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- At a local fair.
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- Opening our new parking lot!
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- Practicing Tai Chi.
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- Nancy Floy leading a meditation session.
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- A few of our wonderful practitioners!
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- Celebration of our new parking lot.
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- An office space.
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- Heartwood Center.
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- Celebration of our new parking lot.
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- Receiving a treatment.
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- Kayaking for the day.
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- At a local fair.
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- At a local fair.
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- A party at Skylight Room.
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- Lunch with some community members.
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- Heartwood Center.
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- At a local fair.
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- A party in the Skylight Room.
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- Arlene Faulk practicing Tai Chi.
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- One Heart One Day Retreat
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- Kayaking along the lake.
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- Heartwood community members outside on a gorgeous day.
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- Our classroom space.
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- At the Guy Whitney Art Show in the Skylight Room
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- The new parking lot.
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- Leah Shoshanah Concert at Heartwood
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- Dancing the night away in the Skylight room.
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- Tai Chi instructor Arlene Faulk stretching.
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- An office space.
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- Receiving a treatment.
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- Kayaking on the lake.
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- At a local fair.
On Nov. 17, the Heartwood Center at 1818 Dempster Street, hosted an opening reception for the exhibit Art in Community: Alice George & Friends.
During the artists’ talk at the opening reception Alice George, Alicja Pulit and Corinne Peterson spoke about what inspired their pieces.
“Alice George is an Evanston artist and writer who has been practicing meditation at Heartwood for three years. A prolific and versatile image-maker, Alice is showing a variety of works on paper, including her interpretation of the seven chakras, mysterious boats, large paintings inspired by science fiction, activated landscapes using cyanotype processes and geometric abstractions.” (from the exhibit’s press release.)
Thank you all who attended the The Heartwood-Northwestern Symposium: A Groundbreaking Gathering Centering Survivors of Sexual Violence in Buddhism.
“Mariana Restrepo, deputy editor of Buddhadharma, reports from a first-of-its-kind event designed to bring light — and solutions — to the problem of sexual abuse in Buddhist communities, and how it affects monastics and non-monastics alike.”
“Neighbors, community members and businesses came together on Sunday for an afternoon of fun at the West Village Jamboree, held in the parking lot of the Heartwood Center, 1818 Dempster St.
The family-friendly event featured performances by the Lakeshore Aikido Club, a drumming circle led by Evanston Express, free energy work by Heartwood Center, a crafts table from Open Studio Project, and free food from Zentli, Windy City Flavors and Zeymart.”
Read more in the Evanston Roundtable.
Credit: Richard Cahan for The Evanston Roundtable
Heartwood led community outreach and support in response to recent violence in the neighborhood with the following letter and corresponding event for the Heartwood community:
“It is with great sadness that I write to you this morning about the recent shootings in our community. Larry and I were present at the shooting locations shortly after each incident offering our assistance to the family members and to the police and emergency responders. On Tuesday evening our meditation class offered special Buddhist prayers for peace for the families and for our neighborhood. Our Heartwood therapists and other healers have been quick to respond to offer healing care to those impacted and experiencing trauma responses from the shootings. We are working with the police daily and receiving updates and they are keeping our neighborhood safe and protected. We are also working with our Alderperson Krissie Harris who is also ensuring that our community is cared for. We have organized a prayer vigil for peace this evening at 6:30 pm outside at Dempster and Dodge and Larry and I will be among other spiritual leaders offering prayers for peace. We hope that you can join us this evening. Take care everyone, keep your hearts open and filled with love and compassion and remember how very precious our lives are.”
Heartwood hosted Dr. Andrew Holecek, an author, speaker, and humanitarian who offers seminars internationally on meditation, lucid dreaming, and the art of dying.
Heartwood hosted Geshema Yeshe Zangmo, a teaching and meditation on Shantideva’s Way of the Bodhisattva.
Heartwood celebrated their 20th Anniversary in Evanston on Saturday, June 22, 2019 with a free community party, outside of Heartwood’s facility.
Nancy Floy is the founder and director of Heartwood Integrative Health and Healing, founder of the Heartwood Cancer Program and the Osel Ling Meditation Center. Her vision, 20 years ago, was to create a refuge and sanctuary where people of all walks of life could come together in community to learn and grow and heal.
A few practitioners contributed their stories over the years to the Heartwood blog. To read their stories, click here.
Heartwood has recently begun providing baked goods and monetary donations to Bake Sale for Justice. School students have been running this venture for almost two years in order to donate money to various organizations who work tirelessly for social justice. In June, the money was donated to Flint, MI and in August, to Suicide Prevention. The sales take place monthly outside of Women and Children First in Chicago. You can friend them on Face Book and find out when the next sale is and donate yourself! Heartwood plans on continuing to share yummy treats to support this phenomenal group of young people and the fantastic work they do. Thank you Bake Sale for Justice!
Have you visited Cultivate Urban Forest & Gallery?
Led by former Heartwood practitioner, Louise Rosenberg, Cultivate provides Evanston with a beautiful neighborhood shop to buy plants and flowers. Read about it below!
“Cultivate Urban Rainforest & Gallery at 704 Main is Located in Evanston’s Main Chicago Mile shopping district, Cultivate offers you a friendly, local place to buy plants in Evanston. We offer a unique mix of lush and exotic tropical greenery, a variety of decorative and garden pots, a huge selection of terrariums and garden accessories, and so much more for your garden. In addition, our comfortable oasis features a gallery of nature-themed works by renowned local and global artists, as well as one-of-a-kind pieces of furniture, gifts, and books for kids and adults.
“We take great pride in helping you start or expand a healthy, thriving indoor garden, so we not only sell a range of gorgeous plants, we offer non-GMO seeds and a selection of 100% organic soils. And we offer a range of services including plant repotting, local delivery, and gift certificates.
“Cultivate is also a place for community: We offer classes such as Terrarium Making with Wine, Terrarium Workshop for Beginners, and Plant Killers Anonymous. You can book your own “Terrarium Class for Gals” night.”
Check out their socials for more information as well:
http://cultivateurbanrainforest.com
https://www.instagram.com/cultivate_shop/
https://twitter.com/CultivateShop
Join us for an evening with Offlines, featuring Yinon Muallem and Guy 
Mintus with Donovan Mixon as they host a special concert for the community. The concert is part of the Israeli Jazz and World Music Festival, May 14 through May 22. The concert is on May 22, beginning at 7:00pm at Heartwood Center at 1818 Dempster Street in Evanston.
Tickets are $15.00 and kids are free.
The concert is presented by the Consulate General of Israel to the Midwest and the Lillian Maurie & Lipsey Fund of the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago.
In the wake of the 7.9 magnitude earthquake that struck Nepal on April 25, 2015, Heartwood acupuncturist and Himalaya Project founder, Mark Sobralske, has spearheaded the efforts to provide relief information and donations.
Mark has recently been featured in the following news programs:
WBEZ’s Worldview Interview on Nepal Earthquake
He also recommends donating to one of the following organizations:
American Red Cross
UNICEF
Doctors Without Borders
Karuna-Shechen
“We are all deeply touched and shocked by the images we’re seeing in the news. If you haven’t already given, please donate to whatever you can spare to whichever NGOs mission moves you the most, and of course, please include the people of Nepal in your thoughts and prayers.” -Mark Sobralske
Heartwood is thrilled to announce exciting openings and events in the community this season!
Curt’s Cafe South has officially opened at 1813 Dempster Street. “We are so happy to have Curt’s Café South in our neighborhood and right across the street from our Center,” states Nancy Floy, founder of Heartwood. “Our community helped to raise the $50,000 from the Kickstarter Campaign to bring this amazing program here and we appreciate your support. I hope that you can stop in and meet the teen moms who are working there and please let them know you are from Heartwood!”
The Evanston West Village Business Association is hosting a Spring Concert at Curt’s Cafe South on April 24, featuring Donovan Mixon. We look forward to seeing you there!
Heartwood leads the way in establishing a “healing corridor” in the Dempster/Dodge neighborhood.
Also published in:
Evanston RoundTable
Evanston Patch
Heartwood is collaborating with Curt’s Café, a not-for-profit organization, to bring their café and inspirational concept into the former Perla Café space across the street from Heartwood Center. Curt’s Café is well known for the work they do at their North Central Street location with at-risk boys and young men. Their philosophy of “dining with a purpose” provides training, in food service and life skills, to at-risk youth in Evanston. The addition of Curt’s Café South on Dempster Street would replicate this idea, focusing on at-risk teenage girls.
Also published in:
Evanston RoundTable
Evanston Patch
Evanston Now
The Democratic Party of Evanston hosted its 2013 Annual Award Dinner at Heartwood’s new event space, Skylight, on November 10th. Congratulations to all the award recipients for their work on behalf of Community Achievement, Civil Rights and Marriage Equality!
Heartwood Celebrated the Grand Opening of our newly renovated spaces on October 5th. We showcased our new event space, Skylight, and its preferred vendors as well as introducing Heartwood practitioners to the community.
Heartwood Participates in Evanston’s Pink Heals Tour by Lauren Wismer
The Pink Heals Tour is an inspirational organization made up of Firemen from all around our country supporting people battling cancer with a focus on women and what they mean to the firefighters in their daily lives. They drive pink fire trucks and pink police cars across America bringing the “Cares Enough to Wear Pink” and Pink Heals Movement to our city’s. They simply provide a program for our community leaders to adopt, helping us fund raise for people rather than causes. They focus their love on the women of this community and wage war on anything that may harm them starting with cancer! These firemen have extremely big hearts and commitment to bring awareness to the entire country, they give up their sick and vacation days be a part of this tour.
Together we can make a difference.
Congratulations to Heartwood practitioner, Lori Howell, on receiving her Doctorate of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (DAOM) this past month. As well as maintaining her private practice at Heartwood, Lori is on the faculty at the Pacific College of Oriental Medicine.
Congratulations to Dickelle Fonda, chairman of the Heartwood Women & Cancer Board, on the receipt of her Children’s Advocacy Award! Read the article in the Evanston Roundtable. Heartwood welcomes these much needed services to Evanston.
Heartwood Center Partners with Imagining Peace Conference
Heartwood Center was proud to partner with the weekend-long Imagining Peace Conference held in Chicago April 26-28th, 2013. Joining organizations such as Cease Fire and the Illinois Council Against Handgun Violence, teens from Nancy Floy’s meditation class at the Evanston Library attended the event. “It was an amazing experience for everyone, ” said Nancy. “Heartwood was grateful to support this important gathering to foster peace in our neighborhoods, our communities, and our world.”
Lauren Wismer, Health Coach, will be offering a presentation on Sugar: the Good, the Bad and the Ugly at the Whole Foods in Deerfield on January 3rd, 2013. Your Resolution has a Solution! The address is 760 Waukegan Road, Deerfield, IL 60015. You mush sign up at the Customer Service Desk to reserve your seat – 847-444-1900. For further information, contact Lauren at 847-414-9262.
Diane Testa Helps ETHS Students Evanston Roundtable article featuring Diane Testa teaching high school students how to craft life mission statements
Heartwood Center in Line for City Loan Heartwood’s loan application moving forward
Tsogyaling Meditation Center Exhibits at WBEZ’s Global Activism Expo Nancy Floy and Tsogyaling Board Members attend Expo.
Evanston massage therapists and body workers meet with city officials to discuss new regulations
Heartwood Massage Therapists attend public meeting in Evanston to discuss proposed regulations Louise Rosenberg and Sarah McLaughlin represent Heartwood at meeting.
Heartwood Center Relocates in Evanston Article in Evanston Roundtable about Heartwood’s move in 2010.
The Himalaya Project Lori Howell writes about Mark Sobralske’s endeavors to provide medical education and healthcare to the underserved in the Trans-Himalayan region.
Owner Nancy Floy talks about the history of Heartwood Center and the benefits of holistic health services. Arlene Faulk talks about Tai Chi and Colleen Hubbard discusses Reiki.