A favourite author of mine was describing their process of writing as like driving a car down a country road at night with the headlights on. As you’re going along you can only see a little way ahead of you but you know that eventually you will arrive at your destination. Hearing this, I thought about how well it applies to life, and especially to our current situation.
For more than a year and a half I have been doing my best to see beyond the illumination of the headlights, yet continually being reminded that all I can do is focus on what I can see in front of me. In my mind, I thought that by September I would have arrived — in a pre-Covid world, ready to get out of the car, stretch my legs, and celebrate the journey. Alas, what looked like the destination turned out to be another bend in the road.
This summer and fall, we were hoping to begin offering yoga in our studio . . . However, it is abundantly clear that this pandemic is not yet over and as such, it is simply not economically viable for us to offer these services at this time. I am saddened to have to announce this but don’t feel I have any other choice considering the circumstances we find ourselves in.
Given that, I’ve decided to focus on what is right in front of me and the task at hand. For the past 18 months, we have been focusing on providing community acupuncture in our former yoga studio. Providing this service has been rewarding – and, I believe, helpful to the community – given that there are so few places where we can safely come together to heal and support one another. I am proud of all of our staff, volunteers, and acupuncturists for continuing to deliver this important service to those in need.
From my perspective, the need for community acupuncture has never been greater. Life seems to continue to separate us from one another, despite our need for connection and support. We are all collectively experiencing greater amounts of stress, despair, suffering, and hardship.
Healing together, and realizing that we are not alone, can be a great source of inspiration and well-being right now. Sitting in silence together with shared intentions of finding ease in our bodies, minds, and spirits, can and does serve these collective intentions.
With this in mind, it is our intention to continue offering community acupuncture in the same way we have been for the past 15 years. In addition, we are planning to offer more bodywork therapies to our list of services along with wellness coaching and spiritual guidance.
We are also planning to offer some community courses in counselling, and health and wellness over the coming year. We’ll be announcing some of these new opportunities and services through this newsletter and our website over the coming months.
We ask for your understanding over the coming months as we continue to adapt to our present life circumstances. If you still have a valid yoga pass with hemma you can redeem the remaining cash value for other services we currently offer, or if you would like to support our mission to continue offering affordable alternative healthcare to the community, please consider donating the remainder of your pass so that we can continue to operate during these challenging times.
Thank you for your ongoing support,
In gratitude,Michael