Bradford resident Andrea Silva is a Reiki practitioner at the Bradford Wellness Centre and has been practising energy healing for more than five years.
Reiki is an alternative form of medicine which uses a variety of techniques including “palm healing” and energy transferring to help clients with pain management, or those suffering from emotional or physical trauma.
Silva has a sociology degree from York University and was a social worker in the psych ward at a hospital for several years. When COVID-19 hit, the hospital reduced her hours, forcing Silva to fall back on her Reiki practices.
The single mother of two is passionate about helping adults and children (especially during the pandemic) and specializes in anxiety and depression, sleep deprivation, pain management, stress due to divorce or relationships, fear, phobias, mental health and trauma, and also offers spiritual life coaching and chakra balancing.
“The need is out there,” says Silva. “A lot of programs have been cut due to COVID. You’re healing yourself, I’m just the channel.”
Silva discovered the healing powers of Reiki after suffering a tragedy outside of her home 10 years prior.
When her son Dillon (now age 16) was just six years old, he was struck by a vehicle that hit the curb and was launched onto Silva’s property where Dillon was standing. Both Dillon and his father were hit, sending the boy’s father across the front lawn and trapping Dillon under the vehicle.
Dillon was pulled out and rushed to hospital; he suffered broken ribs on the entire right side of his body and a partial hip fracture.
Doctors worked with Dillon but suggested that he may not be able to walk or run properly ever again.
“The accident triggered post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)” shares Silva. “[Dillon] regressed from a normal six-year-old to a two-year-old where he didn’t want to do anything.”
Silva endured months of night terrors and bed-wetting while having to change, feed, and bathe her son.
“I didn’t want drugs to help him,” states Silva. “I wanted a more natural healing because nothing else was working.”
Silva was desperate to find an alternative way to help her son. After conducting some research, she discovered a Reiki practitioner in Brampton who offered to help Dillon.
“In just ten sessions, Dillon was healed,” reports Silva. “And during those sessions, I became a certified Reiki practitioner, too.”
Silva credits Dillon's Reiki specialist for helping him overcome the trauma of his accident. In return he healed from the physical ailments left over from the crash.
“Children are just as susceptible to chakra blockages as adults are,” explains Silva, adding that the “third eye” chakra is a source of depression and blocked trauma. “We need to release these blockages and balance our energies.”
Chakras are broken down into seven areas of the body: Crown (head), third eye, throat, heart, navel, sacral, and root.
“The heart is the most delicate of all the chakras,” notes Silva. “A broken heart is a real thing. If you are anemic, lethargic, or dizzy, or have had a stroke, high blood pressure, food allergies, relationship heartbreaks… your heart chakra will close up – it’s all about blood flow.”
Silva also uses “singing bowls” and breathing techniques to clear blockages while renewing energies to help people to feel more “grounded.”
“As moms, we live in our heads a lot. We tend to attract mirror images of us, and we need to be more grounded and healed,” shares Silva.
Silva plans to offer free online Reiki sessions for kids as a way of introducing them to the practice and wants to start a fundraiser to help single parents who may benefit from Reiki but cannot afford it.
To book a Reiki session with Andrea Silva (Light of Love Wellness), visit the website.
