Is there a difference between Reconnective Healing and Reiki? If you’ve been researching energy healing, you’ve probably come across both Reconnective Healing and Reiki and probably wondered whether they’re the same thing with different names. They’re not. While both work with the body’s energy, the way they work, the training behind them, and the experience of a session are genuinely different.
What Reiki Is
Reiki is a Japanese energy healing technique developed in the early 1900s. A Reiki practitioner uses a specific system of hand placements, either directly on or just above the body, to channel what practitioners describe as universal life force energy. Reiki follows a structured, repeatable technique, the same hand positions and general sequence are used session to session, and practitioners are trained through defined levels (commonly called degrees) that build on one another.
What Reconnective Healing Is
Reconnective Healing, developed by Dr. Eric Pearl in the 1990s, works differently. Rather than following a fixed technique or hand sequence, Reconnective Healing is described by practitioners as facilitating a connection to a broader spectrum of energy, light, and information — one that isn’t limited to a specific set of steps. There’s no set hand placement or repeated routine; each session is described as unique to the person receiving it. The movements are also different made by one facilitator compared to another practitioner.
Difference Between Reconnective Healing and Reiki
Technique Reiki follows a structured method with specific hand positions. Reconnective Healing has no fixed technique — practitioners are trained to facilitate the process rather than perform a set sequence. The hardest thing about these trainings is to explain and understand how they work, how they heal. I was totally skeptical when I first heard about energy healing in 2007 but every time I had it done on me for a particular reason, it worked!
I had only offered hypnosis for healing for many years but finally decided to take training to be an energy healer also. This is actually a very ancient tradition across many communities around the world who maybe had no access to doctors or money to pay doctors. I researched many schools of energy healing before deciding to train with Dr. Eric Pearl in person at a seminar in Newport Beach, California.
Physical Contact Reiki typically involves the practitioner’s hands on or near the body throughout the session. Reconnective Healing sessions involve no physical contact, with the practitioner moving around and eventually moving further away from the space. The idea behind this is allowing healing by getting out of the way of the patient communing with the intelligence of the universe inside the space. The method is intuitive by the practitioner.
Training Structure Reiki is taught in defined levels (Level I, II, and Master/Teacher), with each level building specific techniques. Reconnective Healing training begins with a 10 hour training video called The Portal. Then later it is completed through an in person seminar-based 3 day weekend certification process focused on facilitating the experience rather than progressing through hands-on technique levels. This training takes place in multiple countries around the world.
What You Might Experience Reiki recipients often describe a sense of warmth, tingling, or deep relaxation, generally in the areas being worked on. Reconnective Healing recipients often describe sensations that move throughout the entire body rather than a localized area, along with a sense of expanded awareness some describe as being profound. What most people don’t know is this type of healing can be done on yourself once you have taken the training.
One evening I fell down in the Trader Joe’s parking lot in Mission Viejo while working there for 10 years. They have the most magnificent sunsets at that location and I was looking up instead of where I was placing my feet. I fell while going to gather more carts and hurt my knee so badly I thought I would have to go home early. I only had 5 minutes before I had to be back inside for another task. I sat down on the same cement barrier I had tripped over and concentrated on healing my knee. I was back inside on time and didn’t feel any more pain in my knee afterwards.
Which One Is Right for You?
Neither is “better” than the other, they’re different approaches, and what resonates with one person may not resonate with another. Some people are drawn to Reiki’s structured, grounded feel. Others are drawn to Reconnective Healing’s more open, less prescriptive experience. The best way to know which fits you is simply to experience each type of energy healing with different practitioners until you experience positive change with a feeling of comfort plus spiritual growth. Or maybe a feeling of coming home, a reconnection to higher self, family and community.
Reconnective Healing can be facilitated at any distance by a certified practitioner such as myself for anyone anywhere in the world. Or, if you’re in South Orange County, California or planning a trip here and curious about having an in person Reconnective Healing, you can learn more about what a session involves here.
