Distance Reiki Tips

Christian Stone | Standing Stones Healing Co.

You want to offer distance Reiki in your Reiki business, but how? In this article, I share a few of my top tips for offering powerful distance Reiki sessions.

Distance Reiki has been a very important part of my Reiki business. In fact, it's how my Reiki business started. My Reiki business began on the phone, offering distance Reiki to friends, friends of friends, and etc. I then began offering recorded distant Reiki sessions, where I would record myself offering the session, whether audio or video, and send the recording to the client. My business transitioned to offering live sessions on Zoom or Facebook Messenger. These sessions have been primarily 1-on-1, but I've also offered plenty of online group sessions, so I've offered distance Reiki in many different ways over the years in my Reiki business.

I’ve personally offered more distance Reiki sessions than in-person sessions because that’s how my business began and because I’ve been doing distance sessions for so long. In my experience, the most powerful distance sessions are live scheduled sessions where someone books a time, sets that time aside, and meets with us on Zoom, Facebook Messenger, Google Meet, or some other live way of connecting, including even the phone. I believe live sessions are most powerful because of the intentionality behind setting aside a specific time, showing up live, the interaction between you and the client, and the focus on them for that appointment time. 

I believe showing up live is powerful not only because of the intention setting, but also because of the power of ritual. Reiki as a system is very ritualistic, and ritual and ceremony have a lot of power. Ancient cultures have known and practiced this for a long time, and modern-day science is finally catching up with the power of ritual for growth and healing. If we offer Reiki when we're not live with the client, it still works, has an impact, and is helpful, of course. But live sessions help us to tap more deeply into the powerful human experiences of connection and ritual.

Adding distance Reiki to our Reiki business opens up a world of possibilities. We can have clients all over the world, offer the sessions in lots of different ways, and not have to worry about things like office rental or travel. We can tailor the format of the sessions to our needs and preferences, whether 1-on-1 or group, recorded or live, audio or video or phone. The possibilities are endless.

One of the great things about distance Reiki is its flexibility. You can offer your distance sessions in any way that feels right to and resonates with you because there’s no one right way to do it. As an example, you can see exactly how I conduct a distance Reiki session here. 


Here are some of my top tips for distance Reiki sessions:

1. Simplify the scheduling process.
I recommend scheduling ahead of time to meet with the client and devote that time to them because our clients deserve that. If you're accepting payment for your session, it's best to have the client schedule and pay at the same time. This eliminates the back and forth messages of not only finding a time, but also securing payment. I recommend an option for clients to easily schedule and pay at the same time, such as a calendar system like TidyCal, Appointlet, or Calendly. For distance sessions especially I recommend receiving payment before the session begins. Chasing after clients for payments is not fun. It can be frustrating and anxiety-inducing, and there are better uses of your time. Plus, it can be just as much of a hassle for clients to be chased after. So accepting payment at the time of scheduling makes the process simpler for everyone.

2. Be professional.
Treat the session with as much professionalism as you would an in-person session. All of the things we would expect from an in-person session are true for distance, as well. This includes being on time, being prepared, and being appropriately dressed if you're on camera. Also if you're on video, make sure the area behind you is uncluttered and inviting. Seeing piles of dirty dishes, stacks of papers, or people walking around behind you can be distracting to a client and doesn't exactly facilitate a peaceful experience. If you don't have a peaceful space in your home or you want to maintain your own privacy, here's a quick trick: Hang up a plain bedsheet behind you. It's a quick way to create a neutral background.

3. Offer the client choices.
Having choice is very powerful for helping us to feel in control, and we always want our clients to know they are in control of the session. If you are offering distance sessions live on video, allow clients to choose whether to have their camera on or off. Many practitioners play music during their sessions, and getting client permission beforehand is important. You can always even allow the client to determine what kind of music to play. I personally play my own Native American style flute recording and don't offer music choices, but I do allow the client to choose whether they want music or not. I also definitely recommend getting client permission to share any information you receive. Always have client permission to share messages, and ensure you do no harm with the messages you convey. Of course, receiving messages is not part of the system of Reiki, so there's no requirement to. But too often Reiki practitioners can do more harm than good with the information they receive and how they share it, so please be mindful of what you say and how you say it and always allow the client to choose.

4. Follow up with your clients.
After a session, I recommend checking in with the client afterward. I personally like to send an e-mail or social media message to see how they're doing. This gives me the opportunity to make sure they're ok, to see how their experience was, and to answer any questions that might have come up after the session. It's also an opportunity to ask for a review, invite them back, or to make sure they know how to schedule with you again. I like to do this within one week of the session, though, depending on my client load, I'm better at this sometimes than others. But I'll look over my calendar for the past week and reach out to anyone I haven't heard from or haven't had a chance to reach out to yet.


If you want to start and build your own distance Reiki business, it's incredible to offer Reiki to anyone in the world from the comfort of your home. But while starting a distance Reiki bsiness is easy, but building one is not. That’s why I created the Distance Reiki Business Builder program. It's everything you need to start and build your own successful distance Reiki business.

For more on distance Reiki, tune into this episode of the Build Your Reiki Business podcast.