Tag archives: Yoga Soup

Tending the Masculine Fire in Tenuous Times
By Steven Libowitz   |   December 5, 2019

The FireTenders men’s groups were founded several years ago by Timothy Tillman to be a self-sustaining community of responsible men committed to wakeful living and willing to support other men in the process of self-discovery, true masculine embodiment, and open-hearted relational engagement in the world. There are three such ongoing groups in town, plus several […]

Moved to Write
By Steven Libowitz   |   November 26, 2019

Elizabeth Schwyzer developed Write from the Body – a creative writing workshop that explores the intersections between language and physical experience – back when the Santa Barbaran was practicing dance and serving as an arts writer at the Independent before moving, marrying, and starting to raise children. Now Schwyzer – who holds degrees in art […]

Manifesting Magic: Winter, Spring, Summer or Fall
By Steven Libowitz   |   November 21, 2019

Like many spiritual leaders, Madeleine Marentette came to her practice via finding healing through metaphysical experiences. The Toronto native had been in a series of health crises throughout most of her 20s, so sick that she almost skipped an invitation to a discourse from the Dalai Lama at the University of Toronto. “But something just […]

JourneyDance Journeys Back to Town
By Steven Libowitz   |   November 17, 2019

JourneyDance is a dynamic, conscious dance form that combines freestyle and structured movement to inspire participants to move from the mind into the body. Lisa Buell, who boasted a decade of experience as a life and business coach before adding dance and intuitive painting to her repertoire, brought the practice to Santa Barbara from the […]

The Divine Mess: Laughter is the Best Medicine
By Steven Libowitz   |   November 14, 2019

Sarah Taylor has been acting since high school, but was always interested in the serious roles. She didn’t get into performing stand-up comedy until many years later, right around the same time her own struggles led her to investigate Buddhism. “It was very odd, because I had a real pull to just sit and practice […]

Relational Mindfulness: The Garden of Eden
By Steven Libowitz   |   October 31, 2019

Taking a mindful pause is one of the most important tenets of Relational Mindfulness, according to Deborah Eden Tull, the veteran meditation and mindfulness teacher who wrote a 2018 book of the same name. Even so, it was almost surprising when it took a moment for the words to emerge in response to a question […]

Healing Touch: Everything’s Coming up Rosen
By Steven Libowitz   |   October 24, 2019

It might seem counterintuitive to consider as a spiritual practice a healing modality that looks like it largely consists of massage-like touch with a little bit of talking. The Rosen Method, after all, was developed in the early 1980s by a former physical therapist named Marion Rosen. The bodywork is based on the concept that […]

FireTending for Mature Males
By Steven Libowitz   |   October 10, 2019

FireTenders is a self-sustaining community of responsible men who are committed to wakeful living and are willing to support other men in the process of self-discovery, true masculine embodiment, and open-hearted relational engagement in the world. Normally the meetings are in closed, ongoing groups that are formed following a weekend or other immersive training. Now, […]

Meditation Magic in Montecito
By Steven Libowitz   |   October 3, 2019

The Magic Castle Cabaret opened earlier this year just off Cabrillo Boulevard by the Andree Clark Bird Refuge. But even more magical moments might soon be taking place next door at the just-opened Montecito Meditation. The new center is designed as a non-denominational destination for the local meditation community as well as a retreat and […]

‘Loving’ and ‘Leap’-ing at the Luke
By Steven Libowitz   |   September 26, 2019

The Marjorie Luke Theatre, which earlier this month began its own ongoing series on spirituality and healing called Mind, Body & Soul, is now also the home for events from the Santa Barbara Consciousness Network. Next up is Dr. Gay Hendricks, Ph.D., the famed author, personal growth and relationships expert and speaker who, alone or […]

Mindvalley Intuition Training
By Steven Libowitz   |   September 19, 2019

Mindvalley received an unexpected boost when 19-year-old tennis player Bianca Andreescu defeated Serena Williams, one of the all-time greats, in the final of the US Open in New York earlier this month. Asked by journalists how she remained so focus during the raucous tournament, where countless competitors have succumbed as much to doubts and derision […]

Authentic Movement: A Truly Moving Experience
By Steven Libowitz   |   August 29, 2019

Until two months ago, your faithful correspondent had never experienced Authentic Movement, a simple form of self-directed movement in the presence of at least one witness, with attention directed inward. As movers follow present-time inner impulses to produce spontaneous gestures and movements as well as moments of stillness, the witness watches and tracks his or […]

You? Me? Yoga Soup Mines New ‘Math’
By Steven Libowitz   |   August 22, 2019

“1 + 1 = 3?” is the title for round three of the recently revived Authentic Relating Games at Yoga Soup, which doesn’t mean co-leaders Jenny Calcoen and Damian Gallagher can’t perform simple addition. The inquisitive equation refers instead to the Vesica Piscis, a mathematical shape formed by the intersection of two disks with the […]

Hollywood Medium’s Rare Visit
By Steven Libowitz   |   August 8, 2019

According to Tyler Henry, he first noticed his clairvoyant abilities at age 10, when he woke suddenly one night with a strong feeling his grandmother was about to die. Minutes later, his family received a call informing them of his grandmother’s passing. After this experience, Henry regularly experienced vivid dreams that frequently contained messages from […]

What the World Needs Now
By Steven Libowitz   |   July 25, 2019

The Shopkeepers – the Funk Zone boutique that describes itself as ”Curious Goods for Curious People” and offers an inviting tag line of “We hope you visit and shop often, stay as long as you like, and leave feeling better than when you arrived” – hosts an evening of enriching conversation, book signing and networking […]

‘Artist’s Way,’ All Over Again
By Steven Libowitz   |   July 11, 2019

Julia Cameron’s book, The Artist’s Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity, originally self-published in 1991, grew out of the failure of her first feature film as a director called God’s Will, which earned scathing reviews.It’s safe to say that Artist’s Way has fared a lot better, as Cameron harnessed ideas in creative personal development […]

HAI: Into Me See
By Steven Libowitz   |   July 4, 2019

HAI Mini Workshops provide a no-cost, no-commitment opportunity to learn more about the work and philosophies of The Human Awareness Institute before potentially signing up for a full journey. HAI’s deeply personal workshops, developed over nearly half a century, focus on a wide variety of self- and relationship-growth topics, including Love, Intimacy and Sexuality; Relationships; […]

I of the Storm
By Steven Libowitz   |   June 20, 2019

The Q Process was taught periodically at Unity of Santa Barbara by Rev. Denese Schellink when her husband Larry served as the lead minister at the space. In the wake of Rev. Larry’s recent resignation, Unity has engaged the veteran Unity Rev. Phil Smedstad – who has led hundreds of transformative workshops over the past […]

Mindvalley’s ‘Extraordinary’ Seminar
By Steven Libowitz   |   June 13, 2019

Vishen Lakhiani created Mindvalley in 2004 just to sell meditation CDs, then transitioned into a self-running media company that built sites for self-improvement authors. By 2011, he created a teaching academy and merged his successful A-Fest into Mindvalley as a live events component. But that was still small potatoes compared to what happened just three […]

Letting Go (and Catching Sticks) at Lucidity
By Steven Libowitz   |   April 11, 2019

My first experience at the Lucidity Festival came early on a Saturday afternoon, when I wandered into a workshop from Peace Sticks. The activity – led by brothers who make their home in Ojai – was a simple one: pass the sticks back and forth with a partner. Some of them were balanced ones that […]