If you’ve come for a treatment with me, you’ll know that Reiki Surry Hills operates from a room in our apartment, where I live with my husband and two cats!
Some people are surprised. They think that the treatment will be in a clinic or office, perhaps shared with other practitioners.
But I don’t think there are many therapists that can afford to have their own offices and therapy spaces. Some practices like chiropractry, osteopathy and acupuncture would be busy enough to run as full-time businesses from a clinic. I know a lot of masseurs work from home, and some from clinics and studios. For reiki, I think there are a few shared spaces in Sydney where you can find reiki practitioners on certain days, but I’m not sure that anyone can afford to rent a clinic from which to operate on a full-time basis.
A reiki treatment from my home has its advantages and disadvantages. I know that occasionally, clients don’t feel comfortable coming to a stranger’s home, and that of a male practitioner. I hope that through my reviews, and the personal voice of my website, that clients will be able to feel that they know me enough to decide whether to come for a treatment.
As this is my home, in a central part of Sydney, there can sometimes be noise from construction in the neighbourhood (there has been a lot over the last years in Surry Hills), and noise from garbage and recycling trucks, and from traffic. There is a small park nearby which at certain times of days you can hear dogs playing. During the summer months, at the end of a day, our neighbours downstairs sometimes like to chat with each other or have drinks.
Also, I might need to answer the door for deliveries if my husband isn’t home, or you might hear the washing machine when you come in, or the sounds of my husband giving counselling sessions by Zoom, or other sounds of daily activity. One client was disappointed that I couldn’t replicate the experience of her receiving a reiki treatment at a spa in Bali, in a perfectly quiet and dark room. Also, because there are stairs to the apartment, there have been one or two clients that I have not been able to accommodate because a lack of accessibility in the building.
On the other hand, most of the time, the room is very quiet, and clients don’t have problems relaxing, even if there is some background noise. It is a useful challenge, I think, to have a treatment and know you can benefit from one that is a part of your regular life rather than only having a treatment while on holidays or at a spa or clinic. During a particularly noisy treatment once, one client felt that the construction actually felt like it was chipping away at things she didn’t need in her life. And another client said she liked hearing a bit of noise on the street from the neighbours, because it felt like real life, like a community.
Giving treatments from home means that I don’t have to cover the expenses of renting a studio in my charges, which I’ve been told are very reasonable. I also think that there’s a pretty great vibration in the room, from giving over 1,600 treatments. And, you might get to meet my cats, which most clients think is a bonus! Home sweet home: if you come for a treatment, I will welcome you here.