Tag archives: spirituality

His Brand of Recovery
By Steven Libowitz   |   February 6, 2020

“Russell Brand: Recovery Live” is a funny and profane exploration into personal development and wellness from the comedian who, after years of addiction and poor choices, has dedicated himself to spirituality “to avoid self-destruction.” Brand – who was married for 14 months in the early 2010s to Santa Barbara-raised pop star Katy Perry – leads […]

Raise your Voice to ‘Bare Your Soul’
By Steven Libowitz   |   January 30, 2020

Tania Isaac-Dutton’s Nada Yoga Workshop creates a safe space to reflect and connect within and with community via the practice that combines flow of sound with union. Everything and everyone in the universe has a unique frequency, but through the practice of Nada Yoga, one can cultivate bringing their mind into harmony with the collective […]

Free Fundamentals Class and More Yoga
By Steven Libowitz   |   January 23, 2020

Twenty-year veteran Santa Barbara yoga teacher Kat Connors-Longo leads a two-hour introduction to the practice of yoga that serves as a great opportunity for beginning students who would like to learn yoga basics as well as a chance for yoga students of all levels who would like to review the fundamentals of the practice. Questions […]

One-Two of Women’s Wellness
By Steven Libowitz   |   January 23, 2020

Intimacy coach and sensuality/creativity workshop leader Lisa Citore – who is also the founder of Anima, Theater of the Feminine Underground, which has its next installment at the Center Stage Theater in early February – leads Healing Body Shame – Awakening Body Wisdom 7-9 pm on Friday, January 24, at Yoga Soup. The Self-Love Ritual […]

New Meetup: Deep Relating
By Steven Libowitz   |   January 23, 2020

Martha Alter Hines, MSW, CMT, who counts 20 years of experience in the grounded world as a psychotherapist, clinical social worker and body worker, now assists people to navigate the experience of awakening to their ultimate, cosmic selves and souls as a channel and a cosmic healer. Her new Meetup group, Deep Relating Within Ourselves, […]

Day of Reflection
By Steven Libowitz   |   January 23, 2020

Sarah McLean leads a meditation immersion/mini-retreat at Montecito Meditation from 10 am to 5 pm on Saturday, January 25, that serves as an opportunity to unplug from the bombardment of sound, take a respite from technology, put aside to-do lists and dive deeply into your interior. Offerings include silent meditations, a walking meditation, a guided […]

Buddhism Beyond Bodhi Path
By Steven Libowitz   |   January 16, 2020

The Santa Barbara Buddhist Meditation Meetup, which frequently holds its events at the American Buddhist Meditation Temple on Orchid Drive near More Mesa, is branching out beyond that site to include more gathering outside and at other locations. The group will gather for a Half Moon Morning Retreat this Friday, January 17, from 8-10 am, […]

Demystifying Dharma
By Steven Libowitz   |   January 16, 2020

Bodhi Path Santa Barbara is part of an international organization of Buddhist centers and groups founded by Shamarpa (the 14th Shamar Rinpoche) with the expressed purpose of exploring the methods and wisdom of the timeless teachings of the Buddha in order to better understand and work with our mind and emotions. Shamarpa, along with the […]

The Mental Floss of Mindfulness
By Steven Libowitz   |   December 12, 2019

While decades ago, meditation and mindfulness might have been considered a New Age distraction for woo-woo Californians, the practices have clearly been adopted as mainstream by individuals, businesses, families and other organizations. The medical, emotional, and spiritual benefits are palpable, but perhaps still somewhat difficult to grasp. Integrating those two has been a two-decade-plus passion […]

Tending the Masculine Fire in Tenuous Times
By Steven Libowitz   |   December 5, 2019

The FireTenders men’s groups were founded several years ago by Timothy Tillman to be a self-sustaining community of responsible men committed to wakeful living and willing to support other men in the process of self-discovery, true masculine embodiment, and open-hearted relational engagement in the world. There are three such ongoing groups in town, plus several […]

Moved to Write
By Steven Libowitz   |   November 26, 2019

Elizabeth Schwyzer developed Write from the Body – a creative writing workshop that explores the intersections between language and physical experience – back when the Santa Barbaran was practicing dance and serving as an arts writer at the Independent before moving, marrying, and starting to raise children. Now Schwyzer – who holds degrees in art […]

Manifesting Magic: Winter, Spring, Summer or Fall
By Steven Libowitz   |   November 21, 2019

Like many spiritual leaders, Madeleine Marentette came to her practice via finding healing through metaphysical experiences. The Toronto native had been in a series of health crises throughout most of her 20s, so sick that she almost skipped an invitation to a discourse from the Dalai Lama at the University of Toronto. “But something just […]

JourneyDance Journeys Back to Town
By Steven Libowitz   |   November 17, 2019

JourneyDance is a dynamic, conscious dance form that combines freestyle and structured movement to inspire participants to move from the mind into the body. Lisa Buell, who boasted a decade of experience as a life and business coach before adding dance and intuitive painting to her repertoire, brought the practice to Santa Barbara from the […]

The Divine Mess: Laughter is the Best Medicine
By Steven Libowitz   |   November 14, 2019

Sarah Taylor has been acting since high school, but was always interested in the serious roles. She didn’t get into performing stand-up comedy until many years later, right around the same time her own struggles led her to investigate Buddhism. “It was very odd, because I had a real pull to just sit and practice […]

NEST Fest Nestles into SBCAST
By Steven Libowitz   |   November 7, 2019

Last August’s debut of NEST Fest – produced by the collective known as New Earth Star Tribe – was a deep, one-afternoon immersion in all kinds of healing and transformational modalities, from ecstatic dance to conscious talks, sound healing and movement and plenty of partner play. The event was hosted at a private East Side […]

Relational Mindfulness: The Garden of Eden
By Steven Libowitz   |   October 31, 2019

Taking a mindful pause is one of the most important tenets of Relational Mindfulness, according to Deborah Eden Tull, the veteran meditation and mindfulness teacher who wrote a 2018 book of the same name. Even so, it was almost surprising when it took a moment for the words to emerge in response to a question […]

Healing Touch: Everything’s Coming up Rosen
By Steven Libowitz   |   October 24, 2019

It might seem counterintuitive to consider as a spiritual practice a healing modality that looks like it largely consists of massage-like touch with a little bit of talking. The Rosen Method, after all, was developed in the early 1980s by a former physical therapist named Marion Rosen. The bodywork is based on the concept that […]

FireTending for Mature Males
By Steven Libowitz   |   October 10, 2019

FireTenders is a self-sustaining community of responsible men who are committed to wakeful living and are willing to support other men in the process of self-discovery, true masculine embodiment, and open-hearted relational engagement in the world. Normally the meetings are in closed, ongoing groups that are formed following a weekend or other immersive training. Now, […]

Meditation Magic in Montecito
By Steven Libowitz   |   October 3, 2019

The Magic Castle Cabaret opened earlier this year just off Cabrillo Boulevard by the Andree Clark Bird Refuge. But even more magical moments might soon be taking place next door at the just-opened Montecito Meditation. The new center is designed as a non-denominational destination for the local meditation community as well as a retreat and […]

‘Loving’ and ‘Leap’-ing at the Luke
By Steven Libowitz   |   September 26, 2019

The Marjorie Luke Theatre, which earlier this month began its own ongoing series on spirituality and healing called Mind, Body & Soul, is now also the home for events from the Santa Barbara Consciousness Network. Next up is Dr. Gay Hendricks, Ph.D., the famed author, personal growth and relationships expert and speaker who, alone or […]