When doing Reiki, I feel more NRG flow when my hands R close to my body, not touching

I did Qigong for about 3.5 months before I started doing Reiki (about 2 weeks ago). A big part of the Qigong I do involves doing a standing meditation in which your hands are between 1 and 2 feet away from your body (at 4 different positions), and the energy flow is projected from the hands, through the air, and into the body. I can physically feel the energy flow in my hands, and in parts of my body (mainly the skin) where it's flowing to. When doing Reiki, and placing my hands on my body, sometimes I feel the flow and effects of the energy, and sometimes not, but it's never as strong of a feeling as when I have them near but not touching (in Reiki or Qigong). So I'm wondering, have I conditioned my body and mind to more efficiently and powerfully send energy into my body with the non-contact method, or is this just an illusion? I've read that it's better when doing Reiki to have your hands in contact with the body.

Reiki flows in cycles (gets strong then less). That might be what you are experiencing. You can do reiki without touching, and when you're a newbe, it's sometimes easier to feel the energy if there is a bit of distance.

Give it a bit more time, it takes about 30 days for reiki to "settle" in, I've been told. When you get attuned to reiki II and you get the symbols, you can use the cho ku rei to "ramp" the energy up.

One must remember that whatever feeling is felt is influenced by other physical sensations such as pressure, heat, airflow, and of course the mind, both the practitioner's and the client's.

In a very real way the client is often a 'distraction' and I suspect that this is why the sensation are not felt as much with hands on, more with hands off and even more doing Qigong.

Thanks both of you but I'm just talking about self-Reiki, and no, it's not because it's flowing in cycles. What I feel just depends on whether my hands are on my body or not.

I think it's simply a matter that you are used to feeling more 'off' the body than 'on'. When your hands are 'off', they are working in the aura, which requires a different level of awareness. Also, when self-treating, often there is little or no feeling of energy. I believe this is due to our own limiting beliefs or blocks we put up and I've found most people have similar difficulties in feeling it physically.

Thanks, yea that's what I was thinking.