MJ's Enterprises offers unique gifts and services in Cheney

By BECKY THOMAS

Staff Reporter

Jeff and Maureen Scott are not your typical couple. If you ask how they met, you won't get the usual story. The two met on a cruise last summer, Jeff a nursing student celebrating the end of his studies and Maureen a native Australian who took the cruise “on a lark,” she said.

They met by chance, and with a little more luck, they were both involved in energy healing and consultation. Before their wedding celebration in September, Maureen began making wreaths from natural materials and silk flowers, a hobby that grew and began filling up their Four Lakes home.

The shared interest in energy work and Maureen's blooming hobby prompted them to open MJ's Enterprises at 504 First St. in downtown Cheney.

“It's kind of a progression of all that, putting both of our talents to use and we'll go from there, see what happens,” Maureen said.

MJ's offers Maureen's handmade wreaths, silk and dried floral arrangements, artwork, homemade soaps and candles and other gift items. Their services, ranging in price from $15 to $35, include therapeutic touch, massage, counseling and intuitive consultations.

Jeff, who also works as a nurse at Cheney Care Center, said he has been interested in energy healing for many years as a pain reliever. He said the practice can be misunderstood, but it boils down to a few basic principles.

“You're talking subatomic particles and all that good stuff. They keep getting smaller and smaller. Once you get to the smallest of the small, there's nothing there anymore but energy,” he said. “It's basically the stuff that all of this is made out of.”

He said that energy can be blocked, causing physical or mental pain, and a practitioner can sense blockages, which can be cleared by sending positive energy into that area. That, he said, is the basis of therapeutic touch and massage.

“The main thing that therapeutic touch does, when I start working on you, is you relax,” he said. “If you're fighting pain, it makes the pain worse. If you relax into it, the pain subsides. Those are the first two effects of it and they're very noticeable to most people.”

Maureen works as an intuitive counselor, she said, having read tarot cards for the past 30 years. She said her goal is to encourage people to trust their intuition.

“I can usually pick out where people need to go or what direction they should be heading in, assist them in doing that, you know?” she said. “Ultimately they're the ones that have to go and do the work but I can give them the guideposts.”

The couple hopes to host workshops and groups for people to learn more about stress therapy and various alternative therapies.

Jeff said he hoped local people would be open to the services MJ's offers, especially pain sufferers who have not had success with traditional remedies.

“No matter where you are, you've got people that are in pain,” he said. “Hopefully they might see something and something might click and they'll give it a shot.”

MJ's Enterprises is open Monday through Friday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., as well as other times by appointment. Appointments for services are suggested by calling 559-5552.

Becky Thomas can be reached at [email protected].