I've been studying a lot of healing stuff lately (mostly Reiki, Quantum Touch, and Bruce's Healing from the Heart), and to be honest I get the impression that a Reiki "attunement" is little more than one person stimulating another's energy centers. I have some trouble believing that Reiki is some special, separate energy that is only accessible to someone who's received "attunements" coming from a line that goes back to Usui.

IMO if you get a Reiki attunement and then don't do anything with it, then it will fade; just like an exercised muscle will atrophy if you cease using it. Someone who frequently uses Reiki will, IMO, find that their ability doesn't atrophy much, but also that it doesn't improve much (without further attunements) either, since Reiki users are taught to channel the energy in a passive way that does not challenge their energy bodies to strengthen. To continue with the exercise analogy, common Reiki practice is like a mild aerobic exercise that will maintain one's current level of fitness, but not improve it.

This is wonderful for the potentially enormous number of students who would love to be healers but do not have the motivation to put time and effort into energy work. Likewise, Reiki seems to be the ideal system for teachers who are more than happy to attune those students for a price. I think the replacement of time and effort with money goes a long way in explaining why Reiki seems be the most popular system of energy healing in the U.S.

Please note that I do believe Reiki is valid as a system of healing, and I'm not trying to suggest that all Reiki teachers are in it for the money. But I do disagree with the notion that "attunements" do something special for the student that the student could not do for themselves with some time and effort put into energy work. And I do believe that, with enough time and effort put into it, people can develop themselves well beyond what they could get from attunements.

Hence, I find myself preferring Quantum Touch and Healing from the Heart over Reiki.

However, I do not claim to be an expert, nor do I claim to be an experienced healer. If anyone here has done an extensive amount of energy work and has received Reiki attunements, and feels that their attunements gave them access to some special energy that they otherwise would not have been able to access, then I am certainly eager to hear about your experiences and thoughts.