|
Click on titles for detailed course descriptions. You have several options for
registration. You can register online and
pay with a credit card. Click here to be taken to a site where you can do that. (Don't forget to hit "confirm" at the end or the registration will not process.) You will receive an email receipt after registration.
You can call us at 978 371-0469, leave a message, and we will get back
to you. Or you can print out the registration form, fill it in by hand, and
mail it with
a check to:
The Women’s Well Registrar
Box 1410
Concord, MA 01742
Always call a day or two ahead to confirm the status of
a class. Information about snow cancellations etc is included in our
recorded message at 978 371-0469. Circles with low enrollment may be
cancelled unless you let us know you want to come!
September
13 Healing Oasis for Healers
14
Healing Shoulders and Arms
15
Buddhism for Women
20 Fall Equinox Celebration
22 The Work of Return (multiple sessions)
26 Women's Sacred Dance Journey
27 Authentic Success (multiple sessions)
28 Intuitive Play Group (multiple sessions)
29 Buddhism for Women
October
4
Healing Oasis for Healers
5 Monthly Meditation Circle
7 Dancing to MySelf (multiple sessions)
10нн Girlz Drum Circle (multiple sessions)
10нн Women's Drum Lodge
13 Buddhism for Women
16 Elemental Relationships
17 Personal Clearing Workshop
19 The Empty Nest, New Beginnings
22 Drumming in the Four Directions (multiple sessions)
23 The Forgiveness Circle
24 Women's Sacred Dance Journey
25 Healing Oasis for Healers
27 Buddhism for Women
29 Introduction to the GATEWAYS (multiple sessions)
November
2
Monthly Meditation Circle
6 The Deep River Within
7 Facilitator Training for Deep River
10 Buddhism for Women
14
A Film about the Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers
15
Healing Oasis for Healers
16 Healing Shoulders and Arms
19-21 Resources on the Journey from Fear to Love
28 Women's Sacred Dance Journey
December
5 Taoist Breathing
6
Healing Oasis for Healers
7
Monthly Meditation Circle
12 Women's Drum Lodge
20 Winter Solstice Celebration
January
3
Healing Oasis for Healers
24 Healing Oasis for Healers
February
13 Women's Drum Lodge
Healing Oasis for Healers
Do you do healing work, therapy, massage, acupuncture, or any other holistic practice? Do you mindfully tend children, elders, others? Are you simply a really good friend to your friends in need? Spend a lunch hour in sacred space, meeting and sharing with others who tend bodies, minds, and souls. We cordially invite you to experience the deeply nourishing support of this monthly circle. Bring a bag lunch if you wish -- we'll supply tea. As a group, we will co-create the healing oasis that our wants and needs call forth.
This is an open circle – attend whenever you can. Pre-registration is appreciated, but not required. This circle is offered as a gift. A suggested donation is requested each session to help cover Women’s Well costs.
Barbara Adler and Edith Griffin
Mondays, September 13; October 4, 25; November 15; December 6; January 3, 24.
br>Noon to 2:00 p.m.
Suggested donation per circle: $10
Healing and Enjoying Our Bodies: Shoulders and Arms
Do you have shoulder pain or tension? Do you have a desire to awaken or deepen your body awareness and experience the joy of free and connected movement? If yes, then these workshops are right for you. We will focus on simple and gentle qigong exercises for relaxing our upper bodies and releasing our shoulders. Asian bodywork therapy techniques, drawing from acupressure, shiatsu and tui na, will also be incorporated to support the release of physical and energetic blockages. We will work alone, with partners and as a circle, letting go of the tension in our lives as we release the tension in our bodies. The methods learned can be practiced at home. You are welcome to attend one or both sessions.
Melinda Franceschini
Two Tuesday evenings, September 14 and November 16
7:00-9:00 p.m.
$20 early/$25 regular per circle
Return to top
Buddhism for Women
Now offered at the Women's Well for the sixth year, this popular circle offers women a relaxing time and place to learn more about Buddhism through teachings, discussion and meditation. The five-part series follows a step-by-step approach to the Buddha's teachings according to the Tibetan Lam Rim tradition, with added emphasis on bringing relevance to women's lives. Topics include mind and meditation, life, death, karma and more. Those who have attended in the past are welcome to return, as discussions are always fresh and topical. All are welcome – no prior knowledge of Buddhism is necessary.
Preregistration is appreciated, but not required. Full series or drop-in is okay. A donation of $10-15 per class or $50-75 for the series is requested to cover Women's Well costs.
Wendy Garling
Alternating Wednesday evenings: September 15, 29;
October 13, 27; November 10. 7:30-9:00 p.m.
Requested donation: $10-15 per class; $50-75 for the series
Fall Equinox Celebration
The equinoxes and solstices, marking the Earth’s annual journey around the sun, have been celebrated throughout the millennia. They offer opportunities to attune our energy to the natural rhythms of light and dark, expansion and contraction. In this seasonal celebration, we explore our connections to the flowing energy of the Earth. All women and girls are welcome.
This circle is offered as a gift, and no payment is required to participate. Those who are able to pass the gift along are invited to make a donation to the Women’s Well. Pre-registration is appreciated, but not required.
Women’s Well community
Monday, September 20, 7:00-9:00 p.m.
Suggested donation: $10
Return to top
The Work of Return
A self-healing modality based on the kindness of the Great Mother*
This practice facilitates being with the material of our everyday lives in a transformative way. As we engage with our physical, emotional and spiritual issues in the present moment, our relationships with these challenges can change and suffering can diminish since more life force becomes available for bodymindspirit healing when constrictions ease. During our time together, we will go through the steps of the work of return, explore some of the principles behind it, engage in practice and share experiences.
Please arrange for a phone conversation with the facilitator prior to registering, by sending email to bjadler@mac.com or leaving a message at the Women's Well 978-371-0469.
Barbara Adler
Five Wednesday evenings: September 22; October 6, 20; December 1, 15.
7:00-9:00 p.m.
$90 early/$110 regular
*The words of Jason Shulman, modern Kabbalist and Buddhist teacher, founder of A Society of Souls and creator of Work of Return.
Women’s Sacred Dance Journey
Let the Intuition of Our Bodies be our Guide.
Let our Bones, Muscles and Breath be our Release.
Our bodies hold our deepest wisdom. Yet as women that wisdom can be silenced, stilled, or compromised. We “hold in our stomachs,” “cross our legs,” and “get smaller.” We learn to put our needs and intuition on hold, and so separate ourselves from our most vital knowing. During this dance journey, we will invite the voices of our bodies to re-emerge. Using dance as our medium, we will “re-member” our Selves, and re-connect to the deep inner wisdom that flows through each of us. Whether it is the impulse to move a finger, or the drive to shake our bones, each woman’s movement is honored as her own best guide for connecting to her most authentic and sacred Self.
Come drive out shame, self-doubt and guilt. Fall in love with the magic of your movement. Fall in love with the mystery of your next gesture. Fall in love with the divine inspiration of your body. Fall in love with you.
No dance experience necessary. Every body shape, size, and level of fitness welcome.
Janet Farnsworth, with live drumming by Laney Goodman
Three Sunday afternoons:
September 26, 4:00-6:00 p.m.
October 24 and November 28, 2:00-4:00 p.m.
Sliding scale: $10-20 per circle
Return to top
Authentic Success: Uncovering and Claiming Your Extraordinary Value
Are you wondering what kind of success would reflect your deepest desires? Do you feel inexplicably blocked from knowing your value and succeeding? Have you experienced success yet still feel uneasy about it? What if you could claim your success and feel great? This workshop is a space for accessing deeper insights and wisdom about your own extraordinary value. We will slow down, discover what is important, and chart an authentic course. We will share stories of success (even if they seem like lucky accidents) and hopes and dreams. We will use these to articulate and shape our Inner Scorecards – success as we define it – and try them out.
Clarissa Sawyer and Jiahong Juda
Four Monday evenings: September 27, October 18, November 15, December 6.
7:00-9:00 p.m.
$60 early/$80 regular
Intuitive Play Group
Do you feel an inner knowing you would like to explore? Do you sense untapped intuitive capacities within? Have you had experiences that cannot be understood in terms of ordinary reality? This circle is recommended for women interested in developing their inner senses and intuition, whether already on this path or beginning the journey. In this circle we will deepen presence and awareness while developing and investigating inner perceptions. Our tools for exploration include guided meditations and a variety of interactive exercises, games and activities. We will create a fun and pressure-free, safe, supportive sacred space where inner resistances and obstacles can be gently released allowing for the free flow of intuition. Come with a playful spirit to share in this circle of discovery and adventure.
Please arrange for a phone conversation with the
facilitator prior to registering by sending email to Melinda@MysticStream.com or leaving a message at the Women's Well 978-371-0469.
Melinda Franceschini
Six Tuesday evenings: September 28; October 12, 26; November 9, 30; December 14.
7:00-9:00 p.m.
$150 early/$175 regular
Return to top
Monthly Meditation Circle
Come sit together with other women in a monthly meditation circle. Each month, we will explore a different meditation technique and will be guided in a relaxing meditation to help us connect more deeply to our inner wisdom.
This circle is being offered as a gift. Drop-ins are okay, but pre-registration is preferred.
Jennie Sandberg
Three Tuesday evenings: October 5, November 2, December 7
7:30-8:30 p.m.
Suggested donation: $10-15 per circle
Dancing to MySelf: Diving Deep
We Dance to Be Who We Are. We Dance to Re-Member.
This four-class series allows us to dive deeper and give greater attention to our dances than a single journey allows. As the single journey invites, so does the series to honor our Body Wisdom. There is in each of us a voice which guides and protects us. It has our most fundamental wellbeing at heart. This voice does not come from the mind, and it does not speak with words. It comes from feeling, and instinct, and it speaks through the body. When we allow our bodies the opportunity to move – to dance in silence or with music – that voice can be heard and we can touch great wisdom.
This class is rooted in the belief that we are our own best teachers. Different movement “exercises” are offered during each session, all with the intention of connecting you with you, or in support of each other. Each session will explore new ways to dive deep into our personal rhythms and expand the landscape of our dances. We will use a variety of music.
No dance experience necessary. Every body shape, size, and level of fitness welcome.
Janet Farnsworth
Four Thursday evenings: October 7, 21; November 4, 18
7:00-9:00 p.m.
$50 early/$75 regular
Return to top
Girlz Drum Circle
Bring your Girlz aged 5-8 to a drum circle led by Laney Goodman. Laney will teach the rhythms of the drum and other rhythm instruments as the girlz learn to listen to their own voice of the drum, hear the heartbeat or the “one” and join their unique “voices” with the other girlz in harmony. All kinds of rhythm instruments will be used and each girl will learn on each instrument…as well as sing and use body movements to learn more about rhythm. With each circle the girlz will grow and learn to hear how ensemble playing is fun and exciting.
Laney will also use chants/songs from the Mother Earth
and the Divine Feminine to help the girlz learn about all our relations and the Divine Mother or Goddess in all of us. This drum circle will empower our girlz and give them the self-confidence and courage to stand up for what they believe in this world.
Bring your daughters, granddaughters, nieces, sisters or young friends aged 5-8 to this fun and empowering drum circle. The women will also be learning how to drum…but not to begin with. We will let the girlz learn to listen to their circle of girlz first.
Laney Goodman
Four Sunday afternoons: October 10, December 12, February 13, April 10
2:00-4:00 p.m.
$80 early/$95 regular for the series
Women’s Drum Lodge: Elemental Rhythms Healing Circle
Join your sisters as we call in each direction of the Medicine Wheel with gentle rhythms, drums, chants, sounding and toning. Please bring singing bowls, chimes, shakers, rain sticks, wooden flutes, and/or drums of all kinds. If weather permits we will be bringing the Mother Drum to aid us going deeper into the Mother Earth with the heartbeat. These circles will teach us the power of deep listening and knowledge that will help take us deeper into our journey together as we heal ourselves and the Mother Earth. A-HO!
Laney Goodman
Four Sunday evenings: October 10, December 12, February 13, April 10
6:00-9:00 p.m.
$15 early/$20 regular, per circle Return to top
Elemental Relationships
Do you know you can deepen your relationships by embodying the wisdom and qualities of Chemical Elements and the inevitable way they connect into pairs, families and groups? The chemical bonding of Elements like hydrogen and oxygen mirror your inner potential for intimacy and love.
In this introductory workshop taught by a chemical biophysicist and former Harvard Medical School researcher, you’ll be taken on a journey of discovery into the very essence of your being, to the place where the physical world meets soul and spirit, and where you safely reconnect to the fundamental building blocks of your existence. You may have hated chemistry in high school (or never even taken it), but you’ll love learning about your true potential as a relational being through the innate behaviors of Chemical Elements. You’ll journey across the Periodic Table to experience your capacity for partnership, resiliency, and joy.
Diana Griffith
Saturday, October 16, 2:00-5:00 p.m.
$45 early/$54 regular
Return to top
Personal Clearing Workshop
Personal Clearing is a simple, safe, and gentle technique that uses pendulum dowsing to identify and release stress patterns stored in both the physical and subtle layers of the human anatomy. Clearing at such deep levels is like a spiritual “spa treatment” which can result in feeling less burdened, more relaxed, and more clear. At the highest level, this process works to connect you to your true essence.
In this workshop you will learn to create a witnessing space that allows deeply held patterns to shift and release without effort or pain. You will discover that “doing” less and “being” more is the essence of this powerful work. Learn to tune into the energy field of another person to clear patterns that no longer serve and support them. Develop and deepen your sensing abilities to read and process information. Discover and cultivate the most powerful gift you can offer: spacious detachment. Feel more available and in the flow. Experience the true meaning of lightening up!
To support the clearing journey, all participants are invited to purchase a copy of Your Spacious Self in advance of the workshop. This book is available online or can be ordered through your local bookstore. Copies can also be purchased at the workshop for $20 each (cash or check only). To learn more about the book go to www.spaceclear.com.
Stephanie Bennett Vogt
Sunday, October 17, 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
$145 early/$165 regular
The Empty Nest, New Beginnings Circle
Recently empty-nested moms Ellen and Elisa will lead a circle for women who wish to honor this life passage, and join with others during this time of loss, change, and possibility. Our circle will include rituals for listening within and speaking our truth, for honoring our gifts as mothers, and for strengthening our visions for our new lives. We welcome women in all phases of this life passage.
This circle is offered as a gift. Those who are able to pass the gift along are invited to make a donation to the Women’s Well. Pre-registration is required.
Elisa Pearmain and Ellen Maiman
Tuesday, October 19, 6:30-9:00 p.m.
Suggested donation: $15
Return to top
Drumming in the Four Directions
Bring your girlz aged 9-12 to a drum circle led by Laney Goodman. Laney will teach the rhythms of the drum and other rhythm instruments as the girlz learn to listen to their own voice of the drum, hear the heartbeat or the “one” and join their unique “voices” with the other girlz in harmony. She will also teach the Native American use of the sacred four directions and how we are all connected to the Circle of Life.
All kinds of rhythm instruments will be used and each girl will learn on each instrument…as well as sing and use body movements to learn more about rhythm. With each circle the girlz will grow and learn to hear how ensemble playing is fun and exciting. Laney will use chants/songs from the Mother Earth and the Divine Feminine to help the girlz learn about all our relations and the Divine Mother or Goddess in all of us. This drum circle will empower our girlz and give them the self-confidence and courage to stand up for what they believe in this world.
Bring your daughters, granddaughters, nieces, sisters or young friends aged 9-12 to this fun, educational and empowering drum circle. The women will also be learning how to drum…but not to begin with. We will let the girlz learn to listen to their circle of girlz first.
Laney Goodman
Four Fridays: October 22, December 10, February 18,
April 15
7:00-9:00 p.m.
$80 early/$95 regular for the series
The Forgiveness Circle: Telling Our Stories in New Ways
Forgiveness is an integral part of the emotional, spiritual and even physical healing process, and yet it is poorly understood. It offers an opportunity to look at and relate to our stories of wounding in new ways. It calls us to see those who have hurt us with more complexity and empathy. Ultimately, it guides us to forgive ourselves, to let go of shame, and to live more joyfully. In this experiential workshop, participants will explore through the medium of story what forgiveness is, its gifts for daily living and the larger challenges we face. Elisa will share several folk tales and personal stories related to the forgiveness process and will guide participants through storytelling and writing exercises to shape and share their stories of and path to forgiveness. No storytelling experience necessary.
Elisa Pearmain
Saturday, October 23, 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
$100 early/$125 regular
Return to top
Introduction to the GATEWAYS
Do you feel you have more compassion and kindness for others than you have for yourself? Do you experience more negative thoughts about yourself and have lower self-esteem than you want to have? The First Gateway meditation is a powerful spiritual tool that cleanses us of negative thought forms that no longer serve our highest good.
In this three-week series, we will learn and practice the First Gateway and explore its potential to cleanse and heal our- selves. The sessions will be progressive.
Veronica Quarry
Three Friday evenings: October 29; November 5, 12
7:00-9:00 p.m.
Sliding scale: $30-90
The Deep River Within: Taming the To-Do List and Finding Depth in Everyday Life
Beneath the busyness of our daily lives flows a deep river of creativity, passion, silence, and a place of contact with ourselves and what matters to us. Although “the deep river” is a powerful source of nurturance, the fragmentation and sheer pace of life in 21st century America often buries this inner dimension beneath the perpetual-motion surface of our days.
This circle is about slowing down. The one-day format serves as an introduction to the principles and practices of the Deep River process, as detailed in Abby's book, Finding the Deep River Within: A Woman’s Guide to Recovering Balance and Meaning in Everyday Life. With the help of experiential exercises, discussion, a touch of humor, and each other, we will explore ways to free ourselves from the tyranny of our “to-do’s,” and so to rest more in our deeper selves and in the gift of life itself.
This introductory workshop, or another Deep River workshop, is a pre-requisite for the Facilitator Training day on November 7.
Abby Seixas
Saturday, November 6, 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
$125 early/$135 regular
Return to top
“Gather the Women”*: A Facilitator Training for Leading Deep River Groups
Deep River groups have grown out of Abby Seixas's experience (and that of many others) that women in a circle of support are a source of untapped power. When this power is nurtured, it can fuel personal growth and help counter the effects of our speed-obsessed culture. This day-long training is offered to encourage the start of Deep River groups as places for women to learn how to separate themselves from the culture's drumbeat of go-go-go, and to make conscious choices about their own pace and priorities.
The day will include didactic training, discussion, experiential exercises, and some practice facilitation. Helping professionals in all fields are encouraged to attend (including but not limited to: psychologists, social workers, counselors, nurses, doctors, clergy, teachers, coaches). If your work falls outside of these categories and you would like to attend, please contact Abby to discuss participation.
PLEASE NOTE: Attendance at the daylong Deep River workshop on November 6, or another Deep River group, is a prerequisite.
Abby Seixas
Sunday, November 7, 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
$170 early/$180 regular (training manual included)
*From Jean Shinoda Bolen's book: Urgent Message from Mother: Gather the Women, Save the World (Conari Press, 2005).
For The Next 7 Generations: A Film about the Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers
In 2004, thirteen wise elder women from five continents, moved by their concern for the earth, came to a historic gathering to be in council together. In their own words: “Ours is an alliance of prayer, education and healing for our Mother Earth, for all her inhabitants, for all the children, and for the next seven generations.”
You are invited to come and hear their filmed story. A circle of sharing will follow the showing of the DVD.
This evening is offered as a gift. Those who are able to pass the gift along are invited to make a donation to the Women’s Well.
Anne Yeomans
Sunday, November 14, 7:00-9:30 p.m.
Suggested donation: $10
Return to top
Resources on the Journey from Fear to Love:
A Workshop for Women Who Want to Live More Fully
There are only two actions: love and fear. Only two motives, two responses, two procedures – love and fear. Lunig
During this workshop, participants will explore known as well as unclaimed inner resources as we access the wider, less dominant sides of our personalities through the Jungian concept of the shadow (the underdeveloped) and the gifts and fears of the nine personality types of the Enneagram. We’ll look at how we hold fear in our bodies when a sense of scarcity rules, and mine the deeper dimensions in the hollows of our inner landscape. By claiming and accessing more of who we are, we can travel paths toward bold living as we maneuver through transitional and difficult times.
We’ll weave poetry, inquiry and ritual during our time together and receive the wisdom offered in Enneagram and Jungian psychology. On Saturday evening we’ll enjoy a “Shadow Party” as we submerge ourselves into a less familiar role, making more conscious the underlying or hidden motivations that inform our fears. Participants will leave with more insight into their full dimensionality and with specific strategies for moving from inner contraction to spaciousness.
Reading prior to the workshop: The Essential Enneagram by David Daniels, MD and Virginia Price and The Secret of the Shadow: The Power of Owning Your Story by Debbie Ford.
Demaris Wehr and Sandra Smith
November 19-21
Friday, 7:00-9:00 p.m.
Saturday, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and 6:30-9:00 p.m.
Sunday, 9:00-11:30 a.m.
The Friday evening can be taken separately.
Friday only, $20 early/$25 regular
Full workshop, $200 early/$275 regular
Healing and Enjoying Our Bodies: Taoist Breathing
As women in sacred circle we will breathe freely together while learning the basics of Taoist longevity breathing. Many of life’s challenging experiences are held in the body and affect our breath. Through this breathing method we become more aware of our breathing habits and begin to let go of restrictive patterning, learning to breathe more fully, smoothly and evenly. This method teaches you to breathe the way you did as a baby, gently and deeply engaging your belly, back and sides, which massages your internal organs. We will support each other through gentle partner exercises designed to release tension and stress which limit our ability to breathe well. This breathing method is not only deeply relaxing and energizing but helps us to become more clear, present and aware. As we release our bellies we are also releasing our minds. Since you are always breathing, the material learned here can be practiced anytime, helping you become more centered, steady, and calm in challenging everyday situations.
Melinda Franceschini
Sunday, December 5, 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
$75 early/$95 regular
Return to top
Winter Solstice Celebration
The equinoxes and solstices, marking the Earth’s annual journey around the sun, have been celebrated throughout the millennia. They offer opportunities to attune our energy to the natural rhythms of light and dark, expansion and contraction. In this seasonal celebration, we explore our connections to the flowing energy of the Earth. All women and girls are welcome.
This circle is offered as a gift, and no payment is required to participate. Those who are able to pass the gift along are invited to make a donation to the Women’s Well. Pre-registration is appreciated, but not required.
Women’s Well community
Monday, December 20, 7:00-9:00 p.m.
Suggested donation: $10
Return to top
You can get updates through our email newsletter. (Make sure our new
newsletter email address – women_s_Well_Inc@mail.vresp.com – is on your
"allowed" list of email addresses. If you think you’re on our list and
haven’t received a newsletter recently, let us know at
womenswellnews@gmail.com)
|
