Reiki or breathwork: which one suits you?
By Vanessa Chugani · Updated August 2026
Breathwork suits you if you want a quick, active practice you can do yourself, anywhere, the moment stress hits. Reiki suits you if you want to lie down, do nothing, and let someone else hold the space while your body settles on its own time. Many people use both.
Breathwork and Reiki both work with the nervous system, but they ask something different of you. Breathwork is active. You are doing something: a specific pattern of inhales and exhales, deliberately, usually led at first and then on your own. It travels well. You can use it at your desk, before a flight, in the middle of a hard conversation. Reiki is receptive. You lie down and someone else holds a still, quiet space while your body does what it does when nothing is asked of it. One builds a skill you carry with you. The other is an hour where nothing is required of you at all.
| Reiki | breathwork | |
|---|---|---|
| What happens | You lie down, fully clothed, while she rests her hands lightly on or near your body. You do nothing. | You sit or lie down and follow a set breathing pattern, usually guided, working the breath deliberately. |
| How much you do | Nothing. It is entirely receptive; you simply lie there. | Everything. You are actively controlling your breath the whole time. |
| Where you can do it | In Canggu in person, or by distance session wherever you are. | Almost anywhere once you know a pattern: at home, at your desk, before you speak. |
| How soon you feel it | Often during the session itself, sometimes only once you're back in daily life. | Can shift things within minutes, which is why people reach for it in the moment. |
| Learning it yourself | Reiki training is EUR 488 per level, Level 1 to Master Teacher, taught live in Canggu or online. | Plenty of teachers offer it; we can't quote a price for something outside our own practice. |
| Who it suits | Someone who wants to be looked after and stop doing, for an hour. | Someone who wants a tool they control themselves, on the spot, under pressure. |
Which one suits you
If you want something you can reach for yourself, in the moment, with no one else involved, breathwork is the better call. Somebody in the middle of a panic spiral on a plane, or needing to steady themselves in the two minutes before a hard meeting, needs breathwork, not Reiki: a technique they can run themselves, right then, without lying down or booking a session. Reiki suits a different moment. It's for when you've been running on empty for weeks or months, and what you need isn't another thing to do, it's somebody else doing the holding for once. People come out of a session saying they finally slept properly, or the tension in their jaw and shoulders let go, or they felt steadier than they had in ages. If you're exhausted, wired, grieving or overwhelmed and can't remember the last time nobody needed anything from you, that's what Reiki is for.
Related questions
Can I do breathwork and Reiki together?
Yes. Some people use a breathwork practice daily to manage day-to-day stress and come in for Reiki every so often when they need to properly stop and be looked after. They work well side by side because one is something you do and the other is something that is done for you.
What if breathwork makes me feel worse, not calmer?
It happens. Some people find deliberate breath control brings up more than it settles, especially if they are very anxious or exhausted to begin with. If that's you, Reiki might suit you better: there's nothing to do and nothing to control, just space to rest while someone else holds it.
Do I need to be flexible or fit for either one?
No. Reiki is done lying down, fully clothed, and asks nothing physical of you at all. Breathwork varies quite a bit: some styles are gentle and seated, others are much more physically intense, so it's worth checking with whoever is leading it before you commit to a class.