Evelyn Cullum MacCuish is a true warrior of wellness.
She began her warrior's quest of natural wellness 22 year ago as a registered massage therapist when massage therapy was still a relatively new method of healing in this area.
"I was the first massage therapist in this whole area," explained Cullum MacCuish. "Originally I worked two days a week in Carlyle, one in Redvers, one in Wawota and one in Kipling. For two years I travelled."
Back then, massage therapy was new to a rural area and many people were not really aware of its benefits or even what it entailed. She travelled around, building a strong network of people who spread the knowledge of massage therapy, and before she knew it, this form of natural healing grew at exponential rates in the southeast corner of Saskatchewan, as it did everywhere in Canada.
"I used to do 50 massages in a week before I had my son [16 years ago]," she said. "And now, as many as I offer is as many as I do. Now there are so many more people in our area doing it, it makes it easier for me because I'm not the only person."
Today almost every community has at least one registered massage therapist, as this form of therapy continues to grow.
Massage therapy aids in the healing process from an acute injury or chronic pain, but it is also does so much more. On one level, it melts away stress and tension, which can relieve headaches or muscle aches and on another level it works to prevent future issues.
Cullum MacCuish spent the first 15 years as a massage therapist working in Carlyle. She then moved to Frobisher where she worked for another five years, and has since moved again to a place north of Kenosee Lake.
She bought a house located about a half mile west of highway 9 on the 711 grid and has spent the past year and a bit renovating it to turn it into a true place of wellness.
"It was a goal that I've had for years," explained Cullum MacCuish.
Down to Earth Wellness Retreat, as it is so appropriately named, is truly one-of-a-kind. Situated in, what feels like, the middle of nowhere, it provides clients with a break away from their fast-paced lifestyles - if only for a couple hours.
After receiving one of the many treatments available at Down to Earth, clients can leave feeling relaxed and rejuvenated which aids in the natural healing of their bodies.
Clients have many different options for treatment at Down to Earth, including: therapeutic massage, Thai hot stem massage, Thai hot stem facials, oil treatments, iris readings, hydrotherapy, chromotherapy and much, much more. There is a hot tub room for hydrotherapy and chromotherapy, a sauna room for detoxification, and a room where Cullum MacCuish treats clients through massage or reiki - and this is just the main floor. The second level of the building will be used to educate others on various natural healing methods.
When a client comes to see Cullum MacCuish, before she does anything, she talks with the person about their personal health and any problems he or she might be experiencing. She looks at the person as a whole, and not just the specific issues the person wants to address.
When people are not well, often there are psychological reasons behind why they are sick. Addressing the psychological reasons - for example causes of excessive stress - why a person is sick is part of the whole process at Down to Earth.
"You have to deal with that all in a whole," explained Cullum MacCuish. "You can't just deal with one side. That is kind of what I do, is deal with the whole body and look at it from all different aspects."
"This is why I have always had problems with a 'menu,'" she continued. "You know when you go somewhere and you see a menu and it says you can have reiki, you can have massage therapy, you can have this, and each thing has a different price. I don't work like that. You come to me and say you're getting headaches, snapping at my boyfriend, I can't sleep at five in the morning until six in the morning. You tell me all the things [and] I have time to sit and listen. So you come to me, tell me all the
things, and you and I figure out what's the best treatment."
She will suggest a treatment, or maybe a variety of treatments and go from there. As she does a specific treatment - for example therapeutic massage - she often discovers, through conversation with a client, additional issues that may be contributing to the main problem, or issues which may be causing other problems in the client's body.
"Maybe in the massage we get talking longer in there and I realize you don't drink milk and [therefore] not getting your calcium," Cullum MacCuish explained. "Well calcium can't absorb into the body with magnesium, potassium and vitamin D, so you have to supplement with the proper things. Then you might say, 'my father just passed away and I'm having financial problems, and I'm this and I'm that.' Well this is all playing a part in the body and how it makes you sick."
This is because stress manifests itself in physical ways, causing people to become physically ill. This is why people working or living in stressful situations will develop ulcers, headaches, chronic pain, anxiety, and the list of stress-induced illnesses goes on and on and on.
"The brain plays a huge part in it," said Cullum MacCuish. "That is what I wrote my thesis about, how we can make ourselves sick with our mind."
Writing a thesis was a requirement for her last year of schooling to become a registered massage therapist, though her education did not stop there. In fact, it was just the beginning.
"I saw an angle that was being missed - right from when I was a kid - that was being missed in our health system and our own personal way of living in our society," said Cullum MacCuish. "I had problems myself growing up and I saw they weren't treating these things the way that they could have been."
This led her on a lifelong path to educating herself and others on ways to heal the body naturally.
While talking with clients is one way to determine what areas of the body need to be addressed, she has also been utilizing iris readings, or iridology, for the past few years.
"Iridology is the science of analyzing the eye to see weaknesses in the body that can be supported to help the rest of the body work at its greatest capacity," Cullum MacCuish explained. "I use the iridology as a tool to be able to help me with suggesting nutritional changes - things that they may be lacking in the body to be able to support the weakness - herbs, or homeopaths."
In order to transform Down to Earth into a full wellness retreat - which is one of Cullum MacCuish's goals, she is building cabins, a camping area and primitive lodging. Some of these areas will be completely "cut off from the world" as in there will be no televisions, electronic devices or cell phones, thus allowing people to completely "retreat" from the world.
"I want to design a labyrinth with a medicine wheel," Cullum MacCuish added. "I will facilitate other workshops or people who just want to come and use the place."
She will also be using the place to teach others about natural health and wellness. For example, in the coming weeks she is going to hold a class teaching women about a manual lymphatic drainage process used to prevent breast cancer.
"The other things we're going to be offering real quick here is a therapeutic art class," said Cullum MacCuish. "It's about expressingyourself and learning to come out. Some people are so afraid - I can only draw a stick man - this is for people who aren't artists. For people who would like to be able to express themselves through art but maybe don't have the courage, or the place to go, or the encouragement to go to start that. My friend Karla Pearson is going to help me with it. Karla went to university to be an artist. It's going to be about art expression and to be able to just get out what you want onto canvas and paint."
To many, all the offerings at Down to Earth may seem like a huge undertaking, but for Cullum MacCuish, this is all just the beginning. Her goals to expand and grow Down to Earth are never ending, as she aspires to help all women become their own warriors.
Down to Earth is located west off of highway 9 on the 711 grid. Evelyn Cullum MacCuish can be reached at 538-2251.
