WARWICK — Preaching to the pews with locals settled in at The Metcalf Chapel, Tracey Dawn Alden wasn’t teaching the typical.
The certified Reiki master and longtime Warwick resident was in the middle of giving a class on the science behind the energy in the body, focusing on therapeutic meditation with sound.
When Alden, a scientist and educator, was diagnosed with a chronic illness half a dozen years ago, she was dissatisfied with the doctor’s suggestions, with little hope to heal. Alternatively, she began researching her own healing path.
“I did that whole journey of body, mind, spirit, which really is a holistic path to healing,” Alden said in the chapel of the Trinitarian Congregational Church of Warwick. “We look at ourselves with this trinity: body, mind, spirit, of the three major aspects of self, when we’re learning how to heal from a holistic point of view.”
It was teachings like Alden’s that helped to sustain the energy during the rainy and cool Saturday when the church hosted the first North Quabbin Health & Wellness Fair. About 20 local vendors gathered for the event that was held in the yard and within the church on Athol Road.
The event was intended to bring residents together and help them recognize the plethora of resources in health and wellness they have in their own backyard, organizers Alden and Elisha Poulin said.
Poulin, who held her own class on an introduction to the “Healing Code,” said she hoped the fair could “create a consciousness of keeping things in the area … so people aren’t wasting gas and resources to get to places.” Instead, they can look locally for therapists and different forms of healing, Poulin, a Wendell resident, said.
The free event featured an array of benefits to people, with donations suggested for resources such as massage therapy, acupuncture, a Shamanic healer, a craniosacral therapist and a certified Shiatsu therapist. These were offered around the grounds, including in the church.
While at it, organizers aimed to create a bond between two worlds that are typically thought of in separate spheres.
“As a trained scientist, I have never subscribed to religion, but what I’m learning through my healing process is about energy,” Alden said. “I understand energy and spirituality as really the same thing. … It’s about the essence of who we are as people.”
She hoped the fair could help to create a “bridge between energy and spirituality.”
Alden remembered first talking about the idea of the fair with the pastor of the church, the Rev. Dan Dibble, during the annual Warwick Craft Fair about a year and a half ago. She was showcasing a few items for sale at the fair, in line with her teachings and healings, about which Dibble asked to learn more. She said he had an open mind, and eventually it led to the idea of creating the fair and hosting it at the church.
“When I talked about energy, in reference to spirituality, it resonated with him,” Alden said, adding, the pastor replied, “That’s my soul.”
Dibble stayed for the whole event Saturday, as did some other congregants of the church, who helped to facilitate the day, even as the rain picked up.
“This is a spiritual gathering, whether it’s done inside the church, out here or in practitioners’ homes, it’s helping the spirits of the area grow,” Dibble said. “We need that because we’re in a pretty difficult time in the energy of the nation and the world.”
He added: “The more great energy, the better.”
You can reach Joshua Solomon
at: jsolomon@recorder.com