Glancing backwards and making a fresh start. Almost 10 years ago, my colleague and friend massage therapist Margaret Olsen and I explored combining somatic mindfulness practices and massage bodywork and we wrote about our experiences to illustrate it for others. In this 2 part demonstration we show how approaches that…

Winter Solstice – Beauty in the Darkness Winter Solstice, the longest night of the year, has been celebrated and honored as a sacred time of renewal and rebirth since neolithic times. As the Gaia continues on her magical orbit, the days grow longer and the nights get shorter. The sun is now dawning, following the seaso…

Lughnasadh (pronounced Lew-nah-sah) comes halfway between the Summer Solstice and the Autumn Equinox. It is the first of three annual autumn harvest celebrations in the Celtic Wheel of the Year. This is the time of year when baskets are brimming with late summer berries, gardens are full of a wide range of vegetables,…

On Thurdsay, November 2, Northwestern University hosted four Tibetan Buddhist scholars — three Buddhist monks and a graduate science teacher — for an in-depth training program in human neuroscience. These scholars are spending two months in classes, learning about the techniques of western neuroscience and conducting a…

Keeping the Joy in Walking By Heartwood’s Yoga Therapist Sarah Westbrook, C-IAYT Lots of folks took up walking during the pandemic as an alternative to group classes. Even more folks turn to walking once they give up running, tennis or higher intensity sports. And there are a good number of golfers who walk the course…

What is Energy Healing? Energy Healing is committed, consistent care for your energy body. Your energy body includes your chakras and aura, and is referred to as the Astral body. The Astral body is your emotional body, and it’s where all of your patterns, behaviors, beliefs are held – the good stuff and the not so good…

In traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) there are five seasons, and each has a corresponding organ and element. The Liver, representing the Wood element, is most active during the Spring. It is considered the Great Conductor as its role is to move Qi throughout the entire body. One thing you might have been experiencing…

My life has been a journey of healing and growing driven by impacts from my own personal suffering, suffering of those in my inner circle and the suffering across humanity. I have recognized there is a connectedness with suffering; one’s suffering ripples out to others more than we can imagine.  Ultimately, I was not w…

Bodywork therapy has been used for centuries to promote healing, reduce stress and improve overall health. This holistic approach to wellness encompasses a range of techniques that I use in sessions with clients, which includes 12+ years of professional experience in Zen Shiatsu massage, Sotai Integrative Movement Ther…

What does it mean to be mindful, aware, “woke,” or enlightened? How does one come to know what they didn’t know before? Who is equipped to accompany others on their quest towards broadening their perspectives? How do we support one another in a contemplative and compassion-filled lifestyle? People in the Evanston commu…