It’s easy to become obsessed with hand positions.

What we should remember, though, is that they work best when seen as a step towards intuitive healing. They are like training wheels: once we have more experience we should let them go.

Of course, the basic hand positions are useful, there is no denying that. They help us to re-charge and re-balance all of the main energy centres of the body; they work together to create a unified effect that is often very different from one achieved if we just randomly - and out of order - do all of the positions.

But since each person is different; since each person has his or her own needs; it makes little sense to give everyone the same treatment. It’s like saying we all need shoes, so we all have to have wear size 12.

I will talk in more detail about the use of the hand positions in a subsequent article; but as a rule it is better to be flexible and let your intuition guide the placement of your hands.

Reach out with your feelings and locate any spots that needs healing (energy) rather than simply moving blindly through positions 1-12.

If this sounds vague or hard, here are two techniques:

1) Sweep over the body of your patient with either one or two hands, trying to detect areas that ’suck’ more energy (or simply respond more in one way or another). When you find one, Reiki it until the energy levels being sucked diminish.

After you have finished one spot, keep sweeping over the body (’scanning’) until you find a second spot. Keep doing this until no other spots attract your attention.

2) Put your hands in prayer position and lightly touch your forehead. Then try to feel the next spot you need to Reiki. Let your intuition guide you.

After you have worked on the area you have been guided to, either a) move onto another spot if you feel that is right, or repeat the process of putting your hands in prayer position up against your forehead and waiting for your intuition to guide you to the next spot.

You repeat this process until the end of the Reiki session.

Jeremy O’Carroll is a traditional Usui / Shamballa Reiki Master. He has studied Reiki in India, Thailand and Australia and is a registered Master Teacher at the ARC (Australian Reiki Connection). He is the founder of the Om Reiki Centre in Daylesford (Victoria), Australia.

If you wish to contact him, please write to info@om-reiki.com.au or visit the Om Reiki Centre website at http://www.om-reiki.com.au