Reiki Relieves Headaches

By Karen K. Harrison, EdS, LCPC, LCMFT, AASECT

First published in Reiki News Magazine Winter 2021

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You know the feeling—the tension in the head, the pounding, and the pain that comes with a headache. You are not alone. More people complain about headaches than any other medical ailment. There are approximately forty-five million Americans complaining of headaches each year. That works out to about one in every six people or 16.54% of the population. Over eight million Americans visit their doctor for complaints of headache each year.¹

Gratefully, Reiki can help. There are several techniques to try, and depending on the kind of headache and the individual, one may work better than another. I have experienced many of the headaches discussed in this article and treated clients with all these varieties. Normally, I can relieve my pain without medication, and my clients usually report a significant reduction or elimination of pain.

Beginning Procedures

I like to start with the same procedures for all headaches. First, ask where the person feels the pain and why they think they have a headache. Next, inquire about the pain level on a scale of 0 to 10, ten being the greatest. Next, activate your most powerful symbols, and begin your opening procedures. Then perform Byosen scanning to determine where the blockages are. These can be anywhere in the body, not just in the head. See Reiki, The Healing Touch First and Second Degree Manual, page 57, for instructions.

Reiki Techniques for Headaches

I find the following techniques most useful when a person has a headache due to stress, worry, and overthinking. First, give Reiki to the head where you feel the blockages. If you detect blockages in other parts of the body, treat these next. After treating the head and the other areas, stand at the feet and hold the feet or ankles. Intend to send the Reiki energy up through the body to the crown while the client is inhaling. When the client exhales, intend to bring the energy back down through the body and into the earth. Ask the client to hold this same intention. Do this three times and then intend to send the energy back up to the head during an inhale, and this time intend to bring it out the crown and down around the aura while the person exhales. Finally, intend to clear the aura down to the ground. Repeat two more times, ending at the earth.

As I do this procedure with the client, I can often perceive an accumulation of thoughts and energy hanging out in the aura that is being cleared and grounded. I will continue to hold the feet for a few minutes to ground the client. When a person has a headache, there is often too much energy in the head and aura, and this process helps to distribute the energy through the body and ground the person. Headaches caused by too much time at the computer or other devices can create eye strain and poor posture and can be relieved by the following. During the scan, pay special attention to the eyes, the forehead, the shoulders, and the sub-occipital part of the head following on down the neck. There will usually be blockages in these areas. Give Reiki on or over each of these areas. When a person has head pain, it often works better to keep the hands off the head and in the aura rather than on the head. Sometimes giving Reiki directly to the head can contribute to the pain. Ask your client whether it feels better to have your hands directly on the head or in the aura.

When the client has a headache because of sinus issues, congestion, or seasonal allergies, you will likely be able to feel blockages over the forehead, nose, and cheeks. Give Reiki over these areas. I also like to offer the client some eucalyptus oil or combine that oil with other oils such as lemon, peppermint, Ravensara, or wintergreen. According to the client’s preference, I will either place a few drops of the oil in my hands while giving Reiki over the face or offer the client a few drops in their hands that they can rub over their sinuses, being careful to keep the oil at least an inch away from the eye. For example, one of my clients routinely had sinus problems and congestion with her headache. I would ask her to rate the severity of her symptoms before and after Reiki on a scale of 1-10. Often at the start of the session, she would rate them as an 8, and by the end of the session, it would drop to a 2. Sometimes I would spend as much as 45 minutes of the session just on positions on her head.

If the headache may be due to a stomachache, giving Reiki to both the head and the stomach can help. Also, you can ask the client if they have any idea if food caused the problem and if so, what kind. If they know, they can avoid that food or take special enzymes that may help to digest the food. Some pharmacies now sell food sensitivity tests that one can perform at home and send in for the results. Knowing what foods to avoid can be very helpful and can be combined with a gut rebuilding protocol. You can search on the term “leaky gut” for more information on this topic.

Trauma to the head sometimes causes a headache, as can misalignment of the neck or back. When this happens to me, I like to see a chiropractor or physical therapist. In the meantime, giving myself Reiki or receiving a Reiki session from someone can stop the pain. As an example, recently, a car tailgate accidentally lowered on my head. I immediately started giving myself Reiki and then placed ice on the area. When I got back to my vacation rental, I used a workout band under my occipital area with the other end secured under a coffee table leg, the way my physical therapist showed me. Scooching inch by inch away from the table, I gently increased the tension in the band and stretched my neck. I enjoyed the rest of my vacation and then got a chiropractic adjustment when I got home. I also needed to send Reiki for forgiveness for the person who lowered the tailgate on my head, even though it was an accident.

With accidents, use the Distant symbol to send Reiki back in time to just before the accident and intend that it happened differently or did not happen at all. As an example, regarding the above tailgate accident, after I sent Reiki to my head for a while, I started sending Reiki back in time to when the tailgate lowered and intended that I move out of the way before the tailgate hit me. I held this intention for about 10 minutes while giving Reiki and did that a couple of times. It worked so well I almost forgot what happened and forgot about the pain in my head! I have used this technique many times with great results. Sometimes, if it seems too farfetched to intend that it didn’t happen, I will envision it happening, but more gently. As an example, I could have intended that a bike helmet was on my head, which broke the blow of the tailgate. Another technique is to simply send Reiki back to the time of the trauma, intending to release the emotional and physical trauma of what happened.  Also, according to William Rand, the sooner you give Reiki to an injury, the easier it is for the body to return to the pre-injury state. So, if you are injured, begin giving Reiki as soon as possible.

The Hayashi Reiki Healing Guide describes a method to treat headaches. It suggests treating the front of the jaw, temples, back of the head, back of the neck, and top of the head. With headache, you should very thoroughly treat the place on the head that is aching.²

William Rand suggested using Reiji-ho for your own headache.³ In this method, you allow your intuition to guide you to the best place to treat. Begin with Gassho, say a prayer, move your hands up so the thumbs touch the third eye, and ask to be guided to the best place to treat. More complete instructions are in Reiki, The Healing Touch First and Second Degree Manual, page 56. I tried this method on one of my headaches, and it melted away within a few minutes. Interestingly, my hands were guided to the sub-occipital area, not my forehead, the location of the most intense pain.

Another cause of headaches is teeth clenching and grinding, which can affect the temporomandibular joints (TMJ), which connect your jawbone to your skull on each side of the jaw. The muscles of the TMJ run along your jaw and cheeks, and sometimes these muscles can cause pain—even headaches. When the muscles in your jaw tense up—like when you grind your teeth—the pain can spread to other TMJ muscles alongside your cheeks and on the sides and top of your head, causing a headache. TMJ pain has been reported in one in ten people, and TMD, temporomandibular disorders, which are the symptoms caused by TMJ issues, have been reported in almost half of the population of the United States.⁴

During Byosen scanning with my clients, I have often found heavy energy over the jaw. Clients rarely think about their headache pain coming from the jaw, so pay special attention to this area when scanning. Giving Reiki to the jaw brings relief! I have struggled with jaw tightness that was so bad it caused me to have eye spasms! Figuring all that out took a while. My massage therapist would massage my jaw while giving Reiki, and that would bring relief.

Using a Gua sha stone has been most helpful because I can do it myself. “Gua sha is an ancient Chinese method that uses a special stone to scrape and massage the skin, helping to relieve tension and improve blood flow through facial massage.” Learn all about Gua sha and how to use it in this article, Meet Gua Sha: Our New Favorite Massage Tool.⁵ Before you use the Gua sha stone, give it Reiki, and then give yourself Reiki while using it. I also found that getting a bite guard from a dentist specializing in TMJ has been most helpful in relieving jaw tension and the resulting headaches.

Reiki Techniques for Migraines

According to the Mayo Clinic, A migraine is a headache that can cause severe throbbing pain or a pulsing sensation, usually on one side of the head. It’s often accompanied by nausea, vomiting, and extreme sensitivity to light and sound. Migraine attacks can last for hours to days, and the pain can be so severe that it interferes with your daily activities. For some people, a warning symptom known as an aura occurs before or with the headache. An aura can include visual disturbances, such as flashes of light or blind spots, or other disturbances, such as tingling on one side of the face or in an arm or leg and difficulty speaking.⁶

Often, when a client has a migraine, they do not want to drive. Offering a distance session can be most helpful in relaxing deeply and controlling the environment regarding light, sound, and movement. The practitioner will likely feel blockages around the head as heavy, thick energy or spikes. Give Reiki to all these areas. Also, give Reiki to any other areas you feel guided to, including the feet, to pull the energy down the body and out of the feet. If the session is in person, turn the lights low, turn off the music, use no scents, and let the client remain on their back without turning over. Be very gentle with your transitions between hand positions. Give Reiki slightly off the head because putting your hands on the head can increase the pain. It is rewarding to have clients remark that their pain significantly decreased or was gone. See Healing Migraine Headaches with Reiki by Jo Brennan for more ideas.⁷

Conclusion

Giving Reiki to a person with headaches is rewarding because you can often reduce or eliminate the pain. Even if the person does not currently have a headache, many people who have frequent headaches tend to have a low-grade headache much of the time. You will probably feel blocked energy even though the person reports currently feeling no pain when you scan. The blocked energy builds until the person senses a headache. By giving Reiki, you will be able to clear this blockage, thus potentially preventing the headache from occurring. Reiki may heal the pattern of headaches, or other methods may need to be additionally employed, such as those discussed earlier. Besides pain relief, Reiki provides comfort and nurturing, which is what we all need when we are feeling poorly. I am so grateful to have the gift of Reiki healing to relieve suffering.

Karen Harrison is a co-director of the ICRT Licensed Teacher Training Program and practices and teaches Reiki as a Holy Fire® III Licensed Reiki Master Teacher for the ICRT in Leawood, Kansas. She is also a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and Licensed Professional Counselor. Karen can be contacted by email at Karen@karenharrison.net or through her website at www.karenharrison.net.

Endnotes

¹  Dr. Ira Shapira, “Headache Statistics,” iHATEheadaches, https://www.ihateheadaches.org/headache-statistics.

²  William Lee Rand, Reiki, The Healing Touch First and Second-Degree Manual (Southfield, MI: Vision Publications, revised April 2019), 65.

³  William Rand, Personal communication, August 12, 2021.

⁴  Ibid.

⁵  Young Living, “Meet Gua Sha: Our New Favorite Facial Massage Tool!” Young Living Blog (Young Living Blog, August 25, 2021), https://www.youngliving.com/blog/meet-gua-sha-our-new-favorite-facial-massage-tool.

⁶  “Migraine,” Mayo Clinic (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research, July 2, 2021), https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/migraine-headache/symptoms-causes/syc-20360201.

⁷  Brennan, Jo, “Healing Migraine Headaches with Reiki,” Original publication, Reiki News Magazine, Summer 2012, Currently available for reading at https://www.reiki.org/articles/healing-migraine-headaches-reiki.