What actually happens in a Reiki session?
Answered by Vanessa Chugani · Updated August 2026
In person in Canggu, you lie down fully clothed while Vanessa rests her hands lightly on or near your body through a series of positions, mostly in silence. Distance sessions follow the same structure without her present. Either way it's rest, not treatment: no diagnosis, no promises about mechanism, nothing manipulated the way a massage would.
A Reiki session with Vanessa is quieter than people expect, and less eventful than the word "healing" might suggest. You keep your clothes on throughout. In Canggu, you lie down, or sit if lying down isn't comfortable, while she rests her hands lightly on or just above different parts of your body, moving through a sequence of positions. There's usually a short conversation first about what's brought you in, though you don't need a prepared story. There's no pressure, no stretching, no working of muscle. If you're coming from a massage background, expect almost nothing to happen physically: it's stillness, not manipulation.
In person, in Canggu
One to one sessions are EUR 188. The room is quiet, the pace is unhurried, and most of the time passes in silence. Vanessa won't ask you to narrate your feelings throughout, and she won't hand you a diagnosis at the end. This is treated as rest and support, not a treatment plan, and she'll say so plainly if it comes up.
Distance sessions
A distance session is EUR 138 and follows the same underlying practice without her being physically present: you agree a time, settle somewhere quiet, and she works from wherever she is. She won't give you an account of how this functions at a distance beyond describing what the practice involves; she doesn't claim a mechanism for in-person sessions either. For the fuller version, see what distance healing actually is.
Packages and pregnancy
Both formats can be booked as packages: three sessions for EUR 388, or five for EUR 588, usable in person or at a distance, in any combination. Pregnancy Reiki is also offered, adapted to whichever trimester you're in; see Pregnancy Reiki for specifics.
What it won't do
This is worth being straight about. A session won't diagnose anything, won't treat or cure a medical condition, and isn't a substitute for seeing a doctor. Vanessa won't tell you your chakras are blocked as though that were established fact: the chakra system used in Reiki is a useful, fairly modern vocabulary attached to the practice in the 1980s, not an ancient diagnostic system, and she'll say so if it comes up.
- No crystals: they aren't part of Usui Reiki Ryoho, and none are used in her sessions.
- No massage-style touch: nothing is pressed, pulled, or worked on.
- No confident account afterward of exactly what moved or shifted energetically.
If what you want is a session that feels like a massage, or one that ends with a firm explanation of the energy involved, this isn't that. It's time spent being left alone to rest, offered by someone who would rather you know what you're booking than oversell it. For how the two compare directly, see Reiki compared with massage.
Related questions
Do I have to undress for a session?
No. You stay fully clothed throughout, whether you're lying down or sitting up. Reiki as Vanessa practises it involves light touch resting on or just above the body, nothing that requires removing clothing, and no massage-style manipulation of muscle or joint, so there's nothing to prepare beyond wearing something comfortable.
How does a distance session actually work compared to coming in person?
You agree a time, find somewhere quiet, and Vanessa works from wherever she is; there's no video call during the session itself. It costs EUR 138 rather than the EUR 188 in-person rate. She doesn't offer an explanation of the mechanism, only a description of the practice.
Will a session diagnose what's wrong with me?
No. Vanessa doesn't diagnose conditions, and a Reiki session isn't a substitute for medical care or medication. She treats it as rest and support, and will say plainly if what you're dealing with sounds like it needs a doctor rather than a session, or needs both.