What to expect in a session

Can everyone do Reiki?
Absolutely.
Should you go to anyone to have Reiki done on you?
Absolutely not.

It's your right and kinda your duty (unless you want to take on some bad shit that doesn't belong to you) to ask your Reiki practitioner about their Lineage.

Reiki was created as a specific way to channel Light, it was done by a specific person, about one hundred years ago, and passed on from that person to other masters, who passed it on to their students. It's like someone at some point figured out how to light up a torch, and taught other people how to build torches, and -when they were ready- he lit them up, so that each flame has a direct connection with the original flame.

Every Reiki master should be able to trace their Lineage and show it to you. It's not been a long time, it's not an impossibly long family tree, it goes only a few generations back at the time I'm writing this.
This is not important for tradition, etiquette or propriety. Fuck that.
It's however crucial because of how Reiki works.

As you can read in the first post, Reiki is about surrender. It's about opening up and receiving the Light, it's about admitting we all have agendas, blindspots, limitations, even the best of us - it comes with the human territory. So we give up and let the Light work through us, we don't bend it to our will and intentions, because we might not be smart enough to be completely pure, but we are smart enough to not be tricked by our egos into believing we know better than Light itself.

Being smart is great. However, that means that some parts of us that want to protect us are also smart, and they use it to shield us from fear. Which is really lovely, and we should be grateful for that, however it can go unchecked and become a pretty big limitation, disguised as an asset. It can really fuck up our perspective.

This is also true for patients: when you go for a Reiki sessions you may have expectations, you may be asking or looking for something, but be warned that what you'll get is what you actually need, what your true self is really asking for in order to step more fully into the light. And that's what you'll get, in whatever way you need, which might be epic, frustrating, subtle, it will be what you need in that moment.
Everything is welcome, but not expected and above all not intentioned. The Light knows better. And you might not realize it, or might not like it, but if you ask for light you will get light, and it will show you gradually your agendas, your blindspots, your...darkness.

The beauty of Reiki is that it will do so in a safe environment, with someone who has no intention or will to cause any harm but to just bring you the light you deserve (and are asking for) in the most nurturing, gentle way possible.

A session usually lasts about 45 to an hour, but it may last as long as needed. Additionally to working with with the client, the Master takes roughly thirty minutes before and after to prepare/clean the space and his/her energy.
Logistically, Reiki happens by channeling of energy delivered through the Master to the client via laying of the hands (with and/or without contact), ritual symbolism and meditation.
The client will be sitting or lying down, it doesn't really matter for the practice itself, it's more about comfort. Clients seem to appreciate massage tables, and we appreciate that, so we appreciate massage tables together.
Reiki can be done virtually anywhere, however a quieter, more private setting is highly suggested.
If weather allows for it, an outdoor setting can also be very pleasant.

For all this to happen safely, your practitioner needs to have given up and surrendered, he needs to have relinquished his power to the Infinite, with the understanding that that's where it always came from, and that that's the only Will that matters.

Which is why you should stay away from practitioners who can't show you their Lineage. If someone can't show your their lineage, it's because either they or the people that taught them, didn't receive the Light, but gave it to themselves. Over the past few years Reiki has become quite popular, and so have become online courses, self-starting kits, self-initiatory books...Reiki came to the west and it was met by the magical world of monetization and democratic globalization.

Again, all of this is not morally or inherently wrong, it's just inaccurate for what the nature of Reiki is. If I don't receive the Light there's no surrender, there's no overcoming of the ego, there's only a spotlight shone on the ego. The ego is great at Judo, whatever you throw at it, it assimilates and uses as an implement, all the light they channel will be filtered through their agendas, structures, fears, and it will enter you carrying that. I'm not sure you want that.

Imagine the Light as a friend of yours, that one day tells another friend "Hey man, I have a secret, it's really personal, it's really important to me and it's important to share it with you in the right way. I'm not quite ready yet, I'll write it down in my diary first so I get more clarity, then I'll tell you when I feel it's safe to do so". And the second friend is like "Oh shit man that's awesome, thanks for the trust, I'm so thankful and I totally respect it", and then he goes, takes the diary and reads it, and then tells the first friend: "What? Whatever bro, you were gonna tell me anyway, right?"
I personally wouldn't want that second guy in my circle of trusted friends, let alone in charge of bringing light into my life. Yes, he might be really good at uncovering stuff, but the way he does it misses they point we, in Reiki, like to focus on.
It misses the mechanisms and learning curves that are triggered by the process of, in this example, waiting for the friend to tell you, seeing him struggle to find clarity, feeling ourselves getting anxious, or excited, or frustrated, feeling everything we have to and understanding that's the bonding experience, that's the treasure.

Giving up is the only thing that works to get there.
The experience of a revelation, or surrender, of communion, that can only be felt and lived, not obtained, bought or taken, that's what builds a pure channel of Light, that's where we find that original flame, a stable, eternal flame we can use to warm ourselves and others, to always be able to see in the night and to make some tasty food instead of, I don't know, cold canned beans.
I'd personally pick warm canned beans, shared with someone who maybe brings some garlic and salt and a bit of toast, over cold canned beans by myself. But that's me. As far as you go, do as you will with this information. I will love you anyway.
Don't worry, it's not 'cause I like you. It's because it's the more accurate thing to do. And therefore "best".