Donna Brooks, LCSW

01/25/2026

Take care of you as you experience the weight of this world. Balance.

01/23/2026

Wabi-Sabi. It all belongs. Welcome it.

https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1H8MB9GNAG/?mibextid=wwXIfr

01/22/2026

…And as the wise Thich Nhat Hahn reminds us, “Breathing in, I calm body and mind. Breathing out, I smile. Dwelling in the present moment I know this is the only moment."

https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1AhWXhcZzy/?mibextid=wwXIfr

01/20/2026

Ieva is offering massage in our calming space on Mondays and Tuesdays. DM me if you want info to schedule a massage with Ieva. Ahhh…relax and heal.

“If our nervous system detects safety, then it’s no longer defensive. When it’s no longer defensive, then the circuits of the autonomic nervous system support health, growth, and restoration.”

-Stephen W. Porges, The Pocket Guide to the Polyvagal Theory: The Transformative Power of Feeling Safe.

01/18/2026

A LOT of this going on right NOW. Take care of your energy.

DARVO

Deny, Attack, Reverse Victim and Offender

A manipulation tactic used to avoid accountability for abusive behavior.

This strategy involves:

Deny: The narcissist/high conflict person denies the existence of any wrongdoing.

Attack: They attack the person making the accusation, often labeling them as the wronged party.

Reverse Victim and Offender: The narcissist/high conflict person then shifts the blame onto the accuser, making them the victim and the accuser the one in the wrong.

Understand DARVO and recognize and resist manipulation in abusive relationships.

01/17/2026

Embody the values you hold here as we stand in the face of injustice and do something peacefully.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1296481539177490&set=a.622940823198235&type=3

"For mindful activists, the answer lies in ethical resistance—not passive detachment, but engagement rooted in truth, compassion, & clarity." https://www.elephantjournal.com/2025/02/resisting-with-mindfulness-a-buddhist-guide-to-the-trump-era-stacey-acquavella/

01/03/2026

Welcome what you need.

12/24/2025

It is official: I have moved out of the Crystal Street Space and am now just up the road on Route 14, where “Crystal Street” turns into “Main Street.”

10 W. Main St.
(Corner of Rt. 14 & First St.)
Cary, IL
Suite 201 B

Photo…new office work in progress.

12/21/2025

A Prayer On the
Winter Solstice

Oh day of least light and longest night,
teach me what I need to know about darkness.
Help me see beyond
my fear
to the natural illumination that’s always here,
within and all around me.
May I be rooted in the
ground of being and as the days grow longer,
may I celebrate the wondrous gifts of life and love and openness
to transformation.
Today, the boundary between this world and the divine is especially thin.
May I be quiet enough inside to receive whatever the mystery offers me
and send my gratitude out to the solstice sun and stars, out to the presence that cannot be seen, but is forever with me.

-Danna Faulds

12/15/2025

The candles lit honoring loss and love at tonight’s Blue Christmas gathering for good souls navigating grief amidst the holidays. Thanks to Lisa Orris and Grief Guide for hosting the gathering and welcoming me to share a bit of music. 🩵

12/06/2025

Every home deserves a blessing…we are worthy of receiving blessings.

Home Blessing

May this house shelter your life.
When you come in home here,
May all the weight of the world
Fall from your shoulders.

May your heart be tranquil here,
Blessed by peace the world cannot give.

May this home be a lucky place,
Where the graces your life desires
Always find the pathway to your door.

May nothing destructive
Ever cross your threshold.

May this be a safe place
Full of understanding and acceptance,
Where you can be as you are,
Without the need of a mask
Of pretense of image.

May this home be a place of discovery.
Where the possibilities that sleep
In the clay of your soul can emerge
To deepen and refine your vision
For all that is yet to come to birth.

May it be a house of courage,
Where healing and growth are loved,
Where dignity and forgiveness prevail;
A home where patience of spirit is prized,
And the sight of the destination is never lost
Though the journey be difficult and slow.

May there be great delight around this hearth.
May it be a house of welcome
For the broken and diminished.

May you have the eyes to see
That no visitor arrives without a gift
And no guest leaves without a blessing.

by John O'Donohue, a Celtic priest and poet

12/02/2025

Connect with your resourcefulness. Questions to contemplate posed by author Suleika Jaouad:

What’s holding us together right now?
Where are we finding beauty and hope, even in brief flashes?
What do we cling to when the world feels sharp and precarious?