The Women's Well

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	Schedule Winter-Spring 2008
	Click on titles for detailed course descriptions. Register online here. January 30 Buddhism for Women February 4 Circle of Circles 8 Finding Voice: Guiding Women to Access Their Power and Authenticity 11 Healing Oasis for Healers 13 Buddhism for Women 15 Women and Power 17 Women's Drum Lodge 23 Joyful Movement: A Dance Fusion Series 27 Buddhism for Women March 1 Joyful Movement: A Dance Fusion Series 3 Circle of Circles 4 Your Spacious Self: A Six-Week Clearing Circle (multiple sessions) 5 Poetry Circle 10 Healing Oasis for Healers 10 Introduction to Kabbalistic Healing (multiple sessions) 12 Buddhism for Women 13 Deep River Within (multiple sessions) 15 Joyful Movement: A Dance Fusion Series 16 Council of Mother Bears 21 Spring Equinox Circle 22 Joyful Movement: A Dance Fusion Series 22 Reclaiming Your Personality (date change) 25 Explore Your Imagination in Movement 26 Buddhism for Women 29 Life as Art: A Creativity Workshop 30 Joyful Movement: A Dance Fusion Series April 2 Poetry Circle 4 Rebel Shamans: Indigenous Women Confront Empire 5 Touching the Deep River 5 Chinese Deasophy 6 Gather the Women: Deep River Facilitator Training 7 Circle of Circles 9 Buddhism for Women 13 Celebrate the Temple: Spring Dance Workshop 14 Healing Oasis for Healers 17 Journey to Ireland 19 Reclaiming Your Personality 19 Joyful Movement: A Dance Fusion Series 20 Drum Circle 23 Buddhism for Women May 4 Joyful Movement: A Dance Fusion Series 5 Circle of Circles 18 Celebrate the Temple: Spring Dance Workshop 19 Healing Oasis for Healers Buddhism for Women This is a circle for women looking for a restful time and place to gather and learn more about Buddhism through teachings, discussion and meditation. Now offered at the Women's Well for the third year, the series takes a step-by-step approach to the fundamentals of Buddhist thought and practice according to the Tibetan tradition of the Lam Rim, with special emphasis on bringing relevance to women’s lives. Topics include mind and meditation, teachers and teachings, life, death, karma and more. Those who've attended in the past are welcome to return. Preregistration is appreciated, but not required. Series or drop-in okay. The teacher is not accepting payment, but a minimum donation of $10-15 per class or $70-105 for the series is suggested to help cover Women's Well costs. Wendy Garling Alternating Wednesday evenings, 7:30-9:00 p.m. January 30; February 13, 27; March 12, 26; April 9, 23. Suggested donation: $10-15 per class The Circle of Circles All women are welcome at this open circle, where we share stories, make connections with the seasonal cycles of the Earth and invite our true voices to speak and be heard. This circle is offered as a gift. Those who are able to pass the gift along are invited to make a donation to the Women’s Well. Preregistration is not required. Women’s Well community Mondays, 7:00-9:00 p.m. February 4, March 3, April 7, May 5, June 2 Suggested donation per circle: $5 Return to top Finding Voice: Guiding Women to Access Their Power and Authenticity A woman’s voice comes from her ability to know. Women who have the courage to own their voices are authentic and operate from the strength of their inner knowing. They are empowered and inclusive. They understand the power of connection and community in sustaining their influence and leadership. These women are skillful at balancing diverse ways of leading and play a vital role in creating a culture of wholeness in their communities and organizations. In this experiential workshop, learn how you can access the strength and confidence that come from the deep wisdom within. You will: rediscover and identify what it feels like to find your voice and act from a place of knowing; work with a model that guides you to operate from a place of power and balance; start to create your own personal path to sustainable leadership that embraces all aspects of your self; learn how to build support structures and community where you can strengthen your leadership. You may attend the Friday evening separately; those taking the Saturday workshop need to also attend on Friday. Deepika Nath Friday, February 8, 7:00-9:00 p.m. Saturday, February 9, 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Friday only: $25 early/30 regular Friday/Saturday: $150 early/$165 regular Healing Oasis for Healers Come, sit in circle together with others who tend bodies, minds and souls. Do you do healing work, therapy, massage, acupuncture, or any other holistic practice? Do you mindfully tend children, elders, others? Spend a lunch hour (bring a bag lunch if you wish, we’ll supply tea) in sacred space, meeting and sharing with other women. Experience deeply nourishing personal and professional support, co-creating together as our wants and needs call forth. This is a monthly open circle – attend whenever you can. Pre-registration is appreciated, but not required. This circle is offered as a gift. A suggested donation is requested each session to help cover Women’s Well costs. Barbara Adler and Edith Griffin Mondays, noon-2:00 p.m. February 11, March 10, April 14, May 19 Suggested donation per circle: $10 Return to top Women and Power: Exploring a New Model for Power and Leadership In this workshop, we will explore a new paradigm of power – one that aligns strength from within ourselves (in contrast to “power-over” dynamics) with Nature and the energies flowing throughout all life. This new model moves away from domination to harmony, from control to the path of collaboration and influence. Through a combination of circle process and experiential learning, we will explore what it means to be strong as women and how we can access this sense of presence and power while being in harmony with our environment. We will learn and integrate a model derived from Jungian archetypes with a model that comes to us from ancient Egypt and an under- standing of the Goddess Maat, who taught that true strength and leadership is attunement with the natural law and the Spirit in all of life. You may attend the Friday evening separately; those taking the Saturday workshop need to also attend on Friday. Heather Ensworth and Deepika Nath Friday, February 15, 7:00-9:00 p.m. Saturday, February 16, 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Friday only: $25 early/30 regular Friday/Saturday: $150 early/$165 regular Women’s Drum Lodge: Elemental Rhythms Healing Circle Join your sisters as we call in each direction with a guided meditation on its healing qualities and element. Then we will move into gentle rhythms that support that element. Bring singing bowls, chimes, shakers, rainsticks, wooden flutes, pottery drums like the Udu or wooden tongue drums, frame drums and djembes. We will also be chanting, sounding and toning. If weather permits we will be bringing the Mother Drum to aid us going deeper into the Mother Earth with the heartbeat. These circles will teach us the power of deep listening and help take us deeper into our journey together as we heal ourselves and the Mother Earth. A-HO! Laney Goodman Sundays, February 17 and April 20, 6:00-9:00 p.m. $15 early/$20 regular Return to top Joyful Movement: A Dance Fusion Series Dance as though no one is watching. Learn how to move your body in ways you didn’t know possible, from a place of safe body awareness and intuitive knowing. Experience Ballet, Jazz, 60’s Pop, Funk, Latin (six dances), African (eight dances) and Belly Dance, Authentic Movement, Charleston and more. Each three-hour workshop includes two multi-cultural dance segments with discussion circles, deep relaxation and meditation at the end. The May workshop is a “challenge” class, in which we review all of the more than twenty dances experienced in all of the workshops. No experience is necessary, just a love of music and move- ment. Women ranging from 19 to 73 years old have attended Michele’s Dance Fusion classes. Wear layered clothes that allow you to move comfortably. Bring water, a small towel (you’ll sweat!) and a yoga mat. Michele Laura 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. March 30; April 19; May 4 (dates different from printed catalog) $60 early/$75 regular per class Your Spacious Self: A Six-Week Clearing Circle “It is easier to let go when we feel safe, heard, and supported.” Behind our worries and stress is an infinitely spacious place one might call stillness, or joy. This is our natural state of being, but we hardly know it because most of us are caught in an endless cycle of doing, “efforting,” and personalizing. This NEW six-session circle is an opportunity to “shed layers by shedding light” on the things or thoughts that get in the way of experiencing who you truly are. Based on the six stages of clearing from the award-winning book Your Spacious Self, you will explore two underlying principles that are at the heart of this journey: “Go Slow to Go Fast” and “Support Equals Release.” Through personal inquiry, guided meditation, and the sharing of ongoing experiences, you will discover that clarity and spaciousness arise naturally by simply listening and being heard without the need to do or fix anything. In these six weeks you will: cultivate a daily clearing practice that is easy, fun, and lasting; release stressful patterns you never knew you had; feel more available, less attached, and in the flow; join with others as you explore what it means to live a more clear and conscious life; experience the true meaning of lightening up! All participants are asked to purchase a copy of Your Spacious Self. Copies can be purchased on the first day for $20 (cash or check), or in advance at the Concord Bookshop, Barnes and Noble, or www.spaceclear.com. To insure that everyone feels safe and supported, participants are asked to make every effort to attend all six gatherings. Stephanie Bennett Vogt Six Tuesday evenings, 7:00-9:00 p.m. March 4, 11, 18 and April 1, 8, 15 $210 early/$225 regular Return to top Reflections on a Still Pond: A Poetry Circle The waxing moon rises and the pond offers up her faithful portrait of slender trees and silvery moon. We listen as the stream flows away singing, held like jewels in a moment of perfection. Poetry speaks to us from the heart of life, giving voice to our experiences and expressing the infinite range of our feelings, insights, challenges and visions. This evening, we will share our love of poetry as we read to each other in circle, listen, and allow the muses to awaken our poetic sensibility and bring us the gifts we seek. Please feel free to read your own poems, or favorites written by others, or to simply listen. We will honor each woman’s voice, and share the grace and power of the spoken word as our circle, like a still pond, holds and offers up our reflections. Apara Elizabeth Borrowes Wednesdays, March 5 and/or April 2, 7:00-9:00 p.m. $15 early/$20 regular, per evening Reclaiming Your Personality: Shifting the Energy of a Saboteur We all have parts of ourselves that seem to work against us. With a combination of guided meditation and sharing, we will explore what makes these aspects of ourselves tick. We’ll also look at a three-step approach that resolves the underlying issue once and for all. The result is a “befriended saboteur” that no longer gets in your way, but fully supports you, your life force, and the work you’re endeavoring to accomplish. The beauty of this is that when our saboteurs become aligned with our overall energy, we feel more fulfilled and we have more energy. Our experience is that life works more smoothly. This class is offered as a gift. Those who are comfortable are encouraged to donate $10-$l5 to help defray Women’s Well costs. You may choose to come to one or both dates. Carolyn Sprague Saturday, March 22, 2:30-4:30 p.m. (date change from printed catalog), and/or April 19, 9:30-11:30 a.m. Suggested donation: $10-15 per class Return to top Introduction to Kabbalistic Healing …To Be Who You Are We will call on the wisdom of earlier times through Kabbalah, from the Jewish mystical tradition, which offers a map of human nature that understands that everything is based on relationship. And we will bring this into modern times through kabbalistic healing, which understands that everything/ everyone is interconnected and part of one whole. This contemporary healing modality provides a way to work with and relieve our suffering through deeper connections with ourselves, others and the universe, and offers a way to live more authentically and vibrantly. Reflecting the experiential, embodied nature of kabbalistic healing, we will spend our time throughout our six classes exploring the kabbalistic view of reality through discussion, meditation, and experiential activities. This course is offered as a gift. A suggested donation is requested to partially defray Women’s Well costs. Pre-registration is required. Enrollment is limited to ten. Barbara Adler Six Monday evenings, 7:00-9:00 p.m. March 10, 17; April 14, 28; May 12, 19 Suggested donation $90-120 The Deep River Within: Taming the To-Do List and Finding Depth in Everyday Life Beneath the busyness of our daily lives flows a deep river of creativity, passion, silence, and a place of contact with ourselves and what matters to us. Although “the deep river” is a powerful source of nurturance, the fragmentation and sheer pace of life in 21st century America often buries this inner dimension beneath the perpetual-motion surface of our days. This circle is about slowing down. It will introduce the three preliminary doorways and six core practices that can support us in allowing our own deeper currents to flow through daily life. With the help of experiential exercises, discussion, readings, creative expression, humor, and each other, we will explore ways to free ourselves from the tyranny of our “to-do’s,” and so to rest more in our deeper selves and in the gift of life itself. Abby Seixas Seven Thursday mornings, March 13 to April 24 9:30-11:30 a.m. $215 early/$225 regular Location: TBA Return to top Council of Mother Bears: A Spring Circle There is a maternal fierceness in many women, whether or not they have ever given biological birth, which can rise up when they perceive that something they care deeply about is in danger. This is the Mother Bear within us, who calls us to protect life and all that is precious to us. This circle will be a place that can hold our deep feelings about our world and the times we are living in. We will listen for the voice of the Mother Bear and see what she is asking from each of us. Please join us as we seek to support and inspire each other. The council process, storytelling, and guided imagery will be our means. The facilitator is not accepting payment for this circle, but a donation is suggested to help cover Women’s Well costs. Anne Yeomans Sunday, March 16, 7:30-9:00 p.m. Suggested donation: $10-20 Spring Equinox Celebration The equinoxes and solstices, marking the Earth’s annual journey around the sun, have been celebrated throughout the millennia. They offer opportunities to attune our energy to the natural rhythms of light and dark, expansion and contraction. In this seasonal celebration, we explore our connections to the ever-flowing energy of the Earth. All women and girls are welcome. This circle is offered as a gift, and no payment is required to participate. Those who are able to pass the gift along are invited to make a donation to the Women’s Well. Preregistration is appreciated, but not required. Women’s Well community Friday, March 21, 7:00-9:00 p.m. Suggested donation: $10 Return to top Explore Your Imagination in Movement This circle offers an opportunity for women to come together with other women to explore our own ways of moving and dancing. We will learn a prayer to the four directions, a simple circle dance, and explore moving together with music and in silence. We will start with guided movement practice and progress toward allowing our bodies to speak through movement. No particular ability is necessary. Discover your body’s vocabulary. The facilitator is not accepting payment for this circle, but a donation is suggested to cover Women’s Well costs. Ann McGinty Tuesday, March 25, 7:00-9:30 p.m. Suggested donation: $10-15 Life as Art: A Creativity Workshop for Women Life as Art offers a meditative yet exuberant environment in which your creative impulses can emerge and be nurtured. The basic premise of the workshop is that we are all creative beings. Allowing our creativity to have a voice in our lives helps us to live from a more satisfying place. A fruitful access to our creativity is to become aware of what catches our attention. When we take the time to observe and allow a response to rise up within us, we open to our creative channel. Within a sacred circle, through guided group and individual activities, we will play with all the senses as a way to explore our unique ways of expressing ourselves. The afternoon, weather permitting, will be an “artist’s quest” alone in nature. We will meet again at the end of the afternoon to share our solo experiences. Please bring journals. Pam Swing Saturday, March 29, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. $115 early/$125 regular Return to top Rebel Shamans: Indigenous Women Confront Empire Priestesses, diviners and medicine women stand out as leaders of aboriginal liberation movements against conquest, empire, and cultural colonization. Spiritual spheres of power are a crucial arena for women’s political leadership and for challenging systems of domination on many levels, including the battleground of culture. This visual presentation looks at how indigenous women draw on their cultural traditions to resist colonization and how, by virtue of who they are and where they stand in the social order, their personal access to direct, transformative power makes the spiritual political. Max Dashu Friday, April 4, 7:00-9:30 p.m. $20 early/$25 regular Touching the Deep River: Taming the To-Do List and Finding Depth in Everyday Life Beneath the busyness of our daily lives flows a deep river of creativity, passion, silence, and a place of contact with ourselves and what matters to us. Although this Deep River is a powerful source of nurturance, the fragmentation and sheer pace of life in 21st century America often buries this inner dimension under the perpetual-motion surface of our days. This circle is about slowing down. The one-day format serves as an introduction to the principles and practices of the Deep River process, as detailed in Abby’s book, Finding the Deep River Within: A Women’s Guide to Recovering Balance and Meaning in Everyday Life. With the help of experiential exercises, discussion, a touch of humor, and each other, we will explore ways to free ourselves from the tyranny of our “to-do’s,” and so to rest more in our deeper selves and in the gift of life itself. For the more in-depth seven-week form of this workshop, see above. Abby Seixas Saturday, April 5, 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. $115 early/$125 regular Return to top Chinese Deasophy The dragon woman – where does she come from? But when she comes, she rides the wind and rain! This visual presentation explores the Divine Female in ancient Chinese art. Come and learn about the rites of the Wu, the female shamans of old China; creation stories of the serpent goddess Nu Gua Shih; and Taoist animals of the elemental directions. Through images of Xi Wang Mu, the Great Yin, and her Tree with the peaches of immortality, her dragon-tiger throne, and her shamanic helpers – the three legged raven, phoenix, and medicine hare – we will look at traditions of the “Mysterious Female”/Dark Woman in Taoist mysticism and among female adepts and mountain herbalists. Max Dashu Saturday, April 5, 7:00-9:30 p.m. $20 early/$25 regular “Gather the Women”: A One-Day Facilitator Training for Leading Deep River Groups Deep River groups have grown out of Abby Seixas's experience (and that of many others) that women in a circle of support are a source of untapped power. When this power is nurtured, it can fuel personal growth and help counter the effects of our speed-obsessed culture. This day-long training is offered to encourage the start of Deep River groups as places for women to learn how to separate themselves from the culture's drumbeat of go-go-go, and to make conscious choices about their own pace and priorities. The day will include didactic training, discussion, experiential exercises, and some practice facilitation. Helping professionals in all fields are encouraged to attend (including but not limited to: psychologists, social workers, counselors, nurses, doctors, clergy, teachers, coaches). If your work falls outside of these categories and you would like to attend, please contact Abby to discuss participation. PLEASE NOTE: Attendance at the daylong Deep River workshop on April 5, or another Deep River group, is a prerequisite. Abby Seixas Sunday, April 6, 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. $150 early/$165 regular (training manual included) From Jean Shinoda Bolen's book: Urgent Message from Mother: Gather the Women, Save the World (Conari Press, 2005). Return to top Celebrate the Temple: Spring Dance Workshops Do you love to dance? Do you wish you could dance but fear you can’t? Come join a group of like-minded women in a safe, loving environment and let loose! During this two-hour workshop, we will celebrate our body temple. Using dance and following our own kinesthetic knowledge of how to move – what feels right – we will connect to the unique and sacred voice in each of us that guides and protects us. Beginning with a group circle and some guided exercises, we will then move into the space to dance individually and together. After a break, we will come back together for more dancing and some group work. Revitalize your body as the Earth revitalizes herself. Janet Farnsworth Sundays, April 13 and/or May 18, 2:00-4:00 p.m. $15 early/$20 regular per class A Spiritual Journey to Ireland: The Threshold to Yourself – April 17-26 Journey with a group of 10-15 women and four facilitators, including an experienced Irish arche- ologist, to ancient sacred sites in Ireland associated with the Goddesses Brigit and Maeve – such as Brigit’s well, the Hill of Tara, Newgrange, Maeve’s cairn and Brigit’s garden. Experience the deep personal transformation possible in deep communion with a circle fo women, archetypal energies, and sacred sites. For more information or to register, contact: Heather at 978 468-2021 hensw@comcast.net or Gail at 978 302-6654 gailbyrnes@gmail.com Heather Ensworth, Gail Byrnes, Mod O’Donnell, and Catherine Dunne $2560 early (by Feb. 1)/ $2790 regular (includes accommodations, most meals, all entrance fees, land travel, and tour guides; airfare not included. Return to top