Intuitive Arts Tasting in Paradise

Paradise Found, the 33-year-old bookstore and boutique across the public library in downtown Santa Barbara, hosts an afternoon of readings at a special Spring Equinox sampler. The Vernal Equinox, with day and night in perfect balance, marks a period of new growth offering a potent and fruitful opportunity for seekers of clarity. Accordingly, five intuitive readers from diverse traditions will be on hand to offer their services, a way to try intuitive readings for the first time, investigate a new modality, or engage in an another enriching, albeit mini, experience for returning clients. Choose among Intuitive Readings from shaman Sudama Mark Kennedy, Intuitive Tarot & Channel with Anna Chapman, Palm Reading (English and Spanish) from Lucy Campa, Runic Readings by Sierra Reeves, or readings from Spiritualist Medium Donnalynne Shaw. All readings cost $40 for a 30-minute session; purchase more than one to receive a 10% discount on all store merchandise. Admission to the 1-5 pm Intuitive Arts Tasting on Sunday, March 17, is free, and you’ll be out in time to still celebrate St. Paddy’s on a less celestial plain before the sun goes down. 

DiviniTree Goes Root to Crown, and All Around

Rachel Wilkins launches Chakra Awakening, an in-depth three-part workshop series to take participants on a soulful journey through the chakras, progressively activating the blossoming centers from root to crown and moving towards a blissful state of embodied wholeness. Over three successive Saturdays beginning 1-3:30 pm on March 16, Wilkins will guide the transformational experience progressively integrating and activating the powerful vortexes via focusing on the energy, corresponding elements, and the physiological and psychological experience of our chakras. The series will include Ayurvedic and Tantric philosophy, intuitive vinyasa flow, yin and restorative yoga, breath work, chanting, visualization, and self-study. Admission is $80 in advance, or $90 day of.

Stand Up for Spring

Next Sunday, March 24, DiviniTree celebrates the beginning of the new season on the ocean and by the beach. The am experience begins with stand-up paddling from the marina to Sandspit Beach for an equinox-themed yoga class. After enjoying a grounding savasana in the sun, it’s time to head back to the sea to explore the waters of West Beach, East Beach, and the pier. Kayaks are also available in lieu of the paddleboards. Gather at Paddle Sports Center, 117 Harbor Way, at 8:45 am for the 9-12 noon event, which costs $30 in advance, $35 day-of. 

Equinox Meditation

Goa, India-based energy Patrick San Francesco – the chairperson of the Samarpan Foundation, established in India and now also operating in South Africa and Malawi – is a periodic visitor to Yoga Soup, where he leads special meditations that are aimed to heal. A background in law and medicine has given him extensive knowledge of the human anatomy, diseases and ailments, as well as life situations, and resulted in a personal mantra of Love, Peace, Happiness, Kindness, Simplicity, and Clarity. 

The Equinox Meditation event, which takes place 7-9 pm on Wednesday, March 20, marks the unique and powerful shift of energy that takes place as the sun moves between the tropics at the advent of spring. After an opening hour of individual healing, San Francesco will harness and endow participants with the divine celestial energy of the equinox, which he notes will power your aura and change your frequency to resonate closely to that of the universe. Also note, as this is an extremely powerful meditation, Patrick’s usual post-meditation Q&A will not take place. Admission is $30. 

Soon at the Soup: Rhythm of Our Breath

Round 2 of Kiaora Fox’s series of 5Rhythms Workshops at Yoga Soup, slated for 1:30-6:30 pm on Saturday, March 23, takes heed of the fact that in many cultures, spirit and breath are the same word. The workshop will use the map of the 5Rhythms to explore inspiration, release, expansion, and connections to the body as well as the breath itself, spirit, and the joy of dance. Making the breath the main impetus of movement fortifies connection to the present moment, and to the authentic and most vital self. Participants will delve into the dance as an invitation to be moved and to celebrate the adventure, and the nurturing effects of experiencing being in a body. Admission is $70 in advance, $85 day-of.

Take Time for Tantra

Lisa Citore – who a week ago produced another successful installment in her uniquely sumptuous, sensual, provocative, and profound women’s ritual theater/performance art series known as “Anima” – has even more experience as a self-described pleasure activist, performance artist, writer, sex educator, and healer who has been leading sacred sexuality workshops with men and women for 16 years. She does private intimacy coaching with couples and sexual healing work with women, and created The Women’s Sexual Mystery School that now has circles in Santa Barbara, San Francisco, Boulder, and New York. 

As if that weren’t enough, Citore teams with her partner, Len Van Nostrand, with 30 years of education, training, and practice as a psychotherapist and counselor, for the recently revived Tantra Games: Mindful Connecting offerings at Yoga Soup. The Tantra Puja-inspired event is a mix of playful exercises (e.g. communication games, partner yoga, improv dance, meditations, and even PG-rated Tantra practices) designed to induce meaningful encounters. The exercises range from playful and flirty to sensual to soulful, and are designed to inspire authenticity, vulnerability, acceptance and presence. 

The next experience takes place 7-9 pm Friday, March 22, and costs $18 in advance or $25 day of.

Tantra the Buddhist Way

Mahakankala Buddhist Center is in the midst of a month of meditations with a theme of “The Real Meaning of Tantra: Buddhist Meditations for Everyone.” The new class series, which takes place 6:30-7:30 pm every Wednesday at the center on Brinkerhoff Avenue, centers around the concept that Tantra is defined as an inner realization that functions to prevent ordinary appearances and ordinary conceptions and to accomplish the four complete purities — a completely pure world, a pure self, pure enjoyments, and pure activities. Participants in the March classes, which are suitable for everyone including beginners for a $10 donation, will learn about the minds and meditations that are the foundation for Tantric practice. Each class begins with a guided breathing meditation and culminates with a second meditation based upon the evening’s topic. There is no requirement to attend the whole series or to pre-register. 

Compassion for Animals 

Mahakankala Resident Teacher Keli Vaughan – a longtime student of Geshe Kelsang Gyatso who has served as the assistant teacher for both KMC California and KMC Hollywood – also leads a special half-day course on Saturday, March 23, focusing on alleviating the suffering of animals. Our non-human friends often live in constant fear, lacking mental and physical freedom as people exploit them without their consent. The short meditation workshop will explore methods by which we can deepen our compassion for animals, and use this experience to further our spiritual awareness and development of love for other beings, and includes teachings and meditation in two sessions with a break for refreshments or walking. Meditators of all levels of experience are welcome at the 10:30 am to 1 pm event, which cost $20. 

Hear it Through the Great Vine: Double Dose of Aya

Ayahuasca experts Rachel Harris, PhD., and experiential journalist/documentary film producer Rak Razam share the stage at the next EntheoMedicine event slated for Saturday, March 16, at Unity of Santa Barbara. Harris will talk about her research on the therapeutic potential of ayahuasca for depression, PTSD, addictions, and anxiety and the spiritual aspects of the plant. Razam, who bridges the worlds of shamanism, consciousness, and popular culture and is the author of Aya Awakenings: A Shamanic Odyssey will discuss how entheogenic plants help humans see their true non-dual nature, providing a path to planetary awakening and the survival of our species.

Also on the program is an update on MDMA from EntheoMedicine’s senior advisor Michael Gilbert. A Harvard MBA, author, former president of the Albert Hofmann Foundation, and a Senior Fellow of USC’s Annenberg Center for the Digital Future, Gilbert will share the latest research on the therapeutic uses of MDMA and progress towards legalizing the psychoactive substance colloquially known as Ecstasy. A Q&A discussion with all the presenters follows.

Look for an interview in this space next week. More info and tickets online at https://entheomedicine.org.

Devotion to the Dirt 

With its annual adults-only Dive Into Silence retreat in the rear view mirror, Sunburst Sanctuary invites the whole family to experience Regenerating Earth & Spirit, a special hands-on weekend to engender a greater connection with the earth at the expansive Lompoc space. Facilitated by Sunburst’s “soil-whisperer” Sean Fennell, participants will have a chance to co-create with nature through a get-down-and-dirty permaculture workshop about soil-building, composting, and seeding, and learn and practice different styles of fruit tree grafting, including being able to take home a graft of your own. The workshop also offers an opportunity to connect with the wisdom and emotional strength of a horse through an equine “Observation of the Herd” circle facilitated by Natalie Riggs of Shakti Ranch. Yoga, guided meditation, and shared home-cooked meals amid the sanctuary’s pristine natural beauty, and lots of activities for children round out the Friday-Sunday, March 29-31 weekend. Sliding scale donation of $120 to $220 per adult, and $60 to $100 per child. Register by March 20. Call (805) 736-6528 or visit https://sunburst.org/earth.