What are the opening hours?

Monday 9am - 6pm Tuesday 9am - 4pm Wednesday 9am - 6pm Thursday 11am - 5pm

Shirley Lynn Martin, Elmira, ON (2026)

09/09/2026

Blessed Wednesday!

A gentle rain. A softness in the air. A morning of community reiki meditation. Space to nourish my spirit and release the unnecessary. The more I do this reiki meditation, the more I find myself able to hold a calm inner abiding while allowing what is to be as it is. As I flow reiki, I can find equanimity in the midst of it all, amidst the paradoxes of life, even if it’s just for a moment. But in that moment, peace arises and my day is changed.

It made me think of Rohr’s words….

“Our first forgiveness is not toward a particular sin or offense. Our first forgiveness, it seems to me, is toward reality itself: to forgive it for being so broken, a mixture of good and bad. First that paradox has to be overcome inside of us. Then, when we allow God to hold together the opposites within us, it becomes possible to do it over there in our neighbor and even our enemy. Finally, our worldview and politics change. We can no longer project our evil onto another country, religion, minority group, race, or political party.” Richard Rohr.

09/08/2026

Happy Tuesday! Something to consider as you return to your fall routines....I'll be interested to know your reactions to this:

Do You Really Need to Reprogram Your Subconscious Mind?

I keep seeing all these posts from gurus saying, “if you really want to be happy and successful you need to reprogram your subconscious mind”. I even used to teach something similar.

I no longer believe that.

I’m going against the teachings of many personal development gurus and teachers here, but this is how I now see it:

Don't I really need to reprogram my subconscious mind to be happy and successful?

Nope.

But shouldn’t I install new better programs so that I will perform better and have a better life?

Not unless you want to be a robot.

Isn’t our subconscious mind like a computer and if we have bad programming we will feel bad things, behave badly and bad things will happen to us, and if we have good programming we will feel good things, behave better and good things will happen to us?

Close, but no banana.

We are far more complex than computers, that’s the first thing. Secondly, we do not have to believe what our mind tells us is true - even if it strongly influences us to - and, in any moment, we can act counter to that. Thirdly, if you have to operate on a program all the time then you miss real life.

Real life is independent of your “inner programs”.

So, an installed belief or program - even the most expansive one - narrows your focus, restricts your choices (“strongly influences” would be more accurate), and limits your feeling options, that part I agree with. What I am disagreeing with is the "solution" of replacing one belief with another one.

Sure, it may be a halfway house, and it might be helpful or even necessary at times, but it is not real freedom, and it is not really living.

What if I have had a bad upbringing and was taught that I was unlovable, shouldn’t I affirm “I am lovable” to counter that bad programming?

Well, first, research shows that for people with low self-esteem, affirming “I am lovable” actually has the opposite effect and makes them feel worse! (Psychological Science, 2009).

And anyway, why would you need to affirm “I am lovable” unless you are still emotionally attached to that previous program or belief of being unlovable? If you really believed you were lovable there would be no need to keep focusing on it, it would just be self-evident.

Besides, even if you manage to “install” the "I am lovable" belief so that you believe it, since the old program is still in there now you have two programs running. Some days you feel lovable and other days you feel unlovable, it just depends what side of the bed you get out of! (Or, if you prefer, which wolf within you is winning on that day. Speaking of which… you do NOT have two wolves inside of you!!!)

Since your “unlovable” belief has not been processed or released, the emotional attachments which “hold” it in your energy field are still there, just hidden for a while. They can be retriggered at a moment’s notice when someone does something or something happens that resembles the circumstances within which they were installed.

So, someone says, “You idiot!” and you find yourself collapsing inside and wanting to hide. Or fight back. Or whatever other emotional reactions were suppressed or triggered by the original events where you “learned”, “downloaded” or “installed” this program or belief.

Why not simply release your emotional attachments to “I am unlovable” instead?

When you do that, you may start to realise you ARE lovable, as now you are no longer “stuck” in one way of seeing yourself and one way of feeling about yourself.

However, there’s even more freedom to be had!

If you continue to release your attachments even to THAT (the "I am lovable" belief), and your “need” to be defined by how “lovable” you are in the first place, you may open up to a place beyond labels and glimpse your infinite expansive self who has no need to attach your identity to labels or concepts at all.

In the immortal words of Rumi:

“Your task is not to seek for love but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it.”

“Out beyond ideas of right doing and wrongdoing there is a field, I’ll meet you there.”

You don't need to put something into yourself to be successful, just clear out the BS and be who you are!

Warmly,

Steve Wells

New to Intention Tapping? You'll find a lot of free introductory information at intentiontapping.com and via the articles and videos on my blog.

09/04/2026

Happy Friday!

“A fish doesn’t own the water it moves through any more than a bird owns the air it flies through. Nor does a soul in a body in time on Earth own the myriad forms of life it moves through. To correct this miseducation is crucial, if we are to befriend life more completely as we age. For the rhythms of life—of its comings and goings—are the teachers that model for us how we will come and go, how we will erode and grow, how we will come apart and come together, and how we will mourn and accept what is lost so we can be cleansed anew in order to be enlivened by what is gained.

So, I invite you to be tender and honest in looking at your life. Can you stop amassing and hoarding your way through life and start relating to the ebb and flow of life as it moves through you? Can you stop measuring your worth by the number of things you possess and start measuring your aliveness by how open you are to all that you meet?”
Mark Nepo

An excerpt from The Fifth Season: Creativity in the Second Half of Life.

09/03/2026

Happy Thursday! Happy long weekend!

For many this weekend is the last burst of summer fun and a more relaxed attitude before the whirlwind of September and all the late summer activities. I hear a lot of people speak to dreading the first week of September or feel the sadness of the summer passing. I do love the summer, for sure. However, if my attitude or mindset about the fall is a series of projections that include a lot of stress and overwhelm, then surely I would dread this month. What are your beliefs and experiences about September? What adjustments do you want to make so that you can 'fully digest and be nourished' by the activities of this month rather than be overwhelmed and burdened with constant 'indigestion'?

I'm curious if you believe you have power to bring balance to your September activities. It's important to take the time to stop and breathe, slow your mind down and ask yourself 'what's important now'. By doing this you will be able to establish your priorities and in return you will find it easier to organize your responsibilities and rewards.

Even though many of us are returning to work, within that responsibility and life stage, we still do have choices. We do have choices about what we put into our mouth, whether we are getting outside in Nature for our daily connection and healthy dose of grounding. We do have choice about bedtime routines, for the most part. As Henry Ward Beecher reminds us, “the first hour of the morning, is the rudder of the day.” So in the morning...

--Write out your top 3 priorities and responsibilities for this day.
--State them out loud so you hear and see what they are.
--Picture yourself at the end of the day with having these 3 priorities attended to and feeling satisfied
--commit to creating space in your day to breathe, relax and recharge.
--get outside for a 20 min walk and connect with nature

You matter. You can choose an attitude that your well-being and mental health matters. Challenge the belief that you need to go 'back to the rat race'. Take some time today and write out 3-4 ways you can simplify your life for September. Choose a new way. Return to your core, your centre (the Earth within). That is what this month is about. Peace.

Picture: from the storm last night!

09/02/2026

Happy Wednesday! Resilience is not just an individual quality. It is communal in nature for resilience to have effectiveness over time and space. Resilience is about a healthy ecosystem (community)...

"The problem isn't resilience. It's how we've come to talk about it — treating it as something that exists independently of the conditions that make it possible.
Perhaps it's time we stopped using resilience as a demand and started recognising it for what the evidence base has long suggested it really is: not something we simply possess, but something we do — together. "

Dr Warren Donnellan is a Senior Lecturer based in the Department of Psychology at the University of Liverpool.

🌱 Resilience Isn’t Something You Have—It’s Something We Build Together

“Be more resilient” can sound less like encouragement and more like an instruction to tolerate difficult circumstances without enough support. But modern resilience research paints a different picture: resilience isn’t a fixed personality trait or the absence of struggle, but a dynamic process of adapting to adversity over time. Individual qualities such as flexibility and maintaining a sense of identity matter, but so do supportive relationships, community, and access to effective services. What looks like one person being remarkably resilient may actually reflect an entire ecosystem helping them keep going.

Takeaway: Resilience isn’t about becoming tougher so you can carry more alone: it grows through the personal, social, and structural support that helps us adapt together.

Irene O'Brien, Phd

https://www.bps.org.uk/research-digest/reclaiming-resilience-why-weve-misunderstood-one-psychologys-most-important?mc_cid=1a2510e358&mc_eid=36efd4ed8f

09/01/2026

Happy Tuesday!

REST FEEDS YOUR REVOLUTION

”Every single thing in your life
heals and blooms when you rest.

Your name is not exhaustion. You do not have to answer when called that way. Maybe exhaustion raised you at home. And exhaustion taught you at school. And exhaustion supervised you at work. And exhaustion was your Lover in relationships. Maybe you believe you are exhaustion. But, dear soul, you are not. You are life. A thing that breathes and releases and rests and sleeps and cries and crafts peace medallions from precious beads of moments. Even if all the people you have known have modeled exhaustion, you are not that species. You are a vibrant thing. Alive like spring meadows and freshwater sing. Blushing lotus, time to burn your false identity. You are not exhaustion. You are a winged thing shedding unnatural chrysalis, aloft toward bliss. You are diaphanous in sunlight. A bravery of spices. Pioneering stillness inside flocks of nervous geese. Powder blue flamingo adroit on silver water. Reunion with the code of Grace. You are not exhaustion. You reject that tragic race. No, priceless soul. You are not exhaustion. You are life. In Love with renewing your life. With a kiss. Like this.

Waging revolution takes immense energy from you. If you are not renewing yourself abundantly, continuously, you will exhaust yourself to death. If you are going to climb a mountain, bring food. If you cross a desert, bring water. If you jump into a volcano, insulate your body. And if you endeavor this freedom work, be passionate about your rest and restoration. However much you give yourself to servitude, give yourself at least that much to your wellness. Stay at the watering hole as long as you thirst. Stay in the shade until you are cooled. Remain in the intimate embrace of silence until your true voice returns. Nurturing your inner condition is a non-negotiable condition of revolution.

Don’t be your own oppressor.
Rest. Rest. Rest.

Learn ease. Your life will go from exhausted productivity to vibrant fruitfulness. Exhausted, you drag negative spirit into the circle where your people live and breathe. Rested, you bring with you the sun itself. You bring sky. You bring life. Learn the power of heartfulness as a form of rest. If you grow weary as you serve others, do not blame them for your weariness. Open your heart to them even wider. Care deeply. Compassion fatigue is a popular term, yet it is a misnomer. Compassion does not fatigue. We do, when we abandon the infinite well of our compassion.

Dr Jaiya John
Freedom: Medicine Words
for Your Brave Revolution
Available at jaiyajohn.com
and booksellers worldwide.

08/31/2026

Happy Monday!

“Why don’t you try a little Self-Acceptance?

“We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time.”
- T.S. Eliot

Around 26 years ago, I was a client in a therapy session with Frank Farrelly, the creator of Provocative Therapy. I was agonising over an apparent double bind I was stuck in between my family and my career. I couldn’t work out how I could be successful in my career AND be there for my family. Either way I felt guilty, because I wasn’t doing enough.

Right in the middle of my search for answers, I turned to Frank questioning how I might resolve this dilemma. He looked me straight in the eye and said, “Why don’t you try a little self-acceptance?”

It was as if he had hit me in the face with a wet fish, breaking my problem trance in an instant.

“What does that have to do with anything?” was my internal question.

Turns out it had everything to do with it…

I had been caught up in the complexity of trying to resolve the apparent either-or dilemma from within the double bind itself, perhaps coming up with a way of doing "enough", or doing "better", or finding the "right" amount of presence. Then along comes Frank, crashing into my consciousness with something that seemed to be right out in left field.

“Why don’t you try a little self-acceptance?”

Now I realise his statement, which I have never forgotten, wasn’t out in left field at all, it was right over the home plate. Self-acceptance is where it’s at.

At that time, I never realised just how pervasive this underlying lack of self-acceptance was, nor did I see how insidious its effects were on my energy, performance, and enjoyment of life… Now that I have been freed of much of the weight and pressure of it I see it very clearly.

Back then I lived in a world where I was constantly wrong, beating myself up for what I should have been doing that I wasn't doing and for whatever I was doing or did do which was either wrong or not good enough. I felt guilty when I was away from my family working and I also felt guilty at times when I was with my family because I “should have been working”. I never felt like I was doing a good enough job in either area.

Not long after the session with Frank I found myself sitting in my office feeling frustrated at my lack of "right" action in my business and life.

I started tapping and journalling and very quickly realised the problems I was upset about weren't the real problem at all, the real problem was my negative self-judgements about myself for having the problem! This was an even bigger problem which was sitting in the background behind all my other problems.

I resolved then to tap for 30 days on this issue, on my lack of self-acceptance, and active self-rejection. That was to have a profound outcome which I continue to benefit from to this day.

I still remember back then when I started tapping catching my moments of non-acceptance (or active self-rejection) being surprised at how pervasive this was: For goodness’ sake, I even criticised myself for brushing my teeth wrong! I should have been brushing them for 2 minutes, I wasn't using the right brushing procedure, etc, etc.

There were a myriad of examples like this where I was not measuring up or where I was doing it wrong!

It was truly exhausting.

And this wasn't even one of my big problems; this was just the constant negative mind-chatter that I was saluting emotionally dozens and dozens of times daily.

Tapping on this was life changing. I can't tell you the freedom I felt just a few days into my 30 day tapping trial when I had the sudden realisation that I was not the problem: The problem was the problem.

That has stayed with me and still brings a smile to my face every time I remember: The problem is the problem…..

Accepting and allowing your negative thoughts and feelings to be there (without having to act on them). This includes accepting your thoughts about NOT accepting yourself!! And even accepting that you don’t accept THAT!

Acceptance does not mean you have to like it or agree with it.

As Eckhart Tolle says in this dialogue from Stillness Speaks:

Accept what is.

I cannot. I am irritated and angry about this.

Then accept that.

What, accept that I am irritated and angry?

Yes, bring acceptance into your non-acceptance and go from there.

Research supports this: There have been many studies which show that people have better psychological health and actually suffer less negative emotions when they are encouraged to accept their negative emotions and thoughts (without having to act on them or believe them).

Other studies have shown that being willing to face and receive feedback about coming negative events, even where that knowledge doesn't allow us to change things, still enables us to be less anxious and happier.

So, the negative isn’t as negative as many people would have you believe. And the positive isn’t always positive either, especially if you don’t believe it!

So where can you go from here?

The first step towards acceptance is awareness. So, begin with simply noticing. Notice your thoughts and feelings from the position of observer or witness. And notice any judgements or reactions you have to those thoughts and feelings.

Now, instead of trying to get rid of your negative thoughts and feelings or your judgements about them, try releasing your emotional attachments to them and releasing your emotional attachments to the belief that they define you.

Restore any disturbed energy, feelings, or emotions back to flow with: I restore the right energy flow to this feeling.

Here, you are not trying to accept yourself by convincing yourself that you are acceptable, but by releasing your emotional attachments to everything that tells you that you are not.

Along the way, you may find as I have that a lot of tapping is required on where you learnt about good and bad, right and wrong, acceptable and not acceptable.

The place we are heading is perfectly described by Rumi:

"Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field. I'll meet you there"

Warmly,

Steve Wells
See comments below for link to training)

08/30/2026

Happy Sunday! Your Sunday poem….

some days
the purr of small wings
fluttering past my window
is all I need to know
that life belongs nowhere else.

some days it’s more the warmth
of a body nestled against my own

other days it’s the ice cold water
swallowing stiff skin
shocking the system back to life.

we need it all,
small reminders
that the world is still here,
and that somehow
we are too.

by Sez

08/29/2026

Happy Saturday!

Virginia Satir, a pioneer in Marriage and Family Systems Therapy, said, "We connect through our samenesses but we grow through our differences."

Connecting with those who are like minded and share similar values and hobbies feeds our sense of belonging and connection with community. It is necessary to have such good relationships in our lives.

At some point, even with those who are like minded, we will disagree or find ourselves in conflict. And we we will surely find ourselves at odds with those who have opposite views and values to our own in many cases.

The first thing to remember is that what connects us all is our humanity. The call to action in these times of conflict and differences is to see, to stay connected to the humanness in self and with other. Martin Buber, a German philosopher, called this the I-Thou relationship. Some might say it is to have an unconditional positive regard for another, in the words of Erikson.

The temptation can be to betray ourselves and our commitment to being human and seeing the other as an I-it dynamic where we dehumanize others to validate our judgments and prejudices and biases. It’s a simple concept and yet requires a complete sense of presence, curiosity and kindness towards self and another.

Let’s make this I-Thou our simple practice for today and see what we notice. We might find ourselves at more inner peace.

08/28/2026

Happy Friday!

I’ve been reflecting upon how kindness and “right speech” support each other. The words we use, the tone of voice we express, the attitude we are centred in really can make the difference between kindness and divisions, between connection and discord, between compassion and causing hurt—whether in ourselves or others.

Thich Nhat Hanh wrote:
“I am determined not to spread news that I do not know to be certain and not to utter words that can cause division or discord.”
It is hard not to speak your hurt in unkind ways in the midst of frustration, or feeling rejected or disrespected. We do need to find ways to speak to our hurt and our experience with those involved —- hopefully to improve our understanding and relationship. But speaking unkindly or gossiping that causes division destroys not only relationships but also our spirit. It robs us of loving kindness being attracted to us.
“When we surround ourselves with people who are committed to understanding and loving, we’re nourished by their presence and our own seeds of understanding and love are watered. When we surround ourselves with people who gossip, complain, and are constantly critical, we absorb these toxins.” TNH.
May we all find the motivation, energy and inner commitment to practice kindness, mindful kindness. It will contribute to your health, to your relationships and to a better world. Peace

Picture: River and Raven chewing their 'bones' across from each other.

Shirley Lynn Martin

09/09/2026

09/08/2026

09/04/2026

09/03/2026

09/02/2026

09/01/2026

08/31/2026

08/30/2026

08/29/2026

08/28/2026

Address

Opening Hours

Telephone

Website

Alerts

Contact The Practice

Shortcuts

Share

Listing takedown request

Monday	9am - 6pm
Tuesday	9am - 4pm
Wednesday	9am - 6pm
Thursday	11am - 5pm