Reiki for anxiety: accompanying the nervous system from energy

Anxiety is one of the most universal experiences of our time, especially in women living an intense life full of responsibilities, expectations and screens. The body ends up saying what the mind can’t quite name: insomnia, neck tension, clenched jaw, racing heart, a sense of not being able to stop, a ball of air in the chest. In my over 10 years accompanying women in holistic processes, I’ve seen how Reiki — well understood, well applied, with no grandiose promises — can become a valuable companion for the nervous system. Not as a replacement for psychotherapy or medication if you need it, but as a space where the body remembers it also knows how to be calm.

The Reiki table set up at my Arabian Ranches studio: a lit Tibetan bowl, fresh lavender, rose quartz. Everything arranged so the body doesn’t have to do anything — only let itself be cared for.

What anxiety is and why the body enters alert mode

Anxiety is not weakness or lack of character. It is an ancient response of the nervous system to a perception of threat. Thousands of years ago, the threat was a predator and the response was to flee or defend. Today the threats are different — a message at eleven at night, a deadline, an unresolved conversation, a worry about the children — but the body responds the same way: heart speeds up, muscles tighten, pupils dilate, the body prepares to run.

When this happens once a day and lasts a few minutes, the system returns to calm. When it happens once an hour for months, the system gets stuck in sympathetic mode — that state of permanent alert you recognise in the hunched shoulders on waking, the sleep that doesn’t rest, the coffee that no longer works, the feeling of “I can’t do this anymore”.

At a physiological level, cortisol rises, digestion slows down, the menstrual cycle changes, libido disappears, immunity drops. You are not making it up. Your body is exhausted from defending itself against something that never actually arrives — and that, sustained over time, leaves a mark.

How Reiki accompanies the nervous system

Reiki is an energetic practice of Japanese origin, simple in form and deep in effect. During a session, the body receives in silence, dressed, lying on the table. The therapist’s hands rest gently — or stay lightly above — on different areas of the body. There is no manipulation, no effort, nothing you have to “do right”.

What happens, observed from outside, is this: the sympathetic nervous system relaxes and gives way to the parasympathetic. Breathing becomes slower and deeper, heart rate drops, skin temperature shifts, muscles release layers they had been holding for months. Many women fall asleep. Others cry in silence without knowing why. Others simply feel a pleasant warmth and a calm they had not felt in a long time.

I promise nothing because every body is different — but what often happens is:

• Better sleep the nights following the session.
• Less tension in the neck, jaw and shoulders.
• More inner space to breathe and to think clearly.
• A general sense of safety that anxiety had eroded.
• Less reactivity to the small triggers of the day.

How I run my Reiki sessions

Every therapist has their way. Mine, after over 10 years, follows a sequence I’ve refined in consultation that respects the body’s natural rhythm:

Opening with the Tibetan bowl

I begin every session with the sound of a Tibetan singing bowl. Sound has the ancient capacity to lower the nervous system without you having to do anything. In two or three minutes, breathing changes. The room becomes silence. The body understands it is safe and can start to release.

Energetic reading with the pendulum

Then I do a gentle reading with the pendulum over the body’s main chakras. I am not looking to “diagnose” anything — I am looking to listen to where the energy is today, which areas are asking for more attention, which centre is more loaded or more empty. It’s information that guides the rest of the session.

Intuitive work

With that reading, the hand-laying work begins. Some areas ask me to stay longer, others just a touch. I work from intuition, in silence, letting the body guide me. This is the central part of the session and usually lasts between 30 and 40 minutes.

Aura clearing

Before closing, I do a gentle clearing of the aura — the energetic field around the body — with broad hand movements. It’s the moment to “release” what has come up during the session, what no longer belongs.

Closing with the Tibetan bowl

I end as I began: with the sound of the bowl. It is the signal for the body that the session has ended and that it can return to the world more peacefully. Afterwards, a few minutes of silence so you can find your rhythm before getting up.

The Tibetan bowl that opens and closes each of my sessions. Its sound is the signal the nervous system understands without words.

The chakras we work most in anxiety processes

Without entering esoteric explanations, the seven energetic centres of the body — the chakras — are in direct relationship with physical and emotional areas that anxiety tends to tighten. In anxious processes, I pay special attention to these four:

• Root chakra (Muladhara) — at the base of the pelvis. It is the chakra of safety, of belonging, of “being here”. Sustained anxiety leaves it empty and trembling. Working it returns the sense of root.
• Sacral chakra (Svadhisthana) — in the lower belly. Centre of creativity, emotions, sexuality. Anxiety blocks it, leaving that sense of “nothing flows in me”. Working it releases.
• Solar plexus chakra (Manipura) — at the pit of the stomach. The centre of personal power and decision. Anxiety loads it with tension — that famous “ball in the stomach”. Working it decongests.
• Heart chakra (Anahata) — between the breasts. Centre of love, connection, openness. Anxiety contracts it to protect it. Working it opens it again with softness.

When these four centres are balanced in a session, what many women tell me as they get up is: “I feel like myself again”. That is the best description I know of what Reiki offers to anxiety.

Accompanying Reiki with other holistic tools

Reiki works best when accompanied by other simple care. These are the tools I work with at my studio and which complement very well:

Clinical aromatherapy

A personalised formula with oils like lavender, furocoumarin-free bergamot, frankincense, Roman chamomile and ylang ylang becomes a daily companion. Applied on wrists, solar plexus and the nape of the neck two or three times a day, it helps to hold between sessions the space of calm that Reiki opens. If you want to go deeper, my article on essential oils for stress and anxiety gives you the detail.

Bach Flowers

Bach Flowers are a very gentle tool for anxiety because they have no contraindications and are compatible with any medication. The ones I use most in these processes:

• Mimulus — for concrete fears that have a name.
• Aspen — for that diffuse anxiety you can’t quite trace.
• White Chestnut — for the mind that goes around in circles and won’t rest.
• Rescue Remedy — for acute moments.
• Olive — for the deep exhaustion that comes with chronic anxiety.

Conscious breathing

Three minutes of 4-7-8 breathing (inhale for 4 seconds, hold for 7, exhale for 8) three times a day changes the nervous system. You don’t have to believe me — try it for a week.

Gentle movement

Walking, restorative yoga, gentle swimming. What the body needs is not intense training — that sometimes makes the alert state worse — but movement that discharges without demanding.

A simple daily routine to sustain calm

Beyond Reiki sessions, what holds the nervous system together is what you do every day. This is a simple routine I suggest to the women I accompany:

1. Morning: three 4-7-8 breaths before touching the phone. One hand on the heart.
2. Day: the aromatherapy roll-on on wrists and plexus mid-morning and mid-afternoon.
3. Lunch: eat without a screen, chew slowly. Digestion is one of the places anxiety shows most.
4. Afternoon: a short walk outdoors, even if it’s at night in Dubai in summer.
5. Evening: diffuser with lavender + orange in the room an hour before sleep.
6. Before sleep: three more minutes of 4-7-8 breathing. Phone outside the bedroom.
7. Weekly: a warm bath with Himalayan salt and two drops of lavender. My article on the holistic bath ritual explains how.

None of this is revolutionary — and that’s precisely why it works.

When Reiki is not enough and you should seek more support

This part matters. Reiki accompanies, but does not cure clinical anxiety. If you recognise yourself in any of these situations, alongside Reiki, I sincerely recommend asking for professional help:

• Frequent panic attacks that paralyse you.
• Ruminating thoughts you can’t stop.
• Chronic insomnia that already affects your day.
• A sustained feeling of “I can’t do this anymore”.
• Thoughts of harming yourself or that life has no meaning.

A psychologist, especially with a cognitive-behavioural or EMDR approach depending on your case, is a fundamental tool. If your doctor has prescribed medication, take it — there is nothing incompatible between medication and Reiki. In fact, the combination of the three — medication if needed, psychotherapy, Reiki — is what I see working best in the most sustained cases.

My work never competes with medicine or psychology. It accompanies, it adds, it holds. But it does not replace.

About my treatments at Arabian Ranches

If you’d like to go deeper into any of the topics covered in this article, at my Arabian Ranches studio I offer several treatments: Reiki with chakra balancing, therapeutic and aromatherapy massages, manual lymphatic drainage, Bach Flower therapy and personalised essential oil formulas, among others.

📋 See the full list and up-to-date pricing at Treatments.

✨ First visit: includes a free 15-minute initial consultation to understand your case and tailor the treatment. New clients also receive a 10% discount on their first treatment.

Book your session here or contact me if you have any prior questions.

Frequently asked questions

Does Reiki cure anxiety?

No. Reiki accompanies the nervous system and helps it step out of alert mode, but it is not a clinical treatment and does not replace psychotherapy or medication. What it does is offer a deep space of regulation that many women describe as “a rest I hadn’t had in months”. That sustained calm, session by session, opens space for the rest of the work — therapy, medication, habits — to do its job better.

Can I receive Reiki if I’m taking anti-anxiety medication or antidepressants?

Yes, completely. Reiki does not interact with any medication. I’ll just ask you to tell me what you are taking so I know your situation, and we’ll work respecting the rhythm your body needs. Many women receive Reiki alongside their psychiatric treatment and notice that they reinforce each other.

How many sessions do I need to feel changes?

It depends. Some women feel a very clear calm from the first session — the body had been waiting months for that rest. Others need three or four to start noticing sustained changes. In general, I recommend starting with one session every two weeks for a couple of months and, from there, once a month as maintenance.

Will I feel anything during the session?

Every body is different. The most common: pleasant warmth from the therapist’s hands, a sense of heaviness and deep relaxation, sometimes soft tears without a clear cause, sometimes sleep. You may also feel tingling, soft waves of energy, mental images. And sometimes, you simply fall asleep. All of it is fine.

Can receiving Reiki for the first time bring up more anxiety?

It’s rare, but sometimes, as the body starts to release accumulated tension, there can be a first phase of discomfort — a lump in the throat, an urge to cry, restlessness. It’s a healthy discharge response. It passes quickly and gives way to deeper calm. If it happens, we talk it through calmly at the end of the session.

Is it safe to receive Reiki during pregnancy?

Yes, with adapted sessions. During pregnancy I work with lighter touch and respecting the areas it’s best to avoid. Reiki is very welcome at this moment — it helps sleep, the bond with the baby, and moving through the emotional shifts of pregnancy with more calm.

Can it be combined with psychotherapy?

Absolutely, and I recommend it. Psychotherapy works on the mental and emotional plane with words; Reiki works on the energetic and physical plane without words. When they go together, progress is usually faster and more sustained. Many women tell me that after a Reiki session they go to their therapist and “everything comes out more easily”.