NEWSLETTER

Dear Heartwood Community,

All of us at Heartwood wish you a very happy and healthy New Year! We hope that as 2008 gets underway you find time to visit Heartwood to receive a rejuvenating massage, begin healing with psychotherapy or explore the many benefits of acupuncture. Consider checking out one of our classes in T'ai Chi, yoga or other offerings. Many of our practitioners and instructors are accepting new clients or hosting sessions for beginners.

Be sure to come by our booth at the Women's Resource Fair, February 8 and 9, to be held at the Unitarian Church of Evanston, 1330 Ridge Avenue, Evanston, IL. Several of our teachers and practitioners will be giving demonstrations, free massages and more. We would love to see you there!

Many blessings to you and yours. Enjoy the new year!
Peace,
Nancy Floy, Owner and Director
Heartwood Center for body mind spirit

Embracing Winter

Nature’s movements slow to rest and conserve energy during winter’s darkness. We, too, can embrace this quiet conscious space to help us connect to and cultivate our own individual stillness. We can more readily connect with our true center and discern the essence of who we are and what is it that feeds us so that we can feel and be the best of who we are in each moment.

What is the quality of the energy we want surrounding us during this time of replenishment and in what direction do we want it to take us? Who and what do we want in our lives to support, feed, warm and nourish us? Which of our own thoughts and actions provide us with the support we need for growth and forward movement on our chosen paths? Lest we become too self-centered: what affect do we have on those around us? Be gentle with these questions, especially the answers! We may discover that some gentle shifting in our lives could lead to greater thriving.

Like the seed deep in the soil quietly focusing on gathering and conserving resources, we, too, need proper nourishment to consciously and continually grow so that, as we are ready, we can spring forth and blossom--maintaining our groundedness at the same time as we revel in our vitality and joy.

"When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be."
- Lao Tzu

Peace be with you this winter,
Colleen Hubbard
Subtle Energy Psychotherapist, Reiki Teacher, HypnoBirthing® Instructor, Yoga Instructor
847.491.1122 x20

Food From the Heart

Providing Organic Groceries to Low-Income Women with Cancer

The Wild Tree Café of Evanston, owned by Jaqi Boyer, is partnering with Heartwood's Women and Cancer Program to provide organic produce and foodstuffs to low-income women in Chicago who are suffering from cancer.

Each year, Heartwood receives a grant from the State of Illinois to provide holistic health services such as bodywork, acupuncture and yoga to low-income women with cancer. In 2007, fifteen women enrolled in the program. Many of the women who receive free services at Heartwood do not have the means to buy organic vegetables and are struggling with dietary restrictions and food stamp limitations.

Food From the Heart was started by Jaqi Boyer and yoga instructor Lela Schneidman in spring of 2007. Their goal is to reach as many women as possible who are suffering from cancer, and eventually reach out further to all low-income people with cancer, partnering with various social service organizations. The program has already received $1,000 in donations so far, from local yoga teachers and friends of Wild Tree Café. Women in the program have already taken advantage of their gift certificates and picked up their bags of organic groceries.

If you would like to make a donation to this wonderful program, please make your check payable to Wild Tree Café, ATTN: Food From the Heart, 1100 Davis Street, Evanston, IL 60201. Your donations will provide the following:

• $5 Donation:
  Organic ingredients enough for 2 meals
• $15 Donation:
  Organic ingredients enough for 5 meals
• $50 Donation:
  Organic ingredients enough for one week (21 meals)
• $500 Donation:
  Organic ingredients enough for two months worth of meals, providing food for an entire family in Chicago.

If you have ideas about how we can expand this program to reach more low-income people with cancer, please contact Jaqi Boyer. If you are interested in learning more about Heartwood's Women and Cancer program, contact Terri Clemens.