Archive for the ‘A Wish For Tomorrow’ Category

Hope Bags for the Holidays

Thursday, December 22nd, 2011

I’ve been wondering what to give my little group of heart-friends this winter, in acknowledgment of how much I appreciate having them in my life. I don’t like giving out tons of STUFF just for the sake of giving, and every time I try to mail out Christmas cards, I find an overlooked stack of them months later. It finally occurred to me that what I want to give each of these beautiful souls is hope, blessings, and confidence as we march into the new year.

And, HEY! I can GIVE that. Because I’m actually pretty good at making Shamanic Healing Bags, filled with specific energy and intention for the recipient. So there’s a plan now. A good one that I’m actually really excited about. I’m going to make Hope Bags for all my heart-friends. Filled with blessings, and expressing my confidence in them. It’s going to be a great  new year.

Be Well, reach far, hug often, and hold Hope in the palm of your hand.

| Posted in A Wish For Tomorrow, Blessings, To Your Health, authored by: S. Brooke Elliott | Comments Off

Environmental Sensitivity

Friday, July 1st, 2011

Have you ever heard of the Canary Report? It’s an acknowledgment of a growing health challenge called “Multiple Chemical Sensitivity,” or MCS. Those of us who slowly (or suddenly) find ourselves with phantom symptoms, undiagnosable causes, extreme sensitivities… Those of us who already react to the toxic fumes and substances with which we are embalming the Earth– we are the canaries in this coal mine. We are the ones who give warning to the rest that our current environment is no longer safe. Get out now.

In my case, I’ve always been sensitive. I’ve had to use the detergent on my clothes that was labeled “free of dyes and clear of perfumes.” Otherwise, I get a mild itchy red bumpy rash. It’s miserable. In the past year, I finally realized that I get a migraine every time someone sprays lysol in the house, too. I feel dizzy and short of breath when I’m in a heavily bug- (or weed-) sprayed area. But it wasn’t until the past few months that I finally had to acknowledge the possibility that I have MCS. I’m definitely one of the canaries.

Today I am finally ending a two-week course of heavy-duty proscribed steroidal medicines. My doctor tried everything else to help me over the past three months– first the natural cures, then the pharmacy ointments and creams, then antibiotics… and nothing worked. The rash just got bigger, nastier, bloodier. So I’ve spent most of the past two weeks in a brainless slobbery bubble of “OH THANK GOD IT DOESN’T ITCH ANYMORE” thanks to some really nasty medicines. And the itchy, burning, cracking, oozing, GROWING rashes on my hands and neck and forearm (just one) have finally started to go away.

And soon, I will have these medicines out of my system, too. I’ll have my brain back. I don’t like being an idiot– and I don’t like pharmaceuticals. Especially not for weeks and months on end. It taught me a lot about what chronic illness must be like.  And my big challenge now… is that we still don’t know what CAUSED THE RASH. It’s something in my environment. Something that only touches the parts of my skin outside my clothes. Something that I continued to be in contact with over the past three months. So it’s something that might explode on me again. MCS. How many chemicals can YOU get rid of, and still have a clean and healthy home? Or in my case, how many can I get rid of SO THAT I have a healthy home?

And what of Mother Earth herself? How many chemicals have we unleashed on her skin, rotting, burning, cracking, bleeding. There are so many ways to support world-wide well being. And they start at home. They start with reducing our dependence on chemicals. Noticing the canaries in our midst, and the message they are sending– our air and our water and our earth is contaminated. We need to return to a more natural way of being in the world. We need to get out of the coal mine. One petro-chemical based product at a time.

Be Well.

| Posted in A Wish For Tomorrow, Staci Says..., To Your Health | Comments Off

Masonry Fireplaces and Macro Eco-Farming

Sunday, May 1st, 2011

I’m always reading about green building, green living, green technology, old ways of doing things that make more sense if we’re to live in harmony with Mother Earth. Today, I’m about half-way through a library book called Micro Eco-Farming, by Barbara Berst Adams. The subtitle is “Prospering from Backyard to Small Acreage in Partnership with the Earth.” And that’s really what the book offers. Examples and stories of people around the world who are successfully and sustainably living off their little patch of land– mushroom farmers, chili farmers, local goat dairies, u-pick flower farms… All on small plots of land, with small families to make them work in partnership with Earth.

I know I’m a little late, but HAPPY EARTH DAY!

And speaking of Earth, I’m also reading a book about Masonry Fireplaces, called Masonry Heaters: Designing, Building and Living with a Piece of the Sun, by Ken Matesz. It has so many great photos of the variety of forms and functions that Masonry Heaters can take– and have taken over the past three hundred years. A masonry heater is usually wood-fired, but you only need to burn a few pieces of wood to heat an entire house comfortably. And the heat continues to radiate from the masonry system in your home for many hours, so you don’t need a backup system. You can even cook and bake in these babies. I’m totally in love.

I keep saying to my partner… “Someday, when we build our home…” and I believe that someday, we will.
Be Well.

| Posted in A Wish For Tomorrow, Research/Info | Comments Off

Well-Wishes

Sunday, March 13th, 2011

The natural power of the human body to heal itself is the basis of Naturopathic Medicine. Given the right nutrition, tools, and environment, it’s amazing what illnesses our bodies can overcome. Of course, the most important ingredient is hope– belief in your body’s ability to overcome. If you don’t trust your body’s ability to overcome, it’s 30% less likely that you will succeed.* Powerful odds.

Here are the six official tenets of Natural Medicine:

  1. The healing power of nature
  2. Identify and treat the cause
  3. First do no harm
  4. Treat the whole person
  5. The physician as teacher
  6. Prevention

For more information about these principles, check out this link to the New World Encyclopedia, or this link to the National College of Natural Medicine. *Also, here is an interesting article about the value of mind-body medicine, and the Placebo Effect– belief that your body will react a certain way actually causes most people’s bodies to react that way, regardless of actual medical treatments provided. So if you truly believe your body will heal itself, chances are that it will.

Since I already work within these standards as an Empathic Healer (Life Coach, Medical Intuitive– whatever do we call the things I’m capable of helping you with??), I was very excited to learn that my education and practice as a Naturopathic Doctor will follow the same path. Right now, I help people find their hidden beliefs– the ones that make them unhealthy and unhappy, and we work together to heal the mind-body connection. I utilize natural healing techniques (and personalized homework) to treat the whole person– the whole life experience– and help you learn to live well.

In the midst of all this learning how to help others scientifically, offering my services professionally, mixing up healing herbal teas for my friends and for workshop attendees, planning this month’s two upcoming workshops, making millions of little flashcards for my Biology Lab Exam, etc… I was reminded that BALANCE is vital to well-being. (The world reminds me of this quite often, really.)

We’ve all taken the time to light a candle for a friend or loved one, and sent our good wishes for them into the Great Unknown as we stared at that flame in the darkness. And every time we saw that flame, for as long as the candle burned, we remembered that person, that good intention or loving thought we have for them.

But when was the last time you lit a flame for yourself? Sent out your good wishes,  hopes, desires, and self-encouragement FOR YOUR SELF on the wings of a candle? It’s okay to do. In fact, it reinforces our belief in ourselves, the fact that you are strong in pursuit of your goal. Whatever that goal is– be a good mother, fight off this end-of-winter cold a little faster, make progress toward that certificate or degree, and finally have a career that will sustain you personally and support your family financially… find a worthwhile life-partner to share the ups and downs with…

Whatever you’re working toward, whatever you’re committed to RIGHT NOW– light a candle, and let the universe know what you’re hoping to achieve. See your own hopes and hard work and good wishes reflected in that glorious flame in the darkness. Be reminded that all your knowledge, experiences, hard work and strength of purpose are available to you. Believe in yourself.

Be Well.

| Posted in A Wish For Tomorrow, Blessings, Your Support | Comments Off

My heart goes out.

Saturday, March 12th, 2011

Dear Japan,

The Water Gods were not kind to you. The Earth rebelled. Fire caught fuel, and the Wind blows strong across the Pacific. But I know your spirit is still strong. I am sorry for your losses, as they continue to mount. And I pray for all of us– may tomorrow be gentler than today.

Blessings and a hope for calm of Earth, Air, Fire, Water, and Spirit.

| Posted in A Wish For Tomorrow, Staci Says... | Comments Off

Composing a Life

Thursday, February 10th, 2011

I’ve noticed that there are stages of reclaiming yourself. The first stage is to realize that the “something missing” in your life is YOU. And that can be very depressing. The next stage is finding yourself. Who are you? Do you like yourself? What do you like? What have you been accepting in your life that you really DON’T like? How do you work best when nobody’s telling you what to do and how to do it? What do you work on, given a choice? Where does all your energy go? Is that a good thing?

Eventually, we embrace a few drastic changes to our lifestyle, our community-group, our goals. It’s huge, and exhausting, and it takes a while. But we are so much happier, and we get to be authentically ourselves in this new stage of the life we’ve created. A lot of big pieces of our life stay the same. Same family, same job maybe. It’s how we go about interacting with those things that experiences the biggest shift. The world has moved under our feet, and as a result, we’re more centered.

I think the next step is to refuse to interact with anything that smells of our old life, our old way of being, the lies we used to tell ourselves so we could get through one more day. We get angry, we walk away, we take time for ourselves, we look for a different kind of friend. It’s like standing on top of a mountain, and shouting “HERE I AM, WORLD!” at the top of our lungs, heart racing with joy.

I recently encountered a reminder of the next, more difficult step. Or perhaps it only seems more difficult because it’s the one you haven’t taken yet. When we get to this point, we learn that sometimes NOT walking away– and still being our authentic selves– is even more important. Instead of leaving every unhealthy situation, we practice changing the situations themselves so that they are healthy and do support our authentic way of being in the world.

Every relationship requires some growing, shifting, learning how to be there and still be fully yourself. Work situations, partnerships (the at-home kind), relationships with our grown know-it-all children or our not-so-perfect parents. So eventually, we have to learn to negotiate through that and stay whole. Not give up our essential self, and not give up our career or our marriage of 20 years, or whatever it is that you’re not ready to walk away from. We can’t change another person, only ourselves. But changing a situation doesn’t always mean we have to walk away from it.

HOWEVER, and this is part of the challenge, if you are being abused– physically or emotionally– or if the other people in the relationship/situation want you to fail— I fully support walking away as the BEST solution. Don’t put yourself (or your children/pets/career) in danger by staying in an unsafe, unstable and unpredictable situation. Learn the difference between a challenge and a threat…

Life is meant to be embraced, enjoyed, interacted with, decided upon. And life has many stages. Living is all about growing, changing, improving, sharing, enjoying. Look closely at any part of your life that is stuck short of even one of these words. No growth? How stifling! No sharing? How sad. There are millions of lonely people out there who need a mentor, a friend, or someone to be a mentor to. Join a book club at the library. Join a hiking club. Join a community center. Be a big brother. Volunteer. Ask for help. You don’t have to do this alone.

Be Well.

| Posted in A Wish For Tomorrow, Staci Says... | Comments Off

An Ideal Weekend

Saturday, January 29th, 2011

I was in Portland over the weekend, seeing clients, catching up with friends and family, giving my monthly workshop at Crystal Cavern of Oregon, editing my mom’s book, eating really good Thai, and visiting places that are important to me (New Seasons being one of them).

I recently met up with another good friend, and she pointed out what a gift it is when we get to experience our ideal day. And really, those two days were very idyllic for me. I met with three or four clients a day (which is between six and eight hours of actual meeting time), and felt refreshed. I had dinner with a friend, and caught up on life (hers and mine). I gave a really fun and informative workshop to a room full of interested and interesting folks. I bought really tasty bulk brown rice, and finally got my hands on some Grapefruit Seed Extract for the EO Travel Kits I sell– and along the way, I enjoyed myself.

I come into Portland for “Work Weekends” once or twice a month right now, but if I could, my whole life would be filled with days like those. I think I’m headed that direction. It’s what I’m here to do– Empathic Healing. Once classes are done, there will certainly be more time for me to meet with clients, and spend more time supporting my community. I can’t wait. And I want to thank everyone who contributed to my ideal two days. Especially the folks I didn’t mention– My time with you was equally special, just harder to sum up in a single sentence.

If you could spend a week living your ideal life, what would you do? Who would you see? Where would you go? Write it out. And then think about possible ways to include some of those things in the life you have now. My hope for you is that every day be a good day.

Be Well.

| Posted in A Wish For Tomorrow, Blessings, Staci Says... | Comments Off

First Day of Classes

Tuesday, January 4th, 2011

I think it takes a tremendous amount of courage to go after what we really want. First, because it matters if we fail. Second, because we don’t always have all the knowledge, skills, or experiences we need to succeed. Sometimes, it’s easier to simply not try. To let those be the dreams we didn’t follow– precisely because we want them SO MUCH.

When I was in school, I took the usual math and science classes. And although I always did well enough to move on to the next class, I didn’t really understand the information being taught. Math was painful, and by my senior year, I was ready to give up. So I did. I haven’t taken math since my junior year of high school. It’s been a while.

I even chose a 4-year college based on whether or not I’d be required to take math and science classes in order to graduate. Since becoming a doctor requires a TON of math and science, I never bothered thinking of it as a possible career goal for me. But I always thought doctors must have wonderful lives– spending their time and energy helping people be well. Knowing what to do in an emergency. Franky, I was envious. But it was a dream I figured I could never have.

I decided almost a year ago to pursue my dream of becoming a doctor. But yesterday was my first day of actual premed classes. I’m starting at the beginning. Math I learned my junior year of high school– well, math I was tested on and passed but never understood– I’m taking it again. And I somehow got through life without ever taking a Chemistry class. So– Chemistry 100. And Biology? Well, I remember two things: chlorophyl (spelling??) is what makes plants green, and dissecting the owl pellets for mouse-bones in middle school took a long time. So Biology 112, in preparation for some Anatomy and Physiology classes down the road.

I was terrified. Math. Science. And it matters. If I can’t do it this time, I can’t follow my dream and make it come true. Terrified.

Turns out Biology is FUN! And my math teacher? She has a great sense of humor, and a knack for making math real. I never knew before that there would be a real-world reason to graph (x,y) points on a line. And she’s very patient about showing us how to use our bionic TI-89 calculators with the apps and the three levels of button codes and the USB drive!!! A CALCULATOR with a usb drive. Sigh… High school was a very long time ago.

And… Hey. I think I can do this stuff. It’s going to take work, but I’m not afraid of working hard when the reward is something I really want. In fact, I may even have FUN doing this stuff! Which is good, since this is the kind of knowledge my goal of doctorhood is made of.

I want to share this with you because there is a dream you’ve given up on. Something you just never quite believed yourself capable of achieving. I encourage you to give it a second chance. Give yourself a second chance. You’re older now. Wiser. And you have more skills and resources than you did before. Maybe this time you’ll get the support and encouragement you need to grab even a small corner of your dream, and make it come true.

Be Well.

| Posted in A Wish For Tomorrow, Resources, Staci Says... | Comments Off

Budgeting Money

Sunday, December 26th, 2010

So last week, as I said, I spent some time scheduling and budgeting.

Money can be such a frightening topic. A few years ago, in the midst of grad school, student loans, no job, big apartment all to myself, I read a book called “Your Money or Your Life.” This book talks about the connection between time and money. Between the responsibilities we take on so that we can get paid more, and the money we have to spend to make that extra money. This is the book that finally helped me understand what all the things I spend my money on actually cost.

Between car payments, laundromats, childcare costs, fast food because there’s no time to cook, fancy haircuts so we look “right” for our jobs, marketing costs, taxes, illness and injury from over-work, the new sofa so we can have my boss over for dinner, appropriate clothes for our jobsite, schmoozing at that expensive club, etc etc… We often spend every penny we make just to have our job.

And if that’s the case for you, it had better be a job you love doing, because that may be the only benefit you get from it. This is why we make budgets and track our spending. We need to know for sure how much money is “enough.” We need to see where our hard-earned money really goes. We need to know that the effort we put out is “worth it.”

“Your Money Or Your Life” changed the way I look at money, and at the way I spend my time. It’s a little out of date– houses were cheaper in the ’80’s, for one thing. But the basic ideas gave me food for thought about simplifying my responsibilities, and realizing that the work I put my time into had better be giving back something more than money.

The great part about my budgeting this week was that I projected possible incomes/opportunities into the future. (here’s where the very sketchy bistromathics come into play– I’m not a financial analyst or an accountant, so I just guess at how my money will accrue if invested, and what inflation might make things cost in ten or fifty years) I looked at the debts I have– and will have– and the income I’m likely to earn. Also, I’ve tracked my expenses fairly consistently over the past few years, so I know how much I actually tend to spend on this and that– and not what I want to believe I spend.

I looked at what I might realistically save each year from now on, and realized that it could actually be possible for me to retire comfortably one day. This is possible in part because I know  how much “enough” will be once I don’t need to spend all that money on work and school and having a car to get me to and from both. Yay Me!

It’s that time of year. The time when we look back at what was, and look ahead at what might be. And from the lessons and opportunities and hardships of both, we forge our intentions and our plans for this year. This month. This opportunity to live our best life now.

Be Well.

| Posted in A Wish For Tomorrow, Resources, Staci Says... | Comments Off

Charm Bag Manifestation Workshop Saturday!

Wednesday, December 8th, 2010

Come to Crystal Cavern of Oregon, on 72nd in Tigard. At 7 pm Saturday the magic starts. Together, we’ll craft charm bags to draw and manifest that which you need most in your life right now. Peace? Abundance? Blessings to Mother Earth or the patience of Father Time? Wise council, good company, and focus– All will be at the craft table with us this weekend.

Be Well.

| Posted in A Wish For Tomorrow, Get Involved/How-To, authored by: S. Brooke Elliott | Comments Off

« Older Entries