“Not recalling facts does not mean that the heart does not know or does not remember. My mother may not remember that I called her earlier, but the positive effect of our phone conversation will linger for hours afterwards.” -Marguerite Manteau-Rao
Wisdom Care offers five types of heart-centered programs designed to empower and honor senior women. Our intention is to hold a nurturing, supportive and transformative space together with elders, to gather in a circle and remember, recognize, strengthen, celebrate and honor their strong inner wisdom, intuition and courage. In situations where most independence is taken away by disease or living conditions, we work to open up internal space where we can dwell in those places where independence is still available, from which personal and community growth can be explored, and compassion, kindness and self-esteem cultivated.
Our work integrates practices such as mindfulness-based elder care, sound meditation (with the use of overtone-playing instruments), voice and music therapy, sensory stimulation (herbs, flowers, essential oils, touch, color, and light), gentle movement and massage, guided imagery and visualization, and storytelling to enrich the lived body and emotional experience. Both verbal and nonverbal modes of interaction are explored, based on healing approaches used in indigenous, transpersonal and contemplative psychologies.
Every session is prepared and customized according to the needs of participants and facilities, and based on our evaluation of previous sessions. Whenever possible, experienced facilitators, teachers, guests, and medicine-women are invited to share their expertise, either directly in a session or by strengthening the design of a session through their work, knowledge, and techniques.
Currently we offer the following:
We are open to bringing these sessions to various groups of women going through challenging transitions, including women dealing with cancer treatments and in recovery, women living in shelters, and women in prison.