King Comes to Santa Barbara

Energy medicine advocate Deborah King, a speaker, author and founder of LifeForce Energy Healing, is coming to the American Riviera to lead a special weekend retreat this fall. “Walk with the Master: Restore Your Soul,” which takes place November 18-21, brings King and her team to town for several days of deep spiritual work, healing transmissions, and energetic renewal. 

The retreat is geared toward those who, as her website suggests, “feel the shift coming” and are seeking structure, teaching, and real tools to support their growth. “You’ve touched your own power but need guidance to hold it. You’re ready to walk with others who take the path seriously.”

Attendees will participate in experiences to learn advanced energy healing practices and tools, release deep energetic blocks that are ready to move, participate in transformational healings for self and others, experience guided meditations that shift your field, move and stretch with optional yoga in the stillness of the morning, and discover new dimensions to your intuition. 

The retreat is for those who are just beginning or deep in the work, as the gathering will meet participants where they are. More information and registration at King’s website at https://deborahking.com under the events tab. 

NVC for All 

Nonviolent Communication (NVC) was developed starting in the late 1960s by clinical psychologist Marshall Rosenberg, who continued to evolve and teach the approach for many decades. His weekend workshops were popular here in Santa Barbara through the adult education program in the 1990s and early 2000s. The process is using communication skills to find common ground with anyone, anywhere at any time, both personally and professionally – perhaps needed more than ever in our politically, culturally, socially and otherwise divided times. 

The concept involves listening with empathy, compassion, and a desire to understand both the words being shared and the needs behind them. NVC is for anyone who wants to improve the quality of their relationships with others as well as connection with yourself as NVC may be used within – to embrace and appreciate our own inner critic.

SBCC’s Adult Education program, now known as School of Extended Learning, is still a host for NVC workshops, nowadays led by Rodger Sorrow, a certified trainer and assessor with the Center for Nonviolent Communication, which was founded by Dr. Rosenberg. Sorrow’s next series of free sessions begins at the end of the month. The series has been held primarily online over Zoom since the days of the pandemic, making access available anywhere.

Absolutely no previous experience is necessary, and all are welcome to take advantage of the class that, within the container of NVC, can help to develop the presence and consciousness that supports living a life of compassion, show how to give honest feedback without criticism, demonstrate how to hear and say “no” without conflict, respond to difficult messages, navigate difficult conversations, and make amends and repairs with “beneficial regret.” The classes include role play demonstrations and lots of practice in breakout rooms to develop and practice the skills.

The Compassionate Communication classes take place on 6:15-8:55 pm Tuesdays over two six-week sessions August 26-October 14, and October 21-December 9. The Zoom link, handouts, and syllabus will be sent the day before the class begins once registered.

Visit www.chooseconnection.com/compassionate-communication

Sorrow will also be hosting a free Meet the Trainer session with the co-organizers of the upcoming “Nonviolent Communication, Ancient Wisdom and Modern Science” CNVC online nine-day training. That takes place the weekends spanning October 17 to November 2, where he is one of the five co-leaders. This Meet the Trainer intro takes place on August 21 followed by a Q&A, also over Zoom at https://cnvc.zoom.us/j/91962449611.

Visit https://www.cnvc.org/learn/iit/2025-10-17-iit-online

Sauntering with Sorrow

Rodger Sorrow also continues to offer his two different in-person weekly Nature and Self-Healing Hikes through SBCC SEL for the fall. The free classes have beginning and Intermediate levels, and both hike a different trail on the beach, foothills or elsewhere each week on Thursday and Tuesday mornings, respectively. The format calls for hiking for an hour then pausing for a 15-minute discussion of self-healing topics including journaling, forgiveness, gratitude or love. After an additional 10 minutes for meditation or sitting in silence, the return trip begins with 10 minutes of “mindful hiking.” Students in the beginning class should be able to hike two-to-three miles at a steady pace, and the same distance uphill for the intermediate class. 

The schedule will be emailed to those who are registered the weekend before the class begins. Visit www.chooseconnection.com/nature-and-self-healing for details and a registration link. 

September Seminars

Sunburst Sanctuary in Lompoc has slated a new event for the last week of summer: A Goddess Retreat for women created to Honor Divine Mother. The September 11-14 weekend includes a ceremonial gathering with Dance of Life honoring the four elements; an outdoor sound bath in Sunburst’s redwood grove; a music circle led by Heather Grace Powers; sunrise meditation at the Wheel of Life, and other activities. Accommodations and nourishing vegetarian meals are included. The registration deadline is September 3. Visit https://sunburst.org.

Bodhi Path Buddhist Center’s next weekend curriculum course with resident teacher Dawa Tarchin Phillips takes place September 13-14 at the center’s midtown location. The focus is on The Five Aggregates, also known as the “Five Heaps” or Skandhas, which constitute the foundation of moment-by-moment human experience. During this weekend course, you will learn how misunderstanding this basis of human experience continually gives rise to suffering, while awakening a different perspective on the five aggregates becomes a key to spiritual growth and freedom. The weekend includes guided instruction, reflection, discussion and introduction of essential meditation foundations. Details and registration at https://bodhipath.org/centers/sb.