Energy & Lights: Innovative, Effective and Natural Healing

by Julie Peterson

As a Physician Assistant with more than three decades of experience providing health care in the Grand Rapids community, Mary Wisniewski has
been passionate about studying alternative modalities to help those who want to complement Western medicine with natural health options.

When she learned about and experienced the healing benefits of pulsed lowlevel light therapy (LLLT), she decided to empower and educate others by becoming a Professional Certified Light Therapist and started her business, Energy and Lights (located at Grand Rapids Natural Health).

LLLT uses near infrared light with blue and/or red light. Pads containing pulsed low-level light emitting diodes (LEDs) are placed directly on the skin, which disperses light wave energy and programmed frequencies to the body. It’s completely painless and safely complements medical treatments.

LLLT was first discovered to have beneficial medical uses in 1967 by Endre Mester at the Semmelweis Medical University in Hungary; however, it was not initially widely accepted in the medical community. This was likely due to a lack of scientific understanding regarding the mechanisms of action at a molecular, cellular and tissue-based level.

Thousands of independent medical and scientific research studies later, LLLT has become known as a reliable method to deliver therapeutic healing benefits for a multitude of physical and emotional issues. In 2016, Michael R. Hamblin, Ph.D., at Boston’s Wellman Center for Photomedicine, wrote that light therapy has made “major progress in obtaining recognition from authorities in medical schools, scholarly journals, the popular press and media, medical practitioners, therapists and other bodies concerned with biomedical science.”

Wisniewski knows the research, but the most affirmative moments for her are seeing clients find relief and get results. “Pulsed light is the most profound, noninvasive, drug-free way to stimulate the body’s innate capacity to heal on a cellular level,” says Wisniewski, who says that LLLT
is for people experiencing chronic pain or who want to use a natural, painless approach to heal emotional or physical issues.

The first session at Energy & Lights includes consultation so that Wisniewski can learn the client’s history and explain the benefits of light therapy and specialized spinal cord technique. The client, in comfortable clothing, gets light therapy pads placed on different areas of the skin for the LLLT and Wisniewski also does a gentle spinal cord stimulation. Clients typically feel at least partial relief after the first session.

As the research on this no-downtime treatment continues to grow, there is evidence that it can be used to accelerate wound healing, reduce inflammation, control pain, kill antibiotic resistant strains of MRSA, and assist with neurorehabilitation for strokes or traumatic brain injury. Other beneficial applications include disorders of the joints, nervous system, skin, immune system, digestive system and organs.

“LLLT stimulates a cellular response that triggers the release of nitric oxide,” says Wisniewski. This ignites a cascade of beneficial chemical reactions on a cellular level that promote healing and increase circulation, increasing the supply of oxygen and nutrients to the whole body.
“Light therapy is very relaxing and leaves you with a feeling of being more balanced within your body,” says Wisniewski, who recommends that anyone with unresolved issues give it a try and offers gift certificates so that people can share this gentle technique with others. “My goal is to assist the body to heal and become naturally balanced, working together to get to that point of having perfect health. The body knows what it must do to heal itself when given the proper tools.”

Contact Mary Wisniewski at marywis@energyandlights.com or schedule your appointment at 616-264-6556. Energy & Lights is located within Grand Rapids Natural Health, 638 Fulton St SW, Grand Rapids, MI, 49504.

Julie Peterson has contributed to Natural Awakenings for more than a decade. Contact her at JPtrsn22@att.net.