Namaste, Mama’s!  Join us at Nurture for special Mama meditations as we carve out time to nurture ourselves.  We are hoping to build a regular time of practicing together, starting Sundays in December at 11am-12pm.  We will also explore ways to deepen our connection to self through art, affirmations and community.  Hope to see you there!

Nurture warmly welcomes our newest Family Wellness Professional Member, Amber Hincks.  Amber is an East Asian Medicine Practitioner with a special interest in women’s health.  Read on to find out more about Amber and all that she has to offer:

Amber Hincks, L.Ac.
Vital Moon Healing Arts
www.vitalmoonpdx.com
971.267.2229

Greetings!  I am a licensed acupuncturist in the state of Oregon, and acupuncture is one of the many services I will be offering now at Nurture.  Chinese medical theory provides the foundation for a holistic view of health that sees the individual as a unique and complex whole person.  While I look at symptoms and how to resolve them efficiently, I also seek to bring the person back into balance with themselves, as well as with nature and community.

Along with acupuncture and its associated modalities, I use Chinese herbal medicine, massage, and dietary and lifestyle counseling.  I am also a trained birth doula.  I love working with women or couples who are starting new families, wherever they are in that process.  It is such an important time to feel supported and have the resources you need.  I also enjoy working with digestive disorders (herbs are great!), musculoskeletal conditions (tuina massage is incredible!), and emotional wellbeing.

Chinese medicine has so much to offer at any stage of life, and I look forward to adding my skills to the wonderful community at Nurture.  Please contact me with any questions at 971-267-2229 or vitalmoonpdx@gmail.com.  I look forward to meeting you!

We love our new space and have spent the summer moving in and getting it ready. But it still needs a little more love. So we are having two work parties, and you are welcome to join us. It is a great chance to see our space and meet us, if you haven’t done either of those yet.

Sunday, October 2nd from 10am-? (maybe 4pm)

& Sunday, October 9th from 10am-?

We will be getting the porch ready to paint, painting the porch, painting the metal railings of the porch, painting the front door, painting the indoor stair railings, and a few other small but important jobs

We would love to see you and would really appreciate the help!

It’s that time of year again! The time of year that brings the wonderful gathering of families and the rich collection of services  for families available in Portland… The Green Sprouts Festival!

Nurture will have a booth (under the tent this year) with information about our services, rebozos for the first 40 families who commute there by bike, door prizes, and a Kids’ Craft Table featuring Bead Art.  We have every kind of bead imaginable, including charms and letters, for fun creations!  An added perk is that we are not supplying messy materials!  There will also be a reading quilt set up to take a break and read a story or two. A collection of children story books will be on hand. if you’re looking to relax and stay clean, please come by and see us!  We will be located in the tent area of the park.

Luna Lactation will also have a special tent for breastfeeding again this year! Stop by and say hello to our wonderful lactation consultant, Melissa Cole.

Thriving relationships need very specific kinds of habits that are not always obvious, but are totally doable once you learn about them.

All ages & diversity (lesbian, trans, straight, or bi) of women are invited to get together with Shannon Batts (MS, LPC in Oregon) AKA the Relationship Gardener, for support, inspiration, and to get a grip on relationships!   These love habits are also present or not in all your relationships and will impact how interactions at work, in your family, and with your friends grow or not.  Let’s start our upgrade and have better connections.

Join us to learn about

• specific kinds of positivity needed to have the foundation for being able to have not only a more rewarding relationship, but a necessary part of what makes conflict work out
• which kinds of responses to everyday chit chat lead to divorce-early and late, and which one leads to the long lasting happy path
• the 4 poisons are and their antidotes
• specific tools for taking on difficult conversations that root out defensiveness and give you that being heard feeling you are seeking
• finding more meaning in your relationships
• what your first date communication predicts for your relationship outcome and how to improve your odds of lasting
• affair proofing
• how experts create a healing path after infidelity-and what to stay away from in typical advice.

NEW DAY: Saturdays, 4:30-6pm. Inquire directly to Shannon (503-348-0405, or couplescoach@gmail.com)

Class/group information is based on tools gleaned from 30 years of following couples and researching all about them at the Gottman Institute.

You can totally afford this because in 2011 all the RG groups and interactive gatherings are by donation! Woo hoo!!! You pick your payment amount.

Just my Year of The Rabbit special for you!

I am a straight, but LGBTQI? affirming licensed counselor-recommended by the founder of DayStar Education http://www.linkedin.com/pub/shannon-batts-m-s-lmft-lpc/27/331/823

Examples of who could benefit from Women Connect:

If you have a new Love Thang and you want to know the relationship keys-what makes a difference in whether your relationship will last and be happy or not.

If you are struggling because you have done all you know to do and your relationship is a piece of work.

If a relationship ended and you want to pull yourself together and aim yourself for thriving relationships.

If you are not in a relationship, but you want to be ready when you do find the right one.

Childbirth Education Classes

Through your birthing education class, you will learn about different philosophies of birth.

You and your partner will learn information to make empowering choices for the type of birth you want

You will learn to understand what to expect of your body and how to trust your body to labor as it was made to.

Class topics are personalized to meet the expectant parents’ needs and interests and include:

• Pregnancy and Prenatal Health
• Optimal Fetal Positioning
• Anatomy and Physiology of Birth
• Stages of Labor and Birth, what to expect and how to cope
• Relaxation and Comfort Techniques
• Your partners role in pregnancy, birth and postpartum
• Postpartum Care and wellbeing
• Baby Care and Breastfeeding
• Informed Care choices for you and your baby

These classes encourage parents to let go of assumptions and fears and cultivate a healthy outlook towards their upcoming birth.

Classes run for 5 weeks, Saturdays from 2-5pm $100 for 5 week session (Minimum 3 couples)

Nurture 1626 NE Alberta St. Portland, OR 97211

Session 1: Sept 17th-Oct 22 (no class Oct 15th) 2011

Session 2: Nov 19-Dec 17th 2011

Session 3: Jan. 7th-Feb 4th 2012

Contact Tia Rich 971-533-6496 tia@inner-serenity.org www.Inner-Serenity.org

A monthly meditation group for mothers seeking a practice of renewal and striving toward mindful parenting. We support the journey of mothering as a exercise toward inner growth that uplifts the family. If you find youself surrounded by busyness, pressured by the unknowns and responsibilities of parenting, and seek a group that supports your ability to slow down, breathe, and listen to your inner wisdom, then mama meditation is for you.

Slowing down and allowing ourselves to just be present without judgement can provide an opportunity for acceptance, connection, and understanding. Whether our experiences are challenging or joyful, we can embrace them for what they are and grow from that understanding.

Join us, as we develop our restorative practice together and individually. Learn how to create sacred space, make time in your daily routine, develop a tool belt of simple techniques and come to understand the benefits meditation has on your ability to be more adaptable, present, steady, and balanced through day-to-day tasks and in your relationships. (We will explore meditative techniques from various yogic traditions, all of which support renewal, quietude, and inner harmony.)

Share your meditative wisdom by fostering a space of dedication to your practice and allow others to witness your sacred connection. Meditation has so many benefits, supporting you, your children, your partner, and your friends too.

Note: If you are a women who nurtures others, then you qualify as mom. Offered monthly on the third Monday @ Nurture 1626 NE Alberta 7:30-8:30pm.

Facilitated by Elaina Beam. Love offering ~ $5 for members, $7 for non-members, free for Heartwise Mamas

The Alberta Street Fair is this Saturday! We will be open for families to find a little bit of quiet for nursing or changing diapers, or regrouping during the wild fun out on the street.

We hope that everyone who comes through our door feels nurtured.

Here is a little list of just some of the wonderfulness we will have:

• Creative Recycling and Green Crafts will have supplies to make nursing necklaces ($5) or a toadstool (by donation)
• Shannon Batts, LMFT, LPC will be offering a relationship tune-up quiz and answering your relationship questions
• Lovely Henna will be there if you would like to add a beauty to your beautiful self (price varies by design)
• Starting at 2:30, Sage Body will be there to help you relax with $1/minute chair massage
• A little tea party in the garden for a noonish spot of tea

Oh sweet summer, how you keep us busy and slip by so quickly. The garden is rapidly growing (if anyone needs lettuce or other greens…), and it is filling up with dear little crafts made by wee little hands. Several new professionals have joined our group and several more will be starting soon. A mama-meditation group has started, weekly mama-baby yoga is rolling, a few workshops, and soon the Alberta Street Fair! I can scarcely keep up with it all. The best way for you to keep up with what’s going on at Nurture is to “like” our Facebook page, for that is where most of the little and big announcements are posted. Even these posts make their way to that page. Happy sweet summertime to you!

The pumpkin patch a few weeks ago!