Energy Healing for Fire Remembrance

As the one-year anniversary of the Thomas Fire and Montecito debris flow approach, we’re imagining there will be several local events to commemorate the milestones of the twin tragedies. Ojai, which was hit early and hard by the fire, as the village’s Community Healing Sanctuary – a collaborative group that has hosted such events as cacao ceremonies and manifestation fires – teams with Ventura’s Soul Infusion to offer a special free Energy Healing Event. Slated to take place 11 am to 5 pm on Saturday, December 1, at Ojai Libbey Bowl (201 Signal Street) – the home of the annual Ojai Music Festival, Bowlful of Blues, and many pop concerts and other events – the event serves as a Healing Village, where practitioners of many modalities will be on site to support individuals still suffering any ill effects of last winter’s tragedies. Reiki, Acupuncture, Somatic Trauma Release, Energy Healing, Grief Release and Intuitive Readers are among the healing modalities that will be offered.

All donations go toward fire victims both from Thomas and the recent fires that have plagued Southern California this fall. Visit Community Healing Sanctuary on www.meetup.com for more information. 

Love Your Neighbor Weekend

The Interfaith Sanctuary Alliance (ISA) hosts a “Love Your Neighbor”-themed weekend from November 29 through December 2, with an expressed purpose of promoting awareness and care for Santa Barbara County’s immigrant community through a faith community-led campaign of compassion. Activities get underway at 5:30 pm on Thursday, November 29, at De La Guerra Plaza, where a candlelight vigil forms before moving over to State Street to line the downtown thoroughfare with candles in solidarity with immigrant neighbors. From Friday, November 30 through Sunday, December 2, faith communities all over Santa Barbara have signed up to incorporate the “Love Your Neighbor” theme into their weekly services. Participating faith communities have been given resource packets, complete with relevant passages from sacred texts, liturgies, and songs, to employ over the weekend. The event comes to a close with a special “Love Your Neighbor” Festival slated for 2-5 pm on Sunday, December 2, held at Harding University Partnership, 1625 Robbins Street on Santa Barbara’s Westside, and comprised of a community-centered afternoon filled with music, food, speakers, and more in celebration of our immigrant neighbors and the community we share together. Festival proceeds will be to go toward the Immigrant Legal Defense Center, a Santa Barbara County nonprofit working to recruit and train volunteer attorneys to represent immigrants in removal proceedings. For more information, or to take the “Solidarity Pledge,” call 805-259-4692 x105 or visit www.loveyourneighborsb.org.

Facing Our Fears

About a month after finishing up Santa Barbara Bodhi Path’s first ever online offering, resident teacher Dawa Tarchin Phillips has finally returned from his travels to launch a new on-site three-week course. “Overcoming Fear” will begin by tackling the obvious question, “What is fear?” before examining how spiritual practitioners through the ages have been able to see through, release and overcome the often debilitating experience that gets in the way of success or, sometimes, even the ability to just enjoy life in the present moment. The course focuses on practices, tools and techniques to handle fear in your own life, drawing on examples from the stories of great masters of the past. The goal is to be able to move your personal practice “on the cushion” in meditation, in relationships, in work, and in life itself, beyond the shackles created by fear.

“Overcoming Fear” takes place 7-9 pm on three successive Thursdays, November 29-December 13, at Bodhi Path Santa Barbara, 102 W Mission Street. No set admission fee, but donations are appreciated. Call (805) 284-2704 or visit www.bodhipath.org/sb. 

Double Dose of Paradise 

Barely half an hour separates two special events taking place next Thursday, December 6, at Paradise Found, the metaphysical bookstore and boutique located at 17 East Anapamu Street, directly across the street from the Central Library. Clifton Harrison, a homeopath, aura reader, and crystal healer who specializes in auric healing and heart repair to create the space for new love to enter, returns to the space to offer complimentary Aura Cleansing and Diagnosis all afternoon. The creator of the Botanical Alchemy Flower Essences (www.botanicalalchemy.com) and the Isis Temple Aura Cleanser will be offering free sessions from 12 noon to 4:30 pm. Call (805) 564-3573 to reserve a space.

Then at 5 pm, Paradise Found joins in the monthly 1st Thursday event by turning the space over to a creative, inspiring soirée with Oceanna, the artist and illustrator of Gaia’s New DreamCoat: A Faerie Guide to Gaia’s Greening. Ariel Spilsbury’s book is a story that unfolds simply by asking the wise shepherds of the Earth in the Devic and Faerie Realms to assist us in learning how to transform Earth and ourselves, all to awaken us to our powers and our roles in protecting Gaia, our Mother Earth. Gaia’s New DreamCoat draws its wisdom from lore of elves, faeries, gnomes, mermaids, and the elements of the Earth. Oceanna will be sharing her illustrations, from cosmic dragons and luminous magical scenes to impish whimsical creatures and more. Prints will be available for purchase or special order. Visit www.paradisefoundsantabarbara.com. 

Embodiment Alchemy

Elisa Rose, a musician, yogini, ecstatic dancer and modern mystic, facilitates an evening workshop that serves as a journey into the bliss of being and connecting to the power of your voice, the intelligence of your body, and the creativity of your essence. Weaving together somatic movement, sensory sensitization (including blindfolding), dance, vocal opening, and a spirit of playful wonder, Rose invites participants to engage in the journey from profound stillness to full body celebrating, using her Embodiment Alchemy process to expand the palette of color from which you paint your life. Ojai native Rose, who has studied the ways of council circle, silent meditation retreats, group dynamics, shamanic initiations, 5 Rhythms facilitation, and more, is also a certified “Big Leap Coach” by The Hendricks Institute and a graduate of their two-year Leadership & Transformation Mastery Program. She is a certified Chakra Yoga Teacher and Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) practitioner. Admission to the 7-9 pm workshop on Saturday, December 1, at Yoga Soup, is $20 in advance, or $25 day of.

A demon can be perceived as anything that drains your energy and blocks you from being completely alive and awake. Examples include fear, illness, trauma, depression, and anxiety, to name just a few. But there’s good news! We can learn how to transform our relationship with demons from one of resistance to one of curiosity, understanding and cooperation through a dynamic approach offered in a workshop co-facilitated by Suzanne Marlow, M.A., LMFT, and Hannah Fries, LA.c. Participants in the “Embracing Your Demons” workshop will employ meditation, visualization, and creative psychosomatic processing as well as optional acupuncture to deepen and enhance the practice and facilitate the integration of new insights that may arise through this transformative experience aimed at integrating the Tibetan Buddhist practice of Chod through Lama Tsultrim Allione’s method, Feeding Your Demons. The 1:30-4:30 pm workshop at Yoga Soup on Sunday, December 2, costs $30.

Yoga Soup is located at 28 Parker Way. Call (805) 965-8811 or visit www.yogasoup.com/category/events.

Navigating Holiday Eating with Mindfulness

Last issue we wrote about Mindful Eating Santa Barbara, a MeetUp that began in October that is based on the premise presented in “Eat Here Now: a bite-sized guide to ritualize your life, nourish your body, and feed your spirit,” published last year by Britta Gudmunson (aka Britta GreenViolet), a holistic wellness coach, yogi, and musical medicine woman. This weekend offers the opportunity to hear about the approach in an afternoon with the author. Gudmunson is getting together a “fail-proof plan” for avoiding the same old traps of stress, anxiety and overeating – especially of the massive sugar consumption and overindulgence in food many of us find ourselves doing during the holidays. Participants will learn practical mindfulness techniques to aid in staying sane, finding peace, and even thriving as we move into the new year. Bring paper and pen to take notes, wear comfortable clothes, and be prepared to ask specific questions or express concerns you’d like solutions for during the two-hour event, slated for 3-5 pm on Sunday, December 2, at Yoga Soup, which will also include moving around the room, light pranayama (breathing) practice and even some mindful chewing. Admission is $15 in advance, $20 day of.

If the spirit moves, feel free to stay for Britta’s “Revive & Restore” yoga class from 5:45-7 pm, which features aromatherapy, a combination of restorative poses with gentle movement, and live music provided by Gudmunson and her husband, Ben Gould, who are also the co-creators of the inCourage Chorus, which winds up its current season with a community concert later this month.

Getting “Center”-ed

Although Yoga Soup would seem to have a near monopoly on hosting special events in its spacious studios and warmly inviting lobby, the more venerable Santa Barbara Yoga Center hasn’t completely given up the ghost in generating goodwill with its own offerings. Case in point: Lalli Dana Drobny’s final of a four-part Resourcing Wholeness series combining mindfulness practices and therapeutic yoga to help participants relax, deepen awareness, and trust inner wisdom. Learn how simple self-nurturing practices strengthen focus and allow us to better respond to opportunities and challenges with more balance, creativity, and ease. The 2:15-4:30 pm workshop – each stands on its own – costs $30, or $25 by Thursday, November 29. 

Meanwhile, next Saturday, December 8, marks the return of kirtan with Jacob Duran, a highly accomplished kirtan artist, musician, composer, and astrologer, who has 20-plus years of study in Sanskrit, Indian classical music, and Yoga philosophy. His presentations range from performing traditional Kirtan, to improvising mantras and sacred sound vibrations over ambient electronic music that he creates live. The Santa Barbara resident has shared his sonic gifts from the main stage at both the Bhakti and Shakti Fests as well as at spiritual workshops and retreats. Admission to the 7-8:30 pm kirtan costs $20, although no one will be turned away for lack of funds. 

Santa Barbara Yoga Center is located at 32 East Micheltorena Street. Call (805) 965-6045 or visit www.santabarbarayogacenter.com. 

Thunder-ing heard 

Santa Barbara-based sound healer Shane Thunder (born Chunephisal) has a busy weekend of sessions coming up as the calendar moves from November to December. His first evening of restorative acoustical alchemy takes place at 7:30 on Friday, November 30, at Yoga Soup ($20 in advance / $25 day-of), as he employs gemstone and Tibetan singing bowls, chimes, drums, aromatherapy, and guided meditation to take visitors into a deeply meditative and rebalanced state… The following evening, Shane adds another, ahem, element to his 432hz Spirit Metacine Sound Bath, as he brings the ancient art of vibrational healing to align the chakras and cleanse energy to the Salt Cave in downtown Santa Barbara, where the misting Pink Himalayan crystals interact with the sound waves beginning at 5:30 pm… Then on Sunday, Chunephisal – who brought together other SoCal sound healers for a big benefit for fire victims in Los Angeles recently – facilitates another aural meditation to mobilize the #metoo and #healmetoo movements in his hometown with a 7 pm session around the corner at DiviniTree Yoga. Proceeds from the donation-based 432hz Spirit Metacine Sound Bath event support the Standing Together to End Sexual Assault (formerly Santa Barbara Rape Crisis Center), which has been serving Santa Barbara’s community for over 41 years.