Hatsurei-Ho: The Reiki Start-Up Ritual and Daily Practice
If you're looking for a powerful way to strengthen your Reiki connection, purify your energy, and start your day (or any healing session) with clear intention, let me introduce you to Hatsurei-Ho.
This is an advanced Japanese Reiki technique that weaves together several practices - Gassho, Kenyoku, and Seishin Toitsu meditations - into one extended sequence. It's cleansing, grounding, connecting, and meditative all at once.
And once you learn it, it can become your daily spiritual practice.
What Hatsurei-Ho Does
Think of Hatsurei-Ho as both preparation and practice rolled into one. It:
Clears your mind and releases negative energy
Strengthens your Reiki channel so energy flows more freely
Purifies the energy passing through you as a healer
Enhances your sensitivity to subtle energies
Deepens your spiritual growth through regular practice
Connects you to the Universal source of life force energy
It's the perfect start-up ritual before any Reiki session, but it's equally valuable as a standalone meditation practice. Even if you're not giving Reiki to anyone else that day, doing Hatsurei-Ho for yourself keeps your energy clear and your connection strong.
The Sequence briefly
Before we dive into the details, here's the flow of the practice:
Kihon Shisei - Standard posture
Mokunen - Setting intention
Kenyoku-Ho - Dry bathing (clearing negative energy)
Connecting to Reiki - Drawing in Universal energy
Gassho - Hands in prayer position
Joshin Kokyu Ho - Cleansing breath
Seishin Toitsu - Focused mind meditation
Gokai Sansho - Reiki principles or affirmation
Mokunen - Closing the practice
It might look like a lot of steps, but they flow together naturally once you learn them. I've recorded this for you to play back as you practice, which makes it much easier to follow along until the sequence becomes second nature.
The Practice, Step by Step
1. Kihon Shisei - Standard Posture
Sit comfortably with your back straight. You can sit on the floor, in a chair, or on the edge of your bed - whatever feels right for your body. The key is keeping your spine straight so energy can flow freely.
Relax your shoulders. Close your eyes. Place your hands in your lap, palms facing down.
Focus your attention on your tanden - your sacral chakra, located just below your navel. This is your energy centre, your hara, where the Japanese believe your vital spirit resides.
2. Mokunen - Setting Your Intention
Say silently to yourself: "I am starting Hatsurei-Ho."
This simple statement marks the beginning of sacred practice. You're letting yourself and the Universe know that you're stepping into this intentional space.
3. Kenyoku-Ho - Dry Bathing
This is one of my favourite techniques for releasing negative energy. You're literally brushing it off your body. Here's how:
First round (torso):
Place your right hand on your left shoulder and inhale
As you exhale, run your hand diagonally down your torso to your right hip, as though brushing dirt away
Inhale, then place your left hand on your right shoulder
Exhale and brush down to your left hip
Repeat once more on the right side (right shoulder to right hip)
Second round (arms):
Place your right hand on your left shoulder and inhale
Exhale as you run your hand down your left arm and sweep over your fingertips
Place your left hand on your right shoulder, inhale
Exhale as you sweep down your right arm and over the fingertips
Repeat once more on the left side
Feel that? You've just cleared away stagnant, negative energy. You're starting fresh.
4. Connecting to Reiki
Now we draw in the beautiful, healing Universal energy.
Raise your hands up high on either side of your head, palms facing upward, fingers pointing toward the crown of your head (your Crown Chakra). If this position is uncomfortable, simply create a funnel shape with your arms. Remember, Reiki works on intention - the exact position matters less than your focus.
Visualise a great, luminous cloud of Universal love and light hovering above your head. See it, feel it, sense it there.
Now imagine this beautiful healing energy raining down over your hands, running through your arms, flowing into your torso, and settling in your tanden. At the same time, feel energy flooding up from the earth below, through your feet, rising into your tanden.
You are infinitely and always connected to this Universal source. Bask in that feeling for a few moments.
When you can feel the Reiki flowing strongly into your hands, slowly lower them into your lap, palms facing up.
5. Gassho - Hands in Prayer
Bring your hands together in prayer position (Gassho means "two hands coming together"), placing them in front of your heart, a few inches away from your chest.
This gesture is powerful. It represents being fully in the present moment. Just being. Not trying, not doing, not seeking - simply existing in this sacred now.
6. Joshin Kokyu Ho - Cleansing Breath
Breathe in through your mouth. As you breathe, focus your mind on the pressure point where your two middle fingers meet.
Fix your awareness solely on this single point. Feel the gentle pressure of your fingers touching. Let everything else fall away - there's only this point, this breath, this moment.
Your mind will wander. That's completely normal and expected. When it does, gently bring your attention back to the pressure point between your middle fingers. Again and again. This is the practice.
7. Seishin Toitsu - Focused Mind
Continue holding Gassho position as you deepen your meditation. This technique helps concentrate the Reiki energy flow into your hands and strengthens your sensitivity to it.
It also reinforces the energy channels from the Universal source down through your body to your tanden - that vital centre in your hara where your spirit resides. The quality of your hara reflects the quality of your energy. Through this practice, you're cultivating a strong, clear, balanced hara.
Stay here for as long as feels right. There's no rush.
8. Gokai Sansho - The Reiki Principles
This is a beautiful moment to recite the Reiki principles, or to speak an affirmation. Here's one I use:
"I ask for the love and guidance of my Reiki guides, ascended masters, and spirit guides to support me in this Reiki healing session. I ask that the Universal life force energy is absorbed into my being on a physical, mental, and emotional level, to heal me in the most beneficial and appropriate way."
Feel free to adapt these words to whatever resonates with you. This is your practice.
9. Mokunen - Closing
Place your hands back in your lap, this time with your palms facing down.
Say silently to yourself: "I am now finishing Hatsurei-Ho."
Begin to bring your attention back to the room. Notice the sounds around you. Feel the surface beneath you. Gently wiggle your fingers and toes.
Open your eyes when you're ready. Linger for a moment or two before you stand up and leave your place of meditation. Let the peace settle fully before you transition back to everyday life.
The Deeper Meaning of Gassho
There's something profound happening when we bring our two hands together in Gassho.
Symbolically, this gesture represents removing the state of separation between yourself and the Universe. The two become one. You and the Divine are not separate - you're connected, unified, whole.
This links back to Usui himself, to his moment of enlightenment during meditation on Mount Kurama. He wasn't trying. He wasn't striving or seeking. He was simply being.
That's what Gassho invites us into: a state of just being. Not trying to fix anything, not searching for answers, not doing anything at all. Just experiencing the oneness and peace at the core of your being.
You can use Gassho anytime, not just during Hatsurei-Ho. In the middle of a stressful day, take a moment to bring your hands to prayer position. Feel that sense of calm, connectedness, and stillness. Let your racing thoughts stop, just for a moment. Allow inner peace, focus, and inspiration to flow in.
It's a beautiful reminder that enlightenment isn't something we achieve through effort. It's something we experience when we stop trying and simply be.
Making It Your Daily Practice
I know this sequence seems complex when you first read through it. All those Japanese names, all those steps, all that visualisation. It can feel overwhelming.
But here's the thing: once you practice it a few times, it becomes second nature. Your body learns the movements. Your mind learns the flow. It becomes almost automatic - which is exactly when the real magic starts to happen.
That's when Hatsurei-Ho stops being a technique you're trying to master and becomes a practice you simply inhabit. A sacred ritual that starts your day, clears your energy, and connects you to something infinitely larger than yourself.
Try it every morning for a week. Use the recorded version I've made for you until you internalise the sequence. Notice how it changes your energy, your clarity, your connection to Reiki.
I think you'll find, as I have, that it becomes something you don't want to miss. Not because you have to do it, but because you genuinely want to.
Because it feels that good. Because it works that well. Because it brings you home to yourself.
Want to learn Hatsurei-Ho with guided support? Book a Reiki session and I'll walk you through this powerful practice step by step, making sure you feel confident with each element before moving to the next.