Usui Shiki Ryoho or a branded modern Reiki style: which one fits you?
By Vanessa Chugani · Updated August 2026
Usui Shiki Ryoho suits someone who wants one documented lineage, taught live by a single teacher, unchanged since Takata brought it west. A branded modern style suits someone chasing a specific specialty a particular school offers, or continuing training they already started elsewhere in that style. Neither is more real Reiki than the other.
Reiki hasn't stayed one fixed thing. Usui Shiki Ryoho is the line Hawayo Takata brought west after training with Chujiro Hayashi, who trained with Mikao Usui in Tokyo in the 1920s. It's the only lineage Vanessa claims, and the only one she teaches. Since the 1980s, other teachers have built on that base: adding symbols, folding in other tools, sometimes teaching an entire level online and self-paced with a certificate at the end instead of a live attunement. That's not a flaw in those styles, and it doesn't make Usui Shiki Ryoho the 'true' one either. What actually differs is the lineage, the format, and who's standing in front of you teaching it.
| traditional Usui Shiki Ryoho | branded modern Reiki styles | |
|---|---|---|
| Where it comes from | One documented line: Usui to Hayashi to Takata to Vanessa. Nothing added, nothing swapped out since. | Often built later by other teachers, sometimes decades after Usui, adding new symbols or material. |
| How it's taught | Live only, in Canggu or live online, groups of six or fewer, often one to one. | Varies by school. Some teachers work live, others sell a recorded course with a certificate at the end. |
| What's included | Levels 1 through Master Teacher: the manual, the attunement, and support afterwards. | Depends on the school: extra symbols, a specialty focus, sometimes a different framework entirely. |
| Extras like crystals | Not part of it. Vanessa doesn't use crystals in her training. | Some branded styles fold crystals, cards or other tools into the system itself. |
| Who's teaching it | Vanessa: one teacher, one lineage, taught in English and German. | Whoever trained in that style. Depth and quality vary from teacher to teacher. |
| Cost | EUR 488 per level, the same price in person or live online. | Varies by teacher and school. Not something we can put a figure on here. |
Which one suits you
Usui Shiki Ryoho suits someone who wants a single, traceable lineage and a teacher they can sit in front of, in Canggu or live online, without anything added since Takata brought it west. It suits someone who wants the original shape of the practice, taught slowly, in small groups or one to one. A branded modern style is the right call if you're already trained in one elsewhere and want to keep building in that same line, or if you're after a specific specialty, like a style built around animals or a particular symbol set, that Usui Shiki Ryoho training doesn't cover. It also suits someone who wants a self-paced, recorded course, which Vanessa doesn't offer. Either way, what you're choosing underneath is rest and support for a nervous system that's been running hot for a long time.
Related questions
Is one style of Reiki stronger or more effective than another?
No research compares one branded style against another, or against Usui Shiki Ryoho specifically. The reviews that exist, like a 2022 review of fourteen trials and a 2025 review of eleven trials, look at Reiki broadly, not at any particular style.
Can I switch from a branded style to Usui Shiki Ryoho later, or the other way round?
Yes. Training is organised by level, not by brand, so moving between styles usually means starting again at Level 1 with a new teacher and a different lineage attached to it. Nothing carries over automatically, whichever direction you happen to be moving.
Does Usui Shiki Ryoho include newer additions like extra symbols or specialty branches?
No. Vanessa teaches Usui Shiki Ryoho only, the line she was trained in, and doesn't claim any other lineage. If a specialty branch or an added symbol set is what you're after, that sits with a teacher of that particular branded style, not with her.