What is a Reiki attunement?
Answered by Vanessa Chugani · Updated August 2026
A Reiki attunement is the short, guided process a teacher leads at each level of training, traditionally described as opening a student's connection to Reiki so they can work with it themselves. Vanessa gives every attunement live, in person or online, never recorded. Feeling nothing during it is normal.
An attunement is the step inside Usui Reiki Ryoho where a teacher formally passes a level of practice on to a student. It happens once at each stage of training, from Level 1 through Master Teacher, and Vanessa treats it as part of that level rather than a separate add-on. You do not book an attunement by itself. It comes bundled with everything else at that level: the manual, the practice, and her support once the course ends.
What actually happens
Vanessa leads every attunement herself, either in the room in Canggu or over a video call. There is no recording played back and no automated system standing in for her: it is one person teaching another, the way she was taught in Aachen, then later in Chiang Mai and Ubud. The process is short and guided, and she talks a student through what to expect beforehand so nothing about it feels sprung on them.
What it feels like, and what that means
Reactions vary a great deal. Some students notice warmth or a change in their breathing. Plenty feel nothing distinct at all, and Vanessa is clear that this is completely normal. An attunement is not a test of how sensitive you are, and a quiet experience in the moment says nothing about how useful the training will be once you start using it. She would rather a student walk in with a plain, accurate sense of what to expect than a romantic one, because the second kind tends to end in disappointment that has nothing to do with the training itself.
Always live, always taught by her
She will not record an attunement, and she will not automate one. Groups stay small, no more than six people, and much of her teaching is one to one. Training runs either in Canggu or live online, and both formats get the same attention. There is no fixed calendar and no advertised date: she arranges each course around the student in front of her, which usually means fitting it to their time zone and their pace rather than a term schedule.
What's included, and what comes after
Every level costs EUR 488, whether you take it in person or live online, and that price already includes the manual and the attunement, plus support from Vanessa once you finish. Nothing extra is charged for the attunement itself, and nothing about the process is skipped or simplified for the earlier levels: a Level 1 attunement gets the same care as a Master Teacher one. It suits a first-time student starting Level 1 just as well as a practitioner coming back for Master Teacher training years later.
If you are still deciding whether to start, read preparing for an attunement first, and where Usui Reiki actually comes from if you want to understand the lineage a level of training actually connects you to.
Related questions
Do I need to feel something during my attunement for it to work?
No. Reactions vary widely: some students notice warmth or a change in their breathing, others feel nothing distinct at all. Vanessa is clear that a quiet experience in the moment is completely normal and says nothing about how useful the training turns out to be once you start using it.
Can an attunement be done online?
Yes. Vanessa teaches every level live online as well as in person in Canggu, at the same price, and an online attunement gets the same personal attention as one done in the room. She will not record or automate an attunement in either format.
How many attunements does the full training include?
One for each level you complete, from Level 1 through Master Teacher, and each one is guided personally by Vanessa rather than handed off to a recording or an assistant. The manual, the attunement and her support afterwards are all included in that level's EUR 488 price.