Archive for the ‘Events’ Category

Winterriffic

Wednesday, January 18th, 2012

Well, it’s snowy on the west coast this week. Especially in the “back country” as one news reporter put it. (Of course, the ski resorts are open for business and very accessible, not “back country” at all, really.) I think we live in a place that might well qualify as “back country” just now. And yes. It’s very snowy.

Yesterday, we had about four inches on the ground. The dog was ecstatic. He’s old, rickety, fairly deaf, and bull-headed. So when I take him outside, it’s ALWAYS on a leash. Because he still thinks he’s 2, and wants to take on the world, with giant leaps for dog kind. All four feet off the ground at once, while twisting in ecstatic circles of joy.  Seriously. He should go out for figure skating. And he loves snow. LOVES IT. So yesterday I took him out for his first morning “dooty” and it looked like this:

step in snow, step in snow…
downward-dog-and-freeze…
LUNGE! to the end of the LEASH!
….aaaand recover his dignity.

step in snow, step in snow…
HEY! IT’s SNOWY OUT HERE!!! downward-dog-and-freeze…
LUNGE! into the snow, to the end of the LEASH!
…aaaand recover his dignity.

Today, when we went out for his first morning “dooty” of the day, well, the snow was a bit deeper. Several inches higher than the top of my snowboots, in fact. And that puts it about tummy height or so on the dog. So we shoved our way through (or well, *I* shoved my way through, and he followed behind in my footprints because he may be a dog, but he isn’t stupid). And I stomped and shoved clear a few snowy spots with low bushes so he’d have a place to stand, and a thing to target, while he did his thing— and he could actually get his leg above the snow height in those little stomped areas. Which he definitely appreciated and quickly made use of.

EWWW!!! Yellow Snow!!!

My partner got home from work at noon today. Apparently, they’d been released at 9am (And WHY did they have to go in to work to begin with??? Even the freakin Public Library is closed today!), but nobody could find the (gravel, off-grid, drifted over, hilly, curving, unmarked) road out from his work site, so they all took turns driving their work trucks into the ditch that lines both sides of the road, and using that vehicle as a marker for where the road REALLY was. Like I said, it took him three hours to get back home. It would have been even longer, but he got lucky and found some abandoned plywood on the side of the road the last time he got stuck.

(When we get out of here, I’m buying us both collapsible snow shovels for our vehicular emergency kits. Seriously.)

At which point, we both suited up in our snow gear (Mom, remember those blue zip-over “water-resistant” pants we used to wear skiing when I was a kid? Yeah, I’ve still got a pair, thank goodness. They even seem to still repel snow fairly well. And I can wear them over my pants, so hey– no frostbite, AND no hives!) and pushed about a ton of snow off our two vehicles (seriously, there was over a foot on each one, heavy, wet, compacted, heavy snow. Did I mention it was heavy?) because –hey!– it’s winter, and they say we’re getting another foot of snow tonight.  And all that heavy snow might be bad for the car’s shocks. Here in the “back country.” With a mop, a broom, a two-by-four and a stepladder because the snow was THAT HIGH on the vehicles. Seriously. I had to go up two steps on the ladder just to be clear of the snow already on the ground, let alone the piles we made from what was on the vehicles. Which we then had to shovel out, because we have to take the dog on another “dooty” walk before bedtime. Past the vehicles and through their piles of snow to the tracks the garbage truck made this morning, which are still less deep than everything else, after it continued to snow all afternoon.

Well, okay, the two-by-four was for knocking the snow off the trees because a whole lot of branches had already broken under the weight– two-hundred-year-old THICK branches– and it’s going to get icy tonight before it starts snowing again.

SAVE THE TREES, that’s us.
And, oh, joy, it’s 7:30 pm, and looking out the window… the snow has started coming down again. As sleet.
And to be honest, it is a FAIRYLAND of beautiful and clean and cold and stillness out there. And I love it. It’s like meditating with your eyes open to walk through falling snow, in a world blanketed by snow, to the sound of snow. I actually had a BLAST shoveling out our half-way-around-the-house walkway (for the dog) this morning so we could get to the nice wide tire tracks the garbage truck left on its route today, and take a bit of a walk after breakfast. In the tracks of the garbage truck. Because, hey, we live in the “back country,” and they only plow three roads in our area. And ours ain’t one of them. I don’t think I’ve ever been quite so happy to see the garbage truck before. FREEDOM!!!!! Of course, the dog wore his quilted red doggy coat that we got at the specialty organic dogfood store in North Portland two winters ago. The year it just rained the whole time.

So. How was your day?

| Posted in Events, Laughter Makes the Best Medicine, authored by: S. Brooke Elliott | Comments Off

YAY ME!

Wednesday, January 4th, 2012

Today, for the last four or five hours, I’ve been updating things. It’s about time. Here it is JANUARY ALREADY, and I didn’t even have all my workshop offerings on the web calendar for THIS MONTH– JANUARY!. But you can relax. I’ve done that now.

So hey– help  me celebrate. Go to my website (www.BeWellmedicine.com) and check out the online calendar of upcoming workshops and classes. You can click on any offering there for more information, OR you can go to the “Workshops” page, and click on those links for even MORE information. Because– YAY ME!– I updated the workshop descriptions today, too. That’s what actually took most of the four hours.

Okay. Now, I’m taking the dog for a walk, and staring at something that isn’t a computer screen for a while. I might even get really outrageious and have a big yummy organic lunch or something. And read a book for a while. After the walk, that is. Need to stretch my eyes and my legs, and wear out the dog so I can have more quiet time again this afternoon. Oh yeah, and I want to send out an email to let folks know what they’re signed up for, and what they’re missing out on if they DIDN’T sign up for anything! YAY ME.

As always, and especially in the new year…
Be Well.

| Posted in Blessings, Events, Register Now!, Workshops, authored by: S. Brooke Elliott | Comments Off

Timing and Tempo

Monday, November 28th, 2011

Wisdom’s Feast this year was amazing. We had such a gorgeous diversity of presenters and of folks who came to attend the workshops. I wanted to be everywhere and participate in everything, and couldn’t because you do have to pick one workshop for morning session, and one for afternoon. Our keynote speaker was fascinating in her skill at weaving her life story and her spiritual awareness of The Great Something.

Wisdom’s Feast this year was also a lot more work for me than usual. Because I live farther away this year, and was unable to attend many of the planning meetings, I worked harder to support the event energetically. I also had bigger challenges collecting the information I needed to create this year’s program hand-out because of that distance. And while I usually do offer a workshop, this year I also held and offered the closing ceremony at the end of the day.

It took up a lot of my awareness this past few weeks. Add in my regular schedule of clients and workshops, trips to and from Portland, Corvallis, Seaside, The Dalles, Hood River, White Salmon, and points East… well… I took this last week off to recover. Oh, and to enjoy Thanksgiving with about 14 of my extended family members. Thank goodness they only asked me to do the veggie tray, and someone graciously brought both a normal apple pie AND a GLUTEN FREE PUMPKIN PIE!!! Thanksgiving was just wonderful this year.

I hope you’ve had time to celebrate, time to travel, time to be still, time to rest up, time to watch football (the Seahawks and the Chiefs came SO CLOSE!!!)… and time to rediscover yourself amongst the leftovers of the season.

Be Well.
S.Brooke

| Posted in Blessings, Events, authored by: S. Brooke Elliott | Comments Off

Connecting to the Great Something

Monday, August 1st, 2011

This has been an amazing weekend. I spent Saturday at the RoseSprings Healing Festival in Portland. I spent Saturday evening giving my monthly Take A Little Magic Home With You workshop at Crystal Cavern of Oregon. I spent Sunday doing what I do best: Connecting with the Great Something and encouraging personal growth.

The Healing Festival was a lot of fun– I met wonderful people, had fun getting “deep” with free Tarot Readings (now, don’t you wish you’d come?!), and “talking shop” with other amazing healers. Since this is the Festival’s second year, I look forward to an even bigger event next summer. The gathering also benefited from my first batch of six individually hand-made Charged Healing Candles, and we discovered that they have a total burn time of about 30 hours! Not bad for a well-loved pint-sized candle. (I think the healing energy I put into them helped…)

After meeting so many great– and empathic– folks this weekend, I’m really looking forward to our next Take A Little Magic Home With You workshop on August 13th. The topic is: Energy Management for Empaths. So if you (or someone you know!) find yourself constantly feeling way too many emotions, or feeling angry or sad when there’s just NO REASON… you might be empathic. If you find yourself feeling the emotions of others as if they were your own… you might be empathic. If you are gifted in the healing arts (particularly body and energy medicine such as massage), you might be empathic.

What’s an empath? Empaths don’t just sympathize with someone else’s emotions– they feel those emotions for themselves! And since folks don’t always SHOW how they feel on the outside, this can get confusing, fast. So how do you get some relief? How do you know which emotions are really your own? How do you set healthy boundaries with energy? You come to my workshop, Energy Management for Empaths on August 13th. Or call me for a personal consultation, and we’ll tailor the lesson specifically to you and your empathic/energy situation.

At the end of this crazy movie that I just love to laugh at (ever watch Big Trouble? I warn you, there are goats), the ridiculously selfish father has been sprayed by a toad’s halucenogenic saliva, and is thus imagining that his dog is Martha St*ewart. And he yells– very theatrically– “MAKE. IT. STOP!” with lots of shakespearean gesturing and such. I used to feel the same way about being Empathic. I know what you’re going through. And there are ways to manage it without going crazy.

Be Well.

| Posted in Events, Staci Says..., Workshops | Comments Off

All the Excitement!

Tuesday, July 26th, 2011

I’ve updated most of my professional website now– just two or three things left to do… Like write the page about Tarot, and the page that gives more specifics about workshops, for example. And I still haven’t had time to explain about my Rosebalm Ointment that works so well on most nerve-related chronic pain… But my newer, better, shiny-er offerings are on the website now. And I took out most of the old confusing content. I’m counting it as a successful update.

Also, if I didn’t mention it before, I’ll be at the RoseSprings Healing Festival this Saturday, July 30th, from 10 am to 4 pm. I’d love to see you there. You can stop by my booth for a free Tarot Card Reading (just one– if you want more cards, there might be a small fee because it’ll take a while), and make sure it’s going well. Plus– how often do you get your Tarot professionally Read?? For free?? Also, there will be lots of cool healer-type booths there, and one of my favorite masseuses, Lindsay Newman might be offering some on-the-go pressure-point therapy. (ask about her bio matt, her hot rock therapies, and Thai massage!) WELL WORTH THE DRIVE. And workshops, presentations… It’s going to be fun.

And if you’re feeling really energetic, you can join me at my own workshop later. I’ll be at Crystal Cavern of Oregon at 6 pm so that you can “Take A Little Magic Home With You” from our workshop there. It’s going to be a great day.

If you’ve suddenly realized that you need more gentle guidance and honest, intelligent feedback than you get at my workshops, I do have one last slot open on my calendar to see individual clients in Portland on July 31st. If you’ve never worked with me before, check out my webpage at www.BeWellMedicine.com … and then select “About Staci’s Work” from the menu across the top. Oh, wait! I haven’t edited that page in WEEKS! Good thing each client I consult with is unique. Good thing that page is mostly quotes from past clients. Those don’t change.

Find what you love, and do that for a while. It’s summer. We’re supposed to be having fun!
(That was me teasing you, by the way. I’m having a blast, myself. How about you? Is your life making you happy?)

Be Well.

| Posted in Events, Get Involved/How-To, To Your Health, Workshops | Comments Off

Upcoming Events

Wednesday, July 20th, 2011

Wow, I have a lot going on! And I love it that way.

July 30th– 6pm: Workshop at Crystal Cavern of Oregon
Take A Little Magic Home With You: We’ll be finishing our tour of the upper Chakras, and I’ll walk you through a guided Chakra Meditation. Ask any questions you have as a new attendee, or after working for a month on Flow and your Chakra of choice. And bring paper and pen to take notes!

July 30th– 10am to 4pm: Tarot and Empathic Reading booth at RoseSprings Healing Festival
I can’t wait to give little insights that will change lives. One card or insight for free; take more time, and I might charge you $10, $20 or $25, based on time and energy given. I’m so excited! And I may also be offering a short presentation on the mind-body-spirit connection to emotional wellbeing in the body.

I’ll be at Crystal Cavern again on August 13th for our 6pm workshop: Take A Little Magic Home With You.

Looking farther ahead, I’m on the Wisdom’s Feast Committee again this year, and the Wisdom’s Feast Women’s Spirituality Conference is happening again this November. It’s all day, and it’s life-changing and beautiful and educational and inspirational and just WONDERFUL. More info to come on this. Or check last year’s website: WomensWisdomConference.com

I look forward to reconnecting with you.
Be Well.

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Wisdom’s Feast: A Women’s Spirituality Conference

Saturday, November 6th, 2010

Hey, All–

Just a reminder that this year’s Wisdom’s Feast is coming soon. Get online and get registered! The conference will be held on Saturday, November 20th, in the Portland/Vancouver area.  Visit the website at:  http://womenswisdomconference.com/

We are living in times of great change and opportunity. Come explore the knowledge of the wise women that came before us. Learn the tools of the ancients: storytelling, drumming, herbal wisdom, ceremony, movement, communion with nature, connection to our ancestors and more.

Keynote Address: “Plant and Stone Voices of The Ancients”
Roberta MacKrill, the beekeepers daughter

Workshops include:

  • In Her Own Words: Reclaiming the Ancient Art of Storytelling
  • Voice of the Water: Listening to the Wisdom of the Waters
  • Dance the Goddess!
  • Plant Spirit Shamanism
  • Drumming Healing Circle
  • Spirited Activism: Ancient Wisdom for Anti-Oppression Work

$45.00 registration (includes lunch); $60 at the door

| Posted in Events, Get Involved/How-To, authored by: S. Brooke Elliott | Comments Off

Spiral Moon

Saturday, August 14th, 2010

The New Moon happened this week. I was so busy enjoying it that I forgot to write about it! This moon I call Spiral Moon.

Spiral Moon reminds us of the interconnection of all life, of all events. We are coming around again to Autumn, to Harvests, to salmon have spawned, and now return to the river banks. New life begins even as the old life comes to an end.

Today, there is a heat advisory in Portland. But by the time the full moon comes around, the mornings will be chilly and the wind will carry just a hint of the coming cold. Some Native American tribes called this the Moon when Salmon Return to the Earth.

Pacific salmon are born in fresh water streams, but live their lives in the ocean. Eventually, they return to the stream they were born in, spawn their eggs, and acknowledge that their life journey is done. They settle in at the edge of the stream to die.

It is here that wild bear and other animals come to feast, to build their reserves of protein and fat for the lean winter months. They bring many salmon carcases onto the banks of the stream. Here, the salmon serve one more vital purpose. Their decomposition provides nitrogen fertilizer for the conifers and other trees along the bank.

Nothing in nature is wasted, and everything has a purpose. Even death contributes something vital to the living. It is the spiral dance. Energy flowing through and around all living things. Days and nights passing as they do every year. Ceremonies taking place. Spiral Moon.

Be Well.

Tags: | Posted in Events, Research/Info, Staci Says... | 1 Comment »

Workshops: Healing and Magic

Sunday, July 18th, 2010

Welcome to SanctuaryWEST!

If you haven’t been here recently, we have a lot going on.
I’m offering a free online workshop called :”Seven Chakras in Seven Months.”
See below for more info.

I’m also offering a series of in-person workshops for $25 each– which covers the cost of the workshop and supplies– called “Take a Little Magic Home With You!” These will be light, fun, and you’ll definitely get to take some useful skills and cool gifts home at the end of each workshop. See below for more info.

Oh, and I’m also giving out information about various WONDERFOODS! Foods that nourish and heal.

Currently, with Seven Chakras in Seven Months, we’re working on the Root Chakra– the beginning point. The basis of everything else. I encourage you to spend a little time each day focusing on your Root Chakra, and on your relationship to the physical and emotional aspects of that chakra. This is a healing, rebuilding, and unblocking process. My goal is to give you the tools, time, and support you need to open to flow. To heal yourself, and move forward toward balance and wellness.

If you’re just joining us, scroll to the bottom of this post, and click on the Tag: Seven Chakras in Seven Months. This will give you all related posts (most recent first). Also, after the first month, I’ll be switching the Seven Chakras Workshop to subscriber-only. It’s still free, but it won’t clutter the blog. The password for these workshops will be “7chakras.”

If the series, Take a Little Magic Home with You sounds like fun, we meet on the second Thursday of the month, at 7pm, in Tigard. Email me, or call Judith at 503-597-2688 for details. Here are the next few dates and topics:

  • August 12: Honor Yourself with Healing Ceremonies: Learn the basics. We’ll be working with Tea, Candles, Herbs, and of course GIFTS!
  • September 9: Make Your Own Charm Bag for Prosperity and Manifestation.
  • October 14: Honor Your Spirits!
  • November 11: Create Your Own “Give Back” Bag.
  • December 9: Make Your Own Charm Bag.


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Summer Solstice

Monday, June 21st, 2010

Summer Solstice is the longest day of the year. It’s a sacred, magical day on many calendars around the world. It marks a transition point, similar to the full moon night on monthly lunar calendars. After this, the days get shorter again as the year swings back toward winter.

On this day, we acknowledge all that the sun does for our world. It helps us grow, it feeds our plants and our souls, it brings great possibilities to our lives and to our planet. Traditionally, Midsummer is the day that couples publicly commit to each other through Handfasting. It is an important day for collecting healing herbs and medicines. It is a day pregnant with possibilities. It is a day marked by ceremony, community, and change.

Happy Midsummer.

Be Well.

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