Innerlife Health Services

12/21/2024

We are in the deep season here in the northern hemisphere at the 49th parallel, at the darkest time in the cycle. The light is low and short lived during the day. A downward, inward contraction is present. There is an exhale here. A release of the year. Reflection. A still point.

I am with you here.

Wishing you gentle and generous seasons blessings.

With love,
~Fiona

p.s. I am in the clinic over the next few weeks. If you would like to have a session, feel free to check out my schedule. (link in comments)

11/19/2024

The north wind doth blow..
And the final workshop this year is upon us.

Engaging Authenticity

North is the home of fortitude and mastery. Heart-centred thinking. The Nurturing Generative Adult. The compassionate and insightful Leader, Teacher, Parent, Healer of us. The one of us that is interested in the road to becoming a Sage Elder (even if we never make it.. or come particularly close). The one of us that knows hardship, or, at least, an apprenticing path; the one of us that knows that adversity is required for growth.

One of our great challenges as people, I have found (read: know from painful personal experience), is to navigate the tension between AUTHENTICITY and SOCIAL BELONGING in ways that are generative, and invite meaningful relating. Each of these needs (authenticity & belonging) is fundamental to us humans, and the conflict between them can be powerful at times.

An entry point for soul. And the mystery.

If this conflict is occurring for me intrapersonally (within myself), it is possible that something is occurring, also, for the other. So, then, it might be additionally occurring between us.

There is much to navigate here. Explored in sufficiently attuned ways over time, a form of trust builds. This invites deeper intimacy (certainly intrapsychic intimacy, but possibly also interpersonal intimacy with the other), which likely leads to deeper experiences of both authenticity and belonging in this connection.

But there is much complexity here, and the terrain is ripe with the potential for hurt, confusion, shame, disappointment, anger and grief. Fallout, pain and harm can be all too common.

Some questions I might be considering as I navigate this complexity include:

Am I embracing the other's wholeness - therefore recognizing any of their challenges as an expression of current conditions, not as who they are fundamentally?

Does my behaviour and languaging effectively communicate what feels most true and honest to me (which may land differently for the other) but is ultimately generative?

Do I want to cultivate more closeness or distance in this connection at this time? Or are there some *particular points of connection* between us that I would enjoy more closeness around, while others I would prefer more nuance with/distance from?

Is the other currently capable of/interested in what I am seeking? Am I respecting what I sense they want too?

Am I tracking my/their inner protector patterns/behaviours & my/their nervous system states? Do I currently have insight into their needs too?

Am I attuned to/responding responsibly to their/my own needs for safety in connection (which is not the same as care-taking or avoiding/abandoning).

Am I navigating differences between us without collapsing into polarization?

Am I considering the larger systems to which we belong as I offer my responses (family systems, group/community dynamics, roles & power dynamics, ecosystems).

Am I aware when/if I am acting on a self-diminishing experience of fear and incompleteness? Do I notice if/when the other might be doing similarly?

Am I conscious of/responding to their/my own places of woundedness with compassion and care (with neither indulgence nor criticism).

Are my ways of communicating not only non-violent, but also generative?

These are just a few potent entry points for reflection. How I engage might radically shift depending on what emerges from my reflections here, and therefore shift my experience of connection. Hopefully, over time, it also grows my ability to cultivate soulful relationships.

If you feel drawn to further develop greater awareness and skillfulness in some of these tender but potent places, please join us on December 1st. (link in comments)

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Informed by an earth-based, 4-directions perspective, this afternoon workshop invites a gentle exploration of fundamental energetic patterns and interactive dynamics in human relating.

This workshop offers gentle embodied practices that hone your engagement skills. But it also invites new ways of being engaged with. Please join us.

WHERE: In-person, at Innerlife Health Services. This workshop has capacity for 8 people.

DATE: Sunday December 1st

TIME: 1 - 4:30 pm

COST: Sliding scale $55-125 (plus GST) per person

*Based on my understanding/experience of working with Bill Plotkin & Animas Valley Institute's maps of Soul and Wild Mind.

05/27/2024

I have now had the delight and privilege of guiding two lovely groups of folks through the first two workshops in the Cultivating Soulful Relationships series this year. We entered from the East, headed South, and in the next workshop in July, are moving West.

As these workshops are stand-alone or can be joined in-series, each group has included some of the same folks and some different ones - a convivial blend - but equally offered much to this work.

Human relating - as a skill - seems to hold infinite potential for awareness and growth, I have noticed. You too?

And where might one further explore and develop relational skills, you say?

Please join us for the next workshop in July. Or perhaps some one-on-one work with me in a Soul Work Session might be the trick. And/or if you're seeking an even deeper dive, please feel free to check out the Into Soul 4-week journey in October.

Links below.

04/15/2024

Oh what a feeling!

You have likely noticed too that we humans, pretty regularly, inadvertently recapitulate systemic patterns that mine and meter energy in, often, unsustainable and degenerative ways. It's not too challenging to see the collective impact of centuries of old damaging habits we have developed.

And, tragically, we often unconsciously play some of these patterns out similarly in our relationships with one another.

In a very real and practical way, to first sit in the aliveness of our own wild emotional and somatic storm, to feel it fully, and to understand and embrace its natural medicine before speaking or acting from it, is to begin to transform not only our internal energetic grid, but also to reshape our relationships with each other and the world around us. This skill and practice upends capitalism; it heals and restores essential ecosystems; it affirms life.

There's feeling.. and there's f-e-e-l-i-n-g.

It could be said that responding is different than reacting, and is systemic in nature. So when our feeling systems (internal and external) are under-developed, weakened, or in need of more capacity to handle an increase in load, power surges and outages are common.

As a unique soul but with some shared human experiences who has likely encountered such a potent thing before, you perhaps already know well that reacting in our connections with others or having someone react to us can be a confusing and painful human experience.

Something of the mysterious.. wants to emerge here.

Where does responding live in our human-centric worlds of modernity? Where does it live in our relationships? And where might more embodied, more refined responding skills serve our lives, souls, and our connections?

Are you really responding?

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Informed by an earth-based, 4-directions perspective, this afternoon workshop invites a gentle exploration of fundamental energetic patterns and interactive dynamics in human relating.

This workshop offers gentle embodied practices that hone your responding skills. But it also invites new ways of being responded-to. Please join us.

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WHERE: In-person, at Innerlife Health Services. This workshop has capacity for 8 people.

DATE: Sunday May 12

TIME: 1 - 4:30 pm

COST: Sliding scale $55-125 (plus GST) per person

Link in comments

03/26/2024

Our beloved psychologist at Innerlife is moving onto greater things, so starting July 1, we have an opening for a therapist who is looking for a new home for their established practice and business.

Please share with anyone who might be just the right fit.

Innerlife Health Services is a small, intimate clinic and established collective of health practitioners, located in the Royal Oak Shopping Centre, who run their businesses and practices...

03/11/2024

*1 spot left in this Saturday's workshop

Informed by an earth-based, 4-directions perspective, this afternoon workshop invites a gentle exploration, experience, and understanding of some of the more fundamental energetic patterns and interactive dynamics of human relating.

It offers gentle embodied practices that take your listening skills to new levels. But it also invites new ways of being heard.

Please join us.

WHERE: In-person, at Innerlife Health Services. This workshop has capacity for 8 people.

DATE: Saturday March 16

TIME: 1 - 4:30 pm

COST: Sliding scale $55-125 (plus GST) per person

Link in the comments

03/04/2024

Perhaps you, too, have had the exquisite experience of finding yourself at least several days deep in to a wild place with few, if any, other human companions.

Particularly at night, in a world alive with scent, movement, and sound, maybe with just a thin layer or two of nylon (and prayer) between your small ready-made-meal-of-a-body and the elemental beings, it is here you have come to understand your relational skills in ever-new, but also very ancient and incredibly real ways.

There's listening.. and there's l-i-s-t-e-n-i-n-g.

Every hair stands on end. Every organ comes to attention. Every heartbeat feels like the first, and the last. And you realize that you have never known a present so vast, visceral, and alive. And you have always known.

But it could be said that listening is different than hearing, and neither necessarily associated only with auditory experience (if at all).

And as a unique soul but with some shared human experiences who has likely encountered such a potent thing before, you perhaps already know well that not being heard (seen, understood) in our connections with others can be a confusing and painful human experience.

Something of the mysterious.. wants to emerge here.

Where do listening and hearing live in our human-centric worlds of modernity? Where do they live in our relationships? And where might more embodied, more refined listening skills serve our lives, souls, and our connections?

Are you really listening?

---

Informed by an earth-based, 4-directions perspective, this afternoon workshop invites a gentle exploration, experience, and understanding of some of the more fundamental energetic patterns and interactive dynamics of human relating.

This workshop offers gentle embodied practices that take your listening skills to new levels. But it also invites new ways of being heard. Please join us.

WHERE: In-person, at Innerlife Health Services. This workshop has capacity for 8 people.

DATE: Saturday March 16

TIME: 1 - 4:30 pm

COST: Sliding scale $55-125 (plus GST) per person

Links in the comments

02/26/2024

As the days in the northern hemisphere just begin to lengthen again, and life here on the westerly coast of this continent fervently pushes its way upward and outward, I have a few new creative offerings emerging too.

I am pleased to introduce you to 4 different afternoon workshops over this year (March, May, July, September) that invite a soulful approach to sharping your interpersonal skills: Cultivating Soulful Relationships (links in comments).

These gentle explorations are also practical and experiential, and I expect, will satisfy an appetite for more specific emotional/relational skills and capacity-building experiences. And they might also be some fun. You are welcome to join for just one workshop, or for multiple. While they all weave together nicely, each is designed to also stand alone.

And back by popular demand, I am also pleased to offer another 4-week journey of Into Soul in October. If you have previously taken this workshop and would like to join us again, please do.

I currently have space for a few new clients. So if you know anyone looking for a grounded, soulful, therapeutic approach to navigating relationships and life, and you sense they might find my work helpful, please let them know. And if it has been some time since we connected and you sense a soul-work session or two might be just the thing, I'd of course love to hear from you.

Many, many spring blessings on your way.

09/19/2023

Hayley is offering Reiki levels one and two this coming weekend, September 23rd and 24th. You can attend them together or individually as needed.

See fullcirclebodyworks.com for registration and more offerings.

I share nearly 20 years of experience and education in my practice, this combined with my intuitive gifts has allowed me to develop a unique treatment style that infuses various energy balancing techniques to support your body, mind, and soul.

09/06/2023

Can you feel her forces moving you, too?

If she's speaking to you in a way that might want to be explored and expressed through an introductory 4 week, spiraling, mytho-somatic journey into the territory of the soul, carried as well by a small intrepid group of fellow explorers, gentle soulcraft practices, and the beguiling adventures of wild poets and storytellers like Geneen Marie Haugen and Martin Shaw..


- Into Soul - beginning Sunday October 15th (link in comments)

If that sounds like a bit too much to reasonably bite off and chew at this time, and you'd prefer to just dip a toe or two..


- Psyche & Soul Talks - Wednesday September 20 & 27 (link in comments)

Or if she's got a tooth or claw sunk somewhere into your flesh, or she's having her way with your relationships or other parts of your life in ways that might be best navigated one-on-one..


- Soul Work Sessions - Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays (link in comments)

10/25/2022

Stephanie Dempsey, the Certified Athletic Therapist at Innerlife Health Services, has updated her online scheduling site for 2023. You can access her calendar at sdat.janeapp.com . Stephanie's working at this location on Tuesdays and Thursdays so if you have a preferred time slot be sure to book it in advance.

10/21/2022

Your favourite Acupuncturist+++, Jennifer Bentham, now has availability FIVE DAYS PER WEEK here at Innerlife. She’s updated her online schedule at acquaclinic.com .

Keep in mind that you can schedule your preferred dates and times in advance for consistency in your schedule and well-being.

See YOU soon!!

Acqua Clinic focuses on a holistic approach to treating pain and stress, through Acupuncture, TCM Therapeutic Massage and an individualized plan for each patient. Located in Victoria, BC and Mayne Island.