CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. — Silke Tyler has long been known for bringing forth scrumptious German baked goods at her College Street business, Silke’s Old World Breads, Bakery and Café. She calls this a “heart-centered business” with a focus on nurturing customers.
“I always tell our employees, ‘You’re making food for people, so it’s important that you’re positive, that you hold good energy, because you’re creating that life force for people,’” Tyler explains. “So I think that’s the difference between running a business by focusing on the heart-centered aspect of it, rather than on the profits.”
One of Tyler’s practices is Reiki (pronounced RAY-kee), a soothing and relaxing Japanese technique that is said to heal people through channeling a “universal energy.” Tyler has been a certified Usui and Karuna Reiki® master and teacher since 2006. She practices it by gently placing her hands on, or above, a patient’s clothed body, and going through a variety of positions that were developed in Japan by Mikao Usui in the early 20th century.
“Reiki is a tiny part of what I’m doing,” Tyler says. “It’s a modality everybody knows, the familiar aspect of doing energy work. But the whole spectrum is actually larger.”
Tyler also treats patients through hypnotherapy, an ancient art that has been trickling into the mainstream for decades. This healing modality has drawn some of the clearest results that can measured clinically, particularly through lessening severe and chronic pain. One clinical trial also shows that hypnotism accelerates healing.
By practicing at the Holistic Health Center, Tyler benefits from a community of practitioners who work in tandem.
Dr. Laura Colman is onsite as a chiropractor, as is Katie Slachciak, the center’s massage therapist.
“We really feel that we’re forming something much greater than what we can even comprehend at this point,” Tyler says.
Visitors to Tyler’s office at the Holistic Health Center are primarily women, and she feels her work is naturally evolving into a system for nourishing women.
“My inclination is to nurture people and, basically, follow my heart,” Tyler says. “With the bakery, that was the first thing I felt that I was supposed to create for Clarksville.”
Throughout the years of operating the bakery, Tyler attended retreats and classes about energy work. There she learned to focus her positive energy on the bakery, so that “when customers walk into the space, they can feel at home and feel nourished. That’s the intent.”
Now as she brings the benefits of her healing work to a new category of Clarksvillians, Tyler feels the energy will radiate.
She says, “For women to be able to take that energy back to their families, their husbands and children, and feel balanced and nurtured and empowered, that’s where my passion comes together.”
To help newcomers learn more about its work, the Holistic Health Center will host an open house from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. at its location at 894 Highway 76, Suite 104.
Tyler also teaches Reiki and other spiritual classes and hosts related events. To learn more about her services and view a class schedule visit www.silkesart.com.