It was a passion flower that first stopped Susan McLeary in her tracks. The exotic flower ignited her passion and initiated her purpose toward becoming a florist, a designer, an artist, and an author. Yet, educator is the title Susan McLeary identifies with most these days.
Posts filed under Healing
A Shamanic View of Ancestors: The Power Within
In shamanism, ancestors are a source of great personal power and support that one may call upon to enrich one’s growth, to gain wisdom, and to manifest one’s highest good.
Book Review: obsessive intrusive magical thinking by Marianne Eloise
Obsessive Intrusive Magical Thinking by Marianne Eloise is a raw and compelling exploration of the author’s journey through the labyrinth of neurodiversity. Eloise candidly invites readers into the intimate corridors of her mind, offering a poignant and authentic account of living with intrusive thoughts, and the relentless pursuit of magical thinking.
The Wisdom of Depression
If you would have told me eight years ago that my depression held wisdom and had something to teach me, I would have thought you were crazy. Like driving down Main Street on game day crazy. That's because I was smack in what I call my "Dead Decade." From age 18-28, I was depressed, and I mean depressed. I was certain depression was the worst thing to ever happen to me because it had destroyed my life, sabotaged my promising professional career as the lead singer of a rock band, and left me in ruins.
Anne Biris — The Healing Power of Chinese Medicine
Anne Biris is a nationally board certified and State of Michigan licensed acupuncturist, Chinese herbalist, massage therapist, and practitioner of Chinese Medicine with offices in Ann Arbor and Dearborn Heights. She holds a Master’s degree in Chinese Medicine and has been practicing for 30 years. She also provides acupuncture on a volunteer basis in the poorest areas of India and Sikkim. Biris likes to fly under the radar, but after much prodding (because Anne Biris is a treasure that readers of CWCJ should know about), s
The Quartz Crystals in Our Lives — Necessity, Healing, and Magic
For as long as I can remember I have had a fascination with quartz crystals. They call to my heart and sing to my soul. I have them in most every room of my home. As a spiritual person, I believe in the metaphysical and healing use of crystals of all varieties. My favorite crystal is clear quartz. I love the beauty and clarity of these faceted wonders of nature.
Kindred Conversation: Joy Dettling, Life and Health Coach
Tears run down my cheeks. My right hand, resting on a hand cradle contraption, buzzes lightly. Life and health coach Joy Dettling asks me to continue speaking about my central concerns, as she monitors the correlating reactions on her laptop. “What’s bothering you?” she asked. “What are the blocks between you and your betterment?” With one deep aha moment after the next, I am surprised to be finding the words to express some of my most long-held emotional blocks and self-doubts. As I speak, the ZYTO EVOX hand cradle measures my reactions through the pulses in my fingertips and reports the levels on her screen. With a thumbs-up, Dettling assures me that, “We are on the right track.”
Out of My Comfort Zone: An Inside Journey
Here’s the thing I’ve noticed about stepping out of your comfort zone: The more resistance you feel about doing the uncomfortable thing, the more learning and transformation you’ll experience when you do it.
By definition, everything on the above list fell outside of my comfort zone, and nothing on this list catalyzed resistance like healing chronic illness. Healing has been the ultimate adventure out of my comfort zone.
Out Of My Comfort Zone: Sharing My Song
I’ve never enjoyed exposing myself to potential scrutiny and criticism. Staying quietly out of the limelight seemed like a good strategy for avoiding these unpleasantries. My friendly, people-loving nature, along with a deep desire for approval, caused me to prioritize putting others at ease, and to do what I could to keep everybody comfortable. I’d always believed that was the right thing to do…the nice thing to do. In many ways it felt good, yet a disastrous cost to me of all this people-pleasing was that I was chronically tense, and I was squelching my own true self-expression.
A Daily Dose of Sound, Vibration, and Frequency
Sound, vibration, and frequency are a part of everything we do. Sit for a moment, take a deep breath, and listen…. What do you hear? Maybe it’s the TV in the next room, or the gentle hum of the refrigerator’s condenser kicking in, or traffic on the street or road outside the building you are in. Many of the sounds we hear are processed and filtered in a way that we just don’t notice them. Whether it’s white noise specifically used for relaxation, or any of the other “colors of noise,” sound and vibration is a constant part of our life.
From Doubt to Perseverance: A Local Practitioner’s Story
My journey to self-discovery began about 20 years ago when I was diagnosed with lupus. For many years the disease kicked my butt. I was severely depressed, constantly in and out of the hospital, having one issue after another. I often had a hard time taking care of myself, and my children, especially after filing for separation from their father. I moved back home from Virginia to Michigan and started over. I tried my best to make a good life for myself and my sons, but lupus wouldn’t let me be. I have had many near-death experiences, the last time being the worst. I then promised myself I wouldn’t let lupus kill me. I was determined to get better. I was going to find a way to cure myself.
Finding a Deep Rooted Sense of Being: Plant Hallucinogens and the Modern World
For centuries, people have gazed at the night sky with a sense of wonder, attempting to comprehend the mysteries of the cosmos in relation to their own existence. Not that long ago, communities would gather around a communal fire, exchanging insights and challenges while seeking wisdom from their tribal elders.
Community Acupuncture: A Synergy of Healing & Community: A Conversation with Evan Lebow-Wolf, Cheryl Wong & Kiersten DeWitt of Ann Arbor Community Acupuncture
Community acupuncture, on the other hand, offers a sustainable and fiscally sensible solution to treating as many people as efficiently and effectively as possible. Evan Lebow-Wolf, co-founder of Ann Arbor Community Acupuncture (AACA), told me briefly about the difference between community acupuncture and private acupuncture. When I asked him whether he feels like there is anything missing in the community acupuncture approach that is available in private acupuncture sessions, he replied with a firm and resolute “no.”
Joyful Movement for Complex Healing
The Nia technique is a somatic movement practice that combines dance, martial arts, and healing arts to promote holistic fitness and well-being. Developed by Debbie Rosas and Carlos Aya Rosas in the 1980s, Nia is based on the belief that movement is medicine and that the body’s innate wisdom holds the key to healing and vitality.
Healers of Ann Arbor: TheraSupport for Neurolpgical Conditions
About seven years ago, I fainted when sick and hit my head. I sustained a concussion, but it was on the severe end of what is considered a concussion, right before you get to a moderate traumatic brain injury. I was sent to neurology and then neuropsych for a support group to teach me how to cope with the effects of the injury and how slowly the healing happens. Unfortunately, I was let go from the group after six months.
Now That Was a Great Funeral
Lisa’s funeral was three years, almost to the day, from when she was first diagnosed with stage four colon cancer on March 17, 2020. She was my friend, my colleague, a woman I admired, respected, loved. From the day she was diagnosed, she wrote daily in her Caring Bridge online journal. Throughout the pandemic, her chemo, and the unmentionable discomfort she endured, Lisa wrote. She told us the ugly truth of her experience and the beautiful hope and moments of joy that met her on her journey through life to death.
Psychedelic Medicines in Trauma Recovery
Life is hard and yes, terrible things can and do happen, oftentimes to people who do not deserve it. Denying trauma and trying to inspire people out of its impact, both individually and collectively, has been the go-to method of dealing with trauma for generations.
A Good Crop of Mental Health: A Conversation about Animal Assisted Therapy with Laura Sanders
Laura Sanders, LMSW, ACSW, has been practicing in the Ann Arbor area for 34 years and has been teaching as an adjunct professor at the University of Michigan School of Social Work for 26 years. Her approach to therapy utilizes a wide variety of evidence-based and creative therapies, including trauma recovery methods, art and play therapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, and relational approaches through Animal Assisted Therapy.
Conscious Parenting: Ele's Place Ann Arbor--A Home for Healing Arts
Ele’s Place Ann Arbor is a healing center that provides peer grief support for children, teens, and their families in Ann Arbor as well as the surrounding southeast Michigan area, free of charge, for as long as a family needs. Ele's Place Ann Arbor is the only nonprofit in our community dedicated solely to helping children and teens work with, and through, grief in a peer-based setting.
Ann Arbor Healers: Indigo Forest and Chronic Pain Reduction
Beth Barbeau is a healer, and a teacher with 40+ years of midwifery and natural family health experience. Barbeau has recently added a new therapeutic device to her robust set of therapeutic options at Indigo Forest, her online and in-person business designed to help people of all ages achieve optimum health.
