THE BIRTH OF AN IDEA

The Birth of An Idea

(History of Senior Wellness Clinic’s)

Let’s take a moment to honor Norah Bain and the legacy she left for the citizens of the City of Richmond.  The year was 1997 and the idea that Norah had, was to create a monthly program in Richmond where the general public of all ages could have access to Holistic Practitioners.   

As the story goes, one day, she happened to mention her program idea while visiting the Richmond Women’s Resource Centre at the

Caring Place

.  A partnership was formed, brochures and posters were circulated and the monthly Holistic Night program began.

 

Registration began at 6:30 p.m. on the 3^rd Monday of the month.  It was 1^st come 1^st served, so we soon had numbers to hand out to people as they arrived.  As your number was called you had a choice of practitioners to choose from in the available 7 – 9 p.m. time slots.  To create an energy exchange, a suggested donation of $5.00 was established, which was donated to the Women’s Resource Centre.

Each month, Norah phoned her growing list of practitioners to remind them of the Holistic Night.  She never knew who or how many would show up.  We had a white board that the practitioners signed in on when they arrived and that is how the clients knew what and who was available that evening.  She trusted the Universe to provide and it always did.  The needed number of practitioners would magically arrive for the number of clients that came.  Eventually monthly email reminders replaced the bulk of the phone calls. 

The program continued to evolve.  Next we booked guest speakers to entertain the public while they were waiting, sometimes for 2 hours, for their session.  Then the practitioners wanted to see the guest speakers too, so we had the guest speaker come early and speak to the practitioners first while the public was signing up for sessions.  At 7.00 when the sessions started, the guest speaker would then start another presentation for the public.  It was a challenge, speaking to an audience that changed every ½ hour as new people arrived from and others left to go to their session.

Eventually, Norah talked 2 of us into taking over her job.  We had developed a list of over 100 Holistic Practitioners encompassing everything from Ear Acupuncture, Iridology, Bach Flower Remedy, Reiki, Healing Touch, Touch for Health, Therapeutic Touch, Reflexology, Craniosacral Therapy, to name a few.  And the guest speakers we attracted were professionals and authors. 

People started asking if we could take the program to the Minoru Seniors Centre, so on July 18^th, 2001, we met with Howard Palliser, the Recreation Programmer, who had already heard about us from some of the seniors.  We agreed to start the Holistic Practitioners sessions tagging on to the monthly Blood Pressure Clinic that was already running.  To start with, the suggested donations went to the Minoru Seniors Centre.  This changed and the suggested $5.00 donation was given to the Holistic Practitioner.

For a myriad of reasons, after 6 years, we made the decision to end the Holistic Night program and said our farewells at the November 17^th, 2003 session.

And the rest is history.  Fast forward to November 2011, and the present day Seniors Wellness Clinic program that has evolved and developed into city wide monthly programs at 7 community centre’s and now includes manicures, pedicures, facials and the Blood Pressure Clinic, as well as the annual Activate Wellness Fair.  

Written Nov 2011

A DAY OF REST

I have been thinking about this for months now.  Today, as I sat quietly in my morning meditation ritual, more thoughts were connecting with me and this story began to unfold and take shape. 

My morning ‘meditation ritual’, as I wrote those words a part of me asked, “what meditation ritual?”  Although I must admit I am getting better at developing and practicing a routine of sitting quietly for a chunk of time, somewhere.  Sometimes that is why I get up and push myself to go to the local mall weekday mornings for the ‘Tai Chi’ group.  Sometimes I find myself drawn to walk around the mall instead of following along with the exercises.  One day I decided to sit in a lovely comfy chair.  I had a quiet time with myself, capped off with a magical meeting up with an old friend.  We had a wonderful conversation as we continued walking the mall together.

Last week I was drawn to follow my nose which led me outside, where I noticed the sunrise taking shape in the sky.  My walk took me around to the other side of the building and as I held the door open for a little old lady with a walker, the magic continued.  She told me that she was 101 and still lived on her own.  She comes across the street to the mall every morning for the walk.  She does her own cooking and cleaning and her 75 year old son takes her grocery shopping when she needs to go.  She kindly agreed to come and meet my husband.  It was a delightful experience that continues to warm my heart.  I wonder by her usual perch most mornings to stop and say ‘hi’ and get my Jean fix.

Then this morning came and I choose to stay at home instead of going to exercise, all the while wondering why I didn’t just kick my ass and get going.  All those ‘shoulds’ we lace ourselves with.  So here I sit sharing this idea of “A Day of Rest” noticing how my mind was blank, struggling to remember… when the phone rings.  It was my mom and we had a wonderful conversation, truly enjoyable.  So now I know why I was meant to be here.

I am taking A Day of Rest. 

Yes, it is a Tuesday as I write this.  No, it doesn’t have to be on a Sunday.  And if you can’t schedule in a day, make it a half day, an hour, or even a minute is good.  Minutes do add up.

Turn off your cell phones and other electronic devices.  Disconnect yourself from all the gadgetry that supposedly is supposed to give us all more ‘time’.  Take a breath, and then another one.  Keep breathing, your doing so anyways – you might as well tune in and do it consciously.  Notice how shallow or deep it is.  Notice how you can change your breathing with very little effort.  Feel your body and notice everything around you.  The sounds around you, the surface you are on, the floor beneath you.  Expand out into the space surrounding you.  Can you sense those around you!  Expand out even further, touching all corners of the world, sending blessings and love to mother earth, thanking her for all her gifts.  Gifts created for our pleasure.  Trees and forests, mountains and valleys, specks of flowers so delicate, nature at its finest, enjoy it all as you open your eyes and hearts to all that surrounds you, envelopes you, nurtures you.  And while you’re at it, you may want to take a ‘day of rest’ from your daily routines and have a completely different day.  Give yourself permission to just be, take a vacation from all your doing.  Be prepared, you may be busy as you tap into the flow of divine order. 
    

Smile, and the world smiles with you, in love and peace.  Remember and breathe in the goodness of who you truly are. 

Nov 1, 2011