Home Energy: The Work of Maia Gilman

South Orange resident Maia Gilman is one of those rare people whose job grew out of a childhood passion. Gilman, now an architect, loved barns as a child. "I grew up taking long camping trips up and down the West Coast. I used to virtually fall out of our VW van with love for the old barns we'd pass by, especially in Oregon," says Gilman. "Every chance I got, I would walk around and in them, imagining what I would and could do to transform them either back into their original forms or into new, re-visioned forms."

It's no surprise to hear that Gilman, now 39, was able to create a successful architecture career, although her path was not so typical.  "When it came time to choose a major in university I quickly settled on urban geography, as it fed my love of land and maps. My analytical mind loved the challenge of figuring out how and why people use space in the way they do," she explains. However, when it came time to apply to graduate school, Gilman realized that she wanted to be involved in creating solutions, not merely analyzing them.

"I applied to schools of architecture and landscape architecture, was accepted into both, and chose architecture as my path," recalls Gilman.  She has worked in architecture for 15 years.

Growing up in Vancouver, Canada, Gilman also had an interest in energy work. She first learned about Reiki, a Japanese technique for stress reduction and relaxation, in the 1980s.  In Reiki, a practitioner acts as a conduit to transmit energy that can promote healing, often through laying-on of the hands. Gilman never imagined she would be able to combine her two interests into one profession. "Once I began to practice Reiki I found that each discipline—architecture and Reiki—supported and strengthened each other. I'm a better architect because of my sensitivity to energy flow, and I'm a better Reiki teacher because of my grounding in the practicality, physicality and solidity of architecture," she says. Gilman offers Reiki sessions and workshops at Bodhi Tree, a massage center in downtown South Orange.

Her South Orange and Maplewood architecture clients often want to preserve the beauty of their old homes. "I keep in mind the practical needs of the current owners but I also do not want to turn the homes into a museum," explains Gilman. "For example, I recently worked on a home that was built in the 1700s. The owner wanted to keep the historic integrity of the home but with a modernized kitchen."  The mission was accomplished with Gilman's help.

Gilman is currently juggling those interests and then some. She and her husband are busy raising two young boys. She has also managed to pursue her two passions— architecture and energy work—by creating two businesses, Maia Gilman Architect PLLC and Light Vibe LLC.  

Gilman describes Light Vibe LLC as "an umbrella for Reiki teaching, private Reiki sessions, energetic space clearing and for essential oil sprays to be used in the home, as a part of space clearing." 

Gilman's architecture business is, in her words, "a typical practice, but it differs from most in that I always bring my awareness of energy work into projects. Every building has its own stories and ephemeral energies moving through it and these can help or hinder the progress of the project." Gilman works with, "rather than against, the natural flow of both the experiences that have occurred in a building, as well as with the ever-present earth energies that permeate the land we build on. I think this is a missing link in most green building projects today."

Gilman will conduct a free, one-hour introduction to the world of energy work with personal spaces at Mia Cose Bella on Tues., Jan. 12, from 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. Tea and coffee will be served.