Niagara Healing Arts

12/19/2025

I removed the paywall on this Substack post and pinned it to the top of my Homepage. Read it via the link in bio. It has been a long, busy and interesting week in the clinic. Before I retreat for much-needed rest I wanted to offer you this meditation. Hope it helps some of you find your own inner light in the darkness on the cusp of solstice and throughout deep winter.

If you enjoy my Substack content, please subscribe for free (link in bio) or buy me a coffee with the link at the end of any post. Your support of creative arts is appreciated and encourages me to keep writing.

If this is the winter you want to give silent meditation practice a go, and you need proper instruction from a good teacher, and you live in or can easily travel to the Niagara Region, then consider joining my 5-week (15 Hours) Art of Quiescence Workshop starting in January 2026. (Link in Bio, See post pinned to feed).

Stay radiant, friends!

Nancy

12/08/2025

This newly designed training supports you while exploring the map of your body, breath and mind through the practice of silent + still meditation.

With 20 years of experience in Manual Therapies, Chinese Energetic Medicine and the independent study of psychology through Buddhist, Daoist and contemporary therapeutic paradigms, Nancy teaches meditation in a clear & safe, socially & culturally inclusive manner.

Drawing from a disciplined practice of Buddhist mindfulness and Daoist Inner Alchemy, and informed by modern neuroscience and meditation harm reduction, Nancy will offer you creative strategies to help you build a safe yet effective practice.

We will discuss issues that tend to erode your commitment to practice, and some of the energetic phenomena that typically arises during practice.

We learn how to accommodate physical complaints and posture concerns, how to work with the intentions and expectations we might bring to practice, how to avoid negative reactions and work gently with our belief structures.

This class series comes with a curated resource list, and directly addresses some of the hazards and pitfalls to practice when dealing with guided meditations (apps), problematic, unethical, or irresponsible authors, gurus, cultic groups, wellness influencers and meditation grifters. These traps for “seekers” are being more openly discussed by experts on and victims of authoritative influence.

Even if you are a meditator or facilitate meditation in your community, this is a wonderful opportunity to consider a wider range of possibilities in your personal practice and meditate in community throughout the winter months.

Location: Niagara Healing Arts
1 Belton Blvd, Suite 103, St. Catharines

Dates: Saturdays January 10 - February 7
9am-Noon
Total 15 hours of instruction

Registration: Online @ www.niagarahealingarts.com
Email @ nancy@niagarahealingarts.com
Phone @ 905.327.6189

Space is limited to 12 participants
Return Students $100
New Students $300
Tuition includes HST

*For safety reasons, this training is not suitable for participants who consume psychoactive substances.

12/06/2025

Warm Winter Greeting - https://mailchi.mp/5eab8fbf522b/winter2026
Upcoming Winter Offerings at Niagara Healing Arts

12/01/2025

Too early? Just a friendly reminder that year-end arrives quickly, and the clinic is closed between Dec20-Jan 5. Want to be the first to know what fun stuff is planned for the Winter months at Niagara Healing Arts? Sign up for the newsletter-it’s coming soon, just like the snow.❄️❄️❄️

11/27/2025

11/10/2025

How I Prepare for a session…
When I first started practicing massage therapy, the long days of physically demanding work weren’t easy. It didn’t take long before I struggled with fatigue and begun absorbing toxic energy from patients. This is natural, and how energy flows between people. It often manifested in me as joint pain and headaches.

For energetically aware people it is really helpful to develop energetic hygiene skills and boundaries. These two skills go hand-in-hand to protect your health and avoid burnout.

I personally have a preparatory routine before I start my day, before and after each patient, and a closing routine before I end my day.

Some of my professional boundaries include:
- Adhere to a schedule that meets MY needs (not working too early or too late, not working on days off, time for snacks and rest)
-Referring patients who I know I can’t help, for whatever reason
-Embodying my role as an educator & facilitator of healing, taking no credit or blame for any outcome

Aside from an early bedtime, I practice Qigong & Meditation to keep my body, energy and mind attuned day-to-day, but when working with patients I include the following ritual:

- Spend some time in meditation to settle any distracting thoughts and emotions from my personal life
- Before each session I perform a specific Qigong meditation to help me establish a sacred space in the treatment room
- I end each session in a way that helps the patient and I gently disconnect from each other’s energy

In retrospect, without these practices I would never have lasted this long in my career without chronic burnout or serious health & financial problems.

If you are in a helping profession, and feel that this sort of energetic ritual might help you when working with patients/clients, I would be happy to teach you.

We need all the tools we can get.

Thanks for reading,

Nancy

11/05/2025

Ginew Benton posted this on TikTok today, and the teaching cannot be more timely.

In last week’s Qigong class, I had planned to teach some practices to help with emotional healing, but postponed it to accommodate someone who needed it.

I didn’t realize at the time that the rescheduled class would land on a Supermoon, so we will be extra kind and gentle with ourselves this evening.

It has been awhile since I taught a meditation training, but am planning one for this winter, as it is a perfect antidote for the darkness and all that comes with it. I believe that a gentle practice in community is helpful in winter, and meditation can help dispel dark and unhelpful thoughts and emotions, allowing more space for light to enter.

During a season where natural sunlight is scarce, we must create and amplify our own inner light to sustain us until spring.

If you are interested in learning or practicing meditation with me, informed by Buddhist Mindfulness, Daoist Inner Alchemy, Neuroscience, Energetic Psychology and Culture, type STILLNESS in the comments and I will message you with details once they are rolled out.

Thanks for reading.

Nancy

11/03/2025

Some things I’ve learned about the process of healing:

1. Relief from pain is only the first step. This is often the pain from sustaining your acquired patterns, or all the ways in which you try to avoid or escape the underlying problem.
2. Intellectualizing your problem does not heal your problem. It might actually create distraction, resistance, frustration or shame.
3. You can’t heal it until you feel it, and you might need some support when the feeling part happens. Whether it’s awakening a sensation in the tissues, or identifying an emotional “trigger” or pattern of mental reactivity, it helps to have a facilitator.
4. Healing happens in degrees. For example, just when you think you’ve got your anger “under control”, you will be challenged. This is an opportunity for deeper understanding and healing.
5. In order for lasting transformation to happen, we have to acknowledge our ego-based defense mechanisms. Healing happens in relationship to others.
6. Healing cannot be performed on you, it catalyzes an awakening of something within you. If you don’t experience some sort of shift in your body, mind or spirit, then you are not yet ready for change, and that’s ok.

I’ve been there, done that, and have facilitated the process with thousands of patients. When we leave our expectations at the door, a whole world of possibility opens up for us. Your body knows what to do, so let’s just get curious and listen.

Thanks for reading.

Nancy

10/27/2025

There are many misconceptions about healing work that patients might bring to their session. Allow me to bring some clarity.

1. “The therapist will figure this out for me”. The therapist is a skilled mediator, negotiator and facilitator. Even when the therapist has special assessment or intuitive skill, the patient still needs to acknowledge, accept and transform what needs healing most, which might not be what the patient expected (especially when the treatment focus was on the physical body).

2. “I feel better so I am healed”. This might be true, or this might be a stage of temporary relief. A change in symptoms can be a good thing, but this isn’t always an indication that the pattern fueling the problem has been addressed. Dysfunction that is missed or avoided can show up in different ways. This is why we ask so many questions.

3. “The therapist doesn’t need to know about “X””.A skilled therapist knows more about you than you think. When you omit crucial information for whatever reason (forgot, don’t think it’s important, are ashamed to disclose, etc) it is likely to arise during a session in some way at some time. Feeling safe to disclose information is integral to healing, and every moment of your life experience matters.

4. “Healing will bring me peace”. Perhaps, but before peace arrives we must let go of what is causing us to feel anxious, restless, angry or distracted. This might be difficult or take some time to work through. Healing is a process, not a destination, and something must be sacrificed or resolved in order to create space for peace. We also need to learn what peace feels like for us.

Healing work can go fast or slow depending on many factors. Timing is everything, and it helps to consider practical things like financial, work and relational obligations and supports. There’s no one way to work with suffering. Choose what suits you and what you’re willing to engage honestly with.

Thanks for reading.

Nancy

10/26/2025

Sinus Congestion & Pain

I had a Craniosacral Therapy session myself this week, and attention was drawn to a chronic cranio-facial pattern of mine that tends to result in stagnation and mucus accumulation in my left frontal sinus. This sometimes causes pain, but mostly blocks the left nostril airway somewhat. The day following my session, and after a steamy shower, I was able to blow my nose multiple times to discharge the mucus. (It felt like it was stuck to my brain, lol) It was quite a bit, and I was grateful to free that airway.

These are the type of techniques that are difficult to perform for oneself, and necessary when the problem is complex. You see, it’s not just about my sinuses, and in order to work with the whole-body pattern I need to be in a relaxed and receptive state with someone facilitating the process.

Helpers need helpers too. Our own challenges are what keep us humble, and motivated to learn and grow as therapists.

If you struggle with sinus congestion, blockages or other respiratory complaints once the cold weather arrives and your heat turned on in the home, remember that Craniosacral Therapy is a relaxing and gentle way to get relief. It is possible to avoid the headaches and pain associated with mucus & phlegm, dryness, irritation and other reactions to dust, viruses, sniffling, coughing, etc.

Nancy Dougherty RMT CST MQT
www.niagarahealingarts.com

10/24/2025

Get Right with Rest

As we transition into winter, our bodies and minds naturally crave slowness, warmth, and restorative practices.

Winter hibernation is important, and there are lots of things you can do to conserve energy and nourish your Shen (Spirit) during the winter months.

The key is to avoid overstimulation (caffeine, screen time, emotional disturbances) and promote calm & relaxation (cozy clothing, meditation, warming soups and teas, incense and soothing music).

You will know when your Shen needs nurturing if you experience symptoms of anxiety, insomnia, irritability or foggy thinking. Stress, overwork, overexertion and a poor diet can destroy our efforts to feel well.

The winter’s diminished sunlight, which a vitalizing Yang energy necessary for health, can be replenished by gathering Divine Light through meditation and prayer. We naturally absorb this light when we are still, relaxed and receptive to it.

Deep rest is supremely important for our health and longevity. Sadly, it’s counter-cultural. It’s not indicative of weakness or laziness. It’s not an indulgence. It’s an act of self-appreciation. It’s what we need to feel whole and connected to life.

So, get your fuzzy socks out and put the kettle on.

What are your favourite nurturing and rest activities during winter?

Thanks for reading.

Nancy

Photo by Aleksandar Cvetanovic on Unsplash

See this article to learn more about the Shen in TCM. https://holisticacupuncture.net/the-shen-in-chinese-medicine-nurturing-the-spirit-for-optimal-health/

10/23/2025

About Last Night.

Thanks to everyone who came out to our first Qigong practice at the new clinic.

The consensus was that we succeeded in “Transforming our Chaos into Calm”.

(The mood lighting definitely helped).

There’s a class scheduled every Wednesday evening at 6pm until December, and anyone can join for one or more classes on a Pay-What-You-Want basis, space permitting.

Register at www.niagarahealingarts.com