Heal Your Spirit at One Community Center

Heal Your Spirit at One Community Center

Memphis' newest community center doesn't offer basketball courts, after school care or a skate park. But they do offer yoga, massages, music lessons and mediation.The One Community Center is meant to be a place where Memphians of all backgrounds, faiths and experiences can come to nurture their bodies, minds and souls.

One Community Center, Memphis, Tenn.

Though the center has only been open for three months, the entirely volunteer-run non-profit already has an impressive roster of holistic healing services. You can get a massage from a licensed massage therapists, take a yoga or meditation class, receive counseling from licensed counselors, get Reiki treatments or attend a faith-based service.

Admittedly, some of the services that the center offers sound a little new agey at first, but One Community's program director Heather Watson says that what she does is "only as woo-woo as you want it to be." In her combat boots, ripped jeans and Ramones t-shirt, the pink-haired Watson looks more like someone you'd meet at a punk show than holistic healer.

Heather Watson, One Community Center, Memphis, Tenn.

When she's not managing the center and scheduling appointments for its practitioners, Watson practices Reiki, a form of natural healing based on channeling energy. When I wasn't quite sure what she was talking about, she described herself as being able to use energy like Mr. Myagi from "Karate Kid".

As the center grows, Watson is planning to offer counseling and services specific to veterans and their families. She's also trying to grow the center's lending library and finish converting One Community's space at the back of Republic Coffee into a more friendly, usable set-up.

All of the practitioners are independent contractors, so you work out your price with them, then they pay a fee to rent the space. To be a part of One Community, each practitioner has to donate at least four hours per month of free or heavily discounted services to people in need.

You can book an appointment with the One Community practitioners via their website, or try the center out on one of their pay-what-you-can days (the first Friday and second Saturday of every month).

Go There:

One Community Center

2924 Walnut Grove, Ste. 1
Memphis, TN 38111

 

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Elizabeth Bridges
Hi, Memphis fans! I just wanted to let everybody know that the Memphis Zen Community, a group promoting and fostering the practice of Zen meditation (zazen), will begin meeting at One Community Center on March 20, 5:30p.m.   We welcome everybody, from beginners to longtime practitioners. If you've never done zazen or any meditation before, we’ll show you how. Just come wearing loose clothing (think martial arts class) in muted colors if possible. We have some meditation cushions & mats, but if you have your own, please bring them. We only have a limited amount. Zen style meditation is a silent practice with a 2500-year history. It does not conflict or compete with anyone’s existing beliefs. Come visit us on Facebook under “Memphis Zen Community.” 
March 7, 2012 2:58pm