Offering Free Reiki Sessions

Christian Stone | Standing Stones Healing Co.

I just opened my Reiki space and I break even - I’m ok with that - it’s a slow build but it works for me and my schedule. I just had someone who I don’t know ask me if I would provide free services for victims of domestic violence and veterans. I would love to but also I need to make money (as we all do). How would you answer this?

Thanks for this. It's absolutely ok if you don't want to offer Reiki sessions for free. It sounds to me like providing free Reiki for victims of domestic violence and/or veterans is something you would like to do, but that you need to use that time for paying sessions, which is definitely understandable when you have rent. Even if you didn't have bills to pay and/or had no interest in doing any free sessions, that's fine, too.

You could definitely approach this situation in multiple ways: You could simply say no. You could offer a discount to these populations. You could do a few free sessions. You could block off a specific day/time for these specific sessions. There are a lot of ways to handle it, but I do think it's a bit presumptuous of the person you don't know to ask you to do it for free. I'm wondering why they felt the request was appropriate and curious about why they named these two groups. 

But we've all been asked to do free things. As Reiki practitioners and spiritual business owners, we will often be asked to provide free services...or people may assume that we will. There is nothing wrong with offering free Reiki, but it's important that free services are of our own choosing and that it isn't at the expense of our own wellbeing. 

If this were me, depending on the situation, I'd thank them for their interest and ask if they have someone in mind...maybe they're a veteran and victim of domestic violence and seeking free sessions for themselves. I would perhaps offer a first-time session discount for that specific person if they do have someone in mind (or if it's them!). They may also have an organization in mind or an event, but I'd definitely be curious to know more and would ask some questions to gain more information. There are other possibilities and ways to approach it, but I'd personally want to know more and have a better understanding of the situation and where they're coming from so that I can make a decision with full information. And then I'd probably respectfully decline. Always the decision to do free things in our Reiki business is our own and up to us and always we have the right to agree or decline as it resonates with us and our business. 

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