much more likely to have trained face to face. The most common length for training courses was one or two days for Reiki Level 1 and 2, with a much wider range of hours for Reiki 3 and Master. This appears to be trending towards shorter hours; respondents with less than three years’ experience are more likely to take up shorter
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