Tag Archives: Victoria

Do you live in your own culture of love & respect?

Recently I have begun sharing how my spring and summer is spent planting, gathering of flowers, leave & roots to make wonderful remedies. The purpose comes from hearing my clients express their concern, guilt, resentment and dependency upon pharma care products a13466358_10207722029426878_7619154285081841108_ns my hope is to model a different pattern and experience. I believe that pharma care lacks love of any living thing and is teaching us not to value ourselves. Therefore my hope of intention is to bring back love and care that is the bases for a healing outcome. When I work with nature in such a personal way I love it and would like to say feel the love back. This is the foundation I would like for healing and support. To take something that I feel appreciation for empowered by being a partner in the process of making it equals loving oneself!


Renee Lindstrom, GCFP,
Feldenkrais® Practitioner since 2007, Value-Based Communication & Empathy Coach since 2004, Art of Placement  since 2000, Founder of Greater Victoria Peace & Intercultural Celebrations since 2010 & Greater Victoria Labyrinths since 2012, #yyj Peace Week Calendar Founder – 2014 & 2015

Discovering Gumweed along West Coast of Victoria

I loved coming across gumweed 2016-06-14 14.00.03growing along the rocky banks of Victoria’s beaches during a walk.  The first thing you notice is the sticky resin on your hands when picking just one flower head. You know it must have some interesting qualities!

Researching this flower for more information and to confirm their name,  Grindelia squarrosa, I had to smile when finding a well-respected international herbalists description of gumweed that included he found them along the rocky outcrops of Victoria’s beaches here on Vancouver Island!

I imagine that you have seen them on your own walks!

 

2016-06-14 16.58.38

Cough Syrup

Discovering that they are great with honey in a cough syrup mixture and the organic one I buy is usually $12.00 and up I decided to buy a large jug of honey on sale for $12.00 and make my own!  The mason jar I am using would equal four purchased bottles of cough syrup or more.

Imagine reaching for your cough syrup and knowing exactly where the healing ingredients was picked and processed.  That the few fingerprints on them are mostly your own!

Within a short time of adding the flowers to the honey it became a rich dark colour and thickened.  2016-06-15 15.35.54It continues to thicken as it sits infusing its goodness.  Even though I began to dry these flowers for a few days before infusing they are still creating a thick mixture with their resin.

.

Tincture

I also decided to create a tincture using vodka which is great for colds, sore throats and coughs!2016-06-14 17.18.32


In Plants of the Rocky Mountains by Ryan Drum, gum from the pounded flower-heads was applied to poison ivy inflammations and taken internally to relieve coughing and congestion. “Extracts from the dried flower-heads and leaves have sedative, antispasmodic and expectorant qualities…[and] are used in modern medications for treating asthma and bronchitis,” the book explains.


 Renee Lindstrom, GCFP,
Feldenkrais® Practitioner since 2007, Value-Based Communication & Empathy Coach since 2004, Art of Placement  since 2000, Founder of Greater Victoria Peace & Intercultural Celebrations since 2010 & Greater Victoria Labyrinths since 2012, #yyj Peace Week Calendar Founder – 2014 & 2015

11 Fun & Easy (& sometimes free) Dating & Meet up Idea’s

1.  University & College Lectures – living in a university town you can attend a variety of lectures and information series events usually for free!  Hook up to your university’s calendar today!

University of Victoria – Free Lecture Series 
Camosun Calendar of Events

2.  Local Library and Book Store Public Events – go to a book reading, signing together  or attend a special presentation presented to your community!

Greater Victoria Public Library

3.  Community Gardens – source out local gardens that are open to the public.  In Victoria we are lucky enough to have many stunning gardens within the City and free to explore. For example – Finnerty Gardens at the University of Victoria, Beacon Hill Park in James Bay.

SAMSUNG

Finnerty Gardens – University of Victoria

 

4.  Local Markets, Food Kiosk’s and Truck’s – meet up to enjoy different foods at markets or around your town.  Enjoy the scenic downtown areas and be a tourist in your own town!

5.  Local Wineries – take an afternoon to check out your local wineries and sample their free tastings!

6.  Natural History Society – find yours and check out their schedule for bird-watching, nature and historical lectures.

7.  Explore your local Tours and Walking Maps –  Locate interesting walking maps in your town and meet up to investigate.  In Victoria we enjoy tours of historical architecture,  China Town, Artist Stroll events, Fisherman’s Wharf, Ross Bay or Chinese Cemeteries (Historical Sites)  with Emily Carr and Billy Barker (Barkerville, B.C.) and more!

Chinese Cemetary

Chinese Cemetery

8.  Volunteer in the local park, forest trails and beach clean up – Get outdoors and meet up to do an activity together that is invigorating and giving back.  Forest trails and parks are looking for volunteers to clean out invasive plant species and our local Surf-riders are looking for beach clean up help at their events.

9.  Tour your local museums, old churches and interesting historical  buildings in your city.  Take time to walk through some of these local gems and stopping for a treat along the way.

10.  Inner City Walks or walk outside your doorstep – In Victoria we are lucky enough to have scenic walks along our waterfront with downtown parks that have walking trails!  Many of these can be reached during lunch breaks!

11.  Volunteer at local festivals & events!  – Victoria hosts many festivals and events that are in need of volunteers from concerts, walks, runs to Ted Talks!


Removing obstacles to Love Workshop

LOVE PROGRAM STARTING FEB 1ST – 14 DAYS OF LOVE TIPS – FOLLOW @INSIDEAWARENESS

Day #1 – Tip #1


Removing obstacles to Love Workshop

Read more on love 

Read Richard Watts, Feature Writer for the Times Colonist  interview and article on love  and relationships!

 

The pathway to ‘self’

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Labyrinth enthusiast from Victoria came across this while driving through the back roads of Italy! A glass labyrinth. In the center you sit down and look into a mirror with the word self-written across it!

These pictures are a visual definition of InTouch Life programs that are designed to come into the center to consciously explore self first. It too is the intention for sharing labyrinth walks as walking maps of consciousness and the purpose of InTouch Life’s sister facebook site – Labyrinths of Victoria – and events. I hope you enjoy them!

more about Labyrinth’s

#yyj Peace Week Project

Celebrating Peace Week?

We urge you to share  a Peace focused event in your community group during the week leading up to September 21st,  ‘World Peace Day’

Why?

TO PLANT SEEDS OF PEACE ,

IT BEGINS WITHIN US IN COMMUNITY 

If you are planning an event in Greater Victoria during the week of September 14 – 21st, connect to have it added to our Peace Week Project Calendar! 

yyj world peace

or

.

Beach Labyrinth on World Ocean Day ~ June 8th!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

At Gonzales Beach, Victoria, B.C. on June 8th, World Oceans Day to gather and create a Labyrinth Drawing in the sand.  The purpose was for a film shoot to make a video invitation to invite Ellen D., to the World Children’s Summit on Peace and Nature in May, 2015.  Hosted in Victoria and held at the University of Victoria.

Read more on the World Children’s Summit or on the Contemplation and Labyrinth Workshop

Truly the Beauty Path!

Walking of Blossom, World Labyrinth Day ~ Victoria

Walking of Blossoms, World Labyrinth Day ~ Victoria

May 3, ’14 was World Labyrinth Day and the focus was, “We walk as One.”  The meet up in Victoria was at the Park Labyrinth in James Bay.  Beautiful at this time year with the added and unexpected bonus of Japanese Blossoms.  These trees had been a gift to Victoria from Japan.  This year they are creating a canape over the the pathway leading to the labyrinth and over part of the labyrinth itself.

Walking up to the labyrinth entrance under this canopy the sensation was uplifting with joy and light-heartedness.  Entering the labyrinth and walking to the center there was pleasure at noticing the flowers in the grass.  The pathway was filled with tiny springtime flowers.  Coming around a corner, fresh blossoms from the Japanese Cherry’s laid in wait and suddenly a canopy of blossoms overhead.

Truly one of the most beautiful labyrinth walks this author has encountered. Natural and unexpected.  This labyrinth is surrounded by old growth trees that help to circle it and the feelings of love and playfulness prevailed.  Walking for World Peace on this day carried a different emotion and spirit than anticipated and really isn’t it light-heartedness and playfulness that is going to bring it on?