Tapestry of Women Conference Results

The mandate for the Tapestry of Women Conference is “To gather and support an interwoven network of women in the Cochrane, Morley and surrounding area working together to better our community and ourselves.”  This is the 22nd year of holding this fantastic event which only costs $50.00/person and goes from 8:00 a.m.- 4:00 pm.  It includes breakfast and lunch as well as 4 inspirational speakers and unique local vendors.  This year it was held on Saturday, Nov 5, 2016 at the wonderful venue of Cochrane RancheHouse which boasts the incredible view that you see on the left.   Hold space in your calendar for this event next year because it is one that you won’t want to miss. A huge thank you to the town of Cochrane and Cochrane FCSS for helping to sponsor this incredible event.

To recap the day, it started out with a lovely breakfast spread accompanied by beautiful harp music and angelic singing in the background by Jade Lewis to set the mood for the day.

Carol Patenaude, head organizer, opened with a supporting prayer for Health, Happiness and Harmony which was the theme of this year’s conference.

I had the distinct honour of being the first presenter for this amazing event talking about Living a Life of Balance.  I shared the wake-up calls I had to make me realize the importance of focusing on my own well-being.  I used the acronym of ABRACADABRA to help give 11 tools to help the attendees live a more productive, fulfilling and happy life filled with pleasure.   The faeries worked their mischievous magic and would not  allow technology to work for the music videos that I had included as part of the presentation.  The beautiful earth angel Hervinder pulled up the songs on her i-phone and held up the microphone to it so that we could dance to both songs.

I am including the two links here now.  The first is by Justin Timberlake  called, Can’t Stop The Feeling: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ru0K8uYEZWw  This is one of those songs that just makes you smile the minute your hear it and has you tapping your toes and swaying to the beat.  It is so important for us to move our body as sitting is the new smoking.  Every 1/2 hr we should be getting up to alleviate some to the pressure that we are placing on our organs.  So take a dance break now if you feel like it!

We also had some fun blowing bubbles.  It was absolutely magical to watch and see the women connect with their inner child with this exercise.

I closed off the presentation with a song by Beckah Shae called Heartbeat.  The video is so powerful and can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_l9YztCjNc  I got to play my beautiful drum that had been gifted to me by Deb Trochim of http://zen4now1.wixsite.com/sol-song-drum-co/home-

The second presenter was Linda Rose from Grande Prairie who introduced us to the history of the medicine wheel and shared that Nose Hill park in Calgary has a medicine wheel, but there are no signs for it, so we need to use our inner compass to find it.  She also revealed that the medicine wheel that exists in Bassano is older than Stonehenge! She went through a chart to show how the medicine wheel can be used to make some sense in our journey throughout life. I was totally fascinated at the various moon phases and how they repeat themselves every 13 years and the lessons that come up in each of those years for us to learn. There was very practical knowledge as seen by the example of the moon for a 2 year old.  The moon is all about Affirmation at this time.  It is a time of choices and discernment and has been referred to by many as the “Terrible 2’s.”  By knowing this information, if you give two year olds a choice between 2 items, the power struggles will diminish.   Another example is that of the moon for the 9 year old.  This is the time called Moon of Breaking Masks.  This moon is at the darkest side of the wheel.  It is a time when children start to learn that not all people are nice. It is a very important time to have conversations about the darkness with children to help them through this period.  I think that this is information that every parent should have!  There were so many practical tips on each of the phases and how they repeat themselves every 13 years, It is definitely something that I want to dive into more deeply.   I also found the information about the different clans and the very innovative parable that Linda used to describe the difference between each of the clans and their personality types quite fascinating.

After Linda’s presentation, we had an amazing lunch. They even provided special catering for those who had food sensitivities and/or allergies. Thank you to Pat’s Palate Pleasers for doing such an excellent job of catering.

Next, Jill Allen presented on the huge turning point in her life that happened 4 1/2 yrs ago when she was diagnosed with breast cancer.  Deciding that she wanted alternatives to chemo and radiation after having ordered an arms length of books on cancer after her diagnosis, she ended up finding out about Spring Forest Qigong (SFQ) when she went to an information event at Wellspring in Calgary.  SFQ is all about moving excess energy out of our body with ease and grace. Jill guided us through a very gentle yet energizing session, followed by a very therapeutic meditation by the originator of SFQ, Master Lin. It was called the Butterfly Meditation and it was very healing.  Jill offers Spring Forest Qigong classes in Cochrane and surrounding areas.  You can find out more about Jill at this link: https://www.facebook.com/Qi.Motions.ca/

There was more shopping and amazing raffle draws.  The day finished with the beautiful Martha Birkett of http://www.amarylliscentreforhealing.com/

She had just recently returned from her second trip to South Africa where she was involved in many sacred ceremonies.  She brought some of the ash back from these healing rituals and placed them in some of the alchemy crystal bowls.  She has a vast knowledge of the art of healing through sound and is very passionate about reminding us all how interconnected we truly are.  She also believes in focusing on hope for the environment instead of focusing on fear as per the example she gave of how the ocean is healing itself.  She then guided us all through a magical sound bath with her voice and crystal bowls.  Sound travels through our bones 12 times quicker than it does through our ears.  The healing that comes from sound vibration is well understood in eastern cultures and Martha is spreading her knowledge of this to the western world.  It was an absolutely amazing way to wrap up a day filled with so much support, caring and love for one another.  

Each of the presenters were gifted with an amazing work of art from Mystia Creation by owner Phil Hammond whose shop is in Calgary.  Phil has a passion for crystals and he helps their beauty to shine forth by creating unique stands of white pine that he gets from mountain tops where the trees have been blown down.  He then carries the logs down the mountain, drills a hole to secure a light inside them and creates a notch in which to hold various crystals.  The picture here is of Selenite that I have proudly displayed in my office.  For more details, visit: http://www.mystiacreations.com/

Selenite helps to enhance our consciousness and with the LED light, it amplifies it even more.  This was the perfect close to a conference filled with women truly lifting one another up in the spirit of fellowship and connection.

As Susanne the Sunshine Faery from my book says,

“We are all connected, like beams of light to the sun, 

So we must be kind to others, for we are all truly one.

No matter where we come from in terms of colour or race,

We are linked one and all to this brilliant light place.”

Thank you to Carol Patenaude and her wonderful team for creating a day filled with health, happiness and harmony.  Namaste,

Sending loads of sunshine and faery magic your way,

Susanne