Reiki Healing 'Hammock-Style' At Crescent Lake Park In St. Pete

ST. PETERSBURG, FL — A St. Petersburg woman is helping locals find peace and surface their emotions through Reiki healing at one of the city's beautiful parks, Crescent Lake.

Barb Destiny Burger, 57, a certified Reiki healer, was self-administering Reiki on her hammock in her backyard one day when she came up with the idea to bring this energy healing to the public.

"I always look for opportunities to share Reiki, and stream it to people," Burger told Patch. "And I love hammocks. So here I am in Crescent Lake Park, and it has taken off."

Reiki is a form of energy healing, in which hands are placed just off the body or lightly touching the body. It can be done “long-distance,” as a form of prayer, according to Johns Hopkins Medicine. In a Reiki session, the goal is to create deep relaxation, to help speed healing, and reduce pain.

Burger sets up a portable hammock at the park in a shaded area underneath tall trees that her clients will relax on as she gives a hands-off Reiki treatment. In a world without a pandemic, Reiki is hands-on-body healing in which a practitioner places hands lightly on or over a patient's body to facilitate the patient's process of healing, according to Live Science.

Reiki energy is sent from the practitioner to the patient, she said. The energy achieves balance and peace in the mind, body and soul.

In a world of hands-off and 6 feet of social distancing, Burger places her chair 6 feet from the hammock and attaches a chord to it that she uses to rock the hammock and send Reiki through.

"The feeling of rocking brings you to when you were a baby in the womb with that safe rocking feeling," Burger explained. "And the calming of the body really initiates healing for people because you have to let go of all your worries and thinking before you can be open to any kind of inspiration or awakening of the parasympathetic nervous system."

Motherly energy is sent from Burger through the cord to the client. She mostly sends energy from the naval area that represents the umbilical cord. Each session is 20 minutes. No words are spoken during the session, only the sounds of Reiki music and nature.

"When people come here, they are receptive because they want to have a healing," she said. "I just provide the environment for the healing. I don't need to know what they are wanting to heal."

She explained that the energy healing surfaces emotions and allows release followed by healing.

A love donation of $20 is suggested, and Burger recommends bringing your own blanket and pillow. The sheet that covers the hammock is changed with a fresh one after every use, Burger said.

Burger has Reiki healing sessions at Crescent Lake Park on Saturday, Sunday and Monday. The sessions are by appointment only. If you would like to make an appointment, send Burger a message on her Facebook page at Barb Destiny FB.