Updates and news
May 21, 2010
The next workshop is coming together nicely. The tentative date of the first class is currently Monday June 7th 6-9pm. The following 2 classes would be in July and maybe even into August. I always try to stay flexible and work on setting the classes on days that work for all the students.If you are interested in signing up for the workshop, please contact me soon as I will only take 1 or 2 more students for this session. And as always, if you have any questions or concerns, I am always glad to speak with you.
April 8, 2010
I attended a wonderful qigong workshop in Portland Oregon in February, at the Ling Gui International Healing Qigong School. I learned a qigong form called Nourishing Woman Qigong that is specifically for women and was created to improve all aspects of gynecological health and hormonal balance. It can be practiced by women in any stage of their life, young and old, pregnant, nursing or after menopause. It is a very powerful form that I have greatly enjoed practicing regularly since learning it.I was very impressed by everything I learned and by the school's main teacher, Master Liu He; it was very powerful learning qigong from an accomplished female master. Her methods of teachings and the way she described everything really resonated with me deeply. In light of all this, I have decided to enroll in their teacher training program! This will allow me to be certified to teach some of the school's forms. I will be returning to the West coast, this time to Seattle, at the end of April for the next workshop in this program. I look forward to integrating this new knowledge in my teachings and offering full qigong classes in the future.
February 9, 2010
I am pleased to announce my next workshop in Erie! The first class will be on Saturday March 6, from 6pm to 9pm. The location of the class is yet to be determined. Sign up soon, space is limited!! Contact me to register for this workshop.January 18, 2010
Happy New Year everyone!I am currently teaching private classes and it has been going very well. I want to start a group workshop at the end of February, here in Erie. If anyone is interested, or know someone that might be, please contact me and share this website with your friends and family.
October 19, 2009
I have gotten several requests for a session to be taught in the Pittsburgh area. I am looking for 2 or 3 more students to fill the class. The session would most likely begin in late November, but I do not have specific information at the moment. If you are interested, please contact me and reserve a space soon!September 22, 2009
I am excited to announce that I recently began a correspondence course with herbalist Susun Weed and will be spending a weekend at her center at the end of October. I have been busy harvesting plants and making medicine these last few weeks, and cannot begin to express how happy I am to be studying herbalism in the wise woman tradition. I know now that this is part of my calling in life.A new session will begin in Erie in December!
I do not have a date set in stone yet, but I am thinking of starting the first week of December. If you are interested in taking these classes, please get in touch with me soon. Pontential days for this session are Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday evenings 6-9pm, or Sunday afternoons 1-4pm.
Also, I wanted to mention a quick note about payment for these classes. I have been asked about bartering recently and I wanted to let everyone know that I am more than willing to barter for the entirety or parts of the cost of the classes. I cannot guarantee that all offers will be accepted, but please do not hesitate to talk to me if you would like to barter.
July 2, 2009
A new session is set to begin just outside of Jamestown NY. The first class be be on Friday July 17th, 6-9pm. If you live in the Erie area and are interested, I will be driving there and would be glad to offer a ride to anyone wanting to take these classes. Hurry and reserve your spot!June 9, 2009
I plan on including information about the pill and other artificial contraceptives on this website in the near future because I still meet so many women who believe them to be safe and without long term side effects. There is a lot of misinformation out there, and I feel it is my duty to educate women.There is no such thing as birth "control". We cannot control birth, and we cannot control nature. Women have gotten pregnant on every type of birth control out there, including tubal ligation. We need to change our mentality about fertility - our only healthy and natural option is to be AWARE of our bodies and of our fertility, and make intelligent choices accordingly. We cannot expect other people, or pharmaceuticals, to bridge this gap for us.
I wanted to share this quote from the book "Lunaception" by Louise Lacey.
"Today Western society views overpopulation as a social problem, and we have a multibillion industry devoted to "birth control". The term accurately reflects our characteristic attitude, which is to attack problems, try to control things. This is birth control we are talking about; women's bodies, not street traffic. How it is possible to regulate or control a living body? Putting physical restraint upon a living thing sometimes means death and always raises the possibility of damage.I'll leave you with these statistics; something worth meditating on when thinking about fertility and contraceptive choices:
Our culture takes the attitude that the control of living things is both desirable and possible. This view so permeates our culture as to have become largely unconscious, and we assume that other cultures view the world similarly. The basic assumption is that we can run the show better than if we let the show happen by itself. We can do nature's job better than nature - an amazingly presumptuous point of view. But we never do control anything. We only manipulate. And often destroy.
So, not surprisingly, in the name of birth control, we have more than a dozen ways to try to master nature. And because control doesn't work, no matter how many people think it does, we have in more than a dozen different ways been unsuccessful at "controlling" birth.
Of the approximately 6 million pregnancies that occur in the US each year, half are unplanned. Half of the unplanned pregnancies occured while using contraception. And 40-50% of these unplanned pregnancies will end in an abortion.
June 7, 2009
I am constantly trying to learn new things and deepen my knowledge of women's health, herbal medicine and fertility. I have recently purchased a few amazing books that are now in the gigantic "must read" pile of books that lives on my desk. Some of these books have been incredible eye openers and others I can barely wait to crack open. Here are a few of the titles that I am a big fan of these days:- Botanical Medicine for Women's Health by Aviva Romm
- Fertility, Cycles & Nutrition by Marilyn Shannon
- Wise Woman Herbal for the Childbearing Year by Susun S. Weed
- Healing Wise by Susun S. Weed
- Lunaception by Louise Lacey
- Medicine Woman by Lynn V. Andrews
- Tom Brown's Guide to Wild Edible and Medicinal Plants by Tom Brown
- Making Plant Medicine by Richo Cech
- Ethical Issues In The New Reproductive Technologies by Richard T Hull
May 28, 2009
Plans are coming together for classes in Jamestown NY. The session will be starting the first week of July; the exact date will be confirmed soon.Additionally, some women expressed interest in bringing my classes to the Pittsburgh area. No date has been set yet, but if you live in or around Pittsburgh and would be interested in learning the fertility awareness method, please get in touch!