The
Consciousness Collaborative Update
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Register for Upcoming Workshops
& Events
To Save Your Space Email Jamie
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. Secure your space early. This workshop is filling up. Sign up on-line today. ~~~ Why Do We Lie?!
 March 5th
Learn the difference between caretaking and caregiving and discover what it feels like to speak your truth, and not be responsible for someone else's feelings. You have a right to your true voice, and this class will help you find it.Ask how you can attend for FREE!
Ask about the
"bring a friend discount"
Register On-line Today!
Parenting As Path April 30th
Find the deep voice of clarity hidden within the feelings of frustration and dismay in your day-to-day parenting. Join Parenting Consultant, Beth Sutton, for this one-day adventure designed to enliven our lives and enjoy our children as we walk the path of parenting.
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Save
the
Date
April 30th
Parenting As Path Workshop
This time it is YOUR child whining in the grocery cart and reaching to pull the candy off the rack. With a smile on your face covering clenched teeth, you cheerfully move her hands back into the cart. She hits you and quickly knocks the magazine rack down. You calmly explain why she mustn't hit, while you put the magazines back and pay the cashier.
But underneath the smile you have had it. You are frustrated and angry - enough already.
Sound familiar? Children possess the unique talent to trigger parents to their most un-balanced selves, as few other things do during adult life. The incomparable love that is parenting stirs emotions within that we often do our best to keep under wraps. However, those feelings hold a key to our true parental wisdom. This Parenting as Path workshop will assist you to explore both the feelings and deep voice of clarity hidden within. When we uncover that rich voice, we find our internal guide to clear, supportive, and non-resentful action as parents. Join Parenting Consultant, Beth Sutton for this one-day adventure. Through activities and discussion, we will seek to enliven our lives and enjoy our children as we walk the path of parenting.
April 30th
9am - 4:30pm
Arlington, MA
Register ON-LINE before March 23rd for discounted tuition |
Quote
of the
Week Contest
"Maturity: being willing to do what you want even if your parents want you to do it as well."
-Michael Neill
Genius Catalyst
"Effortless Success" audio lecture
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 Dee Dee Thurber, Walter Bacigalupo, Evan Kaufman, and Julie O'Brien for sharing their favorite quotes this past month! |
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 It takes courage to make lemonade. Squeezing the lemons inevitably results in a little bit of juice on your hands, clothes, or face, and sometimes a squirt lands in your eye - ouch! And whether you're making lemonade in the literal sense, to quench your thirst, or in the metaphorical sense, spinning a challenge on its axis into something positive - the result is highly satisfying. I recently learned of a couple planning a wedding. The bride and groom to-be had a head start on their lives together. They purchased a home, were living together, and felt the time for official "I do's" had arrived. The date was set, a posh hotel in Boston was selected to host the reception, and arrangements were made for food, music, flowers, and other wedding day niceties. As the wedding approached, previously undiscovered challenges in the relationship revealed themselves. The couple, unprepared to work through these issues together, sadly began the unwinding of their entwined lives. The visions of promise went dark, and with a wounded heart the bride sought her $25,000 back from the hotel, caterer, etc., as there would be no wedding. Our heroine quickly learned that there would also be no refund! And so, this resilient woman dug out her personal juicer, started slicing lemons, and squeezed. Since the money could not be retrieved, she decided to throw a party. On the day she was to be a blushing bride, 200 guests for $100 each would join her for an extraordinary night of fun, food, and dancing. The hotel, understanding her circumstances, offered an alternative. While no monies would be refunded, she could choose any night they had available, rather than her previously planned wedding date. She selected New Year's Eve - closing out the old and embracing anew. Word of this courageous party spread from friend to friend. Soon, the guest list grew to 220, which meant adjusting the menu from a sit down meal to a buffet to accommodate the additional guests. Still, the party continued to entice newcomers. Folks, moved by this young woman's spin on a challenging circumstance, provided financial assistance, emotional encouragement, and plenty of people to celebrate with. The notion of starting the New Year, a new beginning, with such grace brought the final tally of attendants to 250. If the venue could have managed the crowd, she easily could have sold over 300 tickets. Together, this merry group rang in 2011 with open-hearted support and smiles on their faces - honored to contribute some sugar to this very special lemonade. Each day, we face our own opportunities to "turn our lemons into lemonade." We all know the difference between that sour look resulting from a squirt in the eye and the satisfaction of that first refreshing sip. This true story provides me with a powerful model of what's possible, when the chips are down. I thought it might inspire you, too. Wishing you days of lemonade,
Joanne LutzCoaching~Consulting~Referral ResourceFounder of The Consciousness Collaborativewww.TheCCsite.com ~ www.WhatsNextWorkshop.comJoanne@TheCCsite.com ~ ph. 617-827-0803 |
Why Do We Lie?!
If you've ever told a "little white lie" or "lied by omission"
and later regretted that you didn't simply speak the
"whole truth and
nothing but the truth,"
join Joanne Lutz for this informative seminar...
Communication Without Caretaking
How many times a day do you creatively couch something in a brighter light or use softer language to protect someone's feelings? Or maybe you say nothing at all, to avoid dealing with the other person's emotions. Whether you are speaking to a client, a friend, a co-worker, or a family member, how often do you tell...just a little white lie?
We may convince ourselves we're lying to "spare the other person's feelings" or to "protect him/her" in some way. If we tell the microscopic truth, we usually lie because we don't want to experience our own feelings of discomfort, anger, fear, sadness, or frustration. We attempt to take away the other person's right to simply feel his/her feelings because we want to avoid what that reaction might evoke in us.
...And then a wall starts to build. One lie begets another, and soon we may believe that if someone really knew us, they wouldn't like us. Telling the truth now, would be like showing them the mold in the back of the refrigerator - on purpose!
How, then, do we stop lying and engage in clear, honest communication...every day...in every conversation? Learn to connect with yourself and practice caregiving.
This one-day class will be offered in two parts on Saturday, March 5th 9am - 1pm - Learning About Caretaking (information required for afternoon) and 2:30pm - 5pm - Practice Caregiving With Coaching in Arlington, MA REGISTER ON-LINE Ask how you can attend for FREE! |
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.
Friday, March 16th - 6:30pm - Sunday, March 18th - 6pm
Essex Conference Center
1 Conomo Point Road, Essex, MA
Fee: $725 per person - includes all costs*
Complete the ON-LINE APPLICATION to Participate
Many members of The Consciousness Collaborative contribute to this retreat through co-facilitation and support of the participants. For further information about the Emotional Re-Education Workshop visit the Classes & Events page.
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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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You Deserve This! Don't You?
 Have you heard yourself say,
"I really want...(fill in the blank), but I shouldn't." Or perhaps you make a deal with yourself, "If I get this done, THEN I'll let myself..." So many rules and equations!
What if you deserve to have what you want - no matter what? Imagine there is nothing to do, no list to complete, no bargain to make, you simply DESERVE. The rules, the if/then's, and the "but I can't," are born from an underlying belief that we don't truly deserve love, connection, happiness, and the full range of human experiences. We believe this, because we weren't always allowed to have them. Our needs didn't always get met, and so we made up a story that we didn't "get" because we didn't "deserve."
Treat yourself to the experience of Getting a Taste of What You Deserve?! and truly know, in your bones, that you deserve what you want and need in this life. It's the first step to getting it. The power of truly knowing what it is to feel deserving will be a gift you offer to yourself, and take with you into your life.
April 16th ~ 9am - 4pm SIGN UP ON-LINE TODAY! ask about the "bring a friend" discount" This self contained one-day class is a facet of the What's Next?! Workshop process. Getting a Taste of What You Deserve is open to all (including past WNW participants), and will be facilitated by Joanne Lutz, creator of all the What's Next?! Workshop programs.
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Coconut Date Cookies
The weather outside is frightful, but these cookies are truly delightful. Warm up your house with this tasty, aromatic recipe.
 Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cooking Time: 20 minutes
Yields: 15-20 servings
Ingredients:
- 6-7 dried, pitted dates
- 1 cup rolled oats
- 2 cups whole wheat flour
- ½ cup shredded coconut
- ½ tablespoon cinnamon
- ¼ tablespoon nutmeg
- ½ cup olive oil
- ½ cup maple syrup
Directions:
1. Soak dates in 1 cup of water for 30 minutes.
2. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
3. Combine oats, flour, coconut, cinnamon & nutmeg in a bowl.
4. Add oil and syrup and mix until all ingredients are moist.
5. Form little balls and place on a lightly greased cookie sheet.
6. Press cookies lightly so they do not roll off cookie sheet.
7. Bake for 10 minutes.
8. Take out cookie sheet and flip cookies.
9. Bake an additional 10 minutes.
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Meditation of the Month  Deep Heart Listening This mindfulness exercise has been borrowed from "Genius Catalyst," Michael Neill. If you like this one, visit the Genius Catalyst website for more great information.
Different from many of the meditations offered, this requires you to be in conversation with another person - a Valentine, perhaps? Choose any specific conversation today where it will be safe fo you to try this, or you can choose to practice it throughout the day. It will be equally effective on the telephone or face to face.
Begin by putting your attention on your physical heart. If it is appropriate, you can actually place your hand over your heart. Take three deep breaths while continuing to focus on your heart. Thinking a "happy thought" (Neill's two year old daughter likes to imagine a little kitten purring in her heart - he prefers a puppy!) will help "activate" your heart energy.
Continue to focus on your heart and loving the other person as you listen to them speak. If you find yourself up in your head, arguing, wandering, responding, or even "helping," just bring your attention back into your physical heart.
When appropriate, reflect back to the other person what you have been hearing. This both helps them to clarify their thoughts and affords them the opportunity to feedback to you what you may have missed.
Check in with your heart before you add any of your own input to the conversation - you will be surprised at the depth this brings to your communication, and it is not at all unusual to come up with insights that are both apt and truly helpful.
Bonus Tip:
There are three levels of communication in this model - the words, the feelings, and the essence, or "real" meaning. Deep Heart Listening is designed to help you get to the "real" meaning, and allows you to connect with people at the essence level.
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