By Erin Lehn

Celebrated reiki practitioner and energy healer, Bill Flanigan, will be available for in-person sessions in Newark, June 16-20 and 24-27; Brooklyn, July 5-8 and 11-13; and Philadelphia, July 19-22 and 28-30. 

Flanigan, a personable, passionate practitioner who has been offering energy work for more than two decades, is excited for the opportunity. “With my distance healing practice, people from New York and New Jersey were already the two most common requesting treatments,” he says. “So, now I’m very excited to work with people from this part of the country in person and am looking forward to having client interactions again and hearing about their session experiences in real time.”

After receiving his reiki attunement in 1995, Flanigan began exclusively using reiki to treat his ailing partner’s stomach and feet. After his partner passed in 2000, Flanigan only dabbled in energy work as his attention was focused elsewhere. 

However, in 2010, Flanigan received a message that he would soon be experiencing a spiritual transformation. A year later, he suddenly found himself starting on that path. “I began feeling incredibly drawn to spending time in nature in a way that I hadn’t before,” he shares. Much of that time was spent cultivating a sacred relationship with the flora and fauna in Cheesman Park and the Denver Botanic Gardens in Denver, Colorado. “I didn’t realize it at the time, but it was the beginning of a three-year sabbatical where I’d be spending about 30 to 40 hours per week in direct spiritual practice with Mother Nature, connecting with all of the elements.” 

Flanigan says his explorations of the natural world were immensely grounding. “I connected with plants and trees in a whole new way,” he recalls. “It was truly awe-inspiring. Getting the chance to connect with a plant or a tree and opening to it and honoring it in a way that it was not accustomed to felt really magical.”

It was around the 22nd month of his deep study with nature when Flanigan realized he was meant to offer this energy healing to others. “It felt like I’d been given a very special gift. I just knew that when I put my hands on someone again, it would be with a whole new level of healing,” he says.

At first, Flanigan admits he wasn’t sure if he was worthy of the gift. He still had to process some old conditioning that wasn’t serving him. “I’m gay. I grew up in the South where I was fed messages that God didn’t love gays,” he explains, “and while I’d outgrown that programming, there were some residuals of unworthiness that had to be gently tended to.” 

With mindfulness, courage and self-compassion, Flanigan came into full acceptance of his energy channeling gift. Additionally, he recognized that his being openly gay was also a gift. “A person who fully embodies all the parts that make up their unique self is empowering,” he states. There is no bigger gift to ourselves and the world than coming into alignment with who we are. Because when we do, we give others the permission to do the same.” 

In 2013, equipped with a newfound passion, Flanigan began working with clients again and he’s been on a roll ever since. “I regularly witness profound physical, spiritual and emotional healings,” he says. “Whether it’s a body healing, breaking through an emotional blockage, or even connecting with spirit guides or a loved one who has passed, each session provides exactly what a person needs.”

Flanigan affirms that his heart-led services are offered on a donation basis, which says a lot about his generosity of spirit. “Since I see this as a gift, I’d like to give the gift away to whomever needs it, wherever they are, and for whatever reason,” he says. 

For those skeptical of the energetic realms, Flanigan has hundreds of clients that can attest to the power of his healing work. “So many things happen in these sessions that are outside of logical explanation,” he shares. “The more we allow for anything to arise, the more magical the sessions can become.”

Flanigan would like to remind everyone that they’re spiritual beings having a human experience. “It’s not the other way around,” he says. “Sometimes the greatest gift a person gets from one of my sessions is the re-sparking of that part of themselves. It’s definitely one of the most rewarding aspects about what I do.”