Recess from Struggles in Hendricks’ ‘Playground’
The Hendricks Institute – the Ojai-based center founded by Gay and Kathlyn Hendricks, the prolific authors (more than 35 books, including the best-seller Conscious Loving) and workshop leaders who are former Montecito residents – fires up its annual Winter Training series beginning this Friday, February 1, at the new Sane Center in downtown Ojai. “Evolutionary Playground: New Paths to Change for Uncertain Times,” which runs through Sunday, February 3, teaches how to use simple, powerful skills, backed by scientific research, that take you from “working on” your life to consciously creating it. The seminar’s processes increase and support the ability to find your presence and connection in the midst of uncertainty, stress, and the unexpected. The workshop also includes a complete second virtual seminar, Essentials Online, which contains a worksheet and more than 20 videos, which can be viewed in advance and are also useful post-seminar to review the practices and deepen confidence in using the material.
Evolutionary Playground grew out of the Hendricks’ earlier introductory seminar called “Essentials,” which focused on the skills to shift easily with body intelligence tools. The new seminar explores the possibility of living primarily in an evolutionary cycle of presencing, connecting, and playing through collaboration and harmony, free of blame and criticism, even inside your own head.
For those wanting a deeper dive, the Body Intelligence advanced training teaches the essential body-centered skills that distinguish the Hendricks’ work from conventional approaches to problem-solving and transformation. The workshop also includes the full range of Conscious Living skills from the institute’s Quantum Coaching System. A substantial discount is available for combining the two seminars. Call (805) 319-6802 or visit https://hendricks.com for more information or to register.
Also, the couple’s related Foundation for Conscious Living website is now live online, and offers video resources, stories of transformation, and current research on the power of practicing authenticity and gratitude, plus an online version of Gay Hendricks’ latest project, The Big Leap. Visit http://foundationforconsciousliving.com.
Sanctuary in Ojai
Sacred Space Studio presents one of its monthly Community Healing Sanctuaries, hosted by Karina Duffy and Emily Violet, from 1-5 pm on Sunday, February 3. The Sanctuary is intended to create a safe and loving space for community members to receive healing, connecting people with their own energy and capacity for deeper well-being, and to introduce people to healers with whom they resonate to continue the work beyond the event. Types of sessions offered include intuitive reading, massage, and energy healing, a full range of services for body, mind, and spirit, provided by the collective, a group that ranges from hands-on healers to conscious humanitarians who want to make a difference in the world.
The practitioners this Saturday include Lois Dominguez, offering Orthopedic Massage; Emily Violet Elizabeth (Energy Healing & Bodywork); Karina Duffy (Readings & Energy Healing); Baleigh Bender (Energy Healing & Ayurvedic Kansa Facial Massage); Jaqueline Gojkovich (Acupuncture); Gloria Burciaga (Reiki) and Patrick Madden (Soul Readings). All sessions at the Sanctuary cost $30 for 30 minutes on a cash-only basis. You may book one session, or try multiple sessions with a variety of practitioners. Call to reserve a spot at (805) 836-0980 or just drop in. Sacred Space Studio is located at 307 East Matilija Street in Ojai. Visit www.facebook.com/events/2130637433672158 or www.meetup.com/meetup-group-vqZKRzek.
Come to Ojai to Come of Age
Stephen Jenkinson – author of Die Wise: A Manifesto for Sanity and Soul, a 2015 book about grief, dying, and the great love of life, and the subject of the documentary film Griefwalker – is an activist, teacher, author, and farmer, formerly a hospital and palliative care director and medical school assistant professor, who holds master’s degrees in theology from Harvard and in social work from the University of Toronto. Now a sought-after workshop leader, speaker, and consultant, Jenkinson is also the founder of the Orphan Wisdom School in Canada, which aims to address the current “orphan culture” which is disconnected from its roots, and confuses wisdom with information. Jenkinson’s new work, Come of Age: The Case for Elderhood in a Time of Trouble, published last summer, addresses that issue, making the case that we must birth a new generation of elders, one poised and willing to be true stewards of the planet and its species. The book explores the “great paradox” of elderhood in North America, where we are “awash in the aged” and yet somehow lacking in wisdom, and where “our unreconciled relationship with what it means to be an elder has yielded a culture nearly bereft of them.”
In Come of Age, Jenkinson interweaves personal stories with observations intended to leave listeners radically rethinking their concept of what it takes to be an elder and the risks of doing otherwise. It’s also partly a call to action, which will be the emphasis when Jenkinson speaks at Oak Grove High School Student Center (220 West Lomita Avenue, Ojai) at 7 pm on Sunday, February 3. A book signing follows the two-hour talk. Admission is $30 in advance, $40 at the door ($10 students). Visit www.brownpapertickets.com/event/3919517 or www.facebook.com/events/2034474409982615. (Jenkinson will also appear in Los Angeles on Monday, February 4; info at https://diewellcollective.com/who-we-are.)
Tasting the Wild
Lanny Kaufer’s Herb Walks series presents Jess Starwood, clinical herbalist and forager of wild medicine, in a workshop in Ojai titled “Tasting the Wild: Foraged Flavors of Local Plants and Mushrooms.” Starwood – who has studied holistic health and herbal medicine for more than a decade, and holds a Masters of Science degree in Herbal Medicine from the American College of Healthcare Sciences – is the owner of SunRaven Apothecary in Thousand Oaks, where she creates herbal elixirs, crafts, gourmet wild foods, and teaches classes and workshops on medicinal and edible plants and mushrooms. The hands-on workshop slated for Saturday, February 9, follows her well-received presentation, “Wild Epicure: Infusing Local Flavors and Healing Herbs into Gourmet and Everyday Cuisine for Vibrant Health” at the first Ojai Herbal Symposium held last November. The event includes an herb walk at the Ventura River Preserve and time at the Ojai kitchen and workshop space. Admission is $75. Visit www.HerbWalks.com, email register@HerbWalks.com, or call (805) 646-6281.
JourneyDance
Back in Santa Barbara, Lisa Buell hosts the first Radiant Heart JourneyDance of the new year at 3:30 pm this Saturday, February 2, at Santa Barbara Dance Arts. The dynamic conscious dance form combines freestyle and structured movement to inspire participants to get out of their minds and into their bodies. The process moves dancers through deep, personal exploration into a loving, intimate relationship with body, mind, and energy. The workshop explores the condition of our personal containers to create a nurturing home for our hearts to stretch and express to ourselves and others. No previous experience is required. Admission for the 90-minute session is $15 in advance, $20 at the door. Visit www.lisabuell.com/journeydance or www.meetup.com/Journey-Dance-Santa-Barbara.
