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Reiki is a form of healing developed by a Japanese monk named Mikao Usui during the early 1900's and brought to the West by Mrs. Hawayo Takata, a Hawaiian of Japanese descent.  The Reiki practitioner opens himself up to the Divine Energy through his crown chakra and channels it through his body and out his hands into the recipient.  By helping restore the recipients energy level to normal it allows their body to begin the healing process, much as air, water, and food are also necessary for this process.

Reiki is used as a name for both the system and the energy which is emitted through the hands.  Rei is Japanese for spiritual or sacred and ki is the Japanese word for energy (equivalent to the Chinese word Chi). 

The ability to emit Reiki is passed on from person to person via what is called an attunement.  Once a person receives an attunement they are instantly able to begin transmitting Reiki energy simply by intention.  Those practitioners who have reached the level in which they can pass on an attunement are called Reiki Masters.  (Mrs. Takata trained only twelve others to the Master level before her death, for which she charged $10,000 each.  In the roughly twenty years since her death there has been a sort of revolution by those who felt that Reiki was a gift from God that should be available to all, and so it is relatively easy now to find someone willing to pass on an attunement for free.) 

The main difference between Reiki and Pranic Healing is that PH utilizes all the different energies as needed for specific ailments (this would include the earth energies, solar energies, and Divine energies) whereas Reiki only utilizes the Divine energy.  This energy is drawn into the healer's body through the Crown chakra.  The other difference is that a primary focus of Pranic Healing is to first remove all stale/negative energy before infusing new energy.

A typical Reiki session lasts from 30 to 60 minutes, and consists of the client either lying on a massage table or sitting in a chair.  The Reiki energy can be transmitted from healer to client through clothes and without the need for touch.  However, during long sessions it would be extremely tiring for the healer to hold their hands above the client's body for such a long time so it is common for the hands to rest on the client.  There are certain traditional areas which are taught as where the hands should be placed, and many of these are in the general areas of the chakras. 

Depending on the nature of the client's ailment there might be complete relief from pain by the end of the session.  However, in general I have found that the usual result is a feeling of deep relaxation along with some pain reduction.  The next day the client commonly reports that they had their first really good night's sleep in a while and most if not all of their pain is gone.

Note:  While a complete session can last up to an hour, more often I am in a situation at work or out in public in which a friend needs immediate relief of a specific problem.  At least twice I have spent less than five minutes working on a chronically  painful hand (probably arthritis) in which both persons reported complete pain relief which has lasted for months.  In another instance a hospital patient of mine reported that he had severe carpal tunnel syndrome which had resulted in complete loss of feeling in his hand.  He had recently undergone surgery in which the surgeon had found the damage to the nerve was too extensive and nothing could be done.  After less than two minutes of Reiki treatment on the hand the patient was amazed to feel a tingling sensation in his hand, and by the time he left reported being able to feel something in his fingertips when he tapped them on something. 

Although I am using the term "healer" here to refer to myself, I do so merely to avoid confusion.  In almost all books regarding energy healing it is stressed that one person cannot "heal" another.  What occurs is that the energy practitioner helps the energy state of the client return to a more normal state in a way that they can now heal themselves.  So the term "healer" should really apply to the client.  In practice I find that most clients would be more than a bit confused if I kept referring to them as a Healer.

Some websites to learn more about Reiki:

http://www.reiki.org/

http://www.reikialliance.org/eng_whatis.html

http://reiki.7gen.com/attune.htm