The Healing Center

The Healing Center is a place to be just as we are—with our talents and strengths, our ills and wounds—on holy ground. This sacred space is created with silence, music, intention (held not only during Gathering, but also throughout the year), confidentiality, and respect for emotional and physical boundaries.

The Center is staffed by volunteers (some professional therapists, some talented amateurs), and is a place for us to teach and learn, and to give and receive healing. This year, 14 practitioners (of 8 modalities including Reiki, Healing Touch, Rosen Method, massage, etc.) had sessions with 169 individuals. Recipients expressed gratitude for the sessions and felt release of stress and muscle tension. Sometimes sessions moved beyond this to help recipients release deeper physical and emotional pains.

To quote three of those served in the Healing Center:

Time spent in the Healing Center was a welcome reprieve from the duties and business of the Gathering. The space transformed into a caring, healing area and the volunteers were skilled and loving.

My daughter, my roommate, and I all signed up for sessions. Our time there was quiet and peaceful, and each of us felt that our individual needs were addressed and helped. The treatment . . . went beyond anything I expected. . . . The Healing Center is a wonderful addition to the Gathering experience . . . and I believe its presence . . . will open more people to the possibilities available through alternative healing modalities.

The opportunity to have healing energy work during the week helped me tremendously. I have chronic hip pain, and the energy alleviated it measurably. I was struck by the spirit of volunteerism and generosity, as evidenced by the people who shared their gifts at the Healing Center.

Under the care of the Healing Center (but in another location), the Meeting for Worship for Healing was held daily, with a total of 91 participants. Also, the Healing Center sponsored four interest groups, with a total of 25 participants.

—Jan Stansel and Jim Palmer