Reiki doesn't treat headaches or migraines, and I'd be careful of anyone who says it does. What it does — and what people consistently report — is reduce the tension that a lot of headaches ride on. The jaw that's been clenched all day, the shoulders that have crept up to the ears, the neck holding a head that's been looking at a screen since seven. When that lets go for 45 minutes, the headache that was building often doesn't arrive, and the ones that do are described as shorter and softer.
That's the honest scope. It's narrower than some practitioners claim and wider than most doctors expect, and it's what I've seen in Cannes for long enough to say it plainly.
The headaches that respond
Tension-type headaches — the band across the forehead, the ache at the base of the skull, the one that starts in the neck and climbs. These are muscular and nervous-system headaches, and a session that gets the whole system to stand down tends to take them with it.
Stress headaches, the Friday ones, the after-the-difficult-call ones. Same category.
Migraines are different. Reiki doesn't stop a migraine. What some migraine sufferers tell me is that regular sessions seem to lengthen the gaps between them, and that a session during the prodrome — the hours before, when you know one is coming — sometimes softens what follows. I report that as what I hear, not as a promise. Migraines need a doctor, and I'll say that before we book.
Why the neck and jaw matter
Most people who come to me for headaches don't realise where they're holding. I'll rest a hand on the jaw and feel it release five minutes later, and they'll say they didn't know it was clenched. Same with the shoulders. The headache is the last link in a chain that starts lower, and a session works the whole chain without anyone having to think about it.
What one client noticed
A woman who'd had headaches for years — the tension kind, most weeks — came to me for something else entirely, and mentioned the headaches almost as an aside. After three sessions she said she'd realised she hadn't had one in a fortnight. She hadn't done anything else differently. I don't take credit for the headaches stopping; I think her shoulders came down and the headaches lost their starting point.
What a session for headaches looks like
The same as any session — 45 minutes, fully clothed, hands resting lightly on or above the body from the head down — but I stay longer at the head, the jaw, the neck and the shoulders. If you have a headache during the session, it often eases as the tension does. If you're headache-free, the session works on the ground the next one would grow in.
One session tells you whether your headaches are the kind that respond. Four over a month — The Renewal — is where people say the frequency changes.
Where the doctor comes in
New headaches, headaches that wake you, headaches with vision changes, the worst headache of your life: doctor, today, not Reiki. Migraines that are new or changing: neurologist. Anything you're taking medication for: keep taking it. This is a complementary practice; it sits alongside that care and doesn't replace a single tablet of it.
What to track
If you're deciding whether this is working, don't track "did I have a headache." Track three things over a month: how many days had one, how long each lasted, and whether you reached for painkillers less. Those are the markers people report shifting, and they shift unevenly — a good fortnight, then a bad week, then better. The trend matters, not the day.
FAQ
Can Reiki help with headaches? It helps with the tension a lot of headaches ride on — jaw, neck, shoulders. People report tension headaches arriving less often and passing faster. It isn't a treatment and doesn't replace a doctor.
Does Reiki work for migraines? It doesn't stop a migraine. Some people report longer gaps between them with regular sessions, and a softer episode after a session in the hours before one. Migraines need a doctor first.
How many Reiki sessions for headaches? One shows whether yours are the responsive kind. Four over a month is where people typically notice frequency changing.
If your headaches are the tension kind
Message me on WhatsApp and tell me where they start — forehead, neck, behind the eyes. I'll tell you whether it sounds like something a session addresses. The Renewal is four sessions, €640; a single is €180.