Healing through energy

Jenny Wagner has always sought to help people.

For more than two decades, Wagner saw to that purpose by working as a licensed clinical professional counselor and a certified alcohol and drug counselor.

But while she considered her work with clients important, she kept encountering the same roadblock time and time again.

“I was finding clients had so much trauma that their bodies were unsettled,” Wagner said. “They didn’t understand how to self-soothe, how to get back on track. I started looking into alternative therapies besides medication and talk therapy. I started down that road to help them.”

Wagner scoured health journals, reading everything she could about alternative practices such as energy healing, which can take on several different modalities, from reiki—healing touch meant to guide the flow of healthy energy through the body and promote inner harmony—to work with stones and crystals, among others.

Her research began in 2010. Today she is the owner and operator of Serenity Forest. Based in Elgin and surrounded by woodlands, the property is a space where people can come for holistic medicine therapies. Wagner also regularly hosts retreats and workshops for individuals as well as those in the therapeutic community who wish to learn more about alternative healing practices so that they may incorporate it into their own work.

“For 20 years, I worked in a healthcare setting, and I wanted to go out on my own and do things differently,” said Wagner of the environment she’s created. “I wanted to make sure Serenity Forest wasn’t a cold establishment. It was important for me to give it a vibe.”

Many times, clients seek Wagner out for energy healing to help them move past a trauma; to become, in simple terms, “unstuck.” Often unresolved emotional trauma can manifest as chronic pain, she added.

“I get people who tell me, ‘I’ve been looking for something like this for a really long time’ and then others who tell me that they’ve tried everything else, and they just want to feel better,” she said.

An energy healing session, which typically lasts about an hour to 90 minutes, starts with a consultation.

“I tell people to give themselves an extra 30 minutes at the beginning, during which I’ll ask what brought them here and what they’re hoping to get out of the session,” Wagner said.

During a session, a client will lie down on a massage table, eyes closed, as Wagner employs reiki. Clients may also opt for intuitive messaging.

“I connect with my guides,” said Wagner, adding that the messages she receives help clients to understand what is holding them back from the lives they wish to live.

Sessions can also include stone medicine, in which Wagner uses specific stones—placed on or near a client’s body depending on everyone’s needs and comfort level—for a variety of purposes.

“I use a lot of lithium quartz as it amplifies good feelings,” she said. The same can be said of the golden healer quartz, so dubbed because of its golden hue.

Smoky quartz is known to pull energy out of the body. This can be particularly useful for people who identify as empaths and have a difficult time separating their own emotions from those around them, Wagner added.

Though the vibrational fields at play during a session can be difficult to substantiate, Wagner points to instances in which the unseen has made itself known.

“Most people report heat or a tingling sensation depending on how sensitive they are to energy,” she said. “Sometimes after a session, a stone feels incredibly hot as if someone was holding it.”

Sessions conclude with take-home work, including guidelines for incorporating meditation into daily life. Wagner also keeps a selection of small stones on hand and encourages people to take the type of stone that most resonated with them.

“People will usually feel calmer and more at peace following a session,” said Wagner who regularly receives follow-up calls from clients. “It’s about people understanding their own energies, how easily manipulated they can be, and how we can shift our vibrations to feel better.”

Wagner has always felt a strong connection to the energies that surround her, but she maintains the same can be true of anyone.

“We all get those whispers, but we shake them off,” she said. “I’ve learned to trust them.”