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| The Fall Holistic Fair in Windham |
By
Elizabeth Richards
Perfect
fall weather accompanied the Fall Holistic Fair on Saturday, September 29th
at the Microtel Inn & Suites by Wyndham. A wide range of booths inside and
out offered up products and services all centered around healing, mindfulness,
inner peace and spiritual health.
The
force behind the fair was Jennifer Joy Klein of Tangible Tarot. Singlehandedly
organizing the fair was an immense task that Klein felt led to do. She’d begun
doing more communal events such as open houses and self-care days. “I’m all
about that. Let’s not wait until all the bottom falls out, let’s take care of
ourselves now,” Klein said. “We’re all learning slowly that to be productive in
the world, to want to help other people to make this world a productive place,
we have to start taking care of ourselves.”
As
more people asked Klein about events, she began to work on organizing something
small, with perhaps six practitioners. After some issues with her original location,
she found herself driving right by where it was supposed to be held and ending
up in the parking lot of the Microtel. She decided to go in and find out what
could be done there. When she saw the
space available, she was astounded.
Everything fell into place, and she gathered vendors for her first fair
held last March. “Within a week, I was
full,” she said.
For
the fall fair, vendors approached Klein asking to be involved. “People drove
two hours to come to this event,” she said. And afterwards, “they were
ecstatic.”
There
was no admission to get into the holistic fair, and that was by design. People
have told Klein she should charge, but she doesn’t want to do that. “I’m
offering this to the community,” she said. “So many people were offering free
things,” she said. “It was a true gift to have to have all these people
together and to offer this.”
The
atmosphere at the fair was peaceful and welcoming. The sun was shining as I
browsed the outdoor booths, examining the wealth of self-care and healing items
for sale. I happened upon a booth in the corner offering information and a
trial of Sahaja Yoga. Windham resident Jerry Mayfield was operating this booth,
along with his son. After offering up a brief history and information about the
practice, Mayfield led another woman and me through a meditation. He was quick to emphasize that the practice
of Sahaja Yoga is always free, because “the energy is yours.”
An
informational brochure on the practice states, “there can be immediate benefits
in stress relief and a feeling of peace and contentment.” That perfectly describes the experience I had
with that one trial session. Though there was noise and activity all around me,
I was able to focus on Mayfield’s voice and find a quiet place within. For a
busy mom with three different jobs and a number of volunteering
responsibilities, that’s a rare and wonderful thing.
After
my meditation experience, I ventured inside to discover additional vendors and
healing opportunities. Again, the atmosphere was warm and welcoming, with
almost palpable positive energy. Some vendors were offering services for sale,
others a free look at what they had to offer. As I walked by a sound and energy
healing booth, and heard the tones from the crystal bowls, tears sprang to my
eyes and I felt a sense of release. Since breaking down in public wasn’t of
interest to me, I walked on by – but returned later to learn more.
I
wish there had been time for me to experience all the healing modalities
present. The fair certainly reminded me how important self-care and healing
are, and how many different practitioners and vendors exist nearby. “There’s
huge things going on in Windham that people aren’t realizing we’ve started,”
Klein said. “We’re really groundbreaking with what’s going on.”
Between
Thanksgiving and Christmas, a group of practitioners is working on putting
together a free “give to yourself” day at Ways to Wellness in Windham (www.waystowellnesscenter.com)
offering breathing, readings, stretching, yoga meditations, reiki and more.
Klein
has a healing and reading practice for one on one readings, offers her services
at a range of events, and has been a guest on radio broadcasts. She can be
reached on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/tangibletarot/.
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