The laying of hands is used in Reiki therapy also as in spiritual healing. The difference is in spiritual healing, a person with a strong energy field places hands above a particular part of the recipient's body in order to release energy into it. So, here the healer is the one who is sending out the energy. In Reiki, however, the healer places the hands above the recipient; but the recipient is one who draws the energy as needed. So the individual takes responsibility for his or her healing.

Most Reiki treatments do not involve actual touching. The practitioner holds his hands a few inches away from the patient's body and manipulates the energy field from there. Only in rare cases the practitioner places hands on the patient who is fully clothed and relaxed.

The main distinction between Reiki and other energy healing techniques is that a practitioner can channel the Reiki energy through their hands into their own body. You normally feel relief from pain, and stress starts to gently melt away when its causes become clear.