The
Consciousness Collaborative Update
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Don't Miss These Great Events & Workshops!
Rousing Intuition: Listening to Your Inner Clarity October 15th-17thExplore
ways to better recognize and trust the voice of your own intuition. Through a series of playful, active, and artistic exercises lead by Beth
Sutton, you may begin to experience yourself, and those who challenge
you most, in a new light. Registration closes 10/5. Sign Up Today!~~~ Healthy Cooking Classes Mondays-Beginning October 18thExplore
healthier options to your everyday meal choices. This series of four
classes will focus on Easy Breakfasts, Vegetarian Options, a "Make Ahead
Dinner," and Sweet Treats. To register, email Nathalie Blitz and use "Cooking Classes" as the subject line. ~~~ Meditation Class
 October 27thJoin Jamie Thurber for another evening of shared meditation. Each month offers a new path inward, in alignment with the solstices. Interested? To Save Your Space Email Jamie~~~ Emotional Re-Education Retreat
 November
12th-14thAn intense weekend workshop of self-discovery and healing, lead by April Prita Manganiello (with support from many members of The Consciousness Collaborative). This is a residential retreat in Essex, MA. *Note - the summer Emotional Re-Education Weekend filled to capacity. Secure your space early. sign up on-line. ~~~ November 16th
This two-hour class, lead by Joanne Lutz,
will introduce you to a new way to think about and "be with" whatever
might be next for you. The evening includes a few simple methods to
connect with yourself and visualize your possibilities. This class is
offered through the Minuteman Community Education program. ~~~ What's Next?! Workshop Spring New Series Begins January 15thIf what you want is truly possible, what would you choose for yourself? Discover the unique gifts that make you extraordinary and learn how to come back to your most grounded self, even in challenging times. From this place, you may embrace What's Next?!If you missed the start of the autumn series, mark your calendar now for the spring session beginning in January. Sign up on-line today. Click the workshop you are interested in for full details about any of these upcoming opportunities.
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Recipe
of the
Month
Almond
Pancakes
Looking for a yummy autumn breakfast to feed the kids before school? Try these quick and delicious pancakes to start the day. Not an almond person, see the notes below for tasty variations of this recipe.
Prep time: 10 mins
Cooking time: 10 mins
Yields: 4 servings
Ingredients:
- 1 egg - 1 1/2 cups almond, rice or soy milk - 1/4 cup canola oil - 1 3/4 cups oat or whole wheat pastry flour - 1/2 cup almonds, finely chopped - 1 Tbsp non-aluminum baking powder - 1/2 tsp sea salt Directions:1. Mix egg, mild and oil in a medium-size bowl. 2. Mix flour, almonds, baking powder and salt into a small bowl. 3. Combine dry ingredients and the wet ingredients. 4. Mix until dry ingredients are moistened. 5. Using a 1/4-1/2 cup measuring cup, drop pancakes onto a lightly oiled skillet and cook until golden brown on both sides. 6. Serve warm with maple syrup or honey. Notes:Try 1/2 cup of shredded coconut and/or 1/4 cup malt-sweetened chocolate chips instead of almonds. Or try a little lemon zest, the juice of one lemon (add a little less milk) and 1/2 cup poppy seeds for lemon poppy seed pancakes.
Need more recipes? Check out the Recipe of the Month page for previously published eats. |
Meditation
of the
Month
Fire
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David Letterman interviewing Michael Douglas on CBS.  |
I admit I may be extrapolating a bit, but I bet if Douglas knew what bonding was, he'd believe in it. In a recent interview with David Letterman on national television, Douglas announced that he has stage four throat cancer. In the final televised moments, Letterman said, "I feel like I wanna do something for ya. Can I do something for ya?" The response was not typical Hollywood. Rather than encouraging Letterman to donate money to a foundation or suggesting that everyone have regular cancer screenings, he asked for a hug. Click this link to see the clip.
Why, you may ask, does this make Douglas more "fly" than James Bond? Because hugs heal. It's that simple.
Studies confirm that heart to heart hugs have a positive biological effect on our bodies. University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill researchers discovered that hugs decrease the risk of heart disease and increase the "bonding" hormone oxytocin. The study further determined that women experienced a decrease in the stress hormone, cortisol, and lower blood pressure. Researcher, Tiffany Field who conducts studies through the Touch Research Institute at the University of Miami Medical School explains in a USA Today interview, "This is the latest of many studies suggesting humans are 'hard-wired' to thrive as social animals."
The United States is not winning the touchy-feely race, though. One of Field's studies determined that French couples touch three times more in public than American couples. It seems, culturally speaking, we're a bit resistant to feeling good and allowing the healing benefits of bonding. We must not know what we're missing!
Science has proven the very earliest attachment, created through bonding, has a profound effect on our physical and psychological beings for years to come. Dr. Rene Spitz witnessed this truth through his studies. He focused attention on orphanages, where one third of babies who were not bonded with, despite being well fed and receiving appropriate medical attention, died. The babies died because they didn't have a simple biological need met. Bonding is essential to our survival. And when we don't get this need met during our earliest development, if we survive, the results manifest in our future mental, social, and physical health.
If the science isn't enough to convince you to reach out and touch someone, consider what it feels like to be hugged by someone you love. When a person you care about, and feel comfortable with embraces you with genuine openness and heart to heart contact, what happens in your own body? Can you feel your breathing shift? What happens to your face? How about your shoulders?
I didn't grow up as a hugger. I would say it's only been in the past 12-15 years that I've changed my tune. And while I will never save the world like James Bond, I'm healing myself, and the people I care about, one loving hug at a time. Much cooler, don't you think? I bet Michael Douglas would agree.
Sending you a big hug, |
Let's Get Cookin'
Healthy Cooking Classes
Beginning October 18th, Integrative Nutrition Counselor, Nathalie Blitz will be offering a series of four evening cooking classes. If you are... - Uncertain about popular fad diets
- Have a health concern requiring an "upgrade" to your meal plan
- Want to impress your dinner party guests
- Or simply don't know what to eat!
This is the class for you! Designed to explore healthier options to everyday meals, this series will focus on: Breakfast - The first class will bring attention to the first meal of the day. Simply put - skipping it stresses us out! You will learn a few quick and easy-to-make variations to this important meal. Vegetarian Options - Many people are interested in incorporating some satisfying plant-based protein meals into their weekly diets. This is a chance to learn how. Make Ahead Dinner - Much of the struggle around healthier food choices is the lack of time and preparation. Let's face it, there is nothing like a nice dinner ready for you when you get home! This class will focus on healthier variations to your standard meal. A protein, grain dish, side dish, and dessert will all be included. Sugar Blues - "Sugar? In a Healthy Cooking Class???" In this session you will discover a different approach to sweets and how to incorporate this important flavor into your diet. Sweet vegetables, snacks, and desserts can be easy to make and should not be taken out of your daily menu. See how it's possible. All classes meet from 6:30 pm - 8:00 pm in Arlington, MA on:Oct. 18th, Oct. 25th, Nov. 1st, and Nov. 8thSeries Tuition: $235.00(fee includes: hands-on experience, expert instruction, recipes, informational handouts and the cost of food - *note* ingredients will be organic) To Register: Contact Nathalie Blitz via emailand use "Cooking Classes" as the subject line This small group format (limited to five participants), will ensure that each person receives personal attention and hands-on experience. Think of it as a semi-private cooking lesson with an expert in the field! |
 Rousing Intuition:
Listening to Your Inner Clarity
Do you hear yourself saying...
"Uggh...I hate the way my wife makes decisions. Everything from our choice of restaurant to which couch to buy is made by committee.""My son is driving me nuts. He never wants to go on play dates. I'm afraid he's not going to have any friends.""I think my business partner is in la-la land. Every time I turn around, he's telling me not to stress about what our next move is. He doesn't care that we don't even have a plan!""My daughter is the most stubborn person on the face of the earth. In fact, not just stubborn, but contrary! If I say black, she wants white. If I say yes, she says no. It goes on and on all day long. I can't take it anymore."If any of these statements resonate, you are heartily encouraged to join Beth Sutton for a weekend workshop of Rousing Intuition. The Rousing Intuition Workshop explores ways to better recognize and trust the voice of our own intuition. Through a series of playful, active, and artistic exercises we begin to experience ourselves, and those who challenge us most, in a new light. We tease apart the expectations and assumptions that shrink our perceptions and block our intuition. We discover the ways fear and judgment shut down our perception, and we begin to open our ears to our own intuition. This deep knowing, in turn, informs our insight and understanding and opens life-filled options for us - moment by moment. Join Beth Sutton for a weekend of clay modeling, music, architectural installations, laughter, and provocative discussion. Working with the Temperaments (Rudolf Steiner), the Buddha Families (Tibetan Buddhism), and Sensory Learning Styles (Enki Education) we will open up our expectations and explore new perspectives and possibilities. From there, we practice hearing our own intuition as we take a fresh look at that which challenges us - from the screaming child, to the coworker who seems to be deaf, to the undertaking that defies our plans - learning to trust ourselves, regardless of the hurdle before us.  |
Emotional
Re-Education
Workshop
If you've participated in this workshop before, you know that this weekend retreat of self discovery and connection, lead by April Prita Manganiello, provides a safe environment to explore old emotional hurts, decisions, and beliefs - cutting through the stuck places that inhibit your ability to live fully in yourself and to give and receive love. "It is a process of recognizing, releasing, and re-framing," explains Prita. "You will be encouraged to challenge limited self-beliefs and definitions and to try on new attitudes and ways of being."
This workshop provides a healing space to melt traumas, whether from intrusions, absences, betrayals, illnesses, accidents, or losses that have been frozen in our bodies. Designed for intense emotional exploration, release, and re-education, this workshop is intended for participants who currently have the regular support of a therapist or coach. The processes are facilitated in a group setting, where we realize our concerns are shared and that we can be supported by others. It is also an opportunity to experience non-invasive bonding, a basic human need sorely neglected in our culture.
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What's Next?!
A Night of Discovery
 Imagine getting up in the morning excited about your day, your relationships, your life... The essential resources to live a full life are already within each of us. So...how do we tap into those gifts? The journey to being all of who you are may begin right here, right now. It starts with a commitment to yourself - a choice to live the life you want. Then, allow yourself to learn some new tools to help you remember, in times of strife, how to return to your inner strength. And finally, it comes down to practice. Practicing grounding and opening to what might be next for you. This self contained two-hour class will support your journey, offering: concrete tools for connecting with yourself, personalized coaching in a small group environment, and the space to begin your practice. It also gives you a peek at what the six-session What's Next?! Workshop series might hold in store for you. Allow yourself to forget what you cannot do, and step into your unique possibilities! Join Joanne Lutz for this evening of discovery:
November 16th - 7pm - 9pm Fee: $29.00 SIGN UP ON-LINE TODAY!Offered through Minuteman Community Education Facilitated by Joanne Lutz creator of the What's Next?! Workshop programs. This stand-alone class will give you a good feel for the nature of What's Next?! Workshop. If you've been wondering about the series, you may want to try this first. The next six month series will begin January 15th. Sign up before December 1st and take advantage of the Advance Registration Discount.
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It seems only fair that we include "how to offer heart to heart hugs" in this newsletter, since the primary column is about the benefits of bonding. Below you'll find a few video demonstrations.
An "A-frame" hug  | 1) Try to dodge the "A-frame" hug. When you and your hugging partner engage in an "A-frame" hug, you meet at the neck and shoulders, but you miss the full contact that allows hearts to meet.
2) Notice if you're doing the "pat-pat-pat." You know that feeling of someone being slightly condescending and patting your knee while saying, "there, there, it will be all right"? That is the energy of the "pat-pat-pat" hug. It has a dismissive quality to it, as though this is what you're "supposed" to do.
3) The bear hug...the one when you're getting the life squeezed out of you and you can't quite breathe...that's a little bit over the top. Just ease up a bit, you've almost got it!
Such a sweet photo...still, try to avoid grabbing your own wrist and squeezing...allow both hands to lay flat holding the other person  | 4) This next video demonstrates several "Do Not's" and one beautiful "YES!" at the end. Be sure to get to the last hug, this is the heart-to-heart bonding hug. Notice, the bonding hug has a couple of specific qualities. There is full contact, allowing the hearts to melt together. Each person's hands are flat and holding the other person, not clasped together holding themselves. Knees are bent, rather than bodies bent (this is especially important when there is a significant difference in height). And finally, the two parties breathe...ahh...
5) This last video was an interesting find. From a physical form stand point, he's hit or miss, likely the result of his first principle; however, he has a nice way of describing the generous intention of offering and receiving hugs.
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Meditate Much?
If you have a favorite meditation or mindfulness exercise you'd like to share with The Consciousness Collaborative Community, mail it in! We'd love to know what works for you, and we may even post it as a Meditation of the Month.
Interested in a new way to meditate? Check out the Meditation of the Month Library. Or join Jamie Thurber on October 27th for his monthly meditation gathering in Arlington.
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