An online Reiki certificate or in-person training with one teacher: which one suits you?
By Vanessa Chugani · Updated October 2026
Pick the online certificate only if you already know the basics and just want the piece of paper quickly. Pick training with Vanessa in person if you want a live attunement from a teacher who answers your questions as you go and keeps supporting you once the course ends.
Reiki certification online usually means a set of videos and a manual to read at your own pace, plus an attunement you give yourself by following instructions on screen. It is quick and it is often cheap. Training with the same teacher in person works differently. Vanessa teaches small groups, often no more than six people and sometimes one to one, in Canggu. The attunement happens in the room, with her, not through a screen. You learn the symbols from Level 1, not held back until later, and you can ask a question the moment it comes up rather than emailing it into silence. Both end with a certificate. What happens before that certificate is where the two genuinely part ways.
| Reiki training online certification | In-person Usui Shiki Ryoho training with the same teacher | |
|---|---|---|
| The attunement | You give it to yourself, following a recorded or written instruction, alone. | Vanessa gives it to you in person, in the room, the traditional way. |
| Group size | No group. You work through the material on your own, usually with no live contact. | Up to six people, often fewer, sometimes one to one, with her present throughout. |
| The symbols | Shown on a page or a video, with no one to check you have them right. | Taught from Level 1 onward, explained in person, with a chance to ask about them. |
| Schedule | Start whenever, finish whenever, entirely at your own pace. | No fixed calendar; Vanessa arranges the dates around you and teaches it live. |
| Who is teaching you | Varies by provider. Experience and lineage are not always stated clearly. | Vanessa Chugani, a Reiki Master Teacher since 2019, practising Usui Shiki Ryoho since 2006. |
| What you get afterwards | A certificate and a manual, with support depending on the provider. | The manual, the attunement, ongoing support, and a fixed price of EUR 488 per level, in person or live online. |
Which one suits you
An online certificate suits someone who already has some grounding in Reiki and wants the credential mainly for their own records, and who feels comfortable giving themselves an attunement from instructions on a screen. It is the cheaper, faster route, and that is a fair reason to choose it. In-person training suits someone starting from nothing, or planning to use Reiki with other people, perhaps as a second career after years in something else. If you are retraining in your forties or fifties and want a real person checking your hand positions and answering questions as they come up, that is exactly what in-person training with Vanessa is for. If Bali is not possible, she also teaches the same course live online, at the same price. Either way, Reiki stays what it has always been here: rest and support for a nervous system that has been running hot for a long time.
Related questions
Can I start with the online certificate and do in-person training later?
That depends on what the online course actually covered and how it was taught. Since levels build on each other and the symbols start at Level 1, the honest way to find out is to ask Vanessa directly what she would want to check before moving you into a later level.
Is live online training with Vanessa as good as being in Canggu in person?
Both are taught live, by her, for the same price per level, with the same manual and attunement. The real difference is simply whether she is in the room with you or on a screen; some people want to be in Bali for the trip itself, others just want the training.
Does an online certificate actually teach Usui Shiki Ryoho?
That depends entirely on the provider. Usui Shiki Ryoho is a specific lineage traced through Takata, Hayashi and Usui; ask any provider, online or in person, which lineage they teach and how they were trained in it before you commit.