With autumn comes change . . .

As autumn begins to ripen, and the harvest moon hangs heavy in the sky, we all feel a sense of change in the air. My ten year old and I made our first visit to the local apple farm for our favorite fresh picked Honeycrisp apples (read about apples and cancer prevention at www.webmd.com/cancer/news/20041018/apple-day-for-cancer-prevention ).

I also attended a wonderful yoga/detox/meditation class at my very favorite yoga studio in Glens Falls, New York - Lemon Tree Yoga (www.lemontreegyoga.com) - and enjoyed over four hours of sweating and detoxification - spiritual, emotional and physical!

This cancer retreat continues to evolve - Sue Hayden is currently working on an inspired new name for the retreat, and on all the legalities involved with New York and North Carolina states. I have gone back to school to continue my education and to get my degree in management & wellness. One of my courses this semester is Nonprofit Management! Very exciting stuff.

On the healing side, I am also very excited to be taking my first course towards getting my certification in oncology massage. I will be attending a course entitled "Massage for People Living with Cancer" at the Onondaga School of Therapeutic Massage in Rochester, New York the first weekend in October (www.massage-school.com).

On a sad note, my life continues to be touched on an almost daily basis by those suffering from cancer. At my current job (I presently work in the HR office in a large school district) I see many suffer from this crushing disease. We recently lost two employees - one to non hodgkin's lymphoma at age 53, and one to brain cancer at age 43. There are three employees that I know of who have been recently diagnosed - and these are young women in their 30's and 40's - a school nurse with pancreatic cancer, a teacher with colon cancer, and yet another teacher with stomach cancer. I feel there is such a tremendous need for what this cancer retreat will offer - complimentary/alternative healing (also known as CAM - complimentary/alternative medicine - read more about it at http://nccam.nih.gov/health/whatiscam/) that I feel blessed to be motivated to do this work, and to follow in the footsteps of Sue's inspiration.

I encourage all of you who are reading this blog to post your stories, ideas and inspirations about cancer, healing, wellness, etc - if you are interested in posting, and have not already been invited to be an author (this allows you to post), please contact Sue at info@morganhillretreats.com.

And if you are inspired to help out with this endeavor, and become part of the Morgan Hill Retreat team, please contact us.

On a final note, I encourage you all to invite wellness into your lives. Begin with a good green drink every day (we suggest Vibrant Health's Field of Greens - easily purchased on www.amazon.com), an exercise routine that you enjoy, and a spiritual practice that inspires you.

Enjoy the last days of summer, and the first of autumn's harvest bounty!