NEWSLETTER
Happy Late Summer, Everyone!
A warm welcome to come and experience the many offerings of our center, including treatments, classes and the monthly Community Clinic. Many of our practitioners and instructors are accepting new clients or hosting sessions for beginners. And please join in celebrating our 10 Year Anniversary! We started this journey in the fall of 1999 and look forward to many more years serving Evanston and the greater Chicago area community. Watch for announcements about special programs in the coming year.
Many blessings,
Nancy Floy, Executive Director
Heartwood Center for body mind spirit
Dear Heartwood Community,
With anticipation of the changing seasons, we have put our attention on being in times of transition and ways of responding that can bring about growth and balance. In this newsletter several Heartwood practitioners bring you ideas and information for health and wellness, from engaging your senses and experiencing the seasons to nurturing and preparing for transitions and change. Jennifer O'Hara shares news about our September Community Clinic. Arlene Faulk's piece, See... Hear... Smell..., highlights scents and sounds in Autumn. Colleen Hubbard tells about Essential Oils, as well as Tsogyaling, the Mediation Center which holds classes at the Heartwood Center that benefit the Tibet Girls School.
Please take a look at our website to learn more about the practitioners, our current classes and upcoming events. We look forward to beginning another season with you and growing together as a community!
Thank you,
Marsha Smith, LCSW, Psychotherapist and Focusing Teacher Heartwood Center for body mind spirit
Transitioning to Fall and the Time of the Earth
Watching a rare rainbow over the lake this late summer evening I mused on the transition it celebrated of Fire element to Earth element. It was an alchemy of summer heat, sun and humid mist unifying for a moment into a ephemeral display of light.
In Fire time fruit develops, the creativity ripens, the heart laughs joyfully and energy expands. As we transition into Earth time fruits ripen as in the sweetness of corn, tomatoes, and berries. The handiwork and harvest of our creativity becomes focused as form. Joy shifts deeper into caring and empathy. The Fire red becomes the Earth bronze and gold.
Interestingly enough, the ancient chinese observed five seasons instead of four. Earth season is actually more than those few weeks between summer and fall, but more importantly the period of time between each of the four seasons. It marks a transition time, reminding us to nurture and prepare well for the next season. This transition time welcomes a return to our center and gives us space to celebrate what has ripened and what will be harvested.
Being centered and self-nurturing in times of transition will always help any change that comes along. Remember that you have a great resource here with the Heartwood practitioners. We are trained to support any changes that may happen in your life: from getting a tune up for your body to understanding any confusion that change may bring. Call us and talk to us to see how we can help.
Jennifer O’Hara
Heartwood's Wellness Community Clinics:
Free Workshops, Sample Services
Since January, Heartwood has been offering free workshops and reduced price sessions on the 3rd Sunday of the month. Each month curious participants have been treated to an experiential workshop facilitated by one of our practitioners. Some of the take-home relaxation tools that have been presented are: the healing properties of rice, a variety of movement classes, and inner calming meditations of Focusing. Afterwards they signed up for sessions of massage, acupuncture, Reiki, Focusing and acupressure. Or sat in our peaceful waiting room with a cup of tea connecting with each other, talking about their stories and interests. Our clinic is becoming a rewarding experience for both the participants and the practitioners.
If you are curious or have friends who are interested in Heartwood this is an easy (and inexpensive) way to get to know us, experience what we do and feel embraced with compassion and good cheer. It's the 3rd Sunday of the month, the workshop is from Noon to 1:00 pm and the sessions are from 1:00-3:00 pm.
Individual sessions are $25.00; pre-registration is not required. Show up, or if you are a planner call 847-491-1122 x21 to schedule an appointment or click here to email and note which type of session you would like. For more information about services available and the practitioners at Heartwood, visit our events page.
Tsogyaling Meditation Center of Evanston
and Tibet Girls School
Asang and Nancy Floy co-founded Tsogyaling to help them pursue their commitment to manifest peace individually and globally, by reaching out to people's minds. The Friday meditation classes (6:00 pm; donation proceeds benefit the Tibet Girls School) are a place to learn the basics of mindful meditation and compassion practices in a warm, respectful and joyful environment. The classes also serve to share and preserve the precious teachings of Tibetan Buddhism and culture.
The Center is dedicated to "taking meditation off the cushion and into the world." This is evidenced by the Tibet Girls School which Asang founded in honor of his sister after she died in childbirth, an all too common occurrence for young women in Tibet. The Tibet Girls School is a vocational boarding school for Nomadic girls, ages 14-20, that offers them the key to health and opportunity: education. With this sacred tool, they have previously unknown freedom to make positive life choices.
Tibet-Chinese Friendship Groups are another way in which Tsogyaling reaches out to create healing and positive change in our community. This exciting idea was offered by the Dalai Lama gave as a practical means of help and service toward the goal of peace.
Please read about Tsogyaling and view delightful pictures of some of our many involvements in community events at www.evanstonmeditation.org. Students often comment on the amazing positive impact the practices learned and shared in meditation classes are having on their lives – come and see for yourself at Heartwood on Fridays at 6:00 pm!
Warmly,
Colleen, a most appreciative student and board member of the Meditation Center of Evanston
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IN THIS ISSUE: Fall 2009
See... Hear... Smell...
What images come quickly to mind when you think of autumn? Green leaves turning to golden yellow, burnt orange, vivid red. Excitement in the air as you move with the crowd, winding your way to the Saturday afternoon collegiate football game. Walking on a cool, crisp evening by the lake in a light windbreaker jacket.
A season of visible change — hours of daylight start to decrease. Maybe thoughts drift occasionally to the fact that winter is not far away. For children, and in triggered memory for adults, it is time for a new school year — fun buying the #2 lead pencils, new lined white paper in a metal ring binder, a new box of multi-colored crayons. There’s new energy in the air. Vacations are over. It’s back to work, back to school.
Is this time of year routine for you or is it a time of conscious anticipation? Why not experience this autumn anew, again but for the first time in a very mindful way. Engage your senses. Notice the yellows, reds, oranges of the tree leaves. Watch the precision of the flying long-necked geese, in their perfect V-formation, honking loudly along the way.
Stop to glance at the children in the school playground, running, laughing, playing tag with their friends. Note the cloudy day when the raindrops turn into ice crystals; you hear the pings of small ice pellets bouncing off the windows. The soft, white snow flakes appear, not in a blanket but in occasional, sporadic little drops that quickly disappear when they land on your shoulder. Oh my, one evening, you realize that goosebumps pop up on your forearms. That extra blanket becomes an addition to the bed linens and feels so good for sleeping. You notice that those pesky black flies are a nuisance. They want to come out of the cool outside into the warmer inside of your house. Looking outside your kitchen window you see the migrating red-bellied robins in the weeping cherry ornamental trees. They so love those little red mature cherries, a sure sign of autumn. Shadows of the trees lengthen. You notice more shadows everywhere.
You hear the humming of harvesting machines in the fields along the country roads. The farmers are picking the field corn and harvesting soybeans in their combines. The locusts buzz loudly –- no missing their presence in the city and farms alike.
Smells of apple butter cooking on the stove and the cinnamon and nutmeg in the baking pumpkin pie make your mouth water in anticipation of autumn gastronomical delights. And who can deny the very special aroma of the 12-lb. turkey roasting, soon to be a family feast for a special holiday meal.
You bite into a crisp red or golden delicious apple, with a crunch on each bite. You might even visit an orchard with your children, enjoying an outing to pick your own apples. How good is the seasonal acorn squash, accented with brown sugar and a touch of butter and the orange sweet potatoes, so nutritious and so comforting!
You grasp the smooth handle of the wooden rake, getting ready to gather up the fallen leaves. You think moderation, just rake long enough to make progress but avoid blisters on those fingers. You’re outside now and realize how good your long-sleeved, cotton shirt feels on your arms. It’s time to bring out your fall clothes, long-sleeved shirts, light jackets, having put away your shorts and sandals for the following year.
You are aware of the crisp, cool air that signifies this season and is so invigorating. It's a good time to take deep breaths, fill your lungs with refreshing, clean air. You feel alive. You’re in the moment, enjoying the sights, sounds, smells, tastes and touches of autumn. Use all your senses and enjoy!
Arlene Faulk, Tai Chi Instructor
Essential Oils: A Success Story
As a spiritual psychotherapist and energy/light worker, I utilize essential oils daily to help create a soothing atmosphere and to assist in clients’ mental and emotional healing. These oils are also used to great effect for physical concerns. Recently, I was called on to use the oils for a client with a serious and advanced case of psoriasis on the scalp. As the client was my own mother, she already had been using the oils for many years and asked me to help her with her condition rather than use the steroid containing and slow-acting medication her doctor had given her.
Her scalp was covered in thick white dead skin cells and her hair was falling out. One evening, I treated her scalp with a diluted mixture of lavender, melrose, patchouli and Roman Chamomile oils. After showering in the morning, she discovered that her scalp was 90% better — even I was surprised! After a similar treatment the next night, her scalp was 95% improved and she was comfortable — no more itching, flaking or hair falling out. Very rapidly, new hair growth followed. Everyfew nights, she still needs to put some oil over a patch of dry looking scalp, generally smaller than a dime, but this keeps away any new outbreaks and she is delighted with the results.
Essential oils are nature's gift to us and have a wide range of efficacy, from killing bacteria to balancing one's emotions.
For example, University researchers in Japan discovered that diffusing essential oils in an office environment improved mental accuracy and concentration. Diffused lemon resulted in 54% fewer errors, jasmine 33% fewer errors and lavender 20% fewer errors. Aromas diffused during test taking increased scores by as much as 50%.
Special note: Caution must be used in choosing a brand of oil to guarantee the quality of ingredients and diffusion process.
Aromatically yours,
Colleen Hubbard, MSW, CCHT, RTH
847.491.1122 x20
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