 and welcome to Lillian's Vegan World. I'm your host, Lillian Cumick with Think Tech Hawaii. And today's show is Church of Plant Medicine Retreat, Healing Through Nature in COVID times. I'm so excited to welcome my guest co-owners of Spirit Grove Healing Retreat Center, Melissa Maureen and Richard Virade, all the way from Manning, Oregon. Welcome guys to the show. Thank you. It's such a pleasure to have you on. Thank you so much. I was so excited to hear about what you were doing over there in Oregon and we will get to it. But I just wanted to let you know that this week, in our free magazine that's published weekly, it's called Midweek Hawaii, one of the writers who's John Fink wrote a very interesting article called The Silent Alarm. And apparently the Center for Disease Control and Prevention said that about 44% of Americans were in the throes of depression and anxiety. Young adults, teens, even children suffering from anxiety-eating disorders, PTSD, post-traumatic stress disorder and even worse feelings. So I'm excited to have you on because there's a lot of evidence and a lot of studies showing that being out in nature, even just taking a meditation walk can have calming effects for all of these things. So welcome again to both of you. And I would like first to ask Richard. Richard, hello, hello, ha. Hello, ha. Richard, please tell us briefly about what you do over at Spirit's Grove. I kind of break things. No. I fix a lot of things. I basically build the infrastructure and support it for the classes and programs that Melissa does, Missa does. So we found ourselves together and we found this place together and we said, well, wait a minute, what's going on here? Because it just kept popping up when we were looking for a place to live together and it's been exhilarating, exciting to do this, to tap into her dream of opening a healing retreat center. I can imagine. It sounds wonderful. Missa, can I ask you to tell us exactly what your retreat is all about? Your healing center? Yeah, sure. Spirit's Grove Healing Center, Church of Plant Medicine is a place where animals and people come to heal. We rescue animals and either they stay with us or we find them in the homes. When they get healthy enough, they let us know what they want and then we will go and search of that for the animals. Some of them stay and become therapy animals. For people, we do healing retreats, which includes meditation, chigang, ji, body work, nature walks. We take people out in the woods, sometimes we'll take somebody blindfolded out in the woods and sit them under a tree for 10 or 15 minutes and of course we stay close but just everybody is very, very silent so they can learn to listen to nature. And I like sitting them under a tree. They're back to a tree because trees actually will pop if people will slow themselves down long enough to really listen and tap into that. So we are a place to go to learn how to heal for yourself. We just guide people to what their body and their soul really needs. We don't heal anybody per se but we allow people to find the tools they need to heal themselves. That's amazing. What you're doing is fantastic. And there are studies still going on about one third of COVID-19 survivors which is about 11 million Americans today are still suffering from the after effects of COVID so they're suffering from headaches, body aches, nausea, loss of taste and or smell which would be awful. Dizziness, lung damage, lethargy and brain fog. You have this awesome, awesome healing retreat center which I hope one day to come and visit as well and see it firsthand. Where people can come. Thank you. Where people can come and really find a way to find that calm. Let's take a look at your retreat. You have sent in some slides. It is absolutely gorgeous. Tell us about this one. Yeah, that's our upper pond we call it. There's a beaver dam at the far end of the property and then another dam that a man made dam and then this is about that. And the beavers cross over between the ponds and go up and down the creek all the time. You see their trails and the ground. Yeah, so this pond we have the upper and the lower pond and right this side of that pond is like a wildlife highway to where all the wildlife that comes through our property utilize that to just go through our property, drink the water and sleep there. It's such an amazing thing to see that happen. I can imagine and I can also imagine the sight that sounds that you experience in a place like that because once you are able to learn how to focus or even come close to meditating if you're not familiar with meditation which is something I highly recommend if you are suffering from any sort of anxiety or stress. Definitely try and go online, find out how it all works but just even sitting outside in nature makes a difference, doesn't it? We sometimes sit on the back porch and hear the frogs going at night just going crazy and we'll go down and just be around the trees down there in different parts. And we've been slowly exploring the property, it's 40 acres and it's all forest, most of it's wilderness. That's awesome, my God. And then we have such a variety of herbs that grow at Spirit's Grove, which is all the herbs that I've seen so far at Spirit's Grove are for cleaning the blood, for healing the body, for lung issues, so a lot of lung plants which is exactly what the planet needs right now with the COVID issue going on. So to be able to wander the property and show people exactly what those plants are and how to use them is such a blessing. Yes, so what is it exactly that you do? I'm looking at all these jars behind you, what kind of little concoctions are you gathering and creating over there? We're actually in my shop in Forest Grove because we have better reception here that is Spirit's Grove. So this is my herbal pharmacy and clinic right here in Forest Grove. So all these jars back here are, it's my library of herbs that I put formulas together for people. If they just want a nice tasting tea, I kind of look at them and go, oh, they need this. And so I add it to it and make the tea taste good, put a lot of people come in and they have issues. I will do intakes, have appointments with them and then create formulas specifically for their body's needs. That's fantastic. And all of your products are organic? Yes, everything here is organic or wildcrafted. So we either pick it, which is our property is completely organic. So we either pick the herbs there or I buy organic or wildcrafted herbs from two different companies here in the U.S. And I've been doing this for almost 40 years. That's amazing. I love it, Mr. This is completely down my alley. Anything to do with plants and healing with plants and the power that you can gain from plants, not to mention all the healing benefits. I am completely on board with that. Let's take another look at your next slide. Isn't that a gorgeous photo? This is Claudia. She came to our open house and we took her for, she wanted to go down to the pond. So we took her down and then I asked her, they wanted to go to a very sacred spot. So I took them here and this tree wanted her to hug it. So I told her, Claudia, the tree needs you to hug it. And she gave this tree a hug and we took this picture and this picture is not photoshopped at all. It's just beautiful. That's her smile. It is gorgeous. Even the colors, it's just like you could see that on the cover of a book or something. I mean, who knows where the path will lead for you when you start creating venues that help people. It's a win-win. I know Richard likes to, I think Richard will agree. We learned a lot about win-win on a recent seminar that Richard and I were lucky enough to attend that was with thigh seminars. And we learn all about the win-win theory. It just, it makes so much sense when you are doing things that not only help yourself but benefit those around you. And that includes the animals, the environment, the planet as well as other people. You're definitely on the right path to some greatness. There's a saying that I heard many years ago from this amazing woman in Alaska. And she said, when one person heals, we all heal just a little bit more. And I love that because it's so true. If we can help just one person or one animal heal, then something inside of us heals as well. And it just, so it makes sense to just do our best. It really does. And that's why I'm so excited to talk to you both. I mean, this retreat is really something people should consider really visiting. Tell us how people get in contact with you and book your retreat. And how do we go about it? You can call us at our landline. We actually have a landline at Spirits Grove. And you can call us there or you can go to our website, which should be up within the next week. It's spiritsgrove.com. And then our phone number for Spirits Grove is 503-324-1711. Excellent, thank you. I urge anyone watching the show who is interested in learning about the church of medicine, taking these meditation walks, these guided walks and really getting some beneficial information that can help change your life, your mindset. Please do reach out to Mr. and Richard. I'm sure they would love to hear from you. I am going to take a short, we are going to take a short break. So to all the viewers, please stay tuned and we'll be right back after these messages. Welcome back everyone to Lillian's Vegan World. I'm your host, Lillian Cumick. And today we're talking about the church of medicine. Before I reintroduce my gorgeous guest today, I would like to tell you about my newly released book, Hawaii, A Vegan Paradise. It is out in stores all over Hawaii. Outside of Hawaii, you can grab a copy on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Costco. So definitely do grab a copy. There are over 120 plant-based recipes of the islands. And this is my first book. I'm also very, very excited to announce that my second book is coming out just before the holidays in the fall. So stay tuned for that. I will be giving you updates on how that's going, but another Hawaii themed book that I'm really, really excited about. So having said that, back to the church of medicine and the co-owners of Spirits Grove. Welcome back, Mr. and Richard to the show. Thank you. Just to continue on with your cookbook there, we have a copy and everyone I've showed it to, the chefs are just like enthralled with it. And we made the chocolate chick dip and some people couldn't put it down. They- To me. To you and another friend. That's so sweet. That is actually a nice recipe. I mean, people don't think of hummus as a, as a sweet kind of dip, but just by incorporating some very healthy cocoa and some other ingredients, you can really turn a hummus into sort of a semi-sweet treat. But I appreciate that. And thank you so much for your support in grabbing a copy. One day hopefully I'll- I hope you do. It's going to be available for people to come to the retreat to look through. Thank you so much. And yes, our guest chef to do it. Oh, I would love that. Thank you so much. Perhaps one day I can come and cook a dish for you in person. Oh, we would love that. Guys, I do want to talk to you again, just about, actually, I found some information online. Again, getting back to, you know, depression and what we can do to relieve some of these unfortunate symptoms that people are really feeling, especially during COVID times is getting out in nature. This is really why I've just, I've asked you on the show because what you do is just so fantastic. You have that gorgeous, gorgeous healing retreat center. And in addition to nature's calming effects on depression symptoms, being outdoors alone, exercising boost endorphins, the happy feel-good, you know, chemicals that make us just lift our spirits, make us feel better immediately, really. So if there's any advice that you have, what is it? When people come to your retreat, what's the first thing you do? Like how do you introduce them to your healing retreat center? Well, we give them a tour. We introduce them to the animals. We actually ask people to take off their shoes and just walk in the grass to connect with the earth, which is huge. And the next morning when the retreat starts, we have people come in at night. The first thing we do in the morning is I take them through a chigang with movie meditation. And before breakfast, we do chigang, which it's just amazing things for the spirit and the body and the mind. It is like an antidepressant overload. And to do that in the forest with fresh air, animals wandering around next to you, it is one of the most amazing fillings there is. So that's how we start our days is with chigang right there in the front, the front yard, so to speak, which is about the size of a football field. There's lots of room. Actually, my husband and I practice grounding. Every weekend, we go to the beach, one of our beaches here in gorgeous Hawaii. We are spoiled in that way, but the first thing we do before we set up our chairs and get ready for rest and relaxation is we take a half an hour, one hour walk around the beach around the parks without our shoes on. And you can actually find documentaries. There's lots of information about grounding and just getting your soul, your bare feet onto the ground is another way of connecting with the Earth, connecting with the energy that's coming from the universe, from the planet. Like all of these small things you can start doing immediately. So, one day, honestly, I hope that I do come and visit your retreat and I'm gonna tell a lot of people about it because what you're doing is amazing. I do wanna show the viewers some more photos of your property. Let's have a look who are these little gorgeous four-legged ones. These boys, so like I said, we rescue animals and these two boys, we rescued last September and the one on the right, his name is Red Bear and we found him a home with a family with four children because in having him, we found out he absolutely loved kids. And then Buddy on the other side, the very he was so skinny, we didn't know if he was gonna survive. He was a skeleton with skin on him. And now he is the most beautiful, beautiful horse. And then that spirit dancer who we named the property after. She is one of the most magical horses there is. And then of course, Smudge on my shoulder. He's the cat that is, he is a hilarious cat. So all these animals come to us from interesting stories and interesting circumstances and they come live at Spirit's Grove and we help them heal and they help us heal. I was just going to say I- People just get out of their cars and then all of a sudden you just see them, their bodies just kind of relax. Just not even touching the ground yet. They just kind of feel the presence of the sky and the wind and such. And then as time goes on, as we take them through the forest and such, you see them just even more so decompressing and so forth. You know, having worked in the high tech industry for 30 plus years, you know, I can feel my own shoulders just kind of relaxing as we go down the trails and deal the breezes and the birds calling and the goats walking behind you. Yes, the animals get to follow us around the forest. Yeah. You know, when I saw the slides that you had prepared for our show today, I did actually take a little look online about horse therapy, otherwise known as equine assisted therapy. And this form of therapy does, studies are showing that it is actually improving a lot of things such as self-esteem, communication skills, self-awareness, relaxation, of course, empowerment, all these things that, you know, just being around horses can give you interpersonal relationships, improved self-control, focused focus and concentration, and of course the big one, the big, big one, which is happiness. Have you ever been around an animal and not felt happy? Yes. Yes. And then I go put my head in there. I was thinking you'd say no. No, because then if I go to my horses when I'm unhappy and I put my head sometimes in their neck and I'll just talk to them and they keep all your secrets and you can cry in their neck and they will just love you. And when you walk away, you feel amazing. But you can go to them with all your troubles and your fears and they will teach you more about yourself than you will ever learn about them. And they are so gracious and so loving, they just wanna heal us. So, yeah. Yeah. They've used animals with prisoners, life prisoners for therapy for years and it works very well. I can imagine. I mean, I'm a vegan as you know. I've been on a plant-based diet for 15 years now. There is nothing more important to me on my journey than saving animals. And I'm doing that through my work with food, trying to educate people on how you're not missing out on anything on a plant-based diet because the thought of what goes on in the animal world that's controlled by humans and very unpleasant things go on. But when you go to places like your retreat and connect with animals, connect with nature, you're gonna find there's a better way to do life. It doesn't have to be the same just because you've been living a certain way, just because you've been told how you're supposed to be living and what you're supposed to be eating. All of these things are just excuses for not wanting to change. But when you look at change, change is just chance and opportunity in disguise. There's nothing more exciting than embracing change in your life. So whether that means taking off those $100, $800, $10 shoes and getting your feet down in the dirt, taking a walk around, if getting your clothes off and walking around is your thing, that's another avenue for you to release all that stress and do something different. So I encourage anyone to really go online and find Spirit's Growth, connect with them, reach out to them. Perhaps you can go and visit and I'm sure they'll be more than happy to take care of you. Let's continue on with the slides before I keep talking about how wonderful it is what you do. This is the property. Yes, this is the lodge, the main house. Gorgeous. And we're looking at it from the cedar grove next door, right next to it. Richard, I do want to talk about your mushroom jerky, which I believe now you are using, you're experimenting using molasses and maple syrup to flavor the jerky, meaning that it will actually be vegan plant-based if you're omitting the honey and swapping it for other sweeteners. So all of these mushrooms found on your property, incredible. Yes. That's like candy to my eyes. Yeah, and we're switching, we're gonna have vegan options on there. So unlike the molasses, she likes both the maple syrup and the molasses. And the bounty comes at different times with the different mushrooms during the year. So we've only been there a year now and we haven't seen all of the cycles yet. So we're looking forward to the summer and the fall again, and especially the winter when the chanterelles come out. We've just completed the orchard mushrooms and they were very into, I mean, we found another batch. Oh, in Sweden, we found more. Oh. Today. We have such a plethora of mushrooms, it's amazing. Yeah. Again, you can imagine how hearing and seeing your mushrooms is for someone like me, yes, chef. I mean, I would spend a lot of money to get my hands on mushrooms like that, amazing. So Misa, looks like you're going off foraging later on to find the new batch that Richard speaks of. Oh, foraging is almost a daily thing. I have to go out and see if I can find mushrooms and then there's mushrooms that if we don't know them, we take them home and research them and go through many books and many apps to find out exactly what they are. And even then, if we're not 100% sure, we will not do anything with them and put them back in the forest. Misa and Richard. It just makes sense to be safe. Definitely. I want to thank you so much for your time and coming onto our show to our viewers. Thank you always for joining Lillian's Vegan World. Do reach out to Spirit Grove. Look forward to seeing you on another Lillian's Vegan World. Take care until then and Aloha.