Winter Garden Healing Arts
Wilson Shook LMT, CMT

Newsletter

My newsletter goes out on a roughly seasonal basis. Subscribe here for updates about my practice, ruminations on health, healing, literature, and politics, and occasional discounts and benefits. It’s better than social media, I promise.

Autumn Updates :: Winter Garden Healing Arts

In this newsletter:

  • Cleaning up my address book

  • A note on reopening (again)

  • My availability

  • Dignity and Power Now: fundraiser report

  • Winter Garden Healing Arts: introspection, healing, renewal



Cleaning up my address book:

This is your friendly warning that I will be removing some older addresses from this mailing list. If you have not been in to see me in the last two years, I will be taking you off of future mailings unless you let me know you'd like to stay on. Just reply to this email if you'd like to stay subscribed (or better yet, make an appointment: I'd love to see you!).



A note on reopening (again):

Happy autumn to you all, in this most unusual of years! It has been a few months since you last heard from me on this list. Back in June I wrote to announce my (partial) reopening as the county relaxed its restrictions on businesses. They quickly reversed course as the pandemic proved its staying power, and here we are again: crossing our fingers that certain things can return to something like normal, and that we've all learned enough to keep each other safe as we move about the world. I am continuing to practice caution, and have implemented a number of modest but reassuring changes to my practice, as dictated by health officials. From July through October, I was exclusively offering outdoor sessions. As of a week ago, we are now permitted to work indoors again. To be honest, working outdoors has been kind of nice, and that option is still available for on-site work, where appropriate space is available. But I am glad to have regular office space again, and I look forward to getting back to work with many of you in the coming days.



My availability:

As of this week, I am available for in-office appointments on Saturdays and Sundays in Santa Monica and Mondays and Tuesdays in Atwater Village. In-home appointments are available Saturday through Tuesday, and occasionally other weekdays.

See my updated availability and schedule your appointment here.

I have chosen these days because the offices where I work will not have any other practitioners working. Therefore, there will be fewer people coming in and out, no overlap between clients entering and leaving, and more time between appointments.



Dignity and Power Now: fundraiser report

In my last newsletter I highlighted the work of Dignity and Power Now. DPN is an abolitionist organization that supports currently and formerly incarcerated people and their families around Los Angeles. Their work takes a number of forms, one of which is a healing justice cohort called Building Resilience. I believe that DPN's work is visionary and profound, and I've been honored to provide bodywork at a few of their events over the past two years.

Since June I have been setting aside 15% of proceeds from each appointment as a donation to DPN. Despite the obviously slower than usual year, I've been able to send over $1000 to DPN, and am grateful to all of you who have helped me to make that happen. This fundraiser will continue through the end of 2020, so get your appointments in now and contribute to this great organization!

If you'd like to do more, you can make a tax deductible donation directly. Send me your receipt and I will reduce the cost of your next appointment by a matching amount up to 50% of the total appointment cost (for example: if you donate $20 to DPN, your next $90 appointment will now be $70; if you donate $45 or more, your $90 appointment will be $45, and so forth).



Winter Garden Healing Arts: introspection, healing, renewal

As we move into the winter months, it feels like an appropriate time to reflect on the name of my practice. Three years ago I was in a state of major transition: new home, new city, starting fresh with my practice and so many other things. I found inspiration in the words of one of my favorite poets, the inimitable René Char. In the midst of a bleak passage I came across this line:

Know that what existed in the past now lies ahead, like an orchid in a winter garden...

I found a little spark of hope in the idea of a winter garden, tending the soil and setting things right for the return of spring. The winter garden is a place that humbly asks for reflection: for quiet, gentle nurturance, and the abiding care that comes with a faith in the wisdom and potential of life's cycles. I named my new practice Winter Garden Healing Arts: Manual Therapy for the Flowering of Humanity.

Please take good care of yourselves and your loved ones in this trying time, without forgetting that there is a troubled world out there that needs your best and most whole self. I hope to see you soon.



With care,

Wilson



Wilson Shook