Sally Hamer said she was introduced to the power of alternative medicine in an unlikely place – a hospital delivery room.

The Rochester resident operates My Private Practice Holistic Center where clients seek treatment through massage, sound and hypnosis therapy, among other methods.

Her interest in the field started when, as a nurse, one of the newborns under her care developed a high heart rate. The condition was not life threatening, but required monitoring.

“I was watching him closely when another nurse put her hands on him and did some energy work,” Hamer recalled. “In a matter of minutes, the heart rate came down, the breathing rate came down, and I said to myself, ‘I have to learn how to do that.’”

First, she learned massage therapy, which she’s been practicing for 18 years. Then Hamer delved into alternative healing treatments. In 2006, she acquired crystal bowls whose musical tones and vibrations she says improves how people feel.

On Thursday evening, she set up seven bowls and another recently purchased instrument, a rare handpan Halo, and performed for free at the Broomhead Bandstand on Island Wharf in Marion.

She said the bowls, which are made up of 99 percent pure crushed quartz crystal, help people tune into their bodies.

“Friends say when they listen to the bowls they lose all concept of time,” she said. “They are used to soothe people.”

The bowls are played by softly striking them with a rubber mallet. Then, the mallet is dragged around the outside of the bowl, creating a strong tone.

Hamer said practitioners don’t need to be trained musicians.

“The best way to play is by feel,” she said. “There are no wrong notes.”

Also, the bowls are designed to balance client’s chakras. Some Indian religions define chakras, usually seven in number, as centers of spiritual power in the body. They correspond to different organs in the body.

“As the bowls are played different energy centers in the body open up and tension is released,” she explained.

In addition to the bowls, Hamer played a handpan Halo on Thursday night.

Manufactured by the Missouri-based Pantheon Steel, only a few hundred are produced each year.

Sounding similar to a steel drum, the oval, enclosed steel instrument is played by hand. Hamer discovered the Halo after watching a video of one being played online.

After some research, she learned the company does not make Halos to order. Prospective buyers are put on a waitlist and a lottery is held each year. Some people end up waiting years for the chance to buy an instrument.

Undeterred, she added her name to the waitlist.

“You can manifest things if you’re heart is pure and you want something for the good of all,” she said. “So I put that out to the universe.”

In 2014, she learned she had won the lottery and the instrument was delivered three weeks before Thursday’s concert.

Whether using sound or touch, Hamer said connecting with others is a major part of healing.

More information about My Private Practice Holistic Center, call 508-291-4832 or email myprivatepractice@comcast.net.