After a scare with pharmaceutical medicines that almost killed her, Nancy Confalone says she began to take an interest in herbs and other natural methods of healing.

Now a holistic health practitioner for two years, Confalone says that because of the undesirable side effects and general loathing of taking pills, she practises natural healing.

Specifically, Confalone practises reflexology, which uses nerve endings in the feet (and sometimes the hands) to relax and relieve stress as well as reiki, a form of energy healing that uses chakras (nerve endings throughout the body) to direct energy to those areas to assist the body in healing. Both treatments are often performed using aromatherapy blends to suit the patient.

Confalone says that reiki works by clearing your chakras to assist the natural flow of energy throughout your body.

“We all have natural healing powers inside ourselves; performing reiki helps the person by directing the energy into their bodies. It helps to maintain the energy balance in the body,” said Confalone.

When she began practising reiki, Confalone explained that, at first, she started to feel energy in one of her hands.

“It was weird but I could feel something. Then one night I practised reiki and I could feel something going over my body. It was an energy that felt very good,” said Confalone.

Confalone went to say that reiki and reflexology are for alleviating stress and minor problems, not major ones that may require a different form of treatment. For example, feeling the feet using reflexology treatments, a tender spot can indicate where in the body a problem may be.

“The methods aren’t intrusive. But, you’re someone who doesn’t believe they can help themselves heal, and you don’t think you have that power within yourself, then you’re probably not going to look for a reiki master,” said Confalone.

However, she says that her husband used to be a skeptic until he came to her with a headache.

“He had a really bad headache so I offered to try reiki on him. He was a skeptic until he felt his teeth chatter from the energy. Once you clear the chakras you can feel the energy flowing properly,” said Confalone.

Nancy Confalone practices out of Scent From Heaven, Natural Health Centre out of Brantford, Ontario.