The Gold Rush brought seekers to San Francisco in 1849, the Summer of Love brought a different kind of seeker in 1967, and the tech booms of the 1990s and 2010s brought yet another. What has persisted through all of these waves is the city’s willingness to take seriously the proposition that something invisible might be real and worth pursuing. San Francisco’s LGBTQ+ community, which has been experimenting with chosen-family healing practices and body-positive spirituality since the Castro became its own institution, helped establish a local wellness culture that treats the whole person as a political and spiritual subject, not merely a biological one. The fog that rolls in off the Pacific through the Golden Gate each afternoon, cooling the city to 60 degrees in July while the rest of California bakes, gives San Francisco a distinctive thermal psychology: residents live in a perpetual micro-climate that requires internal warmth to supplement what the sky withholds.
Practitioners here are unusually likely to hold dual credentials, combining Reiki Master certification with licensure in clinical social work, marriage and family therapy, acupuncture, or massage. This reflects both the Bay Area’s dense health professional workforce and the city’s long-standing integration of somatic and energetic frameworks within psychotherapy culture. The Mission District hosts practitioners operating in formats unique to the city, including outdoor treehouse-patio sessions where the Mission Bernal neighborhood’s microgarden environments become part of the healing container. Monthly community reiki clinics at reduced rates have operated in San Francisco for over a decade, reflecting the city’s commitment to keeping its most innovative practices accessible despite housing costs that make affordability a constant institutional challenge. Earth-centered reiki, which integrates nature-based ritual with traditional Usui practice, has found particular expression here among practitioners who see ecological care and bodily care as continuous.
1. SF Reiki Center
Founded: 2011
Address: 3150 18th St, Suite 243, San Francisco, CA 94110
Phone: (415) 800-8790
Website: https://www.sfreikicenter.com
Services: Reiki sessions, Reiki classes (all levels), monthly Community Reiki Clinic, Reiki and therapy combined sessions
Products: N/A
SF Reiki Center was founded by Christopher Tellez, a licensed clinical social worker and Reiki Master, making it one of San Francisco’s most credentialed reiki practices. The center offers a full range of classes from foundational Reiki I through Certified Reiki Master Teacher, and also hosts an affordable monthly community clinic. Christopher’s dual background in psychotherapy and energy healing allows him to address both emotional and energetic dimensions of a client’s wellbeing in a single session.
2. Reiki Patio
Founded: Not specified
Address: Mission Bernal neighborhood, San Francisco, CA
Phone: Not listed
Website: https://www.reikipatio.com
Services: Individual reiki sessions, Reiki Master apprenticeship training, outdoor healing sessions
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Reiki Patio is a distinctive outdoor healing practice run by Laura Brunow, a second-generation healer and certified Reiki practitioner. Sessions take place in a treehouse-like outdoor studio in the Mission Bernal neighborhood, where the lush and leafy environment deepens relaxation and connection to nature. Laura completed a two-year Reiki Master apprenticeship in 2024 through Reiki Centers of America, bringing a high standard of training to her practice.
3. Rising Lotus Reiki
Founded: Not specified
Address: San Francisco Bay Area, CA (in-person and remote sessions)
Phone: Not listed
Website: https://www.risinglotusreiki.com
Services: Individual reiki sessions, remote healing sessions, Reiki Level 1 through Level 3 training, earth-centered reiki
Products: N/A
Rising Lotus Reiki offers intuitively grounded, earth-centered reiki across the Bay Area, blending traditional Usui methods with a reverence for nature and personal empowerment. The practitioner offers both in-person and remote sessions, making healing accessible to clients throughout California and beyond. Their teaching program guides students through all three levels of reiki certification, emphasizing confidence and self-healing alongside client care skills.
Frequently Asked Questions About Reiki in San Francisco
Q: How much does a reiki session cost in San Francisco?
A: Reiki sessions in San Francisco generally range from $80 to $150 for a 60 to 90 minute session, reflecting the city’s higher cost of living. Community clinics at centers like SF Reiki Center offer reduced-rate sessions, typically between $20 and $40, making reiki accessible to more residents.
Q: Does California regulate reiki practitioners?
A: California does not license reiki as a standalone healthcare profession. Practitioners may hold voluntary certifications through nationally recognized organizations such as the International Center for Reiki Training or the International Association of Reiki Professionals. Many San Francisco practitioners also hold California licenses in massage therapy, acupuncture, or mental health counseling, which are regulated separately.
Q: What should I expect during my first reiki session in San Francisco?
A: SF Reiki Center at 3150 18th Street is led by Christopher Tellez, a licensed clinical social worker and Reiki Master whose dual background means your first session may feel more like an integrative therapy appointment than a purely spiritual one — he takes a brief intake, addresses both emotional and energetic dimensions, and you remain fully clothed on a treatment table while hands are placed on or hovered above your body for 60 to 90 minutes. Reiki Patio in Mission Bernal offers outdoor sessions in a treehouse-like garden setting, a format specific to this neighborhood that makes the natural environment part of the healing container. Rising Lotus Reiki extends an earth-centered approach across the Bay Area, integrating reverence for the Sonoran fog-cooled landscape into traditional Usui methods. Most sessions close with a grounding conversation about observations and self-care steps for the following days.
Reiki Patio operates from a Mission Bernal microgarden patio, using the outdoor environment as part of the healing container — a session format genuinely specific to this neighborhood and difficult to find anywhere else in California. SF Reiki Center runs community clinics at $20 to $40 per session, which has been a consistent feature of the San Francisco reiki landscape for over a decade. Rising Lotus Reiki extends across the Bay Area with in-person and remote options, serving the same earth-centered, nature-reverent clientele that the city has supported since long before wellness became a marketing category.