Soothe Your Soul

Relax, learn, shop and grow at new store

By Emily Caswell
VIEW Staff Writer

OXFORD — After Hannah Cornell-Schroeder’s husband passed away in an accident six years ago, she said she was lost.

Traditional grief therapy wasn’t working, and the mother of two knew she had to do something to help herself and fast.

That’s when she remembered a trip to Sedona, Ariz., she had taken years ago as a Lapeer East High School sophomore. Although she didn’t remember much, she did remember how beautiful it was there.

So she packed her bags and headed to Arizona all alone.

While there, Cornell-Schroeder, who said she’s always been interested in alternative healing methods, sought any and all treatments she could.

When she discovered Reiki, she was hooked.

“This is what I brought back with me,” she said. “It’s simple, but it’s really powerful.”

During a Reiki treatment, a person lays down on a massage table fully clothed. The Reiki practitioner moves their hands around about 12 main points throughout the body, sometimes actually touching the person, other times just placing their hands above the areas.

“The goal is balance,” said Cornell-Schroeder.

For Cornell-Schroeder, Reiki worked to help her grief, for others it can help relieve stress or migraines, for example.

While it might not make sense to someone who has never seen it done or had a treatment, Cornell-Schroeder offers a simple explanation. Think back to a time when you pinched your finger in a door or scraped your knee, the first thing you likely did is grab where it hurts.

Once Cornell-Schroder became a believer she decided to become a certified master practitioner so she could perform Reiki on her kids.

After returning to Michigan, she learned the skill from teacher Lisa Guyman.

“When I read about her, she just felt like the right person for me,” she said.

Cornell-Schroder is now also a Reiki teacher.

For a while she performed Reiki treatments at her home for friends and family, but as more people found out about her skills and her family grew (she remarried last summer, gaining two more children) she was running out of quiet spaces to work.

When her father and sister decided to add onto the building that houses their law firm in downtown Oxford, Cornell-Schroder asked if she could use the space to do Reiki.

“I just wanted a quiet place,” she said. “This little room seemed great.”

Soothe Your Soul opened on Feb. 2, and Cornell-Schroder has been amazed at the success she’s had.
“It took off,” she said. “It’s been so well received ...This is better than anything I imagined.”

While it started as a place for Cornell-Schroder to work, Soothe Your Soul has now become home to a store selling inspiration books, gems, jewelry, biodegradable cleaning products, candles and more. Massage therapists and other types of alternative healers also work out of the building. And best of all for Cornell-Schroder, about 10 teachers are offering classes at the store.

Soothe Your Soul has a class lineup that includes things like “Angels 101,” “What the heck is Feng Shui?,” “Introduction to Aromatherapy Oils,” “Intro to Pendulums” and more. And while there is a fee for the classes, Cornell-Schroder said they have been full almost every time.

“For $20, (people) will indulge their curiosity,” she said.

As with anything a bit out of the ordinary, Cornell-Schroder comes across skeptics, one of her biggest being her 15-year-old son.

“I wish everybody understood it,” she said. “(But) I don’t push.”

To the skeptics, she simply says, “What do you have to lose?”

If nothing else, those who try a treatment get an hour in a cool, quiet, dimly lit room.

“You’ll be relaxed,” she said. “I think that any time you set aside for yourself is awesome ...We can all benefit from a more balanced life.”

With the sluggish economy, some have asked Cornell-Schroder why she chose now to start a new business. That answer is simple, too.

“There’s never been a time in my life when we’ve needed something like this more,” she said.