Apologies for cross-postings. Please share. Free. Open to all identities and public.
Sponsored by the UVM Women's Center - www.uvm.edu/~women - 802-656-3816
WED, MARCH 21st
FREE Aroma Reiki (9-10:45AM) – Anne Cameron
@UVM Women’s Center (34 S. Williams St.) –
SIGN UP IN ADVANCE by emailing Candace at [log in to unmask]
(9:30-10:45AM)
Session ONE - Chandra Namaskar Yoga – Jane Jarecki
@ John Dewey Lounge – BRING Your OWN MATS!
Physically, the moon salutation is a cooling flow of postures that calm and soothe the nervous system. The poses are good for women in all of the different phases of their cyclical reproductive lives – from menstruation to childbirth to menopause, most women can benefit from the way this particular set of poses strengthens and tones the abdominal and reproductive organs. Men can also benefit from the moon salutation in the times that they are in need of a cooling practice or whenever they feel a desire to connect with the more feminine aspects of their personality”
ABOUT JANE: www.janeyoga.comSession TWO - Understanding Your Personal Power: Connecting Wellness & Self-Esteem – Lu Rolley
@UVM Women’s Center (34 S. Williams St.)
How do you connect to your sense of wellbeing? In what ways do you "give up" your power? Do you believe that your ability to acquire power and to hold on to your power is connected to your wellbeing and self-esteem? Through the lens of identity, that is the identities that are most salient to you, we will explore these questions. Round-table discussion and interactive exercises. Open to all who are open to exploring the intersections of power, identity and wellness.
ABOUT LU: LuAnn is the Director of the Women's Center at UVM. She has worked in the field of gender identity and gender-based and sexual violence for many years. LuAnn is committed to exploring her racial identity development as it intersects with her sense of wellness and identity as a woman.
(11-12:15PM)
Daily Practices for Body, Mind, Spirit & Emotional Balance Using Essential Oils – Anne Cameron
@UVM Women’s Center (34 S. Williams St.)
Come learn about the many healing properties of pure essential oils and how they may be beneficial for your overall wellness of body, mind, spirit. Reduce daily stress & anxiety, promote deeper sleep, relax & soothe muscles, support your immune system, bring balance to the emotions and uplift your spirits. This class lays the foundational work for you to understand about the benefits of specific essential oils and how they may personally benefit you!
ABOUT ANNE: Anne Cameron M.Ed , Certified Clinical Aromatherapist with 15 years experience, Usui Reiki Master/Teacher, Workshop Leader for Essential Oils, Member of Vermont Healers
(12:30-1:45PM)
Raw Nutrition: A Radical Act of Self Love –Alyssa Brown
@UVM Women’s Center (34 S. Williams St.)This presentation will explore the importance of claiming responsibility for our health and recognizing the correlation between what we eat and our experiences in our bodies. We will focus on lifestyle changes that can have major effects on well-being and quality of life. We will also explore the possible biological, emotional and spiritual implications of participating in the standard American diet and lifestyle.
ABOUT ALYSSA: I came to adopt a raw lifestyle through a series of circumstances that led to increased awareness of how the things that I put in my body affected my health and well-being. Two years ago, I was diagnosed with a chronic neurological illness and was forced to rethink the entire foundation of the life I'd built. I began to reevaluate the lifestyle choices that no longer supported my ideals. At the time, I viewed my diagnosis as a disaster, an explosion that destroyed everything I had built. Today, I truly believe that illness saved my life. I changed everything and built a life that was meant for me and filled it with things and people who bring me joy. I soon realized, I had been living my life based on someone else's idea of how life should be. It was painful and terrifying to shed beliefs, relationships and possessions that no longer served my best interest. After releasing those things that were no longer useful, I was able to open up to a different way of living and being. I became a certified Raw Foods Chef and Educator so that I could share this information with others I started a project called Rawdacious Living that allows me to coach people through lifestyle adjustments as well as teach cooking classes. I am also a certified yoga teacher and believe fully in the importance of movement to help the body remain strong through periods of change and detoxification. I hold an MSW from New York University and practiced social work for seven years. This, along with my background and personal experience with healthy living, makes me well equipped to counsel people as they make these changes and embrace a healthier way of being in the world.
(2-3:15PM)
“Birth of No:” An Open Discussion About Burn Out and the Search for Balance – Candace Taylor
@UVM Women’s Center (34 S. Williams St.)
There is a pervasive form of modern violence to which the idealist fighting for peace by non-violent peace most easily succumbs: activism and overwork. The rush and pressure of modern life are a form, perhaps the most common form, of its innate violence. To allow oneself to be carried away by a multitude of conflicting concerns, to surrender to too many demands, to commit oneself to too many projects, to want to help everyone in everything is to succumb to violence. More than that, it is cooperation in violence. The frenzy of the activist...destroys his own inner capacity for peace. It destroys the fruitfulness of his own work, because it kills the root of inner wisdom which makes work fruitful."
--- Thomas Merton
"In Sisters of the Yam support groups, which continued for years, we found that one important source of healing emerged when we got in touch with all the factors in our lives that were causing particular pain. For black females, and males too, that means learning about the myriad of ways racism, sexism, class exploitation, homophobia, and various other structures of domination operate in our daily lives to undermine our capacity to be self-determining. Without knowing what factors have created certain problems in the first place we could not begin to develop meaningful strategies of personal and collective resistance. Black female recovery, like all black self-recovery, is an expression of a libratory political practice. Living as we do in a white-supremacist capitalist patriarchal context that can best exploit us when we lack a firm grounding in self and identity (knowledge of who we are and where we have come from), choosing "wellness" is an act of political resistance. Before many of us can effectively sustain engagement in organized resistance struggle, in black liberation movement, we need to undergo a process of self-recovery that can heal individual wounds that may prevent us from functioning fully. "
--- bell hooks, Sisters of the Yam: Black Women and Self-Recovery
Ever feel burnt out? Struggle saying no to responsibilities in your lives? Do you ever disconnect; unplug? We exist in a fast-paced, super-connected society; even here is little VT. Facebook, iPhones, Youtube, LinkedIn, Instagram, Email, student clubs, jobs, family, friends, partners, classes, homework, research, work, church, activism, protests, events, volunteering, programs…the list goes on and on. We are all involved (and perhaps over involved) in so many things and on so many levels of our lives. Whether we are aware of it or not this pace and level of involvement takes its toll on our bodies and our ability to thrive holistically. This session will provide a space to share how we do or do not participate in this fast paced world. Why do we engage in this? Do we feel that this will make us seen as leaders? Do we feel that this is what you must do? Have you ever questioned this culture and better yet, your relationship to this culture? We will discuss boundaries, self-care and wellness, saying “no” AND saying “yes”. We will discuss how we define success and who in our lives influences how we define success. My hope is that folks leave this Sisterhood with the opportunity to reflect, question, redefine and through our individual and collective wisdom, begin to find ways to practice self care and wellness in your lives. WE matter because YOU MATTER; WE need to care for ourselves in order to care for each other.
ABOUT CANDACE: Candace is a Brooklyn born, 29 year old, West Indian American, first generation, Queer identified, feminist, womyn of color. I am a mother of a beautiful, free, fun, strong, adventurous, deeply loving and sensitive 7 year-old boy named David Justus. I am a warrior survivor of violence. I am the daughter of Camille, a single parent and my hero who has taught me strength, passion, commitment and what it means to love unconditionally. I am a graduate of Smith College, a social justice activist, educator and historian. All of my intersecting identities are a large part of how I walk my life. Currently, I am the Coordinator for Programming and Leadership Development here at UVM’s Women’s Center and a graduate student in UVM’s Interdisciplinary Education program focusing on feminist/womanist pedagogy and leadership; my thesis is on motherhood as a form of leadership. I am also a labor & birth doula, childbirth educator, student of healing touch and will be going through Reiki certification in March 2012.
THURS, MARCH 22nd
(9:30-10:45AM)
Using Faith: Understanding God’s Calling and Empowerment for Your Life – Monique Swaby
@ UVM Women’s Center (34 S. Williams St.)
Have you been longing to understand where peace and joy that lasts come from? Do you wish to unravel some of the confusion in your life and how you can eliminate the things that hurt and harm you? Is there something missing deep within, that you are running away from? It’s time to stop running and jump in. As a woman of color, coming to a place of being taught to be a messenger in the body of Christ is not something the world or religion teaches me, but through God and the Holy Spirit. He has empowered me as a woman, to be whole and full in who I am destined to be. Take a journey with us to explore the beginning of what it means to be renewed in mind, body, and spirit. This session is designed to help you reflect and understand where you fit in the good plans of God through our understanding of Jesus and the Holy Bible, your power on this earth, and His true blessings for your life. Come to listen, share, and reflect through discussion, readings, and story as we take you on a walk with the simple message of love. Come and explore how faith is not a religion, but a renewing of your mind, a way of life. Everyone who wishes to understand the simple ways in which God call’s us to a Relationship with Him, how you can find rest; come and listen if you have ears.
ABOUT MONIQUE: Monique Swaby (mswaby@uvm.edu), Coordinator for Programs and Student Leadership Development at the University of Vermont, was born in Jamaica, West Indies, lived in Far-Rockaway, New York City, and now resides in Vermont. She received her Master of Education degree at UVM in May 2011, with a specialization in counseling, religion, and higher education, and her undergraduate degree from Smith College in 2006. She has co-instructed courses with Robert J. Nash at the University of Vermont entitled, “Higher Education in the United States: A Philosophical Examination of Meaning Making in the Quarterlife, “Religion, Spirituality, and Education,” and “Ethics-HESA Capstone Seminar.” Ms. Swaby has also co-authored in two publications with Robert Nash. She works full time at the ALANA Student Center, helping to support and guide the development of students of color through holistic leadership. She is an activist for the spirit of humanity and all she does is, from and for, the glory of God. In the fall of 2012, she will be attending Duke’s Divinity School in North Carolina to pursue an M. Div degree and continue her calling to help people reclaim and understand their rights as children of God. Ms. Swaby’s future mission from God is to create her own teaching and community services center.
(11-12:15PM)
Raw Nutrition: A Radical Act of Self Love –Alyssa Brown
@UVM Women’s Center (34 S. Williams St.)
Description listed above on Alyssa's earlier session on 3/21/12.
WELLNESS FILM SERIES
3/21/12
Yoga Woman 2-4PM
@ UVM Women’s Center
(34 S. Williams St.)
*****************************************************
3/22/12
Living Downstream 12:30-2:30PM
http://www.livingdownstream.com/
@ UVM Women’s Center
(34 S. Williams St.)
Dead Mums Don’t Cry 3-4:30PM
http://www.bullfrogfilms.com/catalog/dmdc.html
@ UVM Women’s Center
(34 S. Williams St.)
*****************************************************3/22/12
Miss Representation 5-7PM
http://www.missrepresentation.org/
@ Livak Ballroom
(UVM Davis Ctr)
-- Candace Jennifer Taylor (B.A. - Smith College, Doula (C.D.) - BirthArts International) UVM Women's Center Coordinator for Programs and Leadership Development 802-656-3816 (work) 802-656-4556 (fax) [log in to unmask] Co-Founder of Bearing Meaning Doula Collective 802-683-4918 (cell) [log in to unmask] Check Out Our Blog - http://bearingmeaningdoulas.wordpress.com/ Like Us on FACEBOOK - https://www.facebook.com/pages/Bearing-Meaning-Doula-Collective/218355278179708 Follow Us on TWITTER - MeaningfulDoula Without community there can be no liberation. - Audre Lorde Be the change you wish to see in the world. ~ Mahatma Gandhi We are communal creatures. - Gloria Steinem A hero is someone who understands the degree of responsibility that comes with his freedom. - Bob Dylan ...Remember that the end doesn’t justify the means, the means are the ends. If we want joy and music and friendship and laughter at the end of our revolution, we must have joy and music and friendship and laughter along the way. – Gloria Steinem