Dear CIHS Community Members,

Happy New Year. I hope all of you had wonderful holiday and New Year.

CIHS' first newsletter of 2012 has two main articles. Our first article is from Dr. Hope Umansky regarding our Open House next Friday (20th) and a meditation event on February 3rd. Both events are community service events, and everyone is welcome so please pencil those dates in your calendar.  

Our second article presents details about CIHS' annual yoga workshop where we proudly host Takeshima and Paul & Suzee Grilley on April 13 & 14, 2012. There is a workshop outline for your review on our website. Also, we have finalized the fee schedule, and online registration for the workshop is available. Seats are very limited so please register early to reserve your spot. We hope you will join us for this amazing opportunity to deepen your spiritual and yoga practice with renowned yoga Master teachers.

Lastly, winter quarter has just started. We ended 2011 with an entirely revamped curriculum. We have welcomed new faculty and many new students to CIHS. CIHS proudly offers unique and innovative courses so please contact our program director, Dr. Hope Umansky, if you have any questions or are interested in enrolling to CIHS (hope_umansky@cihs.edu). She is always more than happy to make a time to speak with you in person, by phone, or by answering your questions via email.

We hope you can join us in building a strong community as we grow together in 2012.

Hope springs eternal. Pardon the pun on my name, but 2011 was a year of transitional and renewal for CIHS. As we move into 2012, this adage represents CIHS' advancement and movement toward positive growth. It has been two months since I moved into the role as Dean of Academic Affairs and Administration and exactly 15 months since I joined the administrative team. Undoubtedly, the past year was transformative for CIHS. If you have not felt the change as of yet, I am confident that you will sense the difference when you come on campus for class, sign in to your online class, come to a workshop or gathering, or just stop in to see me and discuss your program. The air around CIHS has shifted into an open phase, and with the New Year, we are positively looking ahead to expanding our network of innovative graduate programs and research opportunities. CIHS is at the cutting edge of innovative curriculum and activities that reflect the cultural shift toward holistic health and higher consciousness. CIHS is committed to consistently bringing you an innovative and unique private niche graduate school, research center, and learning community that open-mindedly embraces consciousness and honors the mind, body, spirit connection.

Along with this zeitgeist toward higher consciousness that 2012 brings, CIHS is proud to provide training to MFT's and PhD psychologists that is non medical model based, honoring psychology and psychotherapy as only ONE of the healing arts that helps people reach wholeness. CIHS is committed to offering a MA and PhD in Comparative Religion and Philosophy that does not primarily focus on a dualistic Judeo-Christian model. We innovate the traditional curriculum to offer a unique perspective on global and world religion that focused on mind, body, spirit and eastern or non-dual traditions. We are incorporating a new Yoga track into our Comparative Religion and Philosophy curriculum. We have a cutting edge laboratory and research center that offers MA's and PhD's in Life Physics or subtle energy studies. More than ever, we are ushering in an age where the AMI, our EMF free copper room, and other equipment provides opportunities for the empirical and quantitative proof that subtle energy exists and the study and practice of it aids in bringing people to wholeness. We, of like minds, have known this all along. Being able to "prove" it in an academic and research setting is groundbreaking. We also offer an innovative Integral Health MA and PhD degree that is interdisciplinary in nature. It combines the best of all of our programs to create a hybrid. A Master's or Doctorate in Integral Health is perfect for practitioners, scientists, writers, researchers, D.O.'s, chiropractors, therapists of all types, to name just a few, to expand on their knowledge of holistic health and the mind, body, spirit connection as it relates to consciousness and health. We also have a BA completion program designed to roll into one of our Master's degrees. We are committed to working with you to find the best fit and program possible. Furthermore, I am committed to working closely with each helping to guide all members of our community toward their professional, educational, and interpersonal goals.  

Save-the-Dates: We have some exciting events happening in our community that all our welcome to attend. Our Annual Open House is Friday, January 20, at 5:30-8:30. There will be some networking opportunities within the community. It is a potluck. If you are interested in attending, please email Tamiko Voros (admin@cihs.edu) to RSVP. Anyone affiliated with the school, whether alum, faculty, prospective students, workshop/lecture/event participant, and even those who are just curious about the community are welcome to attend. You may bring any like-minded family and friends.

CIHS is honored to be hosting an Oneness Blessing/Oneness Deeksha meditation event with Doug Bentley, an Oneness Guide from the Oneness University in India, on Friday, February 3, at 6 pm (5:30 -6 pm arrival). Oneness meditation is a practice in line with CIHS' philosophy of expanding consciousness and awareness while aiding in the awakening of humanity toward its highest self and good. If you want to learn more about Deeksha meditation practice, you can visit: www.onenessuniversity.org or the event page for Doug Bentley:  

http://www.facebook.com/events/325868507435805/ 

If you are planning to attend this event, please email me to RSVP at Hope_Umansky@cihs.edu . I will be there hosting, and I hope to see our community there.

Lastly, please Save-the-Date for CIHS' Annual BioEnergy Conference entitled Subtle Energy Science: Art & Practice of Consciousness and Healing. It will be held July 20 through July 22, 2012. It will begin Friday night with a meet-and-greet networking event and other festivities commemorating CIHS' 20th year anniversary as a graduate school and research center. We will be celebrating our 20th year throughout the weekend. There will be scientific theory and lectures, practical application of techniques and experiential demonstrations/presentations, as well as a showcasing of bioenergy devices and procedures. Please watch as we begin sign-ups for the Annual Conference, July 20-July 22. Space will be limited. If you know you are coming, please RSVP now. In the subject line to admin@cihs.edu, write RSVP Bio-Energy. Include your contact information to ensure you are on the priority list. There will also be many networking opportunities throughout the weekend.  

In closing, I always make myself available to our active and prospective students. Please do not hesitate to email, call, or stop by to chat with me about your program and goals. I am here to assist you in achieving your educational and professional goals. If you are interested in learning more about CIHS' programs and Subtle Energy Research Center, please schedule a time to meet with me. I will look forward to all the new faces I will see in 2012!

Sincerely,

Hope Umansky, PhD

Hope_Umansky@cihs.edu

This spring, 2012, CIHS is very excited to offer a Chakra Meditation workshop. We are honored to host world-renowned teachers, Mr. Takeshima from Japan, as well as Paul and Suzee Grilley. This annual workshop is being held on campus April 14 & 15. For those who are planning to attend this workshop, the last day of early registration is March 23. If you register by the 23rd, you can save $25, and your total cost is $225. We will continue to offer the student discount after the 23rd for college and university students only. However, we urge you to register early since seat availability is limited. Last year, we reached capacity so please RSVP to Hideki_Baba@cihs.edu 

This year, the workshop will focus on the third chakra called, manipura chakra. The teachings assert that the process of true spiritual evolution begins when the kundalini is awakened in the manipura, and the upward journey through the higher chakras is initiated. Consequently, the manipura is considered the starting point for spiritual evolution and higher human development.

The "gate" of the manipura chakra is located about one inch above the navel, at the acupuncture point chukan (CV12), while the "root" of the manipura lies between thoracic vertebra 12 and lumbar vertebra 1. At the physical level, the manipura is closely related to the digestive system and to the stomach, spleen, liver, and gallbladder meridians. Dr. Motoyama always teaches that the meditation practitioner needs to balance his/her energy (ki, qi or prana) in the physical and subtle body in order to deepen his/her meditation safely and effectively.

For this purpose, Mr. Takeshima starts with a meridian exercise before meditation. The meridian exercise includes pawanmuktasana, which is a joint exercise to improve and invigorate the flow of energy through movement of each joints where body fluids tend to stagnate, as well as hip-joint and sacro-iliac joint exercises to align the sacrum bone, ilium, sacroiliac joint, and hip joint which form the pelvis, the base of the physical body.

Mr.Takeshima has been studying a spiritual practice with Dr. Motoyama for approximately 30 years, and he is that rare instructor who is able to teach the essence of Dr. Motoyama's spiritual practice in English speaking countries. Additionally, in this workshop, we are happy to welcome Paul and Suzee Grilley. They will support and provide essential teaching, along with Mr. Takeshima, from their deep understanding of yoga and anatomy of the physical and subtle body.

Lastly, Mr. Takeshima will offer individual sessions as well as a meditation session on April 16th (Mon.) and 17th (Tue.). This is an amazing opportunity for those who have any questions about yoga/meditation. It will allow you to seek a deeper understanding of your practice. If you have any questions or want to make a reservation, please contact Hideki at hideki_baba@cihs.edu. We look forward to experiencing a deeper and more mindful practice together with you at the spring yoga workshop.  

Hideki