Alternative healers join forces to work together

Hamburg — Merry-Go-Round Calico Rose Cafe has a new aspect to its business and held a wellness workshop on April 10. The shop has now converted an upstairs room into what the owners are calling a “wellness area.” There, three Vernon residents, Marie Presti, Monica Wortman and Beth Nolan bring their various practices, offering many types of massage, reiki sessions, yoga and angel card readings. Nolan has been administering therapeutic massage for 25 years. She is also certified in Shiatsu massage and deep tissue massage and other treatments aimed at helping those who suffer from allergies, for example. She also practices and teaches yoga. Presti and Wortman are both reiki practitioners. Reieki is an ancient Japanese healing practice that is administered by a light touch therapy or “laying of hands.” “Modern medicine is slowly shifting to a medical and spiritual process of healing,” Presti said. She is also a phlebotomist at Newton Memorial Hospital, and noted that she will be conducting reiki workshops at the hospital. In addition to human reiki, Wortman also practices pet reiki. The calming energy of reiki can settle pet behavioral problems and offers help for animal digestion problems, she said. Wortman also offers angel card readings which she describes as a light, fun way to create a clear understanding of one’s past, present and future.