Reiki or journaling: which one suits how you process things?
By Vanessa Chugani · Updated September 2026
Journaling suits someone who processes best by working things out in words, on their own time, for free. A Reiki session suits someone whose body is holding the stress rather than their thoughts, who wants an hour where someone else does the settling. Many people use both.
A journaling practice and a Reiki session solve a similar problem from opposite directions. Journaling asks you to sit with a pen and get whatever is loud in your head onto a page, on your own, whenever you need it. A Reiki session asks you to lie down for an hour in Canggu, or join by distance, and let someone else work with your nervous system while you do nothing at all. One costs nothing but your attention. The other costs money and an hour you have set aside. The real question is not which is more effective. It is which kind of processing your particular week is asking for.
| A Reiki session | A journaling practice | |
|---|---|---|
| What happens | You lie down, fully clothed, for about an hour while Vanessa works with your nervous system, in person in Canggu or by distance. | You sit with a notebook and write, at whatever length and pace suits you, wherever you happen to be. |
| Who does the work | Vanessa holds the space for the hour. You are not asked to do anything except be there and let it happen. | You do all of it yourself. No one reads what you write unless you choose to show them. |
| Cost | EUR 188 in person, EUR 138 by distance. A three session package is EUR 388, five sessions EUR 588. | A notebook and a pen. Free apps work just as well if typing suits you better. |
| What it asks of you | An hour set aside, and a willingness to lie still and let something else do the work. | Honesty with yourself, and the discipline to keep going on the days it feels pointless. |
| Best suited to | A nervous system running hot: wired at 2am, carrying more than you can put down, a body that will not settle. | A mind that is loud with one specific problem you need to think through in your own words. |
| A record over time | No written record. What shifts happens in the body and tends to settle quietly, without a paper trail. | Every page stays. Reread last month and you can see exactly how your thinking moved. |
Which one suits you
Reiki suits someone whose stress has moved into the body: the jaw that will not unclench, the sleep that will not come, the sense of carrying too much to name. It works best when you want an hour where you are not the one doing the work, in person in Canggu or from wherever you are by distance. Journaling suits someone with a specific, nameable problem who thinks best on paper: a decision to make, a conversation to untangle, a pattern to see written down before it repeats again. If you are choosing between a partner and staying, or working out why the same argument keeps happening, a notebook and twenty honest minutes will get you further than an hour on a treatment table. Reiki is not for solving a problem in words. It is for a nervous system that has been running hot for longer than it should, and needs somewhere to put that down.
Related questions
Can I do both journaling and Reiki?
Yes, and many people do. A session works with the body while journaling works with the thinking, so they cover different ground rather than competing. Some people journal before a session to notice what they are carrying, then let the hour work with whatever came up.
Is a Reiki session just quiet reflection, like journaling on a table?
No. Reiki is not a form of reflection or thinking something through, and you are not asked to think, write or work anything out during a session. It is rest and support for a nervous system that has been carrying too much, not a mental exercise you complete.
Which one is cheaper?
Journaling costs nothing but a notebook and some time. A Reiki session is EUR 188 in person or EUR 138 by distance, with packages from EUR 388 for those who want several. If cost alone is the deciding factor, journaling is the obvious place to start.