A hand position from a video, or one taught in a classroom: which one suits you?
By Vanessa Chugani · Updated October 2026
A video is fine for curiosity: you copy a hand position and see how it feels, with no one checking your form. A classroom suits anyone who wants to use Reiki well, on herself or on someone else, because a teacher can see what your hands are actually doing and correct it on the spot.
Reiki hand positions travel well on video. A short reel can show you roughly where to place your hands, and plenty of people try that first. What a video cannot do is watch you do it. Usui Shiki Ryoho is taught as a full sequence of hand positions, not a single gesture lifted out of it, and a teacher can see at a glance when a hand sits too far off or presses too firmly. In a classroom of no more than six, Vanessa Chugani teaches these positions live, in Canggu or live online, and corrects them as you go. The video gives you a starting point. The classroom gives you the position itself, with the attunement built in.
| a technique learned from a trending video | a hand position taught inside a lineage classroom | |
|---|---|---|
| What happens | You watch a demonstration and copy the hand position alone, with no one checking your form. | A teacher demonstrates the position in the room, then walks round and corrects your hands directly. |
| Who is teaching you | Whoever posted the video. You usually cannot tell what training they have, if any. | Reiki practitioner since 2006, Reiki Master Teacher, teaching live in groups of six or fewer. |
| If your hands are in the wrong place | No one notices. You find out later, if at all, whether it felt right. | She notices immediately and adjusts your hands before the position sets as habit. |
| What you take home | One isolated hand position, without the sequence, the symbols, or the attunement around it. | The full sequence from Level 1, the attunement, the manual, and support afterwards. |
| Cost | Free, or whatever the platform already costs you. | EUR 488 for Level 1, the same in person or live online. |
| Best for | Curiosity, or a first look before deciding whether to learn properly. | Anyone who wants to use Reiki well, on herself or someone else. |
Which one suits you
A video suits someone who is curious and wants to feel a hand position before committing to anything. If you have seen Reiki mentioned and want to know what the fuss is about, or there is no class near you yet and you just want a sense of it, trying a position from a video is a reasonable first step. It will not teach you Usui Shiki Ryoho, and it will not correct you, but as a low-stakes taste it does its job. A classroom suits anyone who actually wants to practise this: on a tired body at the end of a long week, or on herself when she cannot settle at night. Learning the positions properly, with someone watching your hands and correcting them early, is what makes the difference between a hand resting somewhere and the position done the way it is taught. That correction only happens in the room.
Related questions
Can I learn Reiki just from watching videos?
You can copy a hand position from a video, and plenty of people do as a first step. What you cannot get that way is correction, context, or the attunement that is part of Usui Shiki Ryoho. If you want to actually learn the practice, that happens live, in a classroom, with a teacher watching your hands.
Why does hand placement matter so much?
Usui Shiki Ryoho is taught as a specific sequence, not a single gesture. Each hand position has its place in that sequence, and the attunement that comes with Level 1 training is part of that sequence too. A video shows you one position in isolation, without the rest of it.
Is it fine to practise a hand position I saw online, on myself?
Trying a hand position from a video on yourself is low risk: you are not working on anyone else, and Reiki is rest and support rather than a medical treatment. It just will not be Usui Shiki Ryoho as it is taught, because the sequence, the attunement and the correction are missing.