“Let yourself be silently drawn by the strange pull of what you really love. It will not lead you astray.”
Rumi
Hello, we are the Sigstad Family, and we are so grateful you have visited our website. As we cultivate the land and share our bounty, we hope to inspire peace, joy, and love through the garden sanctuary we are creating here at Elysian Sanctuary Farm in Belleville, IL.
Phil and Belinda have been partners and collaborators in life, health, love, and creative endeavors for over 22 years. Through their marriage and service in the military, they have lived across the U.S. on the west coast, east coast, in the deep south, and now in the midwest. Originally high school sweethearts who grew up in the Chicagoland area, they now call the Metro East area their home.
Meet Belinda.
Holistic Herbalist Practitioner
Integrative Homeopathy Specialist
Flower Essence Therapist
Certified Usui Reiki Master
Certified Pranic Healer
Belinda is a clinical herbalist, intuitive artist, gardener, Usui Reiki Master, Pranic Healer, and a mom of 2 incredible daughters. As an intuitive healer and creative, Belinda’s life work, personal journey, and artistic interests are centered around the transformational experience of mind, body, and spirit healing. She has focused on integrating wholistic wellness for over 20 years, and she has participated in many courses through that time related to natural modalities including herbalism, homeopathy, flower essence therapy, iridology, ecotherapy, mindfulness, meditation, art therapy, Kundalini yoga, Reiki, and Pranic Healing.
Belinda has also studied horticulture and botany at various institutions and has taken the Master Gardener Course through the University of IL extension office, an extensive gardening course that is taught by various professionals in their horticultural fields. As an avid gardener and practicing herbalist, she has experienced firsthand the incredible, healing benefits that come from working with plants and connecting to nature.
Belinda has not only completed several independent herbalism courses, but she is academically trained in clinical herbalism, homeopathy, Bach flower essence therapy, and iridology through the American College of Healthcare Sciences (a recognized, accredited institution). She has also learned Western and Ayurvedic herbalism through registered herbalists associated with the AHG (American Herbalist Guild). She enjoys sharing what she has learned from the plants to assist others on their personal wellness journeys.
As a gentle healer, Belinda Sigstad is passionate about helping others experience healing. She is a certified Usui Reiki Master through Healing Today, which is an organization that emphasizes the accessibility of Reiki, and the importance of attunements being passed through the lineage that can be traced back to Usui himself. Through her personal healing journey, she has extensively studied energy work and its profound influence and connection to mind, body, and spirit vitality. As both a Reiki Master and Pranic Healer, she offers unique, intuitive energy therapies associated with emotional and spiritual wellness, as well as, assistance through traumatic and/or transitional life stages.
Belinda is an advocate for natural healing therapies, spiritual wellness, conscious living, and compassion for all beings.
Meet Philip.
Philip is a retired Air Force veteran that has a passion for health and natural living. While in the service, he saw the direct impact diet, exercise, and lifestyle choices had on human performance. Whether it was in the desert of Iraq while on a combat deployment, or if it was sitting in an office for a 12-hour shift managing military deployments, he observed the influence that diet and lifestyle choices had on wellbeing and vitality. He began his education journey by earning a bachelor’s degree in psychology. He has a passion to educate and help people, and at that time in his life, he had a desire to become a professional counselor. After facing several challenging life events, Philip transitioned his focus more specifically on health and nutrition. This new direction led him to obtain his Master’s of Public Health with a concentration in nutrition and wellness. His passion for healing has been joined with Belinda’s desire to learn herbalism and using nature as a healing force.
Post military retirement, Philip now works for the Department of the Army as a government civilian. His evenings and weekends are filled with activities with the family and working on the farm. He loves to spend time with his wife and two daughters, and he enjoys the various projects associated with farm life and being in integral part of developing the vision. As a certified Project Manager, his mechanical and engineering skills are put to the test nearly each week as the dream of the sanctuary takes shape. His gift of understanding people and continued passion for helping others on their healing journeys is at the core of his ethics and motivation. While challenges with the farm or any endeavor are expected, progress is being made towards revitalizing the farm to the full potential that we have dreamed it can be.
Together we are building sanctuary, growing goodness, and cultivating serenity.
Because we understand the challenges of personal health struggles, we hope to provide a place of healing and restoration for individuals and the local community.
Our Homestead
Originally built in the mid 1850s with additions in the 1890s, the brick farmhouse on the property is reminiscent of the nostalgia of the mauve decade. Now our home, filled with love, laughter, and sometimes chaos, we are honored to be the next generation of homesteaders.
“The greatest fine art of the future will be the making of a comfortable living from a small piece of land.”
Abraham Lincoln
“In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks.”
John Muir