The
Consciousness Collaborative Update
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Register for Upcoming Workshops
& EventsHealthy Cooking Classes Last Chance! Classes Begin
Monday January 3rdExplore 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.~~~
What's Next?! Workshop Spring Only 3 Spaces Left!
New Series Begins January 15th
If 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?!Mark your calendar now for the spring session beginning in January. Registration deadline
is January 7th,
Sign up on-line today. ~~~ Monthly Meditation
 January 19thJoin Jamie Thurber for another evening of shared meditation. Each month offers a new path inward, in alignment with the solstices. Your $5 donation will be sent to Next Generation Nepal. Interested? To Save Your Space Email Jamie~~~ Mindfulness & Meditation Series Fridays, Beginning February 11th
A progressive monthly class, lead by April Prita Manganiello, designed to support your ability to deepen and expand your current mindfulness and meditation practice.See series schedule or contact Prita to sign up.~~~ Emotional Re-Education Workshop March 18th -20th
An 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. This workshop is already filling up. Secure your space early.Sign up on-line today.
Click the title of the workshop you are interested in for full details about any of these upcoming opportunities.
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Mindfulness & Meditation Classes
Mindfulness can be described as awareness with acceptance of the present moment. Mindfulness directs our receptive awareness to the moment by moment process of experiencing and nurturing non-judgmental spaciousness.
Meditation brings knowing of root awareness, natural or original mind, which
is always there -
mind like sky.
In this progressive class series, April Prita Manganiello will guide us to cultivate mindfulness and learn to use it to see the nature of our self imposed suffering and illusory images of self. "Our subjective experience is largely a psychological construction, and we live in our history as if it still exists. Mindfulness is a way to come into presence that looks inward allowing an acceptance of our own reactivity and vulnerability," explains Prita.
Ideal for someone interested in deepening and expanding their current mindfulness and meditation practice, this class offers a combination of teaching and active practice each session. For more information about the topics that will be covered and the currently scheduled dates, click here. Each class runs from 6:30 - 8:30 pm one Friday per month. The first session in 2011 will be held February 11th in Essex, MA.
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Recipe
of the
Month
Carrot & Spinach Brownies
This recipe requires a bit of prep, but the result is well worth it. And to save yourself some time in the kitchen, consider making extra carrot puree for soup. Simply use last month's Squash Soup recipe but substitute carrot puree for the vegetable and fresh grated ginger for the spice - yum!
Advance Ingredients:
- 5-6 medium carrots
- 1 lg box fresh spinach
Advance Prep:1. Cook the carrots until soft, drain, and puree in a food processor.
2. Do the same as above with the spinach.
3. Allow the purees to cool before using as brownie ingredients.
Ingredients:- Nonstick cooking spray- 3 oz semisweet or bittersweet chocolate- 1/2 C. carrot puree- 1/2 C. spinach puree- 1 C. agave nectar- 1/4 C. organic cocoa powder- 2 Tbls Ghee or natural butter- 2 Tbls pure vanilla extract- 2 Tbls flax seeds mixed in 1/2 a cup of boiling water- 3/4 C. oat flour- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
Directions:1. Preheat the oven to 350 F. Coat an 8*8 inch baking pan with cooking spray
2. Melt the chocolate in a double boiler or over a very low flame.
3. In a large bowl, combine the melted chocolate, vegetable purees, agave, cocoa powder, Ghee/butter, and vanilla, and whisk until smooth and creamy, 1-2 minutes.
4. Whisk in egg whites. Stir in the flour, baking powder and salt with a wooden spoon.
5. Pour the Ghee/ batter into the pan and bake 35 to 40 minutes.
6. Cool completely in the pan before cutting into 12 bars (most people like these best when completely cooled)
These brownies are fairly low in calories (only 133 per brownie) and saturated fats. They are also packed with 3 grams of fiber (which is crazy for a brownie!), while spinach and carrots provide two powerful antioxidants that help your eyes stay healthy.
Need more recipes? Check out the Recipe of the Month page for previously published eats.
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Meditation
of the
Month
Funny Faces
Does your face hurt from the smile / scowl / poker face you've been wearing through the holidays? This simple OSHO inspired meditation will relieve facial tension and remind you of the true, responsive you, behind the mask.
Each night before going to sleep, sit on the edge of your bed and begin making faces - all kinds of faces - silly, ugly, beautiful, alluring, sad, mad - give your face a workout, as though you were entertaining a small child. Feel the muscles move, notice the difference from one expression to the next.
Next, add in some gibberish noises, and allow your whole body to gently rock. Sink into the experience for 10 - 15 minutes, and then go to sleep.
When you wake, before beginning your morning rituals, allow yourself 10 minutes to stand before a mirror, and make your funny faces again - whatever comes to you in the moment. The mirror serves as a witness - you seeing you. The experience of feeling seen, allows us to respond rather than react as we meet the world. Take this feeling with you through the day.
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"If a tree falls in the forest, and no one
is around to hear it, does it make a sound?"
Nothing like a philosophical "poke" to start off the new year! I perceive one undeniable truth in this famous riddle: regardless of whether anyone is around or not, the tree makes an impact.
Making an impact seems to be a sticky wicket for many of us. Consider your own experience. As you walk down the street and meet eyes with a smiling woman, do you find that your mouth starts to curve upward? Do you wonder what's wrong with her that she's smiling at you? Maybe you start to give yourself the once over, because you obviously must have something out of place? Perhaps you find yourself looking away as quickly as possible to avoid the contact? This list could go on for eons, but here's the funny part of this story...what you may not have realized is that the woman is paying a smile forward. Moments before, someone smiled at her, and her lips curved in return - you just happened to receive the impact of her response. Like the vibrations of the tree in the forest, one of them touched you.
If you're curious about how you relate to your own ability to make an impact, imagine you're sitting by a well populated pool on a hot day and you're desperate to flop into the deep end, are you:
(A) the person who jumps in with no regard for the folks around you who may get wet,
(B) the person who walks from one lounge chair to the next asking, "do you mind if I jump in the pool, because I don't want to disturb you, you look really comfortable" or
(C) the person who won't even consider jumping in because you'd rather be hot than face the consequences.
Regardless of which (if any) category you land in, we seem to make a lot of assumptions about the vibrations we create, including the dismissal of the fact that we make an impact at all. If you could relate to any of the three categories in the pool analogy, you may have a story running about your natural impact.
Does this all seem a little silly? Of course it is - and not just because we're talking about jumping in a pool! It's absurd to believe that we get to have power over someone else's response to us. Every action we take, every thought we think, every energetic shift has an impact, and while we may remain mindful of the fact that we each have a responsibility for what we contribute to our collective swimming pool, no one has the power to alter, control, or contain how someone else feels about what we offer.
The best any of us can do is allow our most essential, clear selves to show up at the metaphorical pool. This includes being willing to honor that whether you jump or not, you have an impact. Remember, the person sitting on the other side of the pool might be in category (D) waiting for someone else to take the plunge first - imagine what fun you could have together!
Wondering what making an impact can look like? Take a peek at this entertaining video.
Inviting you to make a splash,
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Greetings from the Members
As we take a breath between the old year and the new, we'd like to update you about the goings-on of some Consciousness Collaborative members. We are ever grateful to have you as part of our community, and look forward to sharing the new year with you, and supporting your personal growth.
Walter Bacigalupo - Coach and Consultant
 2010 was a whirlwind of transitions and completions! I moved my home and practice from Lowell, MA to Pelham NH, where I now live with my fiancee. I graduated from a two-year counseling and coaching program in June, participated in the six-month What's Next?! Workshop series, and became President of the Board for L'Arche Irenicon in Haverhill MA. As the calendar flips to 2011, I look forward to exploring and expanding my professional development, including a dedicated focus on a writing project I started: a book for men. I can't wait to share it with you!
 Nathalie Blitz - Health Coaching
2010 was a big year for me. I feel like I have grown so much. In June, I completed my training at the Institute for the Psychology of Eating with field expert, Marc David. This intensive program, which had me traveling to Colorado once a month, supported my professional growth tremendously. As a Certified Dynamics of Eating Counselor, I am, more than ever before, focused on helping my clients make sense of their relationship to their bodies. To do this, I continue offering coaching sessions and cooking classes focusing on health, food, body and everything in between, with great excitement for the opportunity to share my new knowledge with you. I wish you all a beautiful end to 2010 and hope the next one will be even better than the last.
 Liz Giargiari - The Reiki Temple
This time of my life has been all about class. Not "classy" but classes! In May I earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology from Hesser College. Since then, I have been deeply engrossed in my graduate studies, as I pursue my Master of Science degree in Mental Health Counseling from New England College. On the other end of the "class" spectrum, I continue to train Reiki students - those who wish to take the power of healing into their own hands. And for myself, those I teach, and those I learn from, I am reminded of the power and importance of breathing. Wishing you a year of breath and healing.
 Dawn Lipinski - Bodypeace
For me, 2010 has been a time of rediscovering creativity through movement and through teaching in the more formalized structure of a massage therapy training program. In 2011, I am readying to evolve Bodypeace into a deeper layer of offering support to individuals and groups wishing to reconnect and integrate body, mind, spirit and environment. Wishing you a peaceful entry to this new beginning.
Joanne Lutz - Founder of The Consciousness Collaborative
Third Option Coaching & What's Next?! Workshop
 What an amazing year - I love the trajectory! A few noteworthy items for me: a new name - Third Option Coaching, new space for The Consciousness Collaborative, and What's Next?! Workshop has become a solo adventure for me - which lead to a 2nd series offered with a September start. I continue to be awed and honored by the work and growth of the individuals within our community - my clients, my associates, and every person who allows their curiosity to blossom. As I meet 2011, I'm feeling the winds of expansion and abundance at my back, including (but not limited to): fabulous and talented new members in our network, bringing What's Next?! Workshop to new communities along the east coast, and supporting even more clients with their journey, in part, by continuing to respect and grow in my own. Wishing you a year of abundance and growth!
 Beth Sutton - Parenting Consultant
This past year has been busy! My longtime work with parents has expanded exponentially as my focus continued to broaden beyond home education to providing support to parents seeking ways to navigate a sane life with their children. The summer Rousing Intuition workshop was extraordinarily successful, as parents learned to trust their inner knowing - the source of true wisdom - a key ingredient for successful parenting! In 2011 I will be offering both the "Rousing Intuition" weekend workshop, and an all new ONE DAY "Parenting as Path" workshop. I will also be working to open additional slots for parenting consulting sessions, as the recent schedule has been full with a waiting list. Wishing you a year filled with intuitive trust.
Jamie Thurber - Meditation Leader
 This year has been amazing, both personally and professionally. Through 11 meditations, we have mirrored the course of the sun and shared in the richness of each other. As the new year begins, I'm excited about growing with like practitioners, and in meditation practice, sharing our beauty that comes just by being - no need to do, no need to earn, no need to prove. Through funds donated by our meditation group, we were able to provide $305 to Next Generation Nepal, an organization dedicated to reuniting trafficked children within Nepal to their parents. How wonderful is that! It's been a great year - here's to now. With love, Jamie.
Lysa Wilkins - Equine Assisted Discovery
 This past year I have been testing the waters - or should I say grassy fields - with my newest horse companion, Bravery, to see if he is willing to participate in Equine Assisted Discovery. As it turns out, he is not only willing, he is downright determined to be part of the action! I'm thrilled to have another partner in this powerful work and look forward to growing with, encouraging and training Bravery along with his "sister" Cini. Wishing you a 2011 filled with hooves and heart.
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'Tis the Season
(to get what you want)
Oh, wait, that was last month. Ah...deep breath...the shopping is done, the gifts have been wrapped, opened and exchanged, and in a couple of days the kids will be back in school. It's back to business as usual! ...what was that again? Or perhaps a better question: What would you like it to be?
With the new year comes a new opportunity - a chance to focus your attention on YOU! Who could possibly be more deserving? I know there are a gazillion distractions you could tend to, and some of them are truly meaningful and important. But if YOU are not paying attention to what you want in your life and supporting your forward movement, who will?
If the voice in your head has already started ticking off the excuses..."can't afford it - don't have the time - too tired to think about committing to something else"...I suggest a compassionate, firm response: "Thank you for sharing. Every part of me deserves support (even you, little voice), and I will not sabotage my opportunity to have it."
Sometimes it's scary to imagine who we would be if we can't complain about money or blame someone at work for how we feel, and maybe we've even been afraid that our elusive "potential" just wouldn't be enough...that we've reached the limit, and now we just have to live with it. So, I'll borrow, and pose to you, Byron Katie's famous inquiry: "Is that belief true?" "Can you possibly know that it's true?" "How do you react when you believe that thought?" "Who would you be without that thought?"
I'll even share a secret with you. I know that it's NOT true. Through developing and living the process offered in What's Next?! Workshop, I've learned that everything I need is already within me (even if I sometimes need reminding). I have unique gifts to offer, gifts that support me everyday. When obstacles get in the way, I have a chance to learn from those experiences, deepening my own connection to myself and the people in my life that I care about. Working with this process, I have opened up to possibilities and I am living them, every day. I hold the intention of what I can imagine, and it informs my moment to moment decisions, allowing me to be here NOW and hold space for what is to come.
What I want IS truly possible. What if what YOU want is possible, too? 'Tis the season to find out!
Join me, and I'll walk beside you, as you discover What's Next?!
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Post Holiday Kitchen Syndrome?
Try Nathalie's Healthy Cooking Classes
Whether you've spent the last month avoiding that room with all of the big appliances or slaving away to feed the masses, Nathalie Blitz has a cure for your kitchen blues. Beginning this Monday, January 3rd, take a break from your kitchen and join Nathalie in hers. Together, with a small group (limited to 5), you will create healthy, delicious eats and savor the experience of sharing the space with others. For this series of Monday classes, Nathalie will share her enthusiasm and knowledge of four important food categories:
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.
Take advantage of this opportunity to learn something new to support you in your kitchen adventures through the new year!
All classes meet from 6:30 pm - 8:00 pm in Arlington, MA on:January 3rd, 10th, 24th, and 31st
(no class on Martin Luther King day)
Series 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 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!
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Meditations on 2010
"Healing may not be so much about getting better, as about letting go of everything that isn't you - all of the expectations, all of the beliefs - and becoming who you are."
-Rachel Naomi Remen
"People have a hard time letting go of their suffering. Out of a fear of the unknown, they prefer suffering that is familiar."
- Thich Nhat Hanh
 I recently had an MRI on my shoulder-my first time in such a contraption. It isn't quite the way they show on "House," with the opening wide enough to land a small aircraft. As they prepped me to go in the tube, the attendant pushed a pillow by my shoulder to hold it in place and said, "Just keep your eyes closed." As I lay still on the support mechanism, I could feel myself start to move, and gradually the very narrow walls of the tube pressed up against my shoulders. I kept my eyes closed (wondering why he would say such a thing,) and as I moved back and back, felt a small measure of panic and quickly felt 5 years old, trapped in a situation with no way out. I lost myself for a moment and wondered if I'd make it through when my mind said, "I wonder who is wondering if I'll make it through," and that was enough to remind me that I wasn't that 5 year old anymore, that I would be OK if I just breathed the way I do each day in meditation, that I was in the here and now in a small tube. They'd put some headphones on me, and a rock song I can't remember played, and I just breathed and meditated for however long I was in there-I think 10-20 minutes. I remembered me in that moment, the today/here-and-now me, and I was OK.
This past year has been tough for me physically, with 6 or 7 body "happenings" occurring since about March. Only this past month, with the help of my support system, I was able to piece together that my body is trying to "get out" some of my legacy, some of what my family has handed down for generations, and what I got from my own parents. I've done significant work releasing much of this past, but a piece remains.
As I sit with these latest ailments and this new conscious knowledge of my body, I realize that my resistance to letting go is that of wanting, on some level, the comfortable, familiar covering of this old stuff. And that letting go of it has me closer to just me being with me, and sometimes that is frightening. I am reminded of the time of year it is, with the winter solstice having just passed, and how our part of the earth has let go of its coverings and come back to its bare self. We can say it's a time of death and emptiness, but is it a negative? Perhaps in this uncovering, in this cycle, the earth and we get to see the basic form of ourselves, our core, and from this beautiful place, can be ready for the next growth.
Here's to letting go of the outer coverings, finding beauty in that place just before the in-breath, celebrating the passing of the winter solstice of the northern hemisphere and our own lives.
Here's to 2011, every moment.
-Contributed by Jamie Thurber
Join Jamie, for the next monthly meditation gathering in Arlington on January 19th - click for details.
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Quote of the Week Contest
"Nothing outside you can ever give you what you're looking for."
-Byron Katie
Question Your Thinking
Change the World
Each week, an informative, inspirational, provocative, or consciously amusing quote is posted to The Consciousness Collaborative home page and on our Facebook fan page.
We invite you to get involved.
If you have a favorite quote that you'd like to share, click here. Each week, one quote will be selected to appear on the home page, and you will be credited for sharing the prose! If you've missed any of the great quotes that have been posted these past few months, read them here.
Thank you to Bonnie Macaro and Jamie Thurber for sharing their favorite quotes this past month!
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