with Olivia Olkowski

Join us monthly to explore ourselves through shamanic drumming and journey work. Shamanic drumming has been practiced for centuries by indigenous peoples around the world, as a way to gain wisdom, healing, and information, to bring balance to their people and the community.

SEEDS OF KNOWLEDGE— This March: Reconnect to your essence of creative inspiration. Find out what lays dormant inside your core of truth, awaiting to ignite with fervor.

Please wear comfortable clothes, bring a note pad and pencil, bandana or eye covering.  Open to all levels and traditions. Please note, no previous experience is necessary.

Thursday, March 29, 2011 • 12:30-2:30pm
Suggested Donation $20

Please RSVP in advance, space is limited.
For further information, RSVP, please contact:
Olivia, oolkowski@mac.com 917.215.4866

UPCOMING HEALING CIRCLE DATE: April 26

Olivia Olkowski is a powerful shamanic healer, a Peruvian Pachakuti Mesa holder (Shaman). She is initiated as a lineage holder of Mayan traditional medicine, a Curendera. Olivia transforms people's lives through her circles, workshops, sacred teachings and private healing sessions. Olivia opens sacred space by working with her Master Teachers, Spirit Guides, the Elementals, crystals, sacred geometry and sound—to manifest healing for our souls. For more information, please visit: http://www.spiritrockshamanichealing.com

with Olivia Olkowski

Join us monthly to explore ourselves through shamanic drumming and journey work. Shamanic drumming has been practiced for centuries by indigenous peoples around the world, as a way to gain wisdom, healing, and information, to bring balance to their people and the community.

WHISPERS OF WIND— This February: Connect to the Elemental of the North Wind, to hear and gain insight for your personal spiritual path. Cleanse your mental body and allow clarity to manifest.

Please wear comfortable clothes, bring a note pad and pencil, bandana or eye covering.  Open to all levels and traditions. Please note, no previous experience is necessary.

Thursday, Feb 9, 2011 • 12:30-2:30pm
Suggested Donation $20

Please RSVP in advance, space is limited.
For further information, RSVP, please contact:
Olivia, oolkowski@mac.com 917.215.4866

UPCOMING HEALING CIRCLE DATES: March 29 & April 26.

Olivia Olkowski is a powerful shamanic healer, a Peruvian Pachakuti Mesa holder (Shaman). She is initiated as a lineage holder of Mayan traditional medicine, a Curendera. Olivia transforms people's lives through her circles, workshops, sacred teachings and private healing sessions. Olivia opens sacred space by working with her Master Teachers, Spirit Guides, the Elementals, crystals, sacred geometry and sound—to manifest healing for our souls. For more information, please visit: http://www.spiritrockshamanichealing.com

View the VIDEO INTRO TO OUR COURSES
or check out our other COURSE LISTINGS

R.D. Chin

“R.D. Chin brings such enthusiasm and expertise to his practice that we’re honored to be working with him at both the in-house and online levels here at the Open Center. He explains core concepts in an accessible way that makes you hungry for more no matter where on your educational journey you currently are.” —A.S.

Feng Shui is an ancient art developed over three millennia ago in China. It is a complex body of knowledge that reveals how to balance the energies of any given space to assure the health and good fortune for the people inhabiting it. Urban Feng Shui applies these principles to apartment and city-living contexts.

Applying the theory and principles taught by RD's teacher and mentor, the late feng shui HH Grandmaster Lin Yun, this class will give you the tools you need to transform your personal space and, importantly, the mindset that goes with it. This 4-week online course combines Western design principles with Feng Shui to align any space with dimensions of spirit, character, and a feeling of balance. This class is great for both the lay person as well as the budding Feng Shui consultant.

NOTE: Students must have access to a computer with a web browser for this ONLINE ONLY course, and may need to download free software to use some course features. Password-protected access to the course website is permitted only during the dates that this course is being held; PASSWORDS WILL BE ISSUED THE NIGHT BEFORE THE COURSE BEGINS; and user accounts will be deleted once the course is over. Audio-visual materials on the website are not downloaded but streamed through the web browser. Open Center Online Learning courses give students access to teachers and other students through several interactive tools on the course websites.

Please view our F.A.Q. (Frequently Asked Questions) for more detailed information about Open Center Online Learning courses.

AN ONLINE COURSE
February 20-March 18, 2012 (4 weeks)
12OLAAF101
$135 No Member Discount

View the VIDEO INTRO TO OUR COURSES
or check out our other COURSE LISTINGS

Karl Lorenzen

Sacred geometry has fascinated artists, scientists, and philosophers for centuries. In this 3-week online course, we will learn the traditional craft, vocabulary and “alphabet” of sacred geometry. Through lecture, demonstration, and walking through this meditative process together — using a bow compass, straight edge and pencil — we will experience first hand how to draw the Platonic Solids, other classical geometric forms, and beautiful Islamic tiling patterns. And we will construct 3D models of those shapes, transforming common paper plates into meditative objects of transcendent form.

The course material for “Meditations on Scared Geometry” is accessible to people at all levels of ability: no previous math or art experience is required.

NOTE: Students must have access to a computer with a web browser for this ONLINE ONLY course, and may need to download free software to use some course features. Password-protected access to the course website is permitted only during the dates that this course is being held; PASSWORDS WILL BE ISSUED THE NIGHT BEFORE THE COURSE BEGINS; and user accounts will be deleted once the course is over. Audio-visual materials on the website are not downloaded but streamed through the web browser. Open Center Online Learning courses give students access to teachers and other students through several interactive tools on the course websites.

Please view our F.A.Q. (Frequently Asked Questions) for more detailed information about Open Center Online Learning courses.

AN ONLINE COURSE
February 20-March 11, 2012 (3 weeks)
12OLASI101
$110 No Member Discount

The first bowl moistens my lips and throat;
The second bowl banishes all loneliness;
The third bowl clears my mind of words and books.
At the fourth cup, I begin to perspire and
Life’s troubles evaporate through my pores.
The fifth cup cleanses my entire being.
Six cups and I am in the realm of the Divine.
Seven cups – ah, but I can drink no more:
I can only feel the gentle breeze through my sleeves,
Wafting me away to the Isle of Immortality!
–Lu Tung, poet, T’ang Dynasty

Cultivate a ritualized rest centered on making and enjoying tea.  A moment of returning to our starting points where beauty, truth and self-realization are possible.

Taste and learn styles of tea and tea making.  Sessions limited to 10 participants.

March Focus: The Black Teas of the World.

Thursday, March 1, 6-7pm
(Every 1st Thursday, of the month)
12WHN09C
Hosted by Karen Dunlap
$15

The first bowl moistens my lips and throat;
The second bowl banishes all loneliness;
The third bowl clears my mind of words and books.
At the fourth cup, I begin to perspire and
Life’s troubles evaporate through my pores.
The fifth cup cleanses my entire being.
Six cups and I am in the realm of the Divine.
Seven cups – ah, but I can drink no more:
I can only feel the gentle breeze through my sleeves,
Wafting me away to the Isle of Immortality!
–Lu Tung, poet, T’ang Dynasty

Cultivate a ritualized rest centered on making and enjoying tea.  A moment of returning to our starting points where beauty, truth and self-realization are possible.

Taste and learn styles of tea and tea making.  Sessions limited to 10 participants.

April Focus: Matcha Powdered Green Tea.

Thursday, April 5, 6-7pm
(Every 1st Thursday, of the month)
12WHN09D
Hosted by Karen Dunlap
$15

The first bowl moistens my lips and throat;
The second bowl banishes all loneliness;
The third bowl clears my mind of words and books.
At the fourth cup, I begin to perspire and
Life’s troubles evaporate through my pores.
The fifth cup cleanses my entire being.
Six cups and I am in the realm of the Divine.
Seven cups – ah, but I can drink no more:
I can only feel the gentle breeze through my sleeves,
Wafting me away to the Isle of Immortality!
–Lu Tung, poet, T’ang Dynasty

Cultivate a ritualized rest centered on making and enjoying tea.  A moment of returning to our starting points where beauty, truth and self-realization are possible.

Taste and learn styles of tea and tea making.  Sessions limited to 10 participants.

May Focus: White & Green Teas from China.

Thursday, May 3, 6-7pm
(Every 1st Thursday, of the month)
12WHN09E
Hosted by Karen Dunlap
$15

IFÁBÙKÚNMI, O. ADÉWÁLÉ, PhD

In this class, Professor Adewale, an accomplished traditional Yoruba priest (babalawo) and herbalist with 25 years’ experience, will delve into how to awaken our egbe—the intuitive power that connects us to our spiritual essence; and the use of healing plants, leaves, trees and roots in traditional Yoruba healing. He will explain the spiritual attributes and medicinal applications of several main herbs, especially in overcoming negative emotions and stress, and explore their connection to Yoruban cosmology, its seven elements and its deities, the Orishas. We will also learn chants, songs, and drumming and dancing patterns that help us access our egbe; hands-on divination methods using cola nuts and peanuts for basic spiritual inquiries; and techniques of “spiritual first aid” that help us eliminate fears and confusion that hinder spiritual development.

Note: Participants are encouraged to bring an audio recorder to aid in their learning after completing the class.  The course on April 30 & May 7 is a requirement for attending this workshop.  Click here to register for African Medicine Part I

Note: $25 materials fee paid to the instructor.

A ONE-DAY WORKSHOP
Saturday, May 12, 10am–5:30pm
12WSA14S
Members: $120 / Nonmembers: $130
Please call for location
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IFÁBÙKÚNMI, O. ADÉWÁLÉ, PhD

Professor Adewale, an accomplished traditional Yoruba priest (babalawo) and herbalist with 20 years’ experience, will introduce us to the world of Yoruba Nigerian deities—the Orishas—exploring their origin, cosmology, powers and gifts, and their corresponding healing plants, leaves, trees and roots. He will delve into the importance of naming plants correctly and how to use chant/sound to create a specific resonance when preparing them. He will also discuss several useful plants found right in our own backyards.

Note: This course is a a requirement for the May 12 full-day workshop.

A WEEKLY COURSE
(2 sessions) Mondays,  April 30 & May 7, 8–10pm
12WSA10T
Members: $55 / Nonmembers: $65
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You are registering for a FREE INTRO on Wednesday, April 4, at 8pm. To sign up for the weekly course, see Taoist Inner Alchemy.

Sharon Smith

Taoist Inner Alchemy views the physical body as a kind of a laboratory in which our inner energies, the “Three Treasures” of jing (original reproductive energy), chi (natural energy), and shen (spiritual energy), can be gathered, cultivated and refined to generate greater vitality, health, happiness and, ultimately, for the assiduous practitioner, the “return to the Tao” (or immortality) through the birth of the “immortal child within.” In this class we will be introduced to some of the foundational practices of Taoist Inner Alchemy, including: “Opening the Microcosmic Orbit,” a sitting meditation that helps us enhance and balance energy flow in the body’s main energetic pathway; standing qigong grounding and rooting practices that strengthen the muscular/skeletal structure and provide a strong supportive connection to the earth; and the melting of blocked sexual energy for rejuvenation and to begin the “rebirth” process.

A WEEKLY COURSE
(3 sessions) Wednesdays, April 11–25, 8–10pm
12WHC45T
Members: $90 / Nonmembers: $100