Gorgeous Gulf Island Retreats Soothe your Body and Soul

 by Nancy Snipper

Ever feel the need to heal in a tranquil place where the ocean is before you and the forest surrounds you?   I recently traveled to two islands in British Columbia to stay in two extraordinary bed and breakfasts.  Rooms were remarkable, and breakfasts went beyond the standard of eggs, toast and jam.   Their hosts have talents that help you unwind while cocooning you in comfort and serenity - not to mention the spectacular views you get to enjoy from your own big balcony every day.

Serenity by the Sea

Last year, I suffered a back operation with an unfortunate painful outcome. I needed a retreat where I could self-reflect, distress and reset. The first place I headed for was Serenity by the Sea on Galiano Island.  Luannah Livermore, its owner, is an internationally trained healer, who also happens to be a marvelous baker – among other things.

 

Cottages with rustic charm

 Knowing I like view variation, Luannah offered me the chance to stay in two different fully equipped deluxe cottage-like cabins that nestle in the forest. Lush views greeted me every day until I moved into the main building. Perched high on a rock, this reception area has a stunning upstairs room with floor to ceiling windows and a huge balcony overlooking the sea. I could hear the lapping of waves hitting the rocks.  I slept like a babe.  

Healing treatments

 I looked forward to receiving her healing therapies held in her spacious studio.  After talking about her plan for me, she led me to a bed made off amethyst crystals.  Using an ancient Hawaiian method of treatment and combining it with others. She also uses sound and laser therapies on your body that give off vibration frequencies that actually heal pain.  Indeed, every time, she applied them, my pain diminished. While massaging me for three hours, she continuously sang in the Hawaiian language to a CD playing in the background.   Her 25 years of studying (five with an Elder in Hawaii) includes Lomi Lomi Temple Style. This incorporates traditional Hawaiian prayer, song, life coaching, energy release and deep joint massage and deep breathing.  Body, mind and soul become integrated in her approach. Her hands were remarkably strong; her angelic voice and her directions to breathe deeply at certain key moments during her treatments deepened my relaxation and eradicated kinks.   When it was over, I felt an incredible surge of energy; my body felt renewed.  My spirit picked up.

Having traveled all over the world, Luannah has acquired a vast knowledge of healing therapies which she is eager to share with you.  Personally, I found her guidance to be beneficial.  She helps us locate in ourselves a way to accept and actually love ourselves. Esoteric as it sounds, she revealed that cells respond to good “frequencies” - that the messages we send them profoundly affect our emotions, bodily feelings – and this in turn affects how we relate to others.   She also spoke about embracing both the shade and light parts along with the incongruities that we have in ourselves, and that we can learn to harmonize. She guided me in strategic ways to do this, emphasizing aloha (love). Luannah aims to bring our lives into goodness and love.  “The world needs to be lovingly corrected,” she said, smiling.

I came away from the retreat looking ten years younger.  Most importantly, I learned more about myself - how I was hurting myself by focusing on that which is not productive to my well-being.  Certainly, my pain had greatly diminished; my ankle was stronger, and my walking was steadier. Yes, I still use my cane but not all the time now. Most of all, Luannah gave me a spiritual strategy to deal with pain, and that alone has helped me when a setback arises.

I wanted to linger longer at Serenity by the sea, not just because of her remarkable gifts, but her breakfasts were great! Those raspberry, strawberry crepes and delicate pancakes soaked in home-made caramel and chocolate sauce were out of this world.  I also joined her family for a home-made Peruvian-style barbecue chicken dinner, made by her husband, Juan Carlos.

Visit www.serenitybythesea.com

Email: info@serenitybythesea.com

Salt Spring Island and Armand Heights B and B

Leaving Galiano, I took the two-hour ferry ride to Salt Spring Island. Here the harbor and Ganges town were buzzing with people. Still seeking solitude, I traveled further north to stay at Armand Heights – a B and B located 1000 metres above sea level. My luxurious room gave a panoramic tree-high view of mountain and ocean. I loved it. The grounds comprised almost six acres of gardens with a flourish of over 160 hybrid roses and dozens of fruit trees and herbs that Irina, the Russian owner uses in her breakfast dishes and every meal she loves to cook.

 Irina Floreke, owner of this exquisite property wears many hats: she makes baroque style cakes and raises chickens whose eggs she sells at the Tuesday and Saturday Ganges markets.  She also makes dozens of different flavored fruit wine, using the fruit that grows on her property. Every guest gets a complimentary bottle in their room.  A home-made gourmet breakfast is delivered to each of the four rooms by Irina herself. She’ll even cook dinner for you if you ask her in advance.  Her borscht was brilliant!

 I came to know just how caring Irina is when on my last day I was determined to visit Truckle Park – at least a 30-minute drive from her place.  But I had not rented a car. This park is reputed to be the most beautiful of all the parks on the Gulf Islands. Irina went right to work; she arranged for me to get a ride there with a couple staying in one of the rooms who also wanted to explore this park.

 It was beautiful indeed with its coves and groves of trees that offered a solitary bench for gazing out to the endless blue of sea. She even wanted to know how I would get back and to call her.

Irina even drove me me to the market in Ganges, the main town, and it was here that she dragged me to her hairdresser, insisting that my hair definitely needed cutting. I appreciated Irina’s authenticity and frankness, but her hairdresser was too busy. I think she was more disappointed that I was. Clearly, Irina always puts her guests first. “I love working, but the most important thing for me is my guests. I want them to be very happy here.”  I certainly was.

Salt Spring is beautiful and welcoming.  Musician, Randy Bachman homes here as do many artists and creative if not maverick innovators. Parks, lakes, kayaking and festivals abound. This scintillating island has its own healing magic, and Armand Heights is part of it.

Visit www.armandheights.com

Email: reservations@armandheights.com

An unusual place to stay to heal

Your zen moment is about to begin; you have just arrived at Serenity By the Sea in Galiano Island, British Columbia.  The setting is breathtaking. Perched high on its own wave-worn cyclopean rock, the structure appears as if it all might take its own well designed plunge as it brazenly carves out its own Shangri-la marvel. 

                       Once inside the welcoming reception area, your healing begins. 

                                                               

                                                      
The interior calms your senses in a cocoon of rustic beauty. Cedar beams blend with an assortment of colourful objects: interesting art, musical instruments and hand-made crafts  - each carrying its own magical significance; and despite the dramatic almost dangerous ocean vista in sight, you experience a feeling of safety and well

- being   Even the budgie bird sings continuously as it looks out to the sea. Perhaps it’s responding to it s owner Luannah Livermore - the guiding light behind this wonderful retreat.  She is here to help you find your healing path.

Ying and yang energies are at play here as they harmonize in mysterious ways. Like the setting that is outwardly bold, yet humble and safe inside, Serenity by the Sea inspires you to find your own inner balance and soul path.

Your Own Place of Peace

Serenity by the Sea offers three deluxe cottages - two with their own kitchens that are amply equipped for cooking. 
Sea View Haven is one such cottage. 
Inside or outside your haven is a healing paradise.

Nature has its own healing magic here

Grounds include ponds and nooks for relaxing

                                                                     


 



These ones are free-standing and separated from the main building. Whether you’re overlooking the sea (Sunset Room in the main building) or staying in one of these cottages nestled in the forest -  quietness and privacy is assured; each one is utterly  relaxing. Forget about turning on the TV; there isn’t one, but there is WiFi.
All rooms have wonderful views no matter where you set your hat.

I loved this unique bathtub

Bring on the Breakfast

Marcela, Luannah's assistant and a great cook too; Luannah cooking and healing us through food and more

Luannah's food makes us happy

Never have I enjoyed such a spread of homemade breakfast choices: scrambled eggs with zucchini, granola and honey yogurt, fresh fruit salad, and chicken sausages cut in small rondelles stuffed with spinach and feta. Luannah is a master baker - even had a business, selling her lemon bars, cookies, brownies, muffins and more goodies , so when she served her fresh-from the oven muffins made with roasted walnuts, pine nuts and carrots,  I was more than ready to taste one (which quickly turned into two).  Spiced with coriander and cinnamon, they were addictively tasty.






 One morning, she made strawberry crepes topped with a caramel sauce. 
I saw her making that sauce from scratch.  The crepe melted in my mouth, and the caramel was a divine addition.

Equally satisfying are her raspberry scones. Truth is everything she bakes is heavenly. She told me cooking is her passion; she puts her love into everything she creates in the kitchen. Her presentation and formal service at the table were impressive. 



In fact, she spent a year doing a practicum in a 5-star hotel in the Black Forest, learning the highest level of French Service.      



Juan Carlos her husband, made the most amazing barbecue chicken dinners The seasoning was brilliant. He’s from Peru which is internationally renowned for its cuisine. Perhaps that explains why the meal was superb, or could it be, he’s just a cooking genius like his wife!        
                  






             

Luannah... Serenity by the Sea's Hostess and Healer

Luannah

Amethyst crystal table inside her treatment studio

Gifted and giving, Luannah is trained in a multitude of applied therapies in Traditional Hawaiian Healing. Practising Massage and Healing for 25 years she has integrated her studies with a Kahuna elder  over a course of five years. She shares that when she connected with the Hawaiian Healing Practices and Principles. Integrating various aspects of healing, she now practices her own methodology.

What makes her stand outside the circle of healers is her approach. Her treatments involve a total fusion of the art, combining the many techniques she has learned with Temple style Lomi Lomi, which involves prayer, life coaching,  and singing in Hawaiian with awesome aloha (love), also energy healing and releasing and deep joint body massage. Her approach works with Body, Mind and Spirit. Luannah also works with sound and laser therapies, one which she states is proven  to broadcast 4000 scientifically proven frequencies that support our bodies innate capacity to heal. 

The Massage: An angel voice
with angel hands

Luannah guided me into deep breathing as my body lay atop a massage table of amethyst crystals that benefit healing.  
 Before starting the massage, she did a powerful Hawaiian Healing Chant asking for the highest healing and guidance. Her beautiful singing continued over a Hawaian CD that played in the background; she simultaneously sang along, knowing the melody and words by heart. I found that amazing.  I was astounded by her energy to incant, sing, massage and target trigger points without ever stopping the flow of her manual healing. Her hands traveled over every sinew, muscle and relieved the soreness in my body.
 I entered a zone of transcendence: I seemed to lose consciousness of myself. 
                                               


 

The three-hour massage sent me into a state of transformation both emotionally and physically. Luannah later told me when I cried, it was a release of sadness.

Suffering from a major mistake made during a back operation, I had unexpressed anger about what had happened to my leg and my inability to tame the pain and stop the foot drop along with other abnormalities that really affected my well-being. I had no idea what awaited me or what results, if any, I would experience.

             My massage Benefits – tiny miracles of relief

 I felt a surge of energy in my back after this intense treatment, and my leg felt less heavy; some of its stiffness had been relieved. Although I still had to use my cane for walking, my balance was sturdier, plus my heavy ankle seemed to move more fluidly. I began to cry when I saw this improvement, but this time it was not out of pain; it was from the joy of feeling hardly any pain. 

 The philosophy of healing: Luannah’s quintessential quotes

Luannah’s a keen learner; she’s read innumerable books on brain science, epigenetics (study of DNA) quantum physics, spirituality and more.

“Balancing science and spirit are equally important and equally valid for me. They actually affirm and complement each other when you look close enough.”
She then revealed this: ‘Embrace the Paradox’, a Hawaiian teaching principle

 She spoke eloquently about the duality of life and in ourselves, stating that as long as we are battling it, we suffer.

  “Duality is the nature of our world; that will never change. When we understand that fact we can create a way to use the friction created by the dualities we encounter to grow our understanding of our self and life more. With wisdom and knowledge we can create a better life for ourselves. When we can accept and allow both the shadow and the light to exist we create a path where we can learn and then heal. If we allow anger and sadness to overtake ourselves without balancing these emotions with what brings us joy, we then fall and get lost. We really need to connect to what brings us joy so we can use it to lift us up and grow through the challenges we all face at times.”

Interestingly, she said that positive thinking is actually useless.

 “It is most often used to cover up or avoid those nagging dark emotions and thoughts; whereas with affirmative thinking I am putting my attention and focus towards what is good in my life. This, in return activates my brain in a different way that increases the release of happy healing endorphins to counteract the stress.” 

                                                 
“Breath work, deep self-inquiry, re-framing and re-directing our focus, calming ourselves by learning to quiet the chatter within are ways that can bring us into greater congruity so we can reach our hopes and goals of happiness and well being.

Every thought we have instantly impacts our body chemistry."

She explained that when I perceive the outcome of my operation negatively, it creates agitation in my nervous system.  “This will release stress hormones and adrenaline which in turn increases inflammation. Our body listens to us.  We may not be able to always completely cure what ails us, but we can definitely improve our sense of well-being by raising our consciousness towards what is good, towards love.”
 I knew I had to be mindful and loving in sending my cells those good messages, and to this day I do. I no longer let shadows take control of healing emotional energy.

                 The Journey Ahead

“It’s definitely not easy. It takes a lot of commitment to want to change our relationship to ourselves and others and the world. The important thing is that it’s possible. In essence, we have a certain amount of authority over our body chemistry by choosing how we think and perceive.”

She summed it up in a Hawaiian principle called Makia-Focus:

Where my attention goes, energy flows and that is the reality that grows. 

            Luannah’s Personal Journey from Past to Present

Luannah’s remarkable adventures include traveling all over the world, living in Europe for over a decade. She is a self taught musician who has produced two healing cds. She started studying and practicing healing at the age of 21 which helped her heal from the many traumas she experienced in life. She travelled to Thailand and Nepal all alone at that age toting a small leather back pack which she made, and still has today. She spent part of   her youth, living as a punk the street..  She was a bartender, jewelry maker, dancer and musician. She performed playing her flute and singing  publically to Rumi’s poetry every week for three years at a local Vancouver restaurant to raise money for Children of War for World Vision. She speaks German and Italian.

Luannah ‘s life has had its share of immersive difficulties and challenges  overcoming trauma, so she relates to those who also face similar challenges. In her own quest for a happy soul, she’s journeyed far and wide, and along the way, she’s figured out a lot about love and happiness. She shares what she has learned with those who seek to find their own happiness.

 “As a healer, I merely provide the environment, frequency and support for your own innate light and intelligence to be activated and emerge to heal yourself. Our body is wired to heal. It just needs to do what it was made to do.”  

I learned so much from Luannah about love in all its forms . Luannah  gave me hope and  spiritual guidance about dealing with my own shadows. She willingly gave me immeasurable love and care.

Yes, I live with chronic pain, but now I no longer panic or despair. I have worked out a way to calm it down and if you will – send out good healing vibes.

The author pondering it all

 Note: Juan Carlos whose caring matches Luannah’s counsels men.

Publication date will soon be announced for her book, Resilience, Grace and the Art of Showing Up - A Spiritual Journey of Empowerment Against All Odds (Tom Bird, Publish Now) Visit: www.serenitybythesea.com Email: info@serenitybythesea.com Comment box below: scroll down

LES CAPRICES DE VICTORIA

Victorian Style B and B Beguiles with its Calming Beauty

Imagine staying in a Bed and Breakfast that harkens back to the Victorian era. This award-winning B and B stunningly captures a remarkable piece of this rarefied, bygone period. And it does so with charm and understated elegance. Located in the scenic Eastern Townships, it's only five-minute walk from the hub of Sutton village’s boutiques and restaurants.

 There are lots of happy "tweets" about Les Caprices de Victoria

Maryse Desrosiers

Owner, Maryse Desrosiers, has warmly been welcoming guests into her impeccably cared for B & B since 2007. Maryse’s gentle manner immediately puts you at ease the moment you open the door. Her winning smile, tempered with reserve and patience, may in part be due to her previous profession; she worked as a nurse in Canada’s Great White North for over 30 years. 

Les Caprices dates back to 1905! The plaque outside invites you to ponder its historical significance and the luminary family that once lived in it. 

Maryse shared some of her childhood memories with me. It’s clear, she appreciates all that is authentic and natural, including timeless architecture. Her renovations embody this. “I did a fair amount of necessary renovations, but I made sure to keep the integrity of this historical house to respect its character, original style and aesthetics. Even the slate roof was kept.  The plaque outside invites you to ponder Les Caprices’s historical significance and the luminary family that once lived here.

The interior exquisitely combines the old with the not-so-old. It referencesVictorian décor and its period humour while meshing Maryse’s own memories of the North. 

Antique furniture and original art form 

their own gallery of the past.

It all comes together to create a sublime cocoon of serenity and warmth.

  

All kinds of sculptures and carvings make you smile in more ways than one

Room Reverie

Modern comforts and privacy are key to each of the five spacious rooms located on the second and third floors. Note their iconic names: Josephine, Juliette, Hortense, Charlotte and Victoria. 

There’s a lot of hall space between the soundproof rooms too. Relaxing in all ways, three rooms feature electric fireplaces and luxurious, top quality beds: three rooms have Queen; two rooms have King (my Juliette room had one).  All rooms are lovely.

                                Luxuriate in your claw bathtub

                                      

Every object has original allure Three rooms have balconies. My Juliette room had a balcony, giving a sweeping view to the pastoral-like grounds. 

I wanted to call out to Romeo from it.

Breakfast is a Delicacy of Riches

Lots of fresh locally grown fruit starts your day with entrees flavoured in honey and rosemary or cointreau which brings a tasty zest to your palette.

I loved her stacked buttermilk fluffy pancakes layered with raspberries, soaked subtly in rosemary and honey and yoghurt.

Maple sugar and maple wine flavored them richly. In this delectable dish, chocolate powder was artfully spread around a phantom fork.

   Capricious humour can land right on your breakfast plate! 

Another entrée consisted of melt-in your-mouth pastry – one with cheese, the other with apple. They were made by village baker, Pascal Picarda at La Valse des pains bakery. 

These prefaced Maryse's marvellous home-made smoothie. Topped with fruit and granola, it looked so pretty in the bowl. This smoothie was exceptional.

Breakfast is always a surprise. Maryse made a really tasty dish of pancetta with mushrooms, red peppers and onions. An egg on a baguette accompanied it, or it was the other way round! 

Maryse has a knack for pleasing your taste buds with her own culinary creativity.

Truth is, Les Caprices de Victoria is somewhat addictive.  I'm returning for Sutton’s Fall Festival, and guess where I'm staying?  I can hardly wait to see the parade of pumpkins placed on the wrap-around porch, smiling as guests go for the biggest treat of all… Les Caprices de Victoria.

The website is: www. capricesdevictoria.qc.ca

The address is 63 Principale North Street, Sutton, Quebec

 Call (450) 538-1551