Reiki in Rockaway

By Dan Guarino

Once a month, a small but growing group is meeting in the calm setting of Arverne East Nature Preserve. Looking out over the natural landscape, sand, waves and sky from inside its Coastal Conservation Center’s community room, old friends meet and new ones are welcomed as they settle in for the practice of Reiki.

Trained practitioners, Rockaway residents Elsie Maio and Dana Humphrey are inviting all to experience its benefits.

Reiki, the International Center for Reiki notes, is “a Japanese technique for stress reduction and relaxation that also promotes healing.”

Administered “by ‘laying on hands,’ (it) is based on the idea that an unseen ‘life force energy’ flows through us and is what causes us to be alive. If one’s ‘life force energy’ is low, then we are more likely to get sick or feel stress, and if it is high, we are more capable of being happy and healthy.”

Noting Reiki as a “complementary or alternative health approach,” a recent Healthline.org article cited several studies which found its benefits may include “reduction of pain and fatigue levels, depression, anxiety, and stress relief, improved sleep quality, pre-surgery anxiety, fear and pain relief, emotional healing and blood pressure management.”

After practicing in West Village and Chelsea Reiki circles as the pandemic began to lift, Maio recalls, “It occurred to me that our own Rockaway community would enjoy it too. So I reached out to Dana, the ‘Mistress of Community Fun and Creativity,’ to see if she wanted to create a regular circle for our neighbors here.”

When her friend of eight years reached out about collaborating on Reiki gatherings, here, just a seashell’s throw from Rockaway’s shore, Humphrey says, “I immediately felt a strong ‘yes,’ and we started to put some dates on the calendar and call in our other Reiki and healing minded friends in the community.” These included Reiki master Jae Schapp, Katrin Haibi, Reiki practitioner and astrologer, and Rosanna DiTaranto who “works with various healing modalities.”

About those who attend, she says, “Each of our neighbors bring so much to the circle with their good intentions and reverence for our unique coastal community and the inspiration of the sea,” as shared recently by participants Onel Mulet and Breezy resident Hapeau, who has been part of many Rockaway events in explaining and ceremonially blowing his conch shell.

Maio says, “Dana, Jae Schapp and I had run Reiki Circles for our Rockaway neighbors a couple of other times during the pandemic, and thought now that it was easier for folks to gather, this would be a good time to start a regularly scheduled event.”

Humphrey, who received her Reiki certificate, first degree, in 2019, found practitioner Judith Spagnola was offering Reiki at Hot Yoga Rockaway Beach. Soon participating in Spagnola’s Level 2 Reiki course, she is now interested pursuing Level 3 and Reiki Master training.

Maio earned her first-degree certificate in NYC in 2012. Last year, she says, she “studied Distance Reiki with Laksmi Scalise and received that certification from Integral Yoga Institute in the West Village. I am registered for the Reiki III and Masters training there this Fall.”

Originally, her friend Carole Wilbourn recommended learning it “because my dad had become bedridden then and could not tolerate physical massage. Reiki treatments can be given with a very light touch, or at a distance. It was beneficial for him.”

For herself, Maio notes, through its practice, “My mind and body become full of a sense of wellbeing.” Her Reiki clients “have reported better sleep patterns, certain chronic aches lessen, and some report their animals calm down or their appetites and other behaviors improve.”

Humphrey adds, “The healing energy of Reiki is wonderful. I believe that the way it works is I open myself, and become…a channel and allow the energy to come through me. I am not ‘doing’ anything, per se. So, I receive the beautiful energy as it transmits through me. Sometimes it can feel warm or hot in areas that are wanting a bit more support.”

As the two-hour sessions begin at the Nature Preserve’s community room at 190 Beach 44th Street, Humphrey says, “We invite people in, anyone can write their intention and place it on the altar. We take a seat and everyone is invited to share their voice in the circle with their name. We usually receive a blessing from someone in the group and then move into a silent drumming meditation, followed by Reiki. (Then) the Reiki practitioners get up and provide about 10 minutes of Reiki at a time to a few people.” This is optional, and Reiki is given only with consent. “We enjoy ending in silence. Sometimes people feel called to walk out to the ocean to dip their toes or ground with the sand.”

Maio says, “My intention is to provide an experience of stillness. A ‘sanctuary’ from the nonstop stimulation of our online, all-the-time world. That’s why we invite people to enter and exit in silence. It’s an immersion in inner peace, a pause to hear your inner wisdom. Nature is the infinite refresher and the Bird Sanctuary is the perfect reflection of that. Hence the name ‘Sunday Sanctuary.’”

Participants seemed notably deeply physically relaxed and mentally refreshed at the most recent session. “I was very curious to experience, to see, what the whole Reiki session was about,” one Rockawayite shared. “I had never been to one before.

“The atmosphere was a very soothing, a relaxing environment. Afterwards, I felt very relaxed, and maybe felt a little more energy. Yes, I would go back.”

Next session is Sunday April 6, at 11:30 a.m. “They are donation based,” Humphrey says. People can register online by entering “Eventbrite.com Sunday Sanctuary April 6 2025” into their browser, “or just show up. No one will be turned away due to lack of funds. We do close the container, so it is important” to come early.

“Come enjoy the healing benefits of Reiki! Meet in community,” Humphrey invites, “enjoy time to meditate and go within and receive some beautiful healing energy. If you have been curious, it is something to experience.”

“Ditto,” Maio adds!