Classes Session 2 • May 26-29, 2023
Click on the + sign to see the class description. Click on the teacher photo or name to go to her bio page.
When you think of the world “Disabled,” what comes to mind: a woman in a wheelchair, a man who is mute, or a crippled child? And yet this word has a longstanding tradition of misinterpretation and alienation. Let’s take a deep dive into the political and cultural history of this word and the people who live in it. We will also dissect the concept of ablelism and learn how we can identify it in ourselves and the world. Finally we will embark on exercises to experience a life with disability.
This panel discussion and participatory workshop is for everyone. In a world where racial and ethnic discrimination and oppression are causing massive damage and harm, how can we come together to create a community of refuge and repair? How can we reach across difference, speak into silence, and look within to find our individual and collective courage? How can we look to nature for models of diversity and regeneration and resilience? Join us to find out!
Self Care is a form of radical self love. It is about caring for all parts of the self, even the parts covered by grief or shame. It’s when we start to nurture and integrate these parts that the beauty and the magic happens
These past couple years have pushed our nervous systems into a constant state of high alert. This ongoing state of nervous system upregulation profoundly impacts all of our bodily systems.
Just as we feed our bodies with nourishing food we must also nourish and feed our nervous systems with self care practices and herbal allies to feel more grounded and aligned. In Ayurveda there is a deep understanding that we are nature’s reflection. We are a microcosm of the macrocosm. Vata dosha made up of Ether and Air, is intrinsically connected to the nervous system. It controls movement in our body, such as breath, circulation, excretion and is related to our senses. In a world that many times misuses and over stimulates the senses Vata tends to get thrown out of balance. We must take steps to help regulate it if we want to stay in alignment.
Let’s hold each other in community, to be deeply nourished, calm outside noise and ground. Join us to begin to unwind whatever holds you back from showing up as your fullest expression.
We will continue. See part 1 for full description
What is your relationship to your womb? Do you tend to it? Do you nourish it? In a society that denigrates the feminine we have been taught to disregard and suppress this space. To treat it solely as a place of reproduction. To mask and push through symptoms when this organ is trying to speak to us.
The womb is a creative center. A grounding anchor to our personal power as women. A center of intuition and deep knowing. The womb can also often hold wounding, trauma, grief or shame for many. We must develop a relationship with our wombs to begin to release and untangle the experiences that are housed there.
Ayurveda has many beautiful practices to support, nourish and heal this spiritual center. There are potent herbal allies that can cleanse, restore and feed this space both physically and energetically. When we open ourselves up in this way, we open ourselves more fully to receive from the universe.
In this class we will learn to:
- Support our hormonal balance, cycle health and libido with herbal allies
- Access deep seated beliefs that we may be holding in this space with mindfulness techniques to nurture and release
- Connect and tend to our wombs with Ayurvedic Self- Care practices
After getting out of your vehicles, come and enjoy the beautiful welcome from the amazing green beings who open their home to us. Learn a bit of their magical attributes which they so sweetly offer us. Ground yourself in the peace and beauty of Black Oak Ranch.
Come visit our plant elders and experience their habitat and companion choices. We will discuss their preferences and needs. We'll also discuss their many gifts, and how sometimes their habitat makes them not appropriate for medicine making.
During this class we will learn the history of Gua Sha as it was taught to Chih Yu by her father in Taiwan as well as how it has positively affected her throughout her life. Chih Yu will then provide a visual illustration showing the correlation between scraping certain body parts and how your body's reaction is indicative of which needs.
Following this, Chih Yu will provide participants with scraping tools and oil and instruct participants how to scrape themselves and each other - emphasizing safety and consent - using Gua Sha techniques to the extent of relieving stress and fostering a better understanding of how your body can keep you in tune with its needs. Finally, Chuh Yu will instruct participants on essential aftercare measures to ensure a smooth recovery. This workshop is intended for beginner to intermediate levels of experience.
Last fall, during both Symposium sessions, we dove into the world of writing as a personal healing tool. This spring, we’re taking it to the next level with one-on-one, lottery style, help sessions with Dakota. Twenty chances to win! Sign up early and often at the wellness tent. Bring your stories. Dakota can help you bring them to life for personal use, or for inclusion in the Women Gone Wild ~ Women Gone Wise, Anthology of Transformation.
Also, if you just have a story you’d like to share for another special project (details at Symposium), you don’t even have to write it! Dakota will write it from your recorded, interviewed narrative.
Stories need not be true, experienced personally, or developed—they need only be meaningful to you. Cultural women’s myths, legends and ancestral stories are welcome.
This is a lottery you can’t lose! If your name isn’t drawn, or you don’t have time during symposium, call Dakota to set up some other time: 906–250–3771.
Chest & Breast Care
My main objective is to teach you about what your breasts are communicating. How many times have you found a lump and immediately think it means only one thing, cancer? If it is, early detection is everything. In more cases than not, it is a lymph node communicating with us, telling us something is not in balance. If your breasts are not getting enough blood flow they will be cold and tight (icy river water), if they are not receiving enough hydration, they can be fibrous and depleted (dry river bed). If inflammation is present, it is not uncommon to find a cyst (forest fire) and when there is excess fluid trapped in the breasts (dams in the river) it needs to be drained.
In Ayurveda, the lymphatic system is called “Rasa” the river of life. When healthy, The lymph river flows effortlessly to meet the bloodstream at the center of our heart space. This innate flow is considered our highest potential of vitality. Our immune system and lymphatic system are one in the same. The immune system and our hormones utilize the lymphatic river to get where they need to go to support our whole body's health. When we get symptoms of pain, fatigue, and skin changes, it is our body's way of telling us we are out of balance. By opening up the flow of our lymphatic system, we allow those built-up imbalances to be processed and removed or assimilated into the body as needed.
This class is designed to teach you how to explore, map, and understand the terrain of your breast tissue. We will cover:
- Lymphatic Immune Systems 101
- What our lymphatic river looks like and consists of
- How to assess the lymphatic system through touch
- Massage techniques and investigation of our rivers
- Use of the Chinese Gua Sha
- How to investigate and track your lymph symptoms
- Signs of a cancerous lumps verses finding a hard lymphatic node
- Remedies, nutrition and techniques for each individual
- Includes: handouts and protocols
Education is everything. Together we will be facing our fears without shame or judgment, empowering ourselves through touch and care, and discovering the tools and remedies that work for us as individuals.
Creating a Safe, Sacred Container
Womb Space. Rooted Energy. Anatomical Placement
- No shame environment
- Normalizing through Touch & Care
- Facing fears is empowering
- Education is everything
- Individuality is the key to a healthy life
Together we will be facing fear of the unknown while investigating our womb space with love, care, and curiosity. We will investigate our tissues and find solutions and remedies that work for us. As we re-awaken this deeply intuitive aspect of our bodies, and learn how to truly listen to what our tissues are telling us about our health, we will co-create a compassionate and safe space for everyone to explore their bodies and move through whatever may arise.
The uterus is explored through the abdominal tissues, internal examination is not needed to find it or support it. We will be showing you how to identify if the uterus is out of alignment and how to gently bring it back into alignment. The uterus is our body's internal compass, returning the uterus to its natural position can not only bring relief from painful menses, but can bring a deeper sense of embodiment and personal power. How amazing that in just 5 minutes the uterus can be massaged and returned home by gravity itself.
I will be teaching:
- How to locate the uterus anatomically
- How to use gravity to flow it back home to the central womb
- How to hold space for uterus bearing bodies
- Including:
- 3 live demos
- Practice hands-on care
Urinary Tract Infections, how to Treat, how to Prevent, how to Break the Cycle. Including treating UTIs in pregnancy & lactation.
We will explore how to tend to our stress response systems: to recover from illness & intense stressors, and how to proactively nourish our adrenals & nervous systems for wellness & resilience.
Through ritualized engagement with story, song, and movement, we will journey with the Moon as she moves through the cycles of each month in correlation with our monthly menstrual/hormonal cycle.
Along the way we will explore the challenges, powers and gifts of each phase and look at ways to wisely attend to our ever-shifting bodies, minds, and hearts. We will come away with a “flow chart” for reflecting our own moontime path.
This experience is for those approaching menarche, bleeders & post-bleeders.
When working with herbal medicine, knowing the energetics of each herb is essential to choosing the correct herb or formula for yourself or others. In Chinese herbalism, the nature of plants, the 4 temperatures (Si Qi) and the 5 flavors (Wu Wei), have been documented for thousands of years and used as a guide for herbal formulation. As you come to know herbal energetics, your formulas will be more refined and effective. This class will include an overview of the 5 Elements of Chinese Medicine. We will taste each flavor and explore the therapeutic properties of several herbs.
Chinese Herbalism does an incredible job at differentiating how to treat wind-hot and wind-cold conditions. When is it appropriate to use a diaphoretic herb? How long should we work with herbs that “release the exterior?” Why does it matter that we know the strength of the herb, the strength of the patient, and the strength of the pathogen? All of these questions and more will be addressed in class and we dive into the depths of Chinese herbal understanding.
This workshop explores the evolution of plants and humans. The evolution of humanity is intimately connected to the evolution of plants. Our physiology has been governed by the ingestion and inhalation of plant constituents since humans first evolved. Working with plants is on the forefront, as knowledge of and communion with plants is once again being embraced and practiced. Many people are interested in entheogens and psychoactive plants, as they have been since the dawn of man. How did our physiology evolve to ingest these substances?
Deepening our relationship with not only mind-altering plants, but more importantly all medicinal herbs, is not only a great way to help adapt to the stress of our modern lifestyle, but it can also bring courage to make the changes necessary for us to heal ourselves. To understand ourselves, we must know where we came from. The story of our evolution is ancient and far more miraculous than imagined. Plants such as fig, pine, reishi, psilocybin, cannabis,banisteriopsis, and more will be discussed.
Aromatic plants have been revered for their medicinal and spiritual properties in many cultures. In Chinese medicine, there is a long-documented history of utilizing aromatic plants for a variety of conditions. While some aromatic plants are used primarily for digestion and assimilation of nutrients, others have been used to “open the orifice” of the heart and the mind to treat mental and psycho-emotional disorders.
This class will begin with an overview of Chinese medicine, with an emphasis on the importance of differential diagnosis. We will cover herbal categories and their descriptions. Several common culinary and medicinal herbs will be discussed, including Artemisia species, cinnamon bark and twig, black pepper, cloves, and many more.
Immerse in the hidden world of lichen and mushroom dyes! This is an introductory class to natural dyeing, and will cover the basics of fibers, mordants, and dye baths. We will go over what makes our fungal friends such great dyers, and specific methods of dyeing with lichens and mushrooms. We will also identify some known local dye species, and discuss the practice of collection and new discovery. The course includes complimentary silk ribbon fabric that we will have the opportunity to dye and take home.
Experience matchless fire starting and become a member of the Fire Devas. Join us if you would like to be a Sacred Fire Tender this session. Establish an intimate relationship with this powerful elemental. Holding the central fire is an act of service, a source of healing and a teacher of awareness.
Using the coals from our Sacred Fire we will create medicine, eating, or cauldron spoons or bowls. Learn the time honored skill of coal burning. A small carving knife will be necessary to complete your spoon or bowl. Class size is limited and starts on time. Due to the nature of the class it is only open to adults.
We will continue. Must have attended part 1. See part 1 for full description.
We will explore the concerns and fears of dying, alongside the many openings and new possibilities regarding death. It is time to reclaim our traditional rites of taking care of our loved ones at home before and after death. In part 1 we will discuss many aspects of death and dying. In part two we will use a role play experience, and ritually tend to one of our loved ones together.
We will continue. See part 1 for full description.
Come, let’s eat, drink and learn together! All are welcome to this course that introduces Jewish cultural plant uses. We’ll experience food as medicine, tasting and learning, focusing on dill, parsley, onion and garlic, as we make a vegetarian matzo ball soup together. Then we’ll make a ‘glessele tea’, learning why Maimonides (12th century Jewish sage) so prized ‘chamomile water’, as well as a modern understanding of best preparation.
While actively getting healthier together, we’ll learn lots, starting with a foundational overview of the global nature of the Jewish diaspora and its medicines. Generous time allotted for questions and discussion. We’ll explore the idea of ethnobotany itself, learn some of many sources for further exploration, and a bibliography will be provided. Please bring your containers for eating and drinking.
As we continue our journey, we encounter the concept of accepting the bitter along with the sweet, and finding the sweet amidst the bitter, throughout Jewish texts across time/space. One physical manifestation of this idea is the oxymel, a mixture of vinegar and honey, infused with medicinal herbs.
In this hands-on class we’ll learn about a handful of herbs used in Jewish ethnobotany, and then, each according to her need, we will select herbs and try two simple methods of making oxymels. Once we’ve made those medicines, we’ll get a taste of a few traditional syrups, along with recipes, lore, and general schmoozing. Note, be prepared to care for your oxymels in (provided) small glass jars for two weeks before beginning to use.
Calling all Jewish* sisters! Many years we have informally gathered to celebrate Shabbat. This year we are announcing in advance that we are creating a special place for us to meet one another, to talk about connecting our practices (Judaism and Herbalism), to celebrate Shabbat and Havdalah. Enter the circle outside the Wellness Tent.
We'll begin to gather at 8 to meet one another and kibbitz, we'll celebrate Shabbat at 8:31. This first gathering is for just Jewish women* to meet & create community, we warmly welcome allies of every stripe on Saturday night. Enter the circle outside the Wellness Tent.
These two ceremonies may last up to 30 minutes minutes in total. Everyone is very welcome, but please plan to stay for the whole time as they are sacred rituals (involving the moon! And spices!). We'll begin to gather at 8, ceremony at 8:32. Enter the circle outside the Wellness Tent.
*any woman with any Jewish heritage or practice is welcome.
Using different plant material, reem will teach the art of nature and alchemy as the fountain of inspiration! Eco-printing is a technique where plants, leaves and flowers leave their shapes, color, and marks on fabric. Plant material bundled inside of cloth is steamed or boiled to release the dye found naturally inside the plant, creating a contact print in the shape of the leaf or flower used. Eco prints are essentially direct contact printing methods, drawing out pigments from plants to make interesting and often surprising marks on paper, cellulose (cotton, linen) and protein (silk, wool) fibers.
We will continue. See part 1 for full description
We will continue. See part 1 for full description
Come learn the art of Indigo & Shibori. We will learn how to make an organic indigo dye vat and original patterns using the ancient technique of Shibori. We will learn the fundamentals of Shibori pattern making and how to create a variety of shapes focusing on folded, tied, and clamped resist dyeing.
Learn traditional dances from Ghana, West Africa
Learn traditional dances from Ghana, West Africa
This panel discussion and participatory workshop is for everyone. In a world where racial and ethnic discrimination and oppression are causing massive damage and harm, how can we come together to create a community of refuge and repair? How can we reach across difference, speak into silence, and look within to find our individual and collective courage? How can we look to nature for models of diversity and regeneration and resilience? Join us to find out!
Come and learn how to gain body strength, improve your flexibility, and balance your mind and body harmony using breath and movement. Shereel will lead and show you how to improve your body motion & movement through simple yet effective exercises.
“Qi Gong” comes from “Qi” (Chi) meaning “Vital-Energy” & “Gong” (Gung or Kung) meaning “Work”. This class will introduce the body and mind enhancing benefits of this practice. Qi Gong is recommended for anyone seeking to establish & maintain balanced integration of physical, spiritual, intellectual, and emotional harmony through movements & exercises that promote sustainability and longevity for the whole person. Come on in and get healthy, get healed, and get happy! Clothing is required for this class.
In this two part class we will focus on learning about the medicinal plants, foods, preparations and methods Africans utilized during the time of enslavement. There will be a brief historic overview of the Transatlantic Slave Trade and the agricultural technology that Africans brought to the North American continent. This class is part of an extended course taught by Shereel at Land of Verse, Scarlet Sage, and the Berkeley Herbal Center.
In part 1 we will experience herbal combinations that were commonly used by African Americans. We will also learn about common ailments and herbal remedies that were prevalent and used at the time.
We will continue. See part 1 for full description.
In part 2 we will cover basic formulation & assessments using the herbs from part 1. Everyone will receive an easy recipe for making greens, a treasured food staple in African American foodways.
Give yourself an hour to drop inward, lay on the earth and experience the restorative and healing medicine of the sound current, as you are bathed in a variety of instruments and song. Bring a blanket and pillow or simply come as you are.
This class repeats. See Sound Healing 1 for full description.
For all the NCWHS women who love to move, stretch and breathe but can't quite get up for early morning yoga, this class is for you! Come get your yoga on in the afternoon sunshine! Bring a yoga mat or blanket or just enjoy the earth under your feet for this afternoon session which will include gentle stretching, breathwork, and some surya namaskar (sun salutations).
Join Xochiketzalli as she explores the world of ancestral medicine, brujeria, & Latinx Wicheria. The class will begin in circle, with song and then move into an exploration of brujeria. Show up a little early if you would like to help build the center altar. In this all level class, Xochi will explain the difference between the practice of brujeria and curanderismo and how Witcheria is a self guided, intuitive practice for everyone. This class is all about womxn's empowerment and discovery of each of our gifts we come into this world with. Together learn how to make agua florida/flower water in sacred prayer and ritual and then take this medicina home. The class will end in song/canto sagrado and sacred prayers/spells cast on the winds.
Explore the Mayan Cosmovisión, Divination, & Wisdom of the Maya People with Ajq'ij Xochiketzalli. The class will begin with the call of the atekokolli/conch, lighting of copalli & candles, and invocation of Deities Ixpipkok & Ixmukane. In circle, Xochi will share in plática about Mayan Cosmology and the Cholq'ij Mayan Calendar, going in depth about this 260 day lunar calendar system and how it's the foundation of indigenous time keeping. Each participant will be asked to share their birth date at the beginning of the class and by the end Xochi will figure out everyone's daysign in the Cholq'i Calendar. You will leave the class with a basic write up of your personal mayan astrology. This wisdom helps one better understand their dones/gifts, why they are here, and their cosmic mission.
In part 1 join Nana Xochiketzalli in a platica/Heart to Heart discussion on the magical world of healing with Curanderismo. Curanderismo is a Latinx ancestral practice of healing arts and red medicine. Part 1 of this class will include an introduction to the practice that was passed down to Xochiketzalli by her Maestras, Madrina, & Ancestors. She will open up the space in prayer with copalli & drum and then go over cultural protocols, ancestral traditions, and the different aires/ailments treated in Curanderismo.
Part 2 will be a more hands-on class for the intermediate & for womxn with serious interest in the healing arts. Xochiketzalli will go more in depth about Limpias, the path of the healer, sharing about the different medicine tools and sacreds used in Curanderismo, and also go over how to use different herbs in Curanderismo. She will then demonstrate and share how to do your own self barrida. (This is not training to become a healer, it is a simple guidance on healing yourself with herbs). Participation in part 1 is required to participate in part 2.
Join Nana Xochiketzalli in an Opening Ceremony on Friday at 4:00 p.m. at the center fire. A traditional Mayan fire ceremony is run by initiated Aj'Qijab (time keepers/Spiritual Guides) and is an ofrenda/offering to the Gods/Deities. The Fire Ceremony gives life and energy to all those who take part, and we nourish our own lives by feeding Mother Earth. Together we’ll light a fire made not from wood, but instead from candles, chocolates, flowers, tobacco, herbs, sugar, & cinnamon. These offerings are a way of giving food and vital life force to Mother Earth. It acts as an exchange for all we take, and while we feed Mother Earth with this ofrenda, all participants also nourish themselves. This quick ceremony will call in the ancestors, consecrate the space, and cleanse our hearts n souls as the Symposium begins.
Crones
Crones, come share lunch with other Wise Crones. We will discuss loving life after menopause, finding joy, appreciation, and health in our Crone years. We will also discuss our part in the Maiden’s Rites of Passage Ceremony and our own Crone’s Honoring Ritual.
This is time to reflect and share our experiences of Cronehood and our love for our Wise Crone ways and bodies. Past menopause and into memorypause, we will tell our stories. A time to make a ritual Crone Broom will follow.
Crones, come share another lunch with other Wise Crones. We will continue our plans for the Maiden’s Rites of Passage and our own Crone’s Honoring Ritual.
Join us for a quiet honoring of the loss of an unborn child through miscarriage or abortion.
Young Women
We will dance in the whimsical border between 2 and 3 dimensions in this wild and wooly tapestry class. We will explore the wonder of the magical felting needle, and its power to transform imagination into form, as we create lusciously colored, richly layered tapestries, embellished or framed with found natural objects such as driftwood, dried kelp, or found natural treasures from Black Oak Ranch, the land where the Symposium is held.
We will start with a blank piece of prefelt as our canvas, layering on colors and sculpting wool into bas-relief with our felting needle. Then we will attach the natural objects onto the tapestry, incorporating them into the design by sewing or wiring them onto the piece. No previous needlefelting experience is necessary. Optional: bring a special natural object and you can add it to your design. Class is limited to 15 participants.
We will explore ways to claim your personal power through deepening your understanding and connection to your body’s natural rhythms and their links to the cycles of the natural world. We will discuss the rhythm of our moon cycles, options for managing our blood, and birth control methods. Each young womyn will have the opportunity to sew her own moon pad.
What do you want to manifest in your life? What changes do you desire to make? What version of life do you want to live? In this class we will discuss manifesting dreams into reality, creative visioning, action plans, and goals while making vision boards with collage materials.
Together we will nourish our bodies~minds~and spirits~ with a variety of self-care practices. We will discuss self-care for life-long wellness and practice a variety of techniques to nourish the many parts of ourselves, including a guided meditation, learning some simple practices for managing stress, self-massage, and offering each other a facial or foot scrub.
Mass media and main stream culture often give the impression that women and girls can’t protect themselves. This is not true! It’s our basic nature to be able to do so and we can learn how to be the most effective. In this class we’ll learn basic principles and practices to keep ourselves safe in emergency situations. We’ll practice getting support if we’ve gone through a scary situation, so our challenges can be transformed into wisdom resources and community healing. Let’s prepare for what may come our way and grow our courage together!
Welcome maidens, to the Circle of Women! Join us in celebrating the beauty and strength of this phase of your life, the time of your bloods. We will explore ideas and feelings, hear stories, make things to care for ourselves and prepare for the Maiden’s Rites of Passage Ceremony to be held Sunday evening at 6:30 p.m. Any young woman who would like to go through the Maiden Ceremony must attend this class.
In this class for young women we will be talking about ways to honor the womb, journaling about our lives and experiences, sharing our stories and creating womb bead belts to adorn and honor our bodies!
Please bring a journal and pen/pencil, a blanket or something to sit on.
Mid Kids
Avast ye maties and welcome to pirateology. Put on your eye patches and scarfs and join Captain Redwood as we learn seashanties and how to tie knots. We will set sail on the seven herbal seas to find the Pirate Queen’s buried treasure. So board the ship, hoist the jolly roger and set sail with Captain Redwood.
We will experience the magic of wet felting as we create shapes out of wool, which we can turn into magic wands, necklaces, garlands, or whatever else we choose. If you would like to make a magic wand, you can start looking for the just right stick as you arrive at Symposium, so that you can take a bit of the Symposium magic home with you! Or you can bring a special stick from home, or select one from the driftwood that Corbin has. We will embellish our felted creations with beads, feathers, lichen, etc.
In this fun playshop we will get to know each other through cooperative and theater games, and a Symposium wide scavenger hunt. This class is designed to help us get to know each other and deepen friendships early in the weekend. Let's become a circle of friends together. Please come whether this is your first Symposium or you have been coming all your life. Be prepared to be silly, make new friends and learn more about the Symposium land, yourself and each other.
After getting inspired by the work of visual artists who use only natural materials, we will create our own earth mandalas - beautiful works of temporary art in nature.
Through imaginative play, stories, and games we will explore yoga, mindfulness, boundaries, and healthy habits combined with cooperation and community.
Express your awesome powers in movement: shining like a star, sitting like a mountain, rolling like a river, floating like a butterfly, leaping like an antelope and more..! Aikido is the martial art of following nature’s way.
Let’s play with fun hands-on moves from the martial art of Aikido, following the ways of Nature. We’ll explore how to strengthen your Center and return to Center when you feel off. Learn surprising ways the energy of an attack can be transformed into Connection. Join the energy of Nature and feel it’s power moving you.
Young Children
Early Morning Classes
Start your morning with a simple self-care practice to welcome the day with mindfulness and ahimsa (compassion, non-harming) for our well-being and learning experience together. Class includes adaptive yoga postures, breathing, and energy balancing to build mind-body awareness and nourishment for our physical, mental, emotional, energetic, and spiritual health. All are welcome. No yoga experience needed. Please bring a mat and blanket.
Connect with our inner compass and wisdom through a gentle and energetic yoga practice. We’ll explore the chakras (energy centers) through sound meditation and gentle movement to connect with our inner guru (teacher) as a guide for our own healing and nurturing our healing practice. All levels are welcome. Please bring a mat and blanket.
A therapeutic yoga practice to restore and rejuvenate our body, mind, and energy levels. We will explore adaptive and supported yoga postures to release tension and restore balance in the nervous system and receive reiki energy healing during the relaxation. No yoga experience needed. 1-2 blankets and pillows are recommended to support postures.
Wear loose clothes and bring a yoga mat if you have one.
The ancient practice of Vipassana, or Insight, meditation is one of observing—and coming into balance with—life as it is. This technique results in a foundational restructuring of the mind, by learning to perceive subtle and profound expressions of natural law (universal truth) through one’s own direct experience.
Long-term practitioners report:
Relief from destructive mental habit patterns
A general sense of happiness and well-being.
Release from addiction.
Greater confidence
Higher productive capacity
A greater understanding of one’s own path and purpose
Developing mental concentration through observation of breath related sensation
Expanding practice by observing sensation throughout the body
loving compassion meditation
Other Classes
Come join us for an evening under the late spring constellations. Guided by a green laser wand, you’ll learn to find your way around the night sky and the names of the stars and constellations, while hearing folklore from different times and cultures. We’ll meet the bright shining stars of the Twins, the Lion, Virgo, the Scorpion, and more… You will also be dosed with Essence Elixirs!
Intensives
1. Lymphatic Breast Health - DeAnna Batdorff
2. Dyeing with Lichens and Mushrooms - Katie Herron
sives
Women of Color Rising
Sisters Honoring Sisters at NCWHS
Since 1991, NCWHS has been creating space to celebrate womanhood through reclaiming women’s sacred wisdom, ritual, and herbal knowledge predominantly in the Western European traditions. From the beginning, NCWHS has included women from many different traditions, although the majority attending have generally been of European heritage. In 2019, we began an open conversation about race led by Holly Calica of Nueva Luna Wellness. And, that work continues. Just as we—as women—have been intentional about creating space for ourselves to come together and heal, in 2023, we came together again to create intentional space for women of color within the Symposium, a safe space within a safe space.
We are excited to continue to deepen our awareness of how we all can best support racial and ethnic diversity and belonging for all members of our community for this year and in the subsequent years to come.
A deep bow of Gratitude to Aya de Leon, Shereel Washington, Naomi Stein, and Susannah Mackintosh for creating and leading us in this effort.
In our efforts to be more welcoming to women from diverse cultural backgrounds we will do the following.
Session 2 & 3
Have Courageous Conversations around Race, Ethnicity, and Belonging at NCWHS during our Open Forum to which all are welcome and encouraged to attend!
Have classes that are culturally specific and led by Women of Color
Support Women of Color gathering in supportive spaces on the grounds as a way to network and provide support to other Women of Color that are attending
All Sessions
We will hold a class geared for white women titled: Hey White People Let’s Talk About Race.