The first thing worth clearing up before you book: despite how the name reads in English, this is not a practice for men. "Men Chho" is Tibetan, from sMan mChod, "medicine offering." Sessions are for anyone.
What follows is the shape of a typical session. Practitioners vary, and yours may do things in a different order or spend longer on one part than another.
Before You Arrive
Wear something loose and comfortable, because you stay fully clothed throughout and nothing is removed. Eat lightly rather than arriving very full or very hungry. If you can, leave yourself some unhurried time afterward, since people often feel slow and settled for an hour or two and would rather not go straight into a meeting.
This lineage has an explicitly Buddhist frame, and some practitioners chant or speak mantra aloud while others work silently. If that matters to you in either direction, ask when you book. It is an ordinary question and the answer should come easily.
The Opening Conversation
Most sessions begin with ten or fifteen minutes of talking. Your practitioner will ask about your health history, your sleep, your stress, and what brought you in. They may ask you to name a simple focus for the session, which could be rest, emotional release, clarity, or a sense of connection.
This is the point to mention anything physical that affects how you lie down, any medication you take, and any condition you are under care for. Nothing about Reiki interacts with medication, but a practitioner who knows what is going on can adapt your position and the length of the session.
The Medicine Buddha Opening
This is the part that distinguishes a Men Chho session from a secular Reiki session. Before any touch, the practitioner establishes a connection to Bhaisajyaguru, the Medicine Buddha, through mantra and visualization. Depending on how they were taught, you may hear this, or it may happen in silence while you settle.
You are not required to believe anything or to participate. Most practitioners will simply tell you to rest and let them do the opening. If you would like to understand what is happening as it happens, say so beforehand and most will narrate it briefly.
The Hands-On Work
You lie on your back on a padded table, usually with a blanket and a bolster under your knees. The practitioner may first pass their hands a few inches above you, noting where things feel congested or flat, then begin placing hands lightly on or just above specific areas, working from the head downward and holding each position for a few minutes.
The touch is still and light. There is no massage, no pressure and no manipulation. If you would prefer no contact at all, say so and the whole session can be done with hands held above the body, which practitioners in this lineage are trained to do anyway.
Most of the hour passes in silence. Drifting off is common and nothing is lost by it.
What You Might Feel
Reports vary widely and all of them are ordinary. Some people notice warmth, a faint tingling, or a sense of movement under the practitioner's hands. Others feel heaviness, or a lightness that is hard to describe. Some find emotion surfaces without an obvious cause, or that images and memories arrive unbidden.
Many people feel mainly calm, much as in a deep meditation, and a fair number notice nothing at all during the session but sleep better that night or find their head clearer the next day. A quiet session is not a failed one, and there is no experience you are supposed to be having.
If anything becomes uncomfortable, physically or emotionally, say so. You can ask to pause, to change position, or to stop. A practitioner worth seeing will take that without any awkwardness.
Afterward
The practitioner usually closes with a few slow sweeping movements to help you feel grounded, then gives you a minute before you sit up. Standing up too quickly after an hour of stillness can leave you lightheaded, so take it slowly.
There is usually a short debrief. Some people want to talk about what came up and others would rather not, and both are fine. Practitioners commonly suggest drinking water, resting, and keeping the rest of the day gentle. Occasionally people feel tired or tender for a day afterward, which practitioners describe as part of processing the session; if anything feels genuinely unwell rather than simply quiet, treat that as you would any other symptom and get it checked.
How Many Sessions
There is no evidence base setting a correct number, so treat any firm prescription with some caution. Practitioners commonly suggest three or four sessions to see whether the practice suits you, and some people then settle into an occasional rhythm while others come once and leave it there.
A reasonable way to decide is to notice how you feel in the day or two after the first one, and whether the Buddhist frame of the practice is something you want more of. Neither question needs research to answer. Both are things only you can judge.
