So, you're interested in learning Reiki and based on the fact that you are reading this article, perhaps you are interested in learning Reiki with a view to practicing Reiki professionally or reaching the level of Reiki Master (Shihan/Teacher is the traditional Japanese term) and you want to know how long it takes before you can do that, how long it takes to be a certified in Reiki.
As an experienced Certified Reiki Practitioner and Reiki Shihan (Master/Teacher) who practices Reiki in Melbourne, there are different ways I might answer this question, so I'm going to firstly share with you some important considerations when looking at timelines and share my experience and wisdom about the best way to navigate your way into professional practice and Teaching Reiki in order for you to be in the best possible position, to get the most from Reiki. Secondly, I will share the minimum timelines that exist for certification, keeping in mind, they are considered the minimum timeframes.
We live in a fast paced world where we are used to getting things we want quickly, and when we are ready for a career change, often we want the solution fast so that we can get going and get on with it, or make the move swiftly. There are definitely fast options for you when it comes to Reiki, the question is, what kind of Practitioner do you want to be and are you willing to be patient when it comes to timeline?
UNDERSTANDING WHAT IS MEANT BY CERTIFICATION
It is important to note, that there is no official certification requirement for Reiki Practitioners. It is determined by each system of Reiki and even by each individual Teacher. There is no National or even State regulated certification requirement (leaving it open for anyone to 'say' they are practicing Reiki without any training whatsoever. This isn't advised and potentially could breach the National and State Health Codes of Conduct which apply to non-medical Health Practitioners.
There are also Reiki Associations where members apply voluntarily and they have a minimum requirement of training in order to become a member, including for those practicing or Teaching Reiki.
Each system of Reiki has its own timeline and there are probably two levels of certification people are generally asking about, firstly, to become a Certified Reiki Practitioner (to facilitate Reiki on clients professionally) and secondly, to become a Certified Master or Shihan (to teach Reiki to students).
GENERAL DISCUSSION ABOUT TIMEFRAMES, LEVELS OF REIKI TRAINING AND CERTIFICATION
Levels of Reiki Training and Certification:
In most Reiki systems, including in Komyo ReikiDo (which is the basis of my practice and teaching here in Melbourne), there are 4 levels of Reiki taught (some have 3 levels split into Level 3A and 3B), each one providing a certificate. In most systems, students are required to obtain at least level II before being allowed to practice Reiki professionally. To teach, they need to complete all four levels.
Cautions About Online Reiki Courses:
It's important to note that while online Reiki courses may offer convenience, they may not provide the same depth of understanding and practical experience as in-person training. More than that, you cannot receive Reiju (an essential handing down of energy from Teacher to student) online, it must be done in person. You can learn the theory but won't walk away with the capacity to channel Reiki so avoid these courses at all costs.
Variability in Reiki Course Duration:
There are also some in-person course that allow you to complete all levels of certification (up to Shihan/Master) within a weekend and others can take several years. I cannot stress enough how cautious to be of the 'quickie' courses. You will do yourself, your potential clients and your future students a real disservice to fast-track your journey with Reiki.
The Depth of Reiki Practice Beyond Each Level of Reiki Certification: Level I
Reiki, as a practice, is much, much more than the practices you learn in a Reiki course. In fact, learning them, is just the beginning. Then you need to go an practice them, create a routine and daily practice and settle in to what that practice reveals to you about Reiki. The first step is in your own healing and spiritual path. This is the main focus of Level I and there is no way to fast-track your healing, developing your relationship and experience with Reiki and to grow spiritually. Reiki as a practice involves a slow unfolding and it necessarily takes time. As you begin to heal, open and expand, Reiki will continue to reveal itself. This necessarily takes time and a committed practice.
Building Experience and Sensitivity:
At the same time, students are encouraged to work with friends and family, facilitating hands-on Reiki for them, and start to build their experience and insights with that aspect of practice. It takes time to build a sensitivity to the energy and to familiarise and find your own relationship with the energy itself. To feel where, in a person's body, the Reiki is needed and to feel the sensations and feedback in your hands to know when to stay in a position and when to move on to another position.
I tell students, although they can learn level II a month after Level I, consider how broadly and deeply you have experienced Reiki in just one month. Is that really enough?
Level II: Preparation for Working with Others
Level II then tends to prepare students for working with others, but part of doing that, requires having developed a deep enough relationship with the Reiki both in self-healing and working with others. When you begin to work on clients (as opposed to family and friends), they will have questions and you will need to be able to rely on your own experience and relationship with Reiki to be able to provide guidance and assurances to clients. If people are paying you for your services, you have a responsibility to ensure that you are at a level of knowledge and understanding of your craft that warrants a monetary exchange. This is about practicing with the upmost integrity and authenticity. You don't need to know everything, Reiki is a never-ending journey of opening, awakening and gathering of knowledge and wisdom, but you need to have a good, solid foundation of understanding and experience (as well as your own spiritual depth and self-healing) to be able to hold space for and support clients with Reiki.
The Deeper the Spiritual Path, The More Effective the Reiki Channel
Level I focusses on self practice, self-healing and deepening your spiritual path. All of those aspects of practice develop and expand your openness as a channel of Reiki. The deeper into your spiritual path, the greater channel you will be and the more effective the Reiki you are channeling for clients will be. Take time to have a committed and deep practice, to continue opening as a channel, it will make you much better at what you do when you do start working with clients. Again, this is about integrity and authenticity when accepting fees for your services. It is important to take time to develop and open your practice and spiritual depth to be an more effective Reiki channel for your clients.
The Golden rule in Reiki is, first Reiki on self, then if you have time, Reiki on friends and family and then if you have time, and people come to you, then Reiki on others. The reason for this Golden rule of Reiki is that the effectiveness of us as Channels starts with our own healing and depth of spiritual growth.
Allowing Space And Time for Each Level of Practices to be Explored and Integrated:
Just as self-practice is the goal of Level I, in Level II we begin to learn more about Reiki on others, including distance Reiki and the use of sacred symbols. There are also other Traditional Japanese Reiki techniques taught (in Komyo ReikiDo not Western Reiki), for detoxing and eliminating bad habits. In my view, by the time you come to this Level, it is best that you have a really solid self-practice, have experienced a lot of healing events and personal growth and you have worked a lot with friends and family to have built up a really good foundational understanding of Reiki, its possibilities, its limitations and mysteries still to unfold.
Whilst you continue (and will for life) to build on that foundation by continuing those practices, there is more space now to then really explore the new facet of healing with the new practices and use of symbols taught in level II. You can give them space and time (without confusing or conflating them with your other practices) to explore them and work with them, in the same way you gave space and time to the practices taught in level I. You will continue to expand and deepen you practice, adding new layers and possibilities and giving the new practices and elements time to be practiced and for Reiki to continue to reveal itself through them, all the while, helping you deepen your spiritual growth even further.
Value of Time and Experience: Caution Against Fast-Track Approaches:
I hope from reading this, you are getting a clear understanding of why time and practice is so important both for your own personal journey and with working with others professionally. And this applies to the higher levels as well in terms of Teaching. There is no substitute for time, experience, continued self-healing and the wisdom that comes from that. We must remember that Reiki, at its core and essence is an Eastern practice and it requires the time, dedication and focus that Eastern practices require. In the West, we like to obtain things quickly and perhaps we are less used to the slow progression of Eastern wisdom, but wisdom it is. In traditional Japanese Reiki, some students never made it past Level I because their depth of experience and spiritual growth wasn't sufficient. Some were never able to really sense the energy and the troubled areas of people's bodies and until they did, they didn't progress any further. That should give us some pause for having expectation of moving through all the levels a lightening speed.
Reiki as Your Own Unique Personal Journey: The Value of Taking Time
These days, in the West, it doesn't matter how deep your practice or understanding of Reiki is (or how shallow), you can complete all levels to Master in a weekend if you really wanted. There are courses out there that offer that. My question to you is, just because you can, does that mean that's really what you want?
Again I ask, who do you want to be as a Reiki Practitioner and a Teacher? I've seen people who haven't put in the time, engaged in committed practice or haven't reached a level of experience or depth of spiritual understanding but then go out to practice Reiki professionally and teach. And the results are not great. It's not ideal. For anyone.
In my personal journey, I took my time between Level I and II and am grateful that I did. I then had in incredibly intense apprenticeship in the first few years of my Reiki journey and probably more experience than some people have in a decade due to how deeply dedicated I was in my own personal practice and the number of clients my Western Reiki Master (when I practiced Western Reiki) sent my way. I had a close mentorship with her and consulted before and after each client and our conversations between were deep and lenghthy. After about 3 1/2 years she invited me to take the steps to become a Reiki Master and I said no. To be honest, I had more than enough experience and insight at that point than many who were already Masters, but I personally wanted more for myself. I wanted to go deeper in my spiritual path and instinctively I felt like there was more for me to learn in order to be the best Teacher I could be. I ended up being 6 years before I took the steps to become a Shihan (I had moved into practicing Japanese Reiki) and I am so glad I waited. In those extra years, I reached a level of experience and spiritual growth I didn't even know was possible. And I am a much greater Teacher than I ever would have been those few years earlier.
Treat the minimum timelines for Reiki Certification as just that, a minimum. Take your time. Go at your own pace. It pays off. I promise you.
UNDERSTANDING THE LEVELS AND MINIMUM TIMEFRAMES FOR REIKI CERTIFICATION
Hopefully you now have an understanding of what parameters you might require for yourself personally when journeying through the Reiki levels. Now lets looks at the minimum timeline of the levels.
Komyo ReikiDo (a Japanese system of Reiki), is both a healing and a spiritual practice and teaches all the known traditional Japanese spiritual and healing Reiki practices. In many Western Reiki systems, over time, some of the spiritual practices were lost of dropped along the way, making its focus less on the spiritual aspect of Reiki and much more on the physical healing aspect. For this reason, different aspects are taught in the various systems and there will be variation in what it taught in each level.
For that reason, and as I practice and teach Reiki based on Komyo ReikiDo here in Melbourne, I will discuss the various levels taught in Reiki based on what is taught in Komyo ReikiDo but when it comes to reaching Reiki Practitioner Certification and Reiki Master Certification (or Shihan level), even in the Western systems of Reiki, they are very similar.
Timeline to Reiki Certification:
Each level, has a main focus, whilst also building on the depth and breadth of the previous one:
Reiki Level I (Shoden): This level focus on self-healing and the student's own spiritual practice (instilling on students the foundational principle of Reiki that first we must work on the self, before working on others). In order to be the most effective Reiki channel, the depth of healing and spiritual practice of the student is instrumental. This level introduces students to the basic concepts and techniques of Reiki. Students learn about the history of Reiki, its principles, spiritual philosophy and how to perform self-healing and provide Reiki to friends and family. Level I certification usually requires a two-day workshop.
Reiki Level II (Chuden): This level begins to focus on Reiki on others and is the beginning stage of preparation for students to embark on professional practice. Most systems require that at least one month pass between Level I and II (keeping in mind this is the minimum suggested). Longer periods between, allowing students to have a solid daily practice and develop a deeper relationship and experience of Reiki before engaging in Level II is recommended). Level II delves deeper into Reiki practice and introduces symbols that enhance the healing energy. Students learn distance healing techniques, as well as how to work with emotional and mental healing. In Komyo ReikiDo, some targeted traditional Reiki techniques are taught to remove toxins, eliminate unwanted habits and to circulate blood. As mentioned above, Level II certification typically requires additional training after completing Level I (no less than a month between the two) and may span another two-day workshop. It is suggested students wait 6 months before practicing Reiki professionally after this level.
Reiki Level III (Okuden): This is considered the spiritual level of Reiki and often requires a minimum or 6 months from completing level II, before being able to take this level. Deeper learning of spiritual concepts of Reiki are delved into, reflecting on the students experience to date. Students learn the so-called 'Master symbol' (a Western term) at this level. Certification requires additional training after completing Level II (no less than 6 months between the two) and may span another two-day workshop.
Reiki Level IV (Shinpiden or Master/Teacher): The term Master is a Western Reiki system term. In traditional Japanese Reiki (and in Komyo ReikiDo), the term 'Shihan' which means 'Teacher' is used. Level IV represents the highest level of Reiki training and involves revision and reflection of the techniques and teachings of Level I, II and III having regard to the student's experience and insights and revising the the material from the perspective of the student teaching the material. Students also learn how to attune and teach Reiki to others. Becoming a Reiki Master/Teacher is a significant commitment and often requires a longer period of study and apprenticeship under an experienced Reiki Master. This level is usually a 3-4 day workshop and may be open to students based on the Teacher's own discretion and not less than a year since completing Level III.
Here is a summary of the timeline:
Reiki Level I: Two days of in-person workshop training, ranging from 6 to 8 hours per day.
Reiki Level II (minimum one month after Reiki Level I): Additional two-day workshop training after completing Level I (wait 6 months to practice Reiki Professionally) TOTAL MINIMUM 7 MONTHS TO REACH LEVEL OF CERTIFIED REIKI PRACTITIONER/ CERTIFIED REIKI THERAPIST
Reiki Level III (minimum 6 months after Reiki Level II): Additional two-day workshop training after completing Level II.
Reiki Level IV(Master/Teacher) (minimum 1 year after Reiki III): The duration of Level IV training can vary significantly. Minimum requirement of 3-4 day workshop training after completing Level III. Additional time in apprenticeship may be required. Becoming a Reiki Master/Teacher is a journey that often involves ongoing self-study, practice, and refinement of skills. TOTAL MINIMUM 17 MONTHS TO REACH LEVEL OF CERTIFIED REIKI MASTER / CERTIFIED REIKI SHIHAN (TEACHER)
CONCLUSION: HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE TO BE CERTIFIED IN REIKI
With any deep, spiritual practice, particularly in Eastern traditions like Reiki, rushing through the training process is not advisable. Developing a meaningful relationship with Reiki takes time and dedication. It's essential to allow for personal practice, self-reflection, and integration of Reiki principles into daily life. Rushing through the certification process may result in a superficial understanding of Reiki and its transformative potential. So whilst there are minimum timelines available (and even the capacity if you really wanted to find a Reiki course that allows you to complete Level I through to Master level over one weekend), I encourage you strongly, to take each level without a fixed idea in your head of how quickly you want to move onto the next, and commit to really practicing each level with depth and consistency until you feel ready to move forward.
Becoming Reiki certified, whether as a Practitioner or Shihan/Master is a personal journey that requires dedication, commitment, and an open heart. Embrace the journey, allow time for personal growth, and nurturing a deep relationship with the practice of Reiki.
If you have any questions, or want to chat to more about Reiki please contact me and we can arrange a time to chat. If you would like to book a Reiki session in Melbourne (or distance Reiki worldwide), you can book an appointment here or if you would like to learn Reiki yourself, sign up for Melbourne Reiki courses here. I look forward to connecting with you for Reiki!
Warmest,
Fiona x
Fiona Phillips
Certified Reiki Shihan (Teacher) and Practitioner
Komyo ReikiDo in Melbourne
Within The Space