PALMER — New businesses The Moonlit Forrest and New Joy Healing Arts recently opened in Schoolhouse Commons, welcoming new customers into their establishments.

The businesses, both located on 1085 Park St., focus on holistic healing and assist customers with balancing their energy. While the businesses are officially separate, they work together to offer multiple healing services and products. With a combined 40 years of experience, the businesses provide a potent mix of healing knowledge and expertise to the community.

New Joy Healing Arts owner Jenny Aleksi described their businesses as places to be “heard and safe and seen,” stating that there aren’t many places that allow you to be completely open and safe in the Palmer area.

Aleksi’s establishment offers services such as reiki, Shamanic healing, crystal healing and guided meditations. She also sells homemade flower essences and art.

When discussing her practice, Aleksi emphasized how even simple actions like holding certain crystals can drastically improve someone’s health, bettering issues such as anxiety and depression.

“Crystals are the frequency that the Earth is giving us to heal,” she said, describing her own journey of finding crystal healing after struggling with her mental health. “It became my mission to do energy work.”

The Moonlit Forrest Owner Danni Kenyon shared similar thoughts. She explained how the unique vibrations from each crystal type focuses on different aspects of healing, enabling the body to balance itself.

The Moonlit Forrest sells crystals in addition to other items such as intention jars, incense and pendulums. Kenyon also offers services like sound bowl healing, which uses tuning forks to align the body’s natural rhythm, and medical astrology, the process of using someone’s exact birth time to learn more about their health.

As the body naturally becomes off-centered over time, this can trigger health issues to manifest through headaches or trouble sleeping as well as through larger concerns like heart problems, Kenyon said. By using holistic healing techniques, the body can become balanced again and eliminate the physical or emotional pain.

Kenyon emphasized how she supports western medicine but has found that holistic healing can often be more effective because it does not have any side effects.

Both Kenyon and Aleksi recommended mediating with amethyst crystals for beginners seeking to learn new healing practices but encouraged attending weekly or monthly healing appointments to address concerns fully and permanently.

The Moonlit Forrest and New Joy Healing Arts are located on the second floor of Schoolhouse Commons’ east side. The Moonlit Forrest is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Friday and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday. More information is available on the website at

themoonlitforrest.com. New Joy Healing Arts is open by appointment Tuesday to Saturday. Appointments can be scheduled by phone at 413-313-6505 or through the website at newjoyhealingarts.com.