2014 in Review
Reflecting back on the past several months, I see a whirlwind of change. The “master project” that my teacher, Jeanne Greening, gave me in 2011 has begun to take shape. That project (getting Reiki into hospitals) seems far more reachable than it did at the beginning of October of 2011. Now, after street fairs, photo shoots, and clinical trials our Healing Energy Blanket seems just the right vehicle to serve a large community in their effort to regain and or maintain balance, ease pain and anxiety, and restore health where possible.
We first engaged our Marketing team, KolbeCo, in the Spring of 2013. They have reached out to bloggers to help us determine the efficacy of the healing energy contained in the cotton fibers of the blanket. Since then, we have had many reviews of the blanket offering experiences in how it has helped those bloggers and their family members. With this encouragement, we decided to reach out to a larger community to determine further how the blanket performs. So in October 2013 and again in 2014 we obtained a booth at the Florissant Fall Festivals. This is our community. We both live and work here. Many of the passers-by are my patients. The feedback from our little sanctuary, where we allow folks to experience the blanket firsthand, has proved beneficial. And this past October, we ventured out to The Streets of St. Charles Art Fair as well. The blanket has my husband’s first art glass transom piece depicted on it. Jeremy, our marketing team leader, was amazed that all we did was place the blanket around the participant’s shoulders and allow them space in which to experience it. No sales banter provided. We do have a short form with which to offer feedback and most folks did.
The next activity our team suggested was to have photo shoots. October was a busy month with two street fairs and two photo shoots! The first shoot was with family and friends at the Shrine grounds of St. Rose Philippine Duchesne with Jarred Gastreich as the photographer. It was a cold and damp October day. I am grateful to those brave compassionate souls who joined us anyway. The second shoot was at the Forest Park Grand Basin with Dianna Lucas and her yoga class. John K. Blair was our photographer that day. A much more clement day than the first photography session days prior. Still a cool morning. The class offered us great feedback. One participant said that when it was cool she felt warm under the blanket. Then, when the sun emerged and shone directly on her, she felt protected and comfortably cool under the blanket. After the photo sessions, we had twenty blankets that had been lightly used. We washed them and offered our first special price. Those blankets had soaked up all that wonderful energy from the two photo activities and they sold quickly.
The holiday gift giving season encouraged many blankets to be given. As we have a short questionnaire provided with the blanket, we look forward to the feedback from those new blanket owners. And we are excited that we were able to give so much to the Institute of American Acupuncture and Life Medicine, a 501C3 not for profit, that provides natural healthcare solutions to those underserved of our community.
Dr. Paul Herrin, D.D.S. started a three month clinical trial with the blanket at the end of December. He’ll be determining how it performs with anxiety and pain relief. And I am reaching out to other health care providers for similar trials.
2014 gave us our first retailer of our blanket. Anne Thomasson of Body Fusion and Gyrotonic St. Louis offers the blanket at her studio. She has sold quite a few in only a couple of months. Anne and her team of personal trainers help folks to restore function by strengthening the core muscles and encouraging flexibility of the spine.
Our marketing team will be revamping the website soon to include the pictures from the October events. We are pleased to have professionals who are as committed to getting our message out as are we. They have helped us be more concise and focused this past year. More of our Healing Energy Blankets have reached the people in need.
All of these activities around the Te A Te Reiki Healing Energy Blanket pave the way to our goal of getting Reiki into hospitals. And along the way the mavericks who embrace the blanket and its healing qualities benefit first and provide us feedback that enables future owners to regain and perhaps maintain health.