Come and play with paint! Join a small group to explore and express yourself through spontaneous painting. This experiential workshop will allow you to learn about Art Therapy in an intimate and safe setting. I will lead the group on a guided meditation and visualization and then let you lead your Self on a journey with paint and paper. You might find the experience fun, relaxing, surprising and revealing! No art experience necessary.

To read more, check out Stephanies writings about Art Therapy under the Choices Market Nutritional Articles

Date: Wednesday, Sept. 15, 2010 from 6:00 – 7:30 pm

Cost: $ 10 cash at the door. To cover fees for materials

Location: Alchemy & Elixir Health Group # 320-1026 Davie St. Vancouver, BC. V6E 1M3

Co sponsored with Choices Market

Space is limited: Maximum 6 people per group. Pre-registration is required.

For more information and register for the class email: stephanie@alchemyelixir.com or call Stephanie directly at: 778-988-1312.

• Anger
• Anxiety
• Depression
• Depressed immune system
• Digestive Disorders
• Headaches
• High blood pressure
• Increased frustration
• Increased PMS
• Tense muscles
• Insomnia

Shannon Larson R.Ac. will be providing a talk about how acupuncture can address these symptoms and offer a drug-free approach is to reducing the negative impacts of stress. 

Shannon Larson BFA, R.Ac., Doula,  Registered  Acupuncturist

Shannon holds a diploma of Dr. of Chinese Medicine from the International College of Traditional Chinese Medicine of Vancouver. Her studies in Chinese Medicine include clinical practice for her Doctor of Chinese Medicine at the China Medical University and Hospital in Taiwan. While Shannon’s interest in Chinese Medicine is wide ranging, her passion for women’s health has led her to pursue training in workshops by some of the world’s leaders in Chinese Medicine for fertility and obstetrics including Sharon Weizenbaum, Bob Flaws, Debra Betts and Jane Lyttleton. Shannon is also a member of the Acumamas team providing acupuncture during labour as well as doula services.

I love Chinese Medicine because it offers an alternative approach to treating health. It responds to the body as a whole. It sees a relationship between the health of the mind and the rest of the body rather than treating them as disconnected from one another. Acupuncture fascinates me because I am constantly amazed at the body’s own power to heal itself.

Find out how Shannon’s unique approach can help you attain optimal health in all facets of your life. For more information visit www.alchemyelixir.com

Dates: Wednesday, Sept. 29, 2010 from 6:00 – 7:30 pm

Cost: $ 10 cash at the door. (Co sponsored with Choices Market)

Location: Alchemy & Elixir Health Group # 320-1026 Davie St. Vancouver, BC. V6E 1M3

Space is limited: Maximum 6 people per group. Pre-registration is required.

For more information and register for the class email: shannon@vancouvertcm.com or call Shannon directly at: 778-233-0074

We will cover a general overview of the function fo the skin, coupled with learning the actions and application of key herbs for the skin: herbal alteratives, blood cleansers, vulernaries, and anti inflammatory herbs in terms of supporting common skin conditions (from acne, eczema, psoriasis, rashes, wound healing, and common first aid). An interactive evening, combined with herb tasting and fun! Taught by Katolen Yardley, MNIMH, Medical Herbalist. Co sponsored with Choices Market.

Time: Tuesday, October 19, 2010 ~ from 6:00- 7:30 pm hours

Cost: $ 10 cash or cheque at the door. All materials and handouts provided.

Location: Alchemy & Elixir Health Group # 320-1026 Davie St. Vancouver, BC. V6E 1M3

Space is limited: Pre-registration and prepayment is required. Call 604-683-2298 or email at info@alchemyelixir.com to register.

Discover the healing benefits of herbal medicine and further your knowledge of holistic health. This course is an introduction to the realm of plant medicine. Topics covered include: science based theory, safety, traditional use, first aid application and home application of common local plants. Learn to identify and recognize common local medicinal plants, master techniques of blending medicinal teas, prepare herbal salves and herbal vinegars and gain confidence to use herbal medicine for common health complaints. Acquire the practical knowledge of herbal medicine through a hands-on approach of integrating herbal medicine use into your home. Time will be spent learning 15 herbs in detail. For general interest, a hands-on learning course and for professionals desiring an introductory course on plant based medicine.

Time: 10-4 pm Cost: $ 100.00 plus HST

Course Dates: 1 weekend / Saturday and Sunday, September 25 and 26, 2010

Location: # 320- 1026 Davie St. Vancouver BC, V6E 1M3

To Register Call:  604 683 2298 or email info@alchemyelixir.com

Instructor Profile: Katolen Yardley, MNIMH is a member of the National Institute of Medical Herbalists. Owner of Alchemy & Elixir Health Group and Wellness Centre in Vancouver, she has been in the Holistic Health field since 1993, with over 8 years of clinical experience. Since 1998, Katolen appears monthly on Global Television morning news, where she offers herbal information to the public. She has been a guest teacher at Boucher Institute of Naturopathic Medicine, has presented at global conferences and appeared in print in numerous journals and health magazines. Katolen’s personal interest in health lies with the emotional connection to wellness and dis-ease, nervous system disorders and women’s health issues. She believes in providing usable tools for healing through inspiration and education.

For more information visit:

www.alchemyelixir.com

 www.katolenyardley.com

Learn how to perform an Authentic Thai Foot Reflexology service that your clients will love. This 60 - 75 minute sequence can be performed with the client on a massage table or in a chair (as done in Thailand!). Your step-by-step guidebook will keep you on the right track as you put your new skills to work without delay! Certificates will be issued upon course completion.

Foot Reflexology is an ancient form of Chinese Massage. It has been used for more than 3,000 years. In this course, students will learn how to perform a 60-minute Thai Foot Reflexology and lower leg Massage that incorporates the use of a wooden tool to stimulate fifty-eight reflexology points on the feet directly linked to the body’s internal organs. This method is combined with thirty-one cream-based massage techniques using hands, palms and fingers to relax lower leg muscles as well as the foot and to stimulate blood and lymph circulation.

Pre-requisite: None / No previous massage experience required - for both general interest and professional continuing education hours.

This course is useful for: All Private/Personal Trainers who work with clients in Pilates, Resistance Training, Yoga and Massage Practitioners of all types.

Banyan Thai Massage is proud to meet the exacting standards as set by the College of Massage Therapist of BC (CMTBC) as well as the BC Recreation & Parks Association (BCRPA). All courses we teach offer the Massage, Spa and Fitness Professional the Continuing Educational Credits they need for Membership Renewal each year. Educational Credits: 8 CMTBC CEU’s and 8 BCPRA CEC’s.

Date: 2 Tuesdays: July 27 & Aug 3, 2010

Time: 12 PM - 4:30 PM both days

Location: Alchemy & Elixir Health Group & Wellness Centre: # 320-1026 Davie St, Vancouver, BC, V6E 1M3

Course Cost: $295 (includes gst & course materials). Credit Card payments are accepted.

Space is limited. Pre registration and prepayment required.

Course Instructor Sharon Brown Horton. For additional information contact: phone 604.773.2645

For on-line registration and more information visit: www.BanyanThaiMassage.com

~ Taught by Sharon Brown Horton

In the first segment of the Traditional Thai Massage Level 1 program, students learn the concept of initiating ‘energy’ movement through the body. Meridiens, main energy lines, pressure points and various manifestations of the body’s physical, psychological and spiritual balance are all introduced. Additional emphasis in this massage is placed on deeply focused abdominal work.

Upon completion of this course, students will learn a total of 63-massage based techniques, combined with Thai Yoga Stretch positions. Applying these same techniques, students and will be able to perform a complete 60-min. massage on a client in the supine and sitting positions.

Course Materials: Students will be provided with the workbook “Nuad Bo Rarn” Ancient Massage of Thailand (Northern Style); ITM International Training Massage School, by Chongkol & Atchara Setthakorn.

Method of practice: This course will follow the ITM School of Chiang Mai, Thailand teaching methods and uses the same course materials.

Students will have the opportunity to both practice and receive Thai Massage by fellow students.

Pre-requisite: None / No previous massage experience required - for both general interest and professional continuing education hours.

This course is useful for: All Private/Personal Trainers who work with clients in Pilates, Resistance Training, Yoga and Massage Practitioners of all types.

Banyan Thai Massage is proud to meet the exacting standards as set by the College of Massage Therapist of BC (CMTBC) as well as the BC Recreation & Parks Association (BCRPA). All courses we teach offer the Massage, Spa and Fitness Professional the Continuing Educational Credits they need for Membership Renewal each year.  Educational Credits: 24 CMTBC CEU’s and 24 BCPRA CEC’s. 

Dates: 4-Thursdays; July 8, 15, 22, 29, 2010Time: 9:30 AM - 4:30 PM each day * space is limited. Pre-registration is required to reserve your spot.

Course Instructor: Sharon Brown Horton -for additional information contact: 604.773.2645

On-Line registration is available and for more information visit: www.BanyanThaiMassage.com   

Having just returned home from a restorative meandering journey down the Oregon Coast and time away at a retreat. I had the opportunity to see the majestic, ancient Redwood forests and stood in awe of these massive trees - some exceptional species towering HIGHER than the empire state building (over 360 feet tall), with a girth - stretching in diameter over 20 feet. Known as the tallest trees on earth, some trees in old growth forests live to be over 2200 years old. These remarkable trees can withstand insect decay, fungus infestation and are largely resistant to fire (due to their high tannin content).

Again I am reminded by how much nature has to teach us about health, growth and the wisdom shared by observing the cycles of healing found in nature. The annual new growth (1-2 inches) was evident on all trees in the forests, with pine trees showing off their bright new green tips and the leaves of trees a lush bright green color, signs of the spring, signs of new life.

Nature has much to teach us about optimal health and of healing; those very lessons are consistent even with the health of our human body. Our body is acted upon by the same ‘forces’ or vital energy which is present in all living things, the cycles of growth and decay are also similar. We are continually casting off old dead cells, old ways of being and taking in the new, provided that there is opportunity and the body is supported with adequate tools in which to conduct itself towards healing (optimal nutrition, rest, clean air, exercise -to name a few).

The cycles of the seasons remind of us of the cycles necessary for optimal health. Any improved state of health first is met with a period of hibernation. In the case of nature, winter is the time when trees rest, there is no creation of sap, nor leaf or fruit. Instead trees and many animals enter a state of dormancy, their ‘vital energy’ goes inward, time of hibernation when there is little change in physical appearance, not much visibly seems to happen on the surface. Misleading however, the greatest change is occurring just below the surface (and perhaps the most powerful changes and forces exist in forms not visible to the eye) Think of the radio waves, phone waves, electricity and heat waves; all are extremely powerful, yet we cannot visibly see these forces with our eyes, AND they are energies which we clearly reap the benefits of).

Similarly, vital energy flows within in all living things and is cumulated during times of rest - less output and more time to cultivate the strength and reserves for something new; it is the building up of a force of energy in which to overthrow the old and bring in the new. In the case of nature, spring is the time of “the new” - once again sap flows forth, with fresh, supple buds and fruit is supplied every summer. Animals shed their winter coat, bringing forth a new shiny, pelt. Winter is often the time for colds, an internal cleansing, and a time when we should rest. If we continue to practice overwork when rest is the natural inclination for healing, we further weaken our reserves.

In terms of herbal medicine the quote by Prentice Mulford sums it up very well

“the quality in the plant’s leaf, root or berry which taken as medicine, acts on the internal organs, is the force in that plant…The newer the bud…when used medicinally contains the most active force, principle and quality of that plant. The choicest and strongest tea is made of the topmost and tenderest buds of the plant.”

Many medicinal plants make the useful, potent medicines when leaves are gathered in the time of the spring.

In the case of our own healing, observing the wisdom of nature can remind us of the natural cycles of our own healing. An improved state of health often occurs in a step wise manner; first met with a time of rest, a noticeable plateau, a time where there is much going on below / under the surface, - (it can even a time when things seem to be worsening or nothing seems to be occurring). Give thanks, for these plateau periods are the time when our bodies vital energy is recuperating from overwork and re directed towards improving the state of things. Healing often occurs in a step wise manner, or in a cycle with periods of improvement (the spring) and then entering into a period of hibernation (the winter months)- or a plateau time, and the internal vital energy again builds its reserves for a future time of new growth.

Discover the healing benefits of herbal medicine and further your knowledge of holistic health. This course is an introduction to the realm of plant medicine. Topics covered include: science based theory, safety, traditional use, first aid application and home application of common local plants. Learn to identify and recognize common local medicinal plants, master techniques of blending medicinal teas, prepare herbal salves and herbal vinegars and gain confidence to use herbal medicine for common health complaints. Acquire the practical knowledge of herbal medicine through a hands-on approach of integrating herbal medicine use into your home. Time will be spent learning 10 herbs in detail. For general interest and for professionals desiring an introductory course on plant based medicine.

Time: 10-4 pm Cost: $ 159.00

Course Dates: 1 weekend / Saturday and Sunday, June 5 and 6, 2010

Location: Langara College # 100- West 49 Avenue Vancouver

To Register Call: Langara College Continuing Studies at 604-323-5322 or 604-323-5918

Course Number: 60126

Instructor Profile: Katolen Yardley, MNIMH is a member of the National Institute of Medical Herbalists. Owner of Alchemy & Elixir Health Group and Wellness Centre in Vancouver, she has been in the Holistic Health field since 1993, with over 8 years of clinical experience. Since 1998, Katolen appears monthly on Global Television morning news, where she offers herbal information to the public. She has been a guest teacher at Boucher Institute of Naturopathic Medicine, has presented at global conferences and appeared in print in numerous journals and health magazines. Katolen’s personal interest in health lies with the emotional connection to wellness and dis-ease, nervous system disorders and women’s health issues. She believes in providing usable tools for healing through inspiration and education.

For more information visit:

www.alchemyelixir.com

 www.katolenyardley.com

Pregnancy is a time filled with hopes and excitement, fears and uncertainties. It is a time of profound physical and emotional changes — perhaps spiritual ones too.

This workshop has been created to help women explore these changes and feelings in a relaxing, supportive and creative environment.

Join a small group of other pregnant women for 90 minutes of meditative and spontaneous painting. Using guided visualization, you will be invited to paint and more fully understand these amazing changes.

Painting in a quiet, meditative way can draw you more deeply into your intuitive self. Fears can be explored and then dissolved. Hopes and dreams can be clarified and born onto the paper. Stories can be shared with others who support you.

No art experience is necessary! Your intuitive wisdom will know what and how to paint as the moment arises. Create without limits or judgements.

Stephanie Harper is an Art Therapist registered with the BC Art Therapy Association. As a painter and a mother, she is very excited to bring her two passions together in this workshop.

Please see more information about Stephanie at www.alchemyelixir.com

When? Saturday, April 10, 2010 from 1 pm- 2:30 pm

Where? Alchemy & Elixir Health Group # 320-1026 Davie St., Vancouver. V6E 1M3

Cost? $75 per person

Space is limited! To Register, call Stephanie at 778-988-1312

Herbal medicine offers invaluable aid for chronic digestive disorders as well as common symptoms of overeating including heart burn, indigestion, cramping and bloating. As most herbal medicines are taken orally, they come into direct contact with the mucous membranes lining the digestive tract, offering quick relief. Herbal medicines offer gentle, non-habit forming alternatives to over-the-counter and prescription medications and are suitable for long term aid. The medical actions of herbs are often categorized into groups according to their therapeutic action.

Digestive stimulants help to increase or improve digestive activities. Two of the main categories of stimulant herbs are bitters and hepatics (herbs which support the liver). Bitters have been used traditionally, sipped before meals. Herbal bitters act to stimulate the release of gastric juice and digestive enzymes for optimal digestion. They also help to increase appetite. Bitters have a general tonic action on digestion, stimulating the body’s self repair mechanisms. Some bitter herbs include wormwood, centaury, yarrow and gentian. Bitter herbs are consumed in small amounts and should not be ingested in conditions of excess stomach acid or ulcers. Hepatics are herbs that strengthen tone and support the liver. The liver is our primary organ for cleansing and detoxification, facilitating the deactivation of hormones, drugs, food additives and pollutants. The liver is involved in carbohydrate, fat and protein metabolism and helps to maintain stable blood sugar levels. It is also involved in both the synthesis of cholesterol and its breakdown into bile salts. In addition, the liver provided storage for fat soluble vitamins. Examples of Hepatic herbs include: dandelion root, wild yam root, yellow dock root.

Digestive Relaxants, in contrast, help to reduce over-activity and relax tissues. These herbs are used in a clinic environment to reduce bloating and stomach distension. Carminative herbs are plants that contain volatile oils, the component of the plant that imparts the familiar fragrant/aromatic scent associated with many dried herbs. Their main action in digestion is to soothe and settle the gut wall, ease cramping and expel wind from the stomach and intestines, while providing gentle anti spasmodic properties. Some common carminative herbs containing a characteristic scent include caraway seed, fennel seed, peppermint leaf, ginger root and anise seed.

Herbal medicines are gentle and ideal for incorporating into one’s daily routine. Digestive herbs can be used in either tea or tincture form. An adult general dosage for herbal teas is 1 tsp. of the herb for every cup of boiled water, steeped for 15 minutes; 3-4 cups daily will provide a medicinal dose. When using tinctures, the dosage varies depending upon the herbs used. A standard adult dose is generally 2-3 ml taken 2-3 times daily.

Katolen Yardley, MNIMH is a Medical Herbalist in private practice at Alchemy & Elixir Health Group in Vancouver, BC. www.alchemyelixir.com or www.katolenyardley.com