Reiki 12 Hand Positions - 0: Top of the Head
There are 12 basic hand positions* in Reiki practice, this is used as a guideline for new students to conduct self treatments.
When I took an Integrated Healing (IH)** course in San Diego, I was fascinated by the amazing functions each brain part/organ has, and the knowledge gave me deeper understanding how Reiki energy works in each position. I will try to explain each Reiki position with what I learned from IH.
* There are many different Reiki schools now, some schools might be teaching differently, but there are no right or wrong in Reiki, so I just stick with the basic ones here. I also added one more position, so I will explain 13 hand positions.
** Integrated Healing is a healing system that combines the best of modern Psychology, NLP, CBT, Physiology, Applied Kinesiology, Traditional Chinese Medicine, complementary medicine and many other modalities, with its own unique methodologies. (http://integratedhealing.co.uk/)
Mathilda van Dyk, the founder of Integrated Healing gave me a permission to use some information from their textbooks. The 14-day IH course I took was something I cannot describe easily. Mathilda and Izumi Takiguchi who was the course organizer gave me an insight of how healing art works, and it was a big turn of my healing journey.
How to do self Reiki healing
Sit comfortably, place your hands on your laps, palm upwards. Breathe in and out through your nose. After connecting with Reiki energy (whatever the way you learned from your school), place your hands on each position described below. I was told to apply 3 minutes on each position, but there are no concrete rules in Reiki, you can do as much as you feel like doing it.
For non-Reiki practitioners, you may want to just put your hands on each position. Your hands are the best healing tools you have. :)
0: Top of the Head (Crown Chakra)
The 1st position is “The Eyes,” but I always start from the top of the head, the Crown Chakra, as I believe this is the first portal site to receive Reiki energy from the Universe.
Pineal Gland has an important role to understand why I believe as above.
According to Wikipedia, “The pineal gland is a small endocrine gland in the brain of most vertebrates. The pineal gland produces melatonin, a serotonin-derived hormone which modulates sleep patterns in both circadian and seasonal cycles. The shape of the gland resembles a pine cone from which it derived its name. The pineal gland is located in the epithalamus, near the center of the brain, between the two hemispheres, tucked in a groove where the two halves of the thalamus join.”
I like reading about the brain, but when I read the following sentence in the Integrated Healing textbook, I was intrigued by the power that the pea-size gland holds.
“Pineal Gland, situated in the middle of the brain and normally accessed in Kinesiology through the top of the head is considered by many to be the connecting link between our physical and spiritual world.
(…)
The Crown Chakra reaches down until its vortex touches the Pineal Gland. Chi or pure energy, is received through this energy centre in the head. This is considered the most powerful and highest source of ethereal energy available to humans.”
Anything in our brain is precious, nothing is a waste, but this tiny gland is one of the key elements when we receive energy from outside.
Some say Pineal Gland is the Third Eye, I will talk about the Third Eye in another hand position.
Simply place your hands on the top of your head as shown in the first illustration, and breathe in and out nicely. The most important thing is to relax, but it’s fun and also effective to imagine Universal Energy entering the top of your head and reaching Pineal Gland.
Next is “The Eyes” and “Temples.” I will explain it in my next post.
Love and Light,
Tomoe