Good Medicine News: April ‘25

Monthly Newsletter featuring upcoming events at GMC, creative reflections and critical commentary from our Collective members on the front lines of healing and consciousness change work.

Apr 07, 2025

A Story about three simple instructions. Touch. Feel. Thank you.

It was the middle of an all-night ceremony with Darryl where he was sharing the creation story of the Diné people. Darryl speaks quietly and slowly, meandering in melodic hushed reverent tones, as if he’s actually weaving the story out of ethereal thread.

I felt how the story was not a story but a way.
And the way of the story was perhaps more important than the story itself.
To know the Beauty-Way, you must actually shift the way you listen. The way you perceive. You must soften into a portal of deep time, what I call the rhythm under the rhythm.

Darryl inhabits this time-space, which feels to be outside our modern practice of time-as-commodity, time-as-scarcity, speed-as-sacred. Spending time with Darryl is an embodied practice of slowing down.

“Sister,” He says so quietly I wonder if he’s actually speaking.

”Touch.” He holds his hand to his heart. I follow. I feel all of my attention inhabit the steady beat of my heart. The soft waves of my breath.

“Feel.” He slows down this moment, stretching it out like it was elastic. I follow and drop down into a portal of experience underneath the surface. All that exists is my heart beat and my breath. A miracle amongst the vast ancient symphony of life that has existed eons before me. There is only wonder here. Only love here.

”Thank you.” He smiles at me, recognizing that I was there with him in the only possible response - unspeakable gratitude.

“Thank you.” I smile.

Join us for an evening of ceremony and conversation with Darryl. We are blessed to receive his view, informed from Diné cosmology and the Beauty-Way lineage of his grandparents. Darryl will offer wisdom teachings, stories, and songs from his lineage to guide the ceremony. Good Medicine providers and dear friends of Darryl, Therese Jornlin and Andrew Forsthoefel, will facilitate questions to prompt Darryl's unique perspective:

What does it mean to be indigenous?
What is cultural appropriation?
What does it mean for modern people to decolonize their minds and hearts?
How can the ancient teachings of certain wisdom traditions and cultural heritages serve as a guide through the conflicts and confusion of this current historical moment?

This offering is a gift to our community. It is free unless you wish to donate directly to support Darryl's presence and teachings. Register here. Please email liz@goodmedicinecollective.org with any questions. You can learn more about Darryl here.

With love and beauty,

Liz Strawbridge

April Collective Calendar

Ongoing Donation-Based Community Offerings:

April 9th 6-8pm this Psychedelic Studio: Art in the Psychedelic Renaissance features artist Martin Bridge. He will share how art can be used in more expansive ways to support integration and the evolution of consciousness for our community.

April 29th 5-6:30pm is GRACE Circle: Grief Remembered And Communally Embraced. Inspired by Francis Weller’s grief work, this circle is co-held by Good Medicine Providers and interfaith minister, Ashley Jansen.

Events and Workshops (link to our calendar)

Mondays Apr 7th & 14th 2-3pm, Qi Qong with Charles Colten

Tuesday Apr 8th 6-8:30pm, Quarterly Community Plant Practice with Ginny Gill and Tessy Seward: Nettle

Weekly on Wednesdays (Apr 9th, 16th, 23rd & 30th) 12-3pm West End Community Acupuncture with Zach Haigney L.Ac and Justine Wenger, L.Ac

Wednesday Apr 9th at 6-8pm, Psychedelic Studio with Martin Bridge

Friday Apr 11th 7-9pm Rhythmic Ritual dance with Sabra Saperstein

Saturday Apr 12th 6-8pm Taste of Good Medicine dinner for Maine Fungi Fest

Sunday Apr 13th 10-11:30am, Wild Rhythm Ecstatic Dance with ZsaZsa Valentine

Sunday Apr 13th 6:00 PM - 6:45 PM, Yoga Nidra and Sound Bath for Social Change with Maddy Riker

Tuesday Apr 15th 5:30-7:30pm, Monthly Spiraldance Community Breathwork with Tania Zuckerman

Wednesday Apr 16th 4-7pm Sexuality & Psychedelics: Expanding the Language of Healing with Liz Strawbridge and Kellie Ryan

Saturday Apr 19th 3-4pm, Pelvic Steam Ceremony with Vivian Rae

Friday April 25th 6-8pm, Stirring the Pot, an evening of conversation and co-sensing with Sabra Saperstein.

Saturday Apr 26th 10-12pm Gentle Yoga & Sauna/Cold Plunge with Maddy Riker

Sunday Apr 27th 3-4pm, Sound Meditation with Vivian Rae

Apr 28th 6-9pm, Women's New Moon Circles with Lara Turnure and Genell Huston

Apr 29th 5-6:30pm GRACE Circles with Ashley Jansen, Liz Strawbridge and David Wright

Apr 30th Beltane Ceremony with Maddy Riker & Casey Ricci

Mondays in May 6-8pm Return and Renew with the Sacred Drum with Therese Jornlin

Signs ups are open for the Fall 2025 Alchemical Alignment training happening at Good Medicine. Learn more here.

Notes From the Field

A space to hear the voices from members of the Collective and highlight their work. Maddy Riker. West End Acupuncture’s Zach Haigney & Justine Wenger and Todd Larlee are this month’s featured Good Medicine Collective members. Todd’s poem, Kinkarak, was penned recently after returning from a transformative experience in Costa Rica.

Maddy, What is inspiring you right now? I recently started taking pottery classes at Maine Clay Collaborative with my partner. This has been extremely humbling - this ancient craft is reinforcing, and inviting me into a deeper understanding of: patience, present moment and felt-sense awareness, and dedication. Throwing pottery, especially as a beginner, requires a commitment to releasing expectations and trusting the process, vital tools for living life from a placement of contentment and acceptance.

How did you get into this meditative sound and body work? 10+ years working in various healthcare settings, as a nursing assistant, and then a bedside RN, required me to find tools for self-care. During this time, I found yoga, meditation, and Reiki to be vital for restoring balance to my life. During the COVID-19 pandemic and union campaign process at Maine Med, I noticed a need to process compassion fatigue and practice self-nurturing skills in community. I struggled to find intentional spaces that offered this, so I began offering free yoga classes to people in caregiving roles. This sparked an interest in me to try to create a space where personal healing and social change can intersect. I'm still learning how to do this, and have found immense joy and fulfillment in the monthly Yoga Nidra & Sound Bath for Social Change offerings!

Upcoming April Offerings:

Yoga Nidra & Sound Bath for Social Change on Sun April 13th from 6-6:45 pm - 50% donations will go to Kindling Collective
Gentle Yoga & Sauna/Cold Plunge on Sat April 26th from 10am - 12 pm
Beltane Ceremony on Wed April 30th from 6-9 pm with Casey Ricci - movement, mediation, sauna, intention setting

You can learn more about Maddy HERE!

Zach & Justine, what is inspiring you right now? One of the things we are really excited about is our Community Acupuncture offering. Every Wednesday from 12-3pm we offer discounted acupuncture treatments in the yoga loft at Good Medicine.

Our community approach welcomes multiple participants to receive treatment together in a thoughtfully arranged environment that honors both collective energy and personal experience.

There's something powerful about resting alongside others on their own healing journeys. The collective field of calm that emerges supports each person's process while creating something greater than any individual experience.

Upcoming April Offerings: