About Eastwind Healing Center

as written by Founder, Candida Maurer, PhD

January 4, 2022

I want to tell you the Story of Eastwind.

It became clear to Michael and me that we needed a larger space for what was happening in our school and in our private practices. Michael had always wanted to teach and Eastwind was the perfect vehicle for him. I, on the other hand, wanted to teach, but as importantly, I wanted to work with a group of like-minded others. We were outgrowing our space and it was clear that we needed to expand. We both felt ready to take the plunge into buying a space, though we certainly had our trepidations about doing so. Regardless, we began looking at various properties to buy.

We looked and looked but nothing we found felt right. However, we kept noticing the large hole in the ground that was being dug at 221 E. College Street, and eventually, we contacted Marc Moen about real estate in the new building he was putting together. After our first meeting we were shaken by the amount of money we would be investing, but also excited by the possibilities of constructing a space that would work for us.

However, first we consulted with a Tibetan lama who had been part of our initiation into the Medicine Buddha practice that guided our advanced Reiki training. Lama Dawa was an expert in what is called “mirror divination” and in fact, he had done a mirror reading for the Dalai Lama. We set up a time for a consultation. His English was always a little hard to understand, but the gist of the mirror reading was very affirmative and confident.

Then we consulted with a blind psychic we had encountered a few years earlier – Don Ford. He had a very positive vision of the building and he kept saying, “Bricks and mortar, my dears. Bricks and mortar will be the way.” It seemed clear that we were to move ahead with this project.

We first started buying it with the two of us and another woman who was a massage therapist in our practice. She was a powerhouse and asked to be included in our endeavor. We moved ahead with planning and doing all the legal things necessary to buy property in 2004. In December of that year, we were to sit down with Marc and lawyers and sign the largest loan we could have ever imagined. But the night before the signing, the woman who was our partner pulled out of the deal. No explanation was given other than it didn’t feel right to her. Of course, we were blown away and had no idea how we were going to make the closing work. [We heard later that she realized she had gotten scared by the money, and she regretted her actions].

We showed up at the closing the next morning and told Marc that we were $100,000 short on our down payment. Marc, who so many in this town know and honor, remained unworried and offered to loan us the hundred grand! Now our debt had bloomed even larger, but this seemed to be a sign from the Universe that we were to go ahead with the purchase.

But now we had to find other renters. A few people were already on board, but more were needed. Somehow, they showed up, signed leases, and miraculously we had enough people to help pay our monthly loan.

We moved into our new space in January of 2005, and we were the first tenants in the building. Noise and dust and building noises were going on all around us, but we opened our doors, and the people came. So many people, all looking for the promise that Eastwind had to offer. By 2006 Eastwind School had been going for 10 years and was quite successful. We had an open house and a woman showed up and asked us about investing in the school. She wanted to buy it! We sold it to her that year and the school continued to prosper. She eventually moved on (another story) and in 2008 we had a large open space that we wanted to sell. But first, we wanted to partition it so that we could have more office space and a conference room.

We started showing the open space to various people, and the corporation next door to us was on the verge of buying it. But then Betsy, who was a psychologist at Eastwind at the time, walked into the space and said, “This would make a great yoga studio.” She thought about it for a few days and then she pulled me aside and said she wanted to buy the space. The rest is history.

In 2006 I had a dream: In it I am wandering through Eastwind which is a 3-storey building. I see that there is a golden lit Kwan Yin in each window of the three storeys. It was such a strong dream that I found three Kwan Yin statues and placed them in various spots around Eastwind, for I knew that I needed to honor my dream.

Today it is clear what the three stories are: The first is the buying of Eastwind by Michael and me. The second is the partitioning of the space and selling part of it to Betsy. And today, on January 4, 2022, the third story is beginning.

Over the past few years, I have gathered two of the Kwan Yin statues and taken them home to rest in my space and to be a blessing and a reminder of the magic they invoke.

You will see that the one remaining Kwan Yin statue sits on the windowsill in Julia’s reception area. She told me some months ago that she was to remain to oversee the third story, to invoke the transfer of this magical space to the three of you.

This sale is clearly meant to be. May Eastwind bless you as it has blessed me. And though I have bittersweet feelings about letting it go, I let go with kind thoughts, deep gratitude, and love. I know that Michael’s spirit is here today with all of us too, smiling and gentle, and truly happy that Eastwind will continue its mission in the world.

So now, here is the “Key” to Eastwind. Let Its Spirit hold you and guide you forward, knowing that Spirit has guided this endeavor all along. Honor this Spirit, and It will continue to always hold you in its loving embrace. Namaste.

Love, Candida