“I’m torn between deep skepticism and a willingness to try anything once,” I replied to Sameer Reddy’s offer of a complimentary session. Energy healing modalities, intuitive encounter sessions using the Tarot, career and project blessings, space clearings…. I’m so non-mystical that I don’t even know what those words mean; my mind goes blank, as if I were reading a tax form. “So I guess my question is, How much does believing in the treatments impacts their likelihood of having an effect?”

Sameer had also emailed a link to a W Magazine article on energy healers, including this: “Reddy creates bespoke programs for art-world types […] Reddy uses typical energy-channeling tools—Reiki Tummo, Rising Star, crystal gridding (which involves placing crystals on chakras and acupressure points), and gem essences (drops of crystal-soaked healing waters under the tongue)—to startling effect. […] Throughout our sessions, Reddy has comforted me, helped ease my grief, given me career advice, and made me laugh. He even got me to cook.” The article said he used to be a writer, which endeared him to me, and honestly, how much harm could he do in 75 minutes? Plus, he sent a thoughtful, reasoned response to my question: “I welcome skepticism, actually—I think it makes an experience more meaningful, as long as it’s tempered by an open mind.”

His Transformance Center has been in Tribeca for nearly a year; it’s a small room, with minimal decor. He had told me to think about any mental or physical issue that I’d like to address, and what came to mind were my neck, which had been bothering me, and a general concern that I was looking at the world too negatively—that my default reaction to even a mostly positive situation was to focus on the flaws. We talked about specific examples of what I meant, and then he did a Tarot reading. He said he prefers to use it to examine the present rather than to foretell the future, and while I still can’t quite believe that randomly dealt cards can tell me anything meaningful on their own, they did offer a way into a conversation that we might have been unlikely to have otherwise. I’ve never been in therapy, but that doesn’t mean I can’t get something useful out of talking about what’s bothering me, and Sameer—who is well-spoken and thoughtful—occasionally pushed me to think beyond what I was already thinking (especially in regard to this website, since he has experience in publishing). As someone who doesn’t tend to mull bigger-picture issues unless I’m asked about them, I found the interaction satisfying. Without our conversation, moreover, I’m not sure I would have recognized that writing as much as I do naturally leads to a sharpened ability to locate flaws: Any analysis is going to have an intrinsic element of criticism, and the negative, Sameer and I agreed, is often more interesting to write about than the positive.

Then I lay supine on the table, and he placed crystals around my body and dripped a liquid on my forehead and under my tongue. As he very gently cradled my head and upper body, I drifted into some neither-asleep-nor-conscious state, awakened rather abruptly by a Tibetan bell being rung in my ear. I felt like I had had a massage—groggy, not particularly ready to speak, and soothed to the point of blissed out. I bid him farewell—I had been there almost two hours—and as I walked home, everyone seemed so uptight, but nothing could touch me. While waiting for a light, the woman next to me said into her phone, “That’s the problem with these fucking people I work with,” and I all I could think was, I choose not to hear you.

The next day, I emailed Sameer to ask what he had done. “The crystals I used on you are: Dioptase and Watermelon Tourmaline over your heart, Citrine over your third eye, Smoky Quartz at your neck, Amethyst over your solar plexus and Rose Quartz around your body. The gem essence I gave you was Rose Quartz, with a drop of Citrine essence over your third eye. Each crystal has different properties associated with it—I used crystals for you to help facilitate a peaceful and relaxed state of mind, as well as ones that have pain-relieving properties for your neck/shoulder issue. When you were lying down, I opened your aura, dedicated the session to the intention of relaxing you and easing your neck tension and then started working my way down some of your major chakras, beginning with your crown chakra, then third eye/ajna chakra, then throat, heart and solar plexus. I spent extra time at your neck/throat. Your arm twitched when I was at your heart chakra I believe, as did your feet (less dramatically).” And I slept like a pug for the next two nights.

Did the crystals make a difference? Did my aura benefit from being opened? Is there simply something to be said for lying in a dark room at the end of a long day, while spa music plays and someone gently touches your head? I honestly don’t know—and I’m not about to analyze it.

Since I still don’t necessarily understand what many of these words mean, I’ll let Sameer describe what he can do for you: “Services: Energy healing and Life coaching. My focus is on working with clients to create long-lasting, meaningful change, by developing bespoke therapeutic programs that involve weekly sessions. I also offer à la carte sessions or packages for clients who are more interested in relaxation (more of a ‘spa’ experience, versus a therapeutic one). Modalities: Reiki Tummo, the Rising Star, Intuitive Encounter, Prema Birthing. Tools used include crystals, gem essences and the Tarot. I’ve also begun to offer healing protocols that are targeted towards specific roles that people play (CEO, expecting mother, bride or groom-to-be) with the intention of facilitating the qualities those roles require. And I’m now offering career and business blessings, for new ventures or projects that could benefit from an infusion of positive energy, and real estate blessings and space clearings, for people buying or selling an apartment… to clear it of stagnant energy and infuse it with positivity. It might sound crazy, but it works! I’m working with real estate agents from Corcoran and other agencies.

Transformance Center is on Broadway between Franklin and Leonard; transformances.net, samir@transformances.net.