Local businesses earn themselves a salute
If you own a business in Woolwich, take your right hand, put it over your left shoulder, and give yourself a pat on the back. Then take the same hand, touch it to your forehead and salute the business owners who work in shops or office buildings near yours. You made it through the recession, and you are still standing.
This was the message that nearly 85 local business owners heard from Alan Quarry, chairman and CEO of …Read more
Utility prepares for mix of city and country
Agricultural land, industrial use. Rural plumbing, city water.
Moving just up the road into Woolwich Township, Waterloo North Hydro expects to fit into its new surroundings when it builds a new headquarters on Country Squire Road late next year.
The latest step in that move came this week as Woolwich council approved a cross-border …Read more
Going local goes mainstream
It’s time to stop calling local food a trend.
In 2007, Alisa Smith and J.B. MacKinnon published The 100-Mile Diet, a book about their yearlong experiment with eating only locally grown foods. The book was a bestseller and popularized the idea of eating local – bypassing food that had been shipped over borders and oceans in favour of buying directly from farms and farmers’ markets …Read more
Better health through channeling our energy
John D’Hondt likens reiki to playing a stringed instrument: plucking one string causes the other strings to vibrate with it. A reiki practitioner, he explains, channels energy to trouble spots to help the body correct energy imbalances and boost self-healing.
Last winter D’Hondt left behind a 17-year career in design and engineering when it became too stressful. Reiki had been a sideline for about a year, and he decided to try making a business of it.
John D'Hondt made a major shift in his life, ultimately deciding to open his own reiki practice in Elmira.
“I thought maybe I should try this out and see where it goes,” he said.
Reiki is a Japanese technique for stress reduction and relaxation that promotes healing. It’s based on the belief that unseen life-force energy flows through the body and can be directed by a reiki practitioner through a series of hand positions.
D’Hondt has been interested in energy systems and healing for a number of years, but he only chanced upon reiki two years ago. He was reconnecting with old friends on Facebook and stumbled across a woman from Kitchener who had written a meditation on her personal page – the same meditation D’Hondt used years earlier to deal with stress. He discovered she was a reiki practitioner and was intrigued.
After doing some reading he hunted out places to learn reiki and discovered there are a number of teachers in the Kitchener-Waterloo-Guelph area. Each level requires classes that take place over a day or few days, with extra practice time after class.
There are three levels to reiki training. At the first level, students learn the history and theory of reiki, the energy systems, hand positions and how to heal themselves and others. Level two focuses on learning the Japanese healing symbols and sending reiki energy from a distance. After completing the third level, the student becomes a master and is able to teach reiki to others.
D’Hondt practices out of his home on Nightingale Crescent. A room in the basement is designated the “reiki room” – his son made the sign above the door – and is outfitted with a massage table and low lighting. Quiet music helps to set a calming, relaxing mood.
D’Hondt hopes to complete his reiki master level this year. He has also trained in therapeutic touch, taken an introductory course on acupressure and plans to take a full hypnosis course in the fall, to add regression therapy to the services he offers.
Practitioners use reiki to treat problems like stress, headaches and certain types of pain. D’Hondt emphasizes that reiki is not meant to be a substitute for medical care, and works well in conjunction with other treatments.
He acknowledges that reactions to reiki are mixed. Some people are enthusiastic or curious, while others are skeptical or even afraid of the concept. That makes education a necessary part of his business. He also offers a discounted rate on the first two sessions for people who want to give it a try.
“It’s actually a very simple method of healing,” he said. “My goal is to help people – help them be more comfortable, less stressed.”
Putting sustainable ideas under one roof
Two local geothermal companies are hoping to make Maryhill into a hub for energy conservation ideas with the construction of a sustainable living centre.
Earth FX Energy of Maryhill has teamed up with Bostech Mechanical of Listowel to renovate the former Sundial lighting building on St. Charles Street. When complete, the sustainable living centre will showcase geothermal heating and cooling systems, high efficiency lighting, solar options, air quality systems and …Read more
More than just moving your stuff
To people overwhelmed by the thought of moving a houseful of possessions or sorting through years of accumulated clutter, Dawn Kingsbury and …Read more
Local pharmacies see trouble ahead
Pharmacists in Woolwich are joining their counterparts across the province in protesting cost-cutting measures introduced last week by the Ontario government …Read more
Conestoga students to take to the skies
Starting this fall, Conestoga College will be expanding its aviation program to include pilot training on helicopters.
The college has signed a partnership agreement with Great Lakes Helicopter, which operates out of the Region of Waterloo International Airport, to offer the training. The program is modeled on a similar partnership between the college and the Waterloo Wellington Flight Centre for training on fixed-wing …Read more
Wellesley Home Hardware earns kudos
Wellesley Home Hardware has been named one of the top 20 Home Hardware stores in the country, and the staff is waiting to learn if their efforts were enough to earn top honours.
Each of the 1,100 Home Hardware stores in Canada is inspected every year by staff from head …Read more
Road clear for new flour mill
A proposed flour mill on Shantz Station Road moved a step closer to reality this week when Woolwich council approved a zone change.
Parrish and Heimbecker Limited is hoping to expand the grain storage at Shantz Station Terminal east of Breslau and build a flour mill on the site …Read more
