May 28, 2011

Reiki is a type of energy work that promotes balance of body, mind, and spirit. New York City boasts a wide variety of Reiki events. This June and July are no exception.

SPARK will offer free reiki sessions outside on June 25, 2011 during Settlement Health’s El Barrio Prevention Festival. The outdoor event will take place on East 106th Street between 2nd and 3rd Avenues from 11:00am to 4:00pm. This will be SPARK’s sixth year providing free services at the event. Also available will be blood pressure screenings, breast exams, diabetes screenings. For more information, contact Settlement Health at (212)360-2600.

To reach the El Barrio Festival by subway, take the #6 to 103rd Street Station, and by bus take the M1 or M3 to 106th Street & 5th Avenue, M102 to 106th Street & Lexington Avenue, M106 to 106th Street & 3rd Avenue.

If you are interested in learning reiki in Manhattan’s Chinatown, SPARK’s Reiki Intermediate (Level II) workshop in Chinatown in June has been completely filled, but during the summer, SPARK will be providing its third Reiki Beginner (Level I) workshop for twelve hours spread over the months of July and August. The cost will be donation only and participants will develop awareness of subtle sensations within the body, learn the importance of self-care and quieting the mind, and leave the workshop capable of treating themselves and others. To register, call (917) 974-6995 or write info@sparkenergy.org.

For those interested in learning reiki at a hospital, the Bendheim Integrative Medicine Center at Memorial Sloan Kettering is once again holding a Reiki (Light Touch) for Beginners class on Friday, July 15, 2011 from 9:30 AM to 6:30 PM. The cost is $200, and all participants must receive a full-body reiki treatment prior to class with a reiki practitioner who is actively involved in clinical practice. To register or to receive further information, call (646)888-0845. The Center is located at 1429 First Avenue or the northwest corner of 74th Street.

Dave Gorczynski is president of SPARK, a non-profit organization that has provided free energy work sessions and workshops across New York City since 2002. He writes a regular column about energy work and meditation for the Compact News in New York City's Chinatown. E-mail him at dave@sparkenergy.org.