This story originally appeared in the September/October edition of Capital Region Living, Saratoga Living‘s sister magazine.
If you’ve paid any attention to alternative medicine in the past decade or so, you’ve probably heard of crystal healing. Gemstones have been used in healing rituals by civilizations dating back to the ancient Sumerians, but have only recently become a booming business in the US and Europe. But while crystal healing practitioners come a dime a dozen, Erin Sikopoulos of Turn a New Leaf Massage and Energy Work in Saratoga Springs has remained truly one of a kind.
“I got certified in Gemstone Energy Medicine [GEM] from an organization called Gemisphere,” says Sikopoulos. “There aren’t that many certified practitioners in the country, so I’m one of the few, and I’m the only one in Upstate New York, for sure.” What sets a GEM-certified practitioner apart from one who does normal crystal healing is the type and quality of gems being used in the healing process. “A challenge with crystal healing and the overall market when it comes to healing gemstones is the quality,” Sikopoulos says. “Everybody in the market is trying to make their material look better than it really is with heat treatments or dyes or lead or radiation. For us in GEM, we feel that those kinds of treatments essentially render a gemstone untherapeutic, energetically or vibrationally.” For that reason, GEM practitioners use only the highest quality gems.
Sikopoulos’ practice, as its name implies, combines traditional massage with GEM. After leaving a job in television in New York City, Sikopoulos first launched her Saratoga practice as a massage studio, incorporating gemstone energy work into sessions for clients who were open to it. Over time, the GEM treatments proved so effective for clients, that now, eight years later, it has taken more of a centerstage, with massage therapy work as a complement to it.
At press time, Sikopoulos was working toward getting back to in-person sessions following the COVID-19 lockdown and her maternity leave. While she isn’t taking new clients for in-person sessions, she is welcoming those interested in GEM to sign up for a virtual GEM Intuitive Session or her online GEM Meditations and Gemstone Energy classes. To learn more, visit turnanewleafmassage.com.
