2018 Workshops and Speakers

 

The Burning Times with Elizabeth Glenn-Copeland
When I was a girl, Hallowe’en was a time to stay out late and get lots of candy to squirrel away for those terrible days when your mother served jello for dessert. My favourite costume was the witch, and I had great fun prancing around town screeching and cackling, my teeth blackened, my face painted green. In my twenties I joined a women’s circle and discovered that my costume, worn with such innocence, represented a very dark, rarely talked about period of history: the femicide of hundreds of thousands of women in the days known as the Burning Times. Most of the women accused, charged, tortured, tried and executed were healers. Many of them were old, or outspoken, or different in ways that did not make them useful in the transition from the feudal to the capitalist system. It is interesting that the peak of the Burning Times took place in the Renaissance, also known as the ‘Age of Enlightenment’. It is also interesting to note that these times set the tone for the march of Colonialism into other parts of the world.

At this critical juncture in our evolution as a species, there are important lessons we can draw from the Burning Times. We as women (living in the relative privilege of the West) are being called to fully stand in our power: to reject what Carolyn Merchant calls, “the mechanical paradigm that legitimized the exploitation of women and nature” in favour of a new, life-affirming paradigm that holds all life as sacred.

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Elizabeth Copeland is a theatre artist, storyteller, writer and arts educator who has dedicated her life to using her artistic practice in service of environmental and social justice issues. She has designed and facilitated innovative arts-based programs for survivors of sexual assault and domestic abuse, people marginalized by poverty and mental illness, immigrant women and children who struggle to learn. She has toured with Second City doing improv comedy, played theWitch in Hansel and Gretel with the Honolulu Symphony, and told her original stories at the Toronto International Storytelling Festival. Her novella, JAZZ,won the 2014 Ken Klonsky Novella Prize and was shortlisted for the 2015 ReLit Award. In her hometown of Sackville, N.B., she is currently spearheading three projects that seek to engage community around climate change. The first is the play, Bearing Witness which uses monologue, story and poetry to follow an age-old tradition of using theatre to ‘amuse and disturb’. The second project, based on the ‘Work that Reconnects’, is a workshop series entitled “Eco-Anxiety, Community and Daring to Hope at the Cliff’s Edge.” Lastly, she just finished The Earth Warriors Theatre Project, the first phase of a pilot project designed to build in children and youth there resilience, self-confidence and community connections they will need to meet the unknown challenges that they will inevitably face in their future. She is the 2018 Writer-in-Residence at Joggins Fossil Cliffs. She lives in a cozy house with her husband, composer Beverly Glenn-Copeland and three cats.
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Sacred Circle with Nkwé Grandmother Selina
Gather into the Sacred Circle and experience connecting with Mother Earth Gaia in a transcendent way. We will connect with the healing energies of the Trees and Waters that brings Oneness through to our Hearts. You will be uplifted through Sacred Sound, Wisdom Teachings and a very special Water Blessing that comes through from Selina’s Star Lineage. Enter and be Blessed.
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Grandmother (means Wise One) Selina is a Pathfinder ~ Healer ~ Spiritual Mentor and
Earth Guardian ~ Sound Being ~ Water Bearer She brings an Ancient Way Of Reclaiming One’s true Higher Purpose and Identity. Clearing obstacles and intrusions that block Growth and Spiritual Awakening. This is done with the highest energies of the Divine Feminine aspect of Creation. It is an Ancient Way Of the Heart returned to Earth for those ready to receive.
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Healing the Woman Warrior with Pam Rubin

The price of activism can be high. Striving for a better world, free from violence and oppressions can take its toll on our body and mind. How can we gently care for ourselves and each other? How can we heal ourselves in the face of social injustice? In the context of our personal trauma? Pam will share meditation, visualization, and yogic options.

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Pam Rubin, 56,  is a lawyer and a trauma therapist. She has been a freebirth activist since age 18. She is a co-founder of Nova Scotians for the Prevention of Prostitution and Human Trafficking. Pam has been learning and using meditation and yogic approachs to psychic and cultural pain since age 19. She offers gentle do-it-yourself options for long term self-care, self-protection and healing from the Buddhist, Tibetan, Irish and Jewish traditions.
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 Self Education Outside the Patriarchy with Allyson McQuinn
What’s the difference between self-led education and how kids are taught in traditional schools?  How does each of these approaches to education affect kids in the long-term? Has anyone lived these results and can help answer my questions so I can make a sound decision for my own children?
Allyson McQuinn is going to take you on an experiential tour using her own family to illustrate the thesis of her latest book on “Self-Education for Health.”  She will speak about how she adopted a fusion of Waldorf Pedagogy, Unschooling and Worldschooling to allow a child to unfold their essential selves through fostering a love of life-long learning from the inside out.
In this discussion, she will show that volitional learning is the only means of learning that promotes one’s health.  She suggests pre-reading Peter Gray’s book, “Free To Learn” and bringing your own notes for what will no doubt be a lively discussion on free-range education.
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Allyson McQuinn, DHHP, DMH, JAOH, is a Dr. of Heilkunst Medicine with almost twenty years of research behind her.  She co-owns Arcanum Wholistic Clinic, where she treats patients internationally by phone and Skype, using the scientific principles of Medical Heilkunst to address patients’ sequential timelines, relieving them of their shocks and traumas of an emotional and physical nature.
Allyson’s foray into Heilkunst principles began with her own son, Jordan, who was rendered chronically ill in the autism spectrum after his MMR vaccine over 20 years ago.  It was shortly thereafter that he stopped passing stool regularly, except for once every 1-2 weeks, stopped making eye contact, lost all speech and his development became more and more delayed. As a result of being told to, “just put him on drugs for the rest of his his childhood, because some boys just seem to suffer from this,” Allyson went on a journey to solve the root cause of her son’s autistic spectrum issues. She found the answers through Dr. Samuel Hahnemann’s foundational teachings in Heilkunst homeopathic principles, an advanced system of medicine treating chronic illness. Jordan is now in his 20’s, teaching trampoline, acrobatics, and aerobic classes in Ottawa.
Allyson lives as a digital nomad, in both Mexico and in her Tiny House on the Kingston Peninsula in New Brunswick.  Ally writes for a variety of well-known publications including Natural Mother Magazine, the largest online digital publication of its kind in the world.  Ally lectured on how to successfully live as a digital nomad at the Worldschooler’s Summit in Guanajuato, Mexico this past winter. She is currently working on her 18th book on “self-education for health.” Ally is head over heels in love with her partner of 16 years, and fellow Heilkünstler/Author, Jeff Korentayer. She’s an avid hiker and photojournalist for a variety of travel magazines. Allyson also has a beautiful and healthy daughter, who also self-educated and who is currently working towards certification as a paramedic.
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Navigating Menopause with Heather Reynolds

As women reach their 40’s and 50’s, their bodies begin to make a natural hormonal change. For many, the myriad of symptoms that come with perimenopause and menopause cause increased dis-ease and anxiety, sleep disruption and can even cause depression. There are tips and skillful tools to navigate this change and embrace the energies you possess. Whether you are already well underway in this phase or want to be prepared for the future, you are welcome to share and learn in a supportive environment.

We will investigate potential strategies to temper the challenging experiences associated with this part of your journey. These strategies come from Dr Claudia Welch, Dr. Christiane Northrup, MD and the wisdom of Ayurveda. As Dr. Northrup says, “Agelessness is all about vitality, the creative force that gives birth to new life.” In this stage of life, learn to celebrate your creative energies in new and inspiring ways. 

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Heather blends together her ​own ​curiosity to continually gain deeper understanding, her love for reaching new heights and her skill as a teacher to share her understanding, particularly the teachings of ParaYoga,​ in an accessible way. “Meet people where they are, then take them for a ride.” is the mantra behind Heather’s approach to teaching.
Heather holds a Masters in Kinesiology and is a licensed kinesiologist and teacher. Heather holds certifications as a certified Four Desires teacher, a certified ParaYoga Level 1 teacher, and is recognized by Yoga Alliance as an eRYT 500 hour teacher. Heather continues to publish a blog, and is an author of a book and many articles on performance.
Heather’s unique background grounds her in the knowledge of how the body works and, incorporating the tools of Yoga, how to engage the energetics and the mind to create the experience and performance that supports growth. Coupling her knowledge with her intuition and skill to articulate, Heather is a skilled teacher and coach. More about Heather can be found on her website: Heather Reynolds.
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Emotional Freedom Technique with Gail Munroe
More commonly known as EFT, or simply Tapping, Emotional Freedom Technique is an incredible modality that addresses trapped energy blockages (qi), which unaddressed can cause stress, trauma, illness, life path limitations and so much more. It is truly life changing.  Come free yourself!
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Gail Munroe is the proud mom of two daughters, and grandmother of five. She spent 40 plus years in the corporate insurance world before retiring 3 years ago and is now on an amazing voyage of learning and spiritual self discovery. She feels blessed to be a crone and excited about expanding her community with women of all ages and talents. Gail is passionate about the energy arts, and is is a trained EFT (emotional freedom technique or tapping) practitioner. EFT is an incredible discipline that addresses trapped energy blockages (qi) which can cause stress, trauma, disease, life path limitations and so much more. It is simple, easily learned by anyone,  yet profoundly life changing, proven to be effective for PTSD, chronic pain and emotional trauma.  Gail has practiced as a DONA trained birth doula for many years, and was honoured to serve as Chair and Vice Chair of the Nova Scotia Doula Association for the past six years. She is also qualified in reiki and Qi Gong healing modalities, and is an avid meditator. She looks forward  to teaching  EFT and  Qi Gong at the Womyn’s Summit and making connections and gaining wisdom from all who will attend.
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Bathing Bodies of Water with Josée

Honouring bodies and bodies of water and various cross cultural bathing rituals through a hands on immersive sensorial journey and exchange in song, story, poetry, and dance.

Josée shares stories and rituals she learned and was most touched by while travelling for over a decade to explore and experience thermic bathing cultures. A culture where water, health and bathing are inseparable, and a way of public and social life. Josée launched The Steam Culture Tour in June 2017, to kick off Steam Space, a small community-based business project offering thermic bathing sessions. During the tour in Scandinavia and the Baltics, she performed, documented, and exchanged stories and conversations on themes of body image, women’s bodies in sauna, climate change and the preservation of public bathing as a democratic and accessible healthy way of life. The performances, story exchange and conversations occurred in bathhouses and saunas in Denmark, Sweden and Estonia and will eventually be shared in a video and book. 

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Josée has a background in the health, wellness, education, environment, and entrepreneurship sectors. Her motivation and passion for health, community and environmental stewardship have led her to explore, learn and share by initiating collaborative projects and small ventures. 

During her Master’s studies in Wellness and Spa Service Design in Europe she researched on the significance of community and social well-being in retreat settings. She is certified as an energy and bodyworker in Chair Massage, Cupping, Whisking and Reiki. She feels very fortunate to have visited 18 countries to experience and learn about bathing culture in traditional spas, saunas and bathhouses, thanks to all the support received.

Since landing back in Nova Scotia in 2015, she’s consulted and guest lectured at the School of Architecture at Dalhousie University on the heat.cool.rest experience, and engaged school communities throughout the Province on energy efficiency and climate change. More recently she started Steam Space, a community based business guiding thermic bathing experiences and specialized body treatments as a way to be with the elements in a restorative social setting, that relaxes, re-energizes and re-connects the body and mind. 

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Seeds & Sketching: A playful, sensual experience for Maidens with Raina McDonald
 
Gathered around the emerging food forest in a sacred space of exploration and expression, maidens will make their own seed balls with clay, soil and seed. We’ll then observe the plant medicine growing around us, drawing what we see while chatting about the life cycle of the plants. Basic seed saving knowledge will be shared, including some how-to’s. Participants will take their seed balls home to plant next season, inviting the experience of drawing, seed saving and village life at Summit to live on in their worlds. Our daughters ~ Our seeds ~ Our legacy
 
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Raina is a mother, interdisciplinary artist, yoga instructor, grower of organic food, seed saver and tender of land.  She is passionate about preserving biodiversity through growing and saving heirloom seeds.  Originally from Vancouver Island, she’s now rooted on the east coast with her partner and their two daughters on their rural homestead in Pictou Co, NS. As a mother and a woman consciously choosing to step out of the deadly mainstream current of our times, Raina organically holds space for our children to cultivate respectful relations with Self, others, Gaia and the unseen. 
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Womb Awakening with Abigaël Totty
This workshop embraces the ancient teachings of our ancestors. We will discover how the Celtic wheel of the year reflects the cycles of women. It is suitable for all women from the maiden to the crone. Our ancestors lived with their wombs, moon & solar cycles at the centre of life for millennia. The cyclical nature of our wombs and the cycles of nature are a mirror of each other. By entwining them together we can come more deeply into balance and resonate with the voice of our inner goddess.
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Abigaël Totty is an Energy Alchemist, a Classically trained Homeopath, Doula, Reiki Master, Shaman Woman, Artist, Educator, & Mama of seven beautiful radiant beings, with over 20 years experience in the healing arts and workshop facilitation. Originally from the UK Abigaël has facilitated workshops at UK festivals and other venues on a wide variety of topics. She lived off grid as a new age traveller living in a yurt, horse box and 1950’s caravan before putting roots down in beautiful Prince Edward Island five years ago. She has had 5 home births and has been passionate about re-wilding womyn to the source of their goddess energy since her early 20’s. Abigaël currently has a thriving Homeopathic , Doula & Reiki practice & regularly facilitates workshops in her local community.
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Cycles of Desire with Shannie Kiely
Gain insight into your sexuality by learning facts about your menstrual cycle.
Throughout our lives, we spin through the loops of our menstrual cycle. Our bodies give us clues that reveal where we are in our cycle. There are powerful ways to use this information, such as: when it is impossible to become pregnant and when conception is possible.
Knowing where you are in your cycle is also a powerful tool for getting to know your sexuality. We are not exactly the same on every day of our cycles. Our breasts are sometimes larger and sometimes smaller. Our yonis change shape. Our emotions shift. Learn how fertility awareness can give you a map of the patterns of your desire.
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Shannie has been practicing and teaching fertility awareness for 7 years. She is interested in all the ways we can rebel against the current structures in society that suppress our freedom. This desire to rebel has manifested in her life in many ways, such as: having a home birth, supporting other women on their journey to birth outside the medical system, designing her life around honoring the need to rest when she is menstruating, rejecting pharmaceutical birth control, rejecting pharmaceutical drugs to treat her chronic eczema, and exploring alternative ways of healing with herbs and nature. She also teaches ESL online to children in China and works as a freelance graphic designer.
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Maidens’ Mala Bracelet Making Workshop with Alison Capstick
In this fun, interactive, and inspiring workshop, we will be begin with a guided mediation to  help set an intention and awaken your creative energy. Afterwards you will use your intuition to design and assemble two Mala bracelets which are yours to keep. Beads and supplies will be provided. (There is an additional cost for supplies to attend this workshop.)
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Alison is a registered massage therapist and a reiki practitioner, an energetic healer and a yoga teacher. She began a little side company called EL Mala last year when she couldn’t find the perfect Mala for her mediation practice. Her designs are inspired by nature, especially the ever-changing sea. When she isn’t traveling abroad with her family, or leading retreats in Mexico, you can find her living by the ocean in Prospect Village, with her French lover and their two children.
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The Healing Power of Forgivenesswith Jessica Edger
A discussion about holding onto emotions and how they can create blockages or patterns in our bodies and lives. How we can recognize this and release that which no longer serves us. I’ve been working with this in my own life and my Reiki practice and it has been very powerful
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Jessica is a birthworker, energy healer, creator. With her first pregnancy in 2013 Jessica began to question everything she ever thought was real. She’s learned so much and met so many fantastic people on her journey so far. She is passionate about passing on her tidbits of wisdom and continuing to learn as she supports women living their changing truths through all of life’s transitions. You can learn more about her work at www.bornknowing.ca
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Tree of Life Creation with Linda Groeger
The Tree of Life represents growth, strength, and connection. Join Linda in a creative journey to create your personal tree of life characterized by your growth, strength, and connection. We will use mostly recycled, and natural materials to create this art piece. No artistic experience or skills are required. This creative expression and exploration will help you recognize your gifts and leave you feeling empowered.
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Chakradance with Leah Alexandra Huff

Chakradance is a healing modality that combines ecstatic dance with guided meditation focused on clearing, balancing, and awakening the Chakra system. It is a dance practice for the body, mind, and soul.  Chakradance combines spontaneous dance, guided imagery, and music to promote wellbeing.  The music in a Chakradance session is the key, as it is specially curated to resonate deeply with each chakra.

Chakradance is a gentle modality that is appropriate for all bodies and experiences.  Each component of the workshop is accompanied by facilitation in the form of guided imagery and meditation, without any strict instructions for how to move—for some the dance may be wild and energetic, for others it may come from a place of stillness, standing, seated, or on the ground.  For many dancers this experience is like a waking dream, and it is not uncommon for dancers to receive messages, visions, and deep healing experiences during this time.

In honour of the Womyn’s Summit we will celebrate the divine feminine energy within us all by dancing the Sacral Chakra.  This 90-minute workshop begins with an opening meditation and sacred circle, followed by a warm-up and brief journey through each of the seven chakras from base to crown to connect with our bodies and spirits before moving into a dance dedicated to the sacral chakra where we will connect more deeply with the Wild Woman within each of us. After our dance we have the opportunity to integrate the experience through the creation of a mandala that serves to express the experience or energy of the dance.  Finally, we finish with a brief sharing circle and closing meditation.

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One of my friends referred to me as a “recovering academic”, and the description is apt.  After more than a decade working towards the goal of becoming a tenured academic I found myself at a crossroads with the option of accepting my “dream job” in higher education on the other side of the country, or walk away from it all and create a “dream life” with family balance and the joy of community.  I chose quality of life, became a mother, and started pursuing areas that I had never seriously considered in the past.  In 2015 I became a Music Together® teacher and director and started teaching music and movement classes to babies, toddlers, preschoolers, and the adults who love them.  These weekly classes have brought me such joy and have helped make music and movement a regular part of my life.  In early 2017 I dedicated myself to creating a regular ecstatic dance practice for myself and a group of friends, and by the end of August 2017 I had become a certified Chakradance facilitator.  Without question, ecstatic dance has been the most important thing I have ever done for my own mental, emotional, spiritual, and physical health, and I am dedicated to finding ways to share this passion with others.

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Leah will also lead a Music Together session for Mamas and Babies:  Music Together is a music and movement program for young children from birth to age five, and a session lasts 45 minutes with a combination of singing, dancing, and playing with a selection of instruments.  With young babies, I will offer a specialized class with a focus on lullabies and bonding time between mother and child.

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Yoni Power: Connecting to Our Divine Feminine Through Gazing & Art with Lindsay Umlah

How connected are you to your Yoni? Do you touch her? Do you love her? Do you whisper sweet words to her? So many of us are rediscovering our power of creativity, expression, sensuality and strength through our Yoni. We touch, we play, we track and we pleasure her, but how often do we look? Do you know what your Yoni looks like when she’s healthy and vibrant? Do you know what she looks like when she’s needing love?

In this one hour workshop we’ll breakthrough one of the biggest barriers many of us have when it comes to deeper Yoni connection, sight. When’s the last time you actually looked at her? Took your time, and admired her beauty, individuality and allowed yourself to fully connect? We’ll explore our own individual Yoni by gazing at her from a space of non judgement. A place of curiosity, acceptance and love. Reconnecting to your power! After we experience our gazing we’ll use art to express and explore what we discovered. Painting through watercolours what you saw, what you felt or perhaps what you might have released. Allowing you to process and tap even further into your divine creativity through acceptance and love.

Womyn attending should bring a mirror and wear a skirt for gazing purposes. A small number of mirrors will be on hand for those who need them.

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Lindsay is a spitfire, freedom junkie, and believer in all things magic. She houses a massive passion for women’s empowerment and intense self-love. She lives to see individuals discover their passions and step fully into their power. She uses her expertise as a Holistic Nutritional Consultant, Business Mentor, Self-Love Maven and Yoga Teacher to ignite and inspire those she works with to deepen their relationship to self, and create space in their lives and bodies for what ignites their soul. Working with Lindsay is always bound to leave you inspired and vibrating with a new self confidence and love for life and all it’s possibilities. Lindsay is also the creator and founder of The Loving Myself Loudly Movement a platform that provides women the community, support, inspiration and tools to dive deeper into a self-love relationship and embrace their radical selves.

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An exploration into Autoregulation : The HPA axis with Rosalynn Iuliucci

Women’s hormonal processes are so often depicted as though mythological. This workshop will support women in tuning in to the inherent wisdom within; removing the veil and exploring our auto regulatory systems and their physiological processes, in particular, the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis (HPA axis or HTPA axis) through visualization. Both the method of exploration and the information learned in the process will offer insight on how to balance our auto-regulatory systems in response to a main cause for disruption – stress. This workshop is suitable for all ages. There will be a Q and A period included within the workshop with emphasis on the facilitators experience with women’s health in the field of osteopathy.

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Rosalynn Iuliucci, B.F.A., D.O.M.P., has been working professionally in holistic health care since
2007. She is a member of the Nova Scotia Association of Osteopaths (N.S.A.O.) and an affiliate
member of the Ontario Association of Osteopathic Manual Practitioners (O.A.O.). Following five years
of study at the College Etudes Osteopathique in Halifax NS and one year of study in Montreal QC she defended her thesis, “A Qualitative Study of the Public Perception in Nova Scotia” and received a Diploma in the Science of Osteopathy and Diploma in Osteopathy Manual Practice. Rosalynn’s practice focuses on the facilitation of self-healing through the alignment of the whole person; physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. Her practice is influenced by other accreditations and education primarily as a GYROTONIC (R); GYROKINESIS (R) practitioner (International); meditation, creative and mindfulness facilitator; STOTT and Balance Body Pilates mat and machines trainer and the completion of an Interdisciplinary Bachelor of Fine Arts (NSCADU/DAL) wherein she combined the study of art and psychology with a special interest in brain dynamics. Rosalynn has experience with all ages and health states. Rosalynn currently lives and works on the South Shore and Halifax, Nova Scotia. In addition to her professional health practice; Rosalynn is a feminist, a published author, world traveller and lived-arts creator. She resides in the natural world as an organic farmer.

 

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Understanding the Menstrual Cycle for Maidens with Alex Greenwood

The menstrual cycle for young women can be shameful and burdening with the programming of our society. I Would like to propose a workshop to connect young women to their moon through learning about the different seasons of the cycles. The aim is to removed shame and empower young women to have knowledge of what is happening in their bodies and how this affects their mental emotional and spiritual states. In marrying the mystical with the scientific we explore and expand  on the Follicular phase (Inner Spring, Rising Estrogen) The Ovulatory phase (Inner summer, estrogen peaks, most fertile) The Luteal phase (Inner fall, estrogen falls progesterone rises) and the Menstrual Phase (inner winter, progesterone drops, clearing). In a comprehensive and fun workshop we explore hormones , where they come from and how they affect our moods, we explore what it means to bleed and how powerful it is, and we dive into what it means to have different seasons within ourselves. Education cultivates self compassion and a higher self esteem during this special time.

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Alex is a certified Yoga Instructor and has recently come home from a yoga contract working with remote indigenous communities in Northern Canada. She is a registered holistic nutritionist and a reiki practitioner, living and practicing in Halifax Nova Scotia, where she sees clients in her home. She has recently finished a training intensive in sacred ceremony in the jungles of Costa Rica and her main focus is to bring transformation and empowerment to young women. Alex is currently exploring different ceremonies and healing modalities in Guatemala, and plans to join the Halifax volunteer doula program upon her return.

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Naiads, Dryads and Faeries oh My! An intuitive exploration of Nature Spirits with Courtney Trowse 

As children, our connection to the realm of Magik and Spirit comes easily, a gift that can be cultivated and treasured throughout the rest of your life. I invite you to join me on a walk on the land, to see who we can find; to stop, listen, breathe, and feel those Spirits we often rush right past. Emerge from the seed like a tree, dance and sing a song to the Earth, leave a little treat for the faeries, who knows what other fun we’ll have! All those who are young at heart are welcome to join this stroll into the fanciful world around us.

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Love Life, Live love, these are the words that guide Courtney through her life as Mamma, Sister, Lover, and Wild Woman. As a worshipper of the natural world, she has spent hours tucked away in the solitude of long Prairie grasses watching the endless blue sky roll on above her. She comes alive at the smell of the forest, the saltiness of the sea air, or marvelling at the wonder of the mountains. A mix of an old soul and a perpetual child, Courtney’s passions are varied and deep. Poetry, writing, painting, playing with children, being with horses, pregnancy and birth, caring for others, sunshine, moonlight, moss, music, and exploring her ever changing roles in this Earthly journey are all things that light her up inside. Embracing her many cycles of metamorphosis she works to deepen her understanding of the beauty and power in the cycle of Life, Death, and Rebirth, freely giving and graciously receiving. Through compassion, songs, and love, she holds a safe space of transformation in which you are invited to wake up to the full potential of your Spirit.

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Opening Circle with Chantal Richard-Mercier
To open the gate of sharing openly and undisturbed, perhaps of why we were lead to the Summit, or of fears we wish to release, or simply whatever is right up at the surface. To listen non-reactively, without talking, feeling like we need to break the silence or fill the discomfort with comforting words…just allowing the other to share whatever they have, in an undisturbed way, so that it can pour out as it wants to and in a deeper way.
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Chantal is a mother, wife, artist/photographer, home educator and energy healer. She is a free spirited day dreamer, an introvert, a lover of strong coffee, and she delights in the powerful teachings of motherhood, art, solitude and meditative dance. She and her family live a quiet and messy life in Waasis, New Brunswick, and she revels in the contrast between being a gypsy at heart and a warm homebody. She discovered her love for creating art through photography soon after her son was born in 2012. Her photography is very personal to her, but her true passion is being at home with her children. She nurtures a small photography business on the side, while still remaining true to the reasons why she began. She has been published and featured in various online magazines and in print. You can view her work here www.chantalrmercier.com
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Creating Herbal Infused Oils with Maidens with Melanie Hill
An introduction to herbal infused oils for skin (cosmetic and medical) + internal use. The focus will be on volatile oils, and what makes a good infusion plant, differentiating the best parts and times of year to harvest plants to be used in infused oils. There will also be a portion focused the different types of oils that are best, and what the differentiation of their properties are, explaining what’s best for what use.  Participants will be encouraged to ask questions, and discuss different ways to combine and experiment with herbal ingredients. There will be a hands on portion, where the maidens are encouraged to make their own infusion to take home with them.
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Melanie is a registered medical herbalist with the OHA, having studied and graduated from western medical herbalism at the Institute of Traditional Medicine in Toronto, Ontario. Also at that institute, she completed a diploma of Acupuncture, and has worked in clinics throughout Ontario and Nova Scotia, most notably a women’s health centric clinic at the school, and PWA (People with Aids) providing low/no income patients with holistic care and compassion. Melanie is in the process of completing a Doula training, and will be studying with Carriage House Birth in Brooklyn come May 2018. Her passions are gardening, animals, women and encouraging self guided care.
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Who Are We with Meg Lajoie
As a mother and artist I have been through great ups and downs to find the peaceful balance which unites the two.
I have experienced great loneliness , great happiness and great confusion. The battle to be the good mom, and the crazy artist, allowing them both to love as one , rather then leaving one behind.  I feel incredibly passionate about this.
Finding time. Making time. And being in the time with your life as a mom and artist.  We all have trouble finding balance. Let’s talk about it!
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Meg was born  in Toronto, Ontario, and in 2006 moved to Halifax, NS.  She is an artist , painting and sewing mostly but constantly creating and trying new things.  Meg has always been interested in energy work, and as a teenager would make energy balls and play with healing meditations.  Currently she has received a reiki level 2 and isfocusing on being an intuitive/empathic healer.  She is a mother of two beautiful girls and happily married to her twin flame.
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MagikMalas with Shanon Sheppard

Malas are sacred pieces that represent feelings, dreams and ambitions in life that can be integrated into the story of every person that wears them. There is an energy exchange between the wearer and the sacred piece of jewelry… with intention infused into the piece during creation, as well as the energy and healing properties of the gemstones and crystals, you will be transformed by these sacred pieces. Each piece is a One of a Kind talisman for the soul that aligns with it.

This workshop will take you on a journey of self-exploration, empowerment and dedication to your dreams. Through the Art of Manifestation, Meditation Techniques, and Divine Love, come be transformed and create your very own personalized spiritual jewelry!

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Shanon is dedicated to awakening the world by offering her wisdom and care in balancing the mind, body and spirit connection. She is focused on assisting others in identifying blockages and empowering individuals to help guide them to a healthy, abundant and joyful life. Shanon is an intuitive healer who combines her formal Psychology and Religious Studies education with her training and application in alternative therapies to provide a holistic view of healing the mind, body, and spirit. Shanon’s true passion lies in self-empowerment, mindfulness, mystic readings, and various healing modalities. Shanon’s ‘gifts’ came at a very young age, and has always had a strong intuitive connection. Her abilities became increasingly fine tuned over years of studying with religious and spiritual teachers and professionals. For over ten years now, Shanon has been blessed to offer her love and services to every individual who seeks her respite and care. Shanon is a recognized healer and energy intuitive who draws on her gifts to gain insight in her client’s requirements.

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Matrilineage and the Modern Woman – A Forum for Introspection with Anastasia Akasha-Kaur
Let us take a trip into our deepest creativity and imagine for a moment what our lives would look like if we lived in a matrilineal culture, if we evolved from and identified with our uterine ancestry.  Join me as we journey into the realm of the very possible and examine the benefits of a mother culture where womexn, daughters, reproduction and children are cherished, supported, honoured and uplifted. Now more than ever we must prioritize our ability to visualize and imagine that which we know the world needs for planetary and personal healing. Sat Nam.
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Anastasia Akasha Kaur lives on the South Shore of Nova Scotia where she gardens, raises her two boys, and practices surrendering to the wisdom of her soul.  Anastasia’s current areas of interest include music and dance as a form of celebration/worship/healing, the revival and integration of meaningful and transformative rites of passage, ethical polyamory, autonomous reproduction, and spiritually infused cultural revolutions. Anastasia is a Kundalini Yoga Teacher, Holistic Nutritionist, and Independent Distributor of Young Living Essential Oils.  Find more info at: www.anastasiaakashakaur.com
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Maiden Voyages: Finding the Forest Goddess Within Us All with Adrien Rawley
The wilderness is one of the greatest places for inspiration, creativity, spirituality and challenge. Let’s learn, as young wimyn, how to keep ourselves healthy, happy and safe in the woods so that we can enjoy the beautiful things to be found in wild places. We will learn how forest goddesses pee, poop, have their periods, build fires and learn to identify a few helpful wild plants in the natural world.
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Adrien Rawley was born in the woods of coastal Maine, a place where she was encouraged to be confident, comfortable and unafraid when surrounded by nature. She loves playing in the mud, picking flowers and identifying all manner of wildlife from insects and mammals to plants and birds! She has several human powered expeditions under her belt spanning all seasons and her passion to share the beauty and spiritual connection we all have with the natural world is the calling that she embraces. She also loves dancing, playing music, eating every kind of food and laughing really loudly!
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Writing the Goddess Within with Yvette Doucette
Words, words, words! Words have the ability to enrich and convey, to bolster self-confidence, and to release the past and empower the present.
Are you in touch with your thoughts, your own expressive voice, your blissful, loving, wise, healing, goddess words?  All around, everyday, in multiple mediums, swell a sea of meaningless words. Sometimes there are also angry, hurtful, divisive, and soul-destroying words. The wonder is this: that we can learn to hear goddess wisdom with our inner ear—with our heart.  Discovering and identifying the words that shape the narrative of our lives, and finding and learning the power words that can transform our lives, will be a part of our journey together.
After we create a circle, set our intentions, and establish a safe and confidential space, participants in this workshop will be led through a series of visualizations and exercises to get in touch with the goddess within. Maidens will discover and learn about the three main goddess archetypes of Maid, Mother and Crone.  We will spend time exploring and writing from the perspective of the goddess who is alive in every being.

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Yvette is an award-winning, published author who has written and performed monologues, been twice commissioned by CBC to perform in the CBC Poetry Face Off, participated in PEI Writers’ Guild Writers in Schools programs, and spent six years (2006-2012) leading creative writing after school programs in junior high and high schools. She was awarded the first ever PEI Writers’ Guild Island Literary Award for Young Writers Service in 2011. Yvette is so looking forward to working with young writers again, at this beautiful Goddess Retreat in Nova Scotia.

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Mindful Movementwith Taryn Deering

Do you move all of your joints daily? Through a full range of motion? Regular active movement is the best way to keep joints healthy and mobile, to prevent injuries, and to heal past joint trauma. Using a combination of Controlled Articular Rotations (CARs) and intuitive movement, we will explore our ranges of motion and their connection to the nervous system. Later, we will integrate our work by playing with animal walks. This class can be adapted to all fitness and mobility levels. Come dressed to move and explore!

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Taryn Deering is a Naturopathic Doctor with a passion for movement. Using intuition and nature as her primary guides, Taryn works with patients using a combination of energy work, body work, and neural therapy. Taryn has extensive training in these areas including certifications in Myofascial Release Therapy (MRT), Unwinding, Tension and Trauma Releasing Exercises (TRE), and Functional Range Conditioning (FRC). Taryn is currently taking an extended break from naturopathic practice to raise her two young sons. Her favourite parts of the day are dance parties with the kids and geeking out on movement and mobility work.

 

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Deep Ecology: The Work That Reconnects with Katherine Marsters

We are alive in an extraordinary moment in time. We are witnessing unprecedented destruction of our planet, catastrophic climate change, mass extinctions, rising inequality and the unraveling of our social systems. It is also a time of great possibility. We have an incredible opportunity to stand together, rediscover our interconnectedness and act on behalf of all life on earth.
This workshop, based on the teachings of Joanna Macy, will take us on a journey to explore how to move with our hearts and remain resilient, creative and empowered as we respond to change. We will deepen our capacity for compassion and solidarity, and be motivated to reclaim our lives, our communities and our planet from corporate and colonial rule. Courage will be our collective teacher and guiding force. We will remember what is sacred. Grief and praise will be our companions, and together we will move towards hope.

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Katherine Marsters has a deep love for life. She attempts to weave beauty, inspiration and story throughout her days and is always moving towards community.  She is a shopkeeper, yurt builder, audiologist, and beekeeper. She loves growing food, tending the hearth and renovating tiny structures. Most of all she loves sitting next to her dear ones and dreaming of how to create a new biocultural life way.

 

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Flamenco Dance with Audrey Barber

Flamenco has been truly empowering and allows me to embrace all the emotions life has to offer, as well as connect with different aspects of my soul and personality – the flirty, sensual and feminine, as well as the earthy goddess, cultivating beauty. Massage therapy permits me to facilitate healing and nurture others along their life’s journey in health and wellness. I believe in the importance of self-love, self-awareness and self-care.

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Audrey is a massage therapist, flamenco dancer, and lover of the Earth. When not massaging or dancing, I enjoy being in the forest or at the ocean, reading, meditating and cooking!

 

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Below is a sample of some of the workshops offered at the fourth-annual Womyn’s Summit in 2017.
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Womyn’s Voice || Womyn’s Power with Maryz Helene

She who speaks, who sings, who prays, who calls for vision; She who creates and manifests her dreams on this earthly plane is a woman of power. We all have a voice, unique to our own inner essence; a vibratory medicine that helps to shifts the frequency of ourselves and our surroundings. In these time of accelerated changes, the voices of the feminine are crucial. We need the whole spectrum, our voices as one, to create harmony, balance and a positive change within and around us. In this journey, we will raise our vibration through chanting together. We will honour our body temple with gentle yogic stretches. We will do vocal toning and harmonize ourselves with the five elements of Earth, Water, Fire, Air & Ether. We will explore the power of mantras and that of clear intentions.

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Moving Through Fear: Give Birth to Your Highest Self with Kundalini Yoga with Anastasia Akasha Kaur
There are two universal forces at work in our lives: the force of Love and the force of Fear. Fear is a lower vibrational energy that is taking us away from our source. Love is a higher vibrational energy that is taking us toward our source – who we really are. In each and every moment, you get to choose. At this time we are being called to go deep within ourselves and discover our Spirit – our supreme intelligence that when activated uplifts us and the energy of the whole planet. Discover how Kundalini Yoga and Meditation can help you move through fear and give birth to your highest self.

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Buddhi Booty Bounce: A Sacred Twerkshop Unleashing the Power of the Pelvis with Kerri Kresinski

Imagine a world where everyone feels safe to express.  Imagine a world where all bodies are liberated and empowered.  Unleash the power of the pelvis, merge the sacred with the profane, and throw your booty to the sky!  Relax and let gravity do the rest.  We will start by creating a safe container for exploration and expression, warming up and loosening the spine and pelvic regions, breath work, stretching, and moving consciously into twerking.  In addition to learning twerk technique, this workshop is also designed to be a safe place for people to explore, and possibly move through self-perceived limits, judgements and social conditioning.  Everyone is welcome- all genders, all shapes and sizes.  No experience necessary.  Please dress appropriately in comfortable clothing.

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Dancing With the Moon, Reclaiming the Creativity of our Blood with Courtney Trowse
What if when the Moon drew our blood from our Wombs we allowed ourselves to bask in the beauty and sensuality of this cycle of death and rebirth? What if we embraced our shedding to emerge like the glistening scorpion, leaving behind what no longer fits our swelling radiance poised and ready to dance in the darkness of the unknown? Let us gather in a Circle of Womyn to remember what that would be like. To share our own rituals, experiences, and fears as we work to awaken the Goddess knowledge within.
Courtney will hold a safe and private space to create your own art from your Sacred Blood, on your own or in the company of others. It is my hope that we can allow our practices to evolve organically through shared knowledge so that each of us can leave with a ceremony we feel drawn to take back into our daily lives and a curiosity to continue the pursuit of this ancient knowledge.

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Regeneration of Soul and Soil with Raina McDonald and Mandy Sandbach

A morning of  collaborative land-based art with Raina McDonald & Mandy Sandbach.

Plugging in to our unique, sacred essence while feeling the pulse of sisterhood.  Awakening with remembrance, embodying ancient wisdom that speaks through our cells and leads us into our intentional future.  Looking to the organic, unfolding nature of permaculture as a mirror for an open, thriving physical body and supportive community that is built on diversity.

We’ll begin with reminding ourselves that we are “experts” of our own lives and take that into intuitive permaculture design. Intuitive Permaculture will then be introduced and experienced in a hands-on, body and soul-led collaboration.  Birthing a creation that is site specific and regenerative, we will then flow out into our worlds with new perspectives to activate conscious engagement with our selves, each other and the Earth.

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Deep Core Strength: Yoni Lifting with Christina DeHaas

In this workshop we look into current marketing strategies that aim to ‘normalize’ urinary leaking and the use of adult diapers and what we can do to prevent such unhealthy promotions and boost our body confidence. Participants will be introduced to CoreGlow, a new, revolutionary, scientifically proven technique highly recommended by pelvic floor physiotherapists for core rehabilitation and optimum pelvic floor health for women (and men). This Hypopressive™ technique can rebuild the integrity of the pelvic floor after the downward force of giving birth as well as strengthening the abdomen, esp. after a c-section, lifting internal organs back to their healthy locations to prevent organ prolapse. I will encourage women to begin acquiring practical skills by exploring one or two beginner postures and introduce them to the effective low pressure breathing technique. Participating will help women feel why this is a tool to achieve results in a stimulating way that provides pleasure and well being. Gaining this internal strength also allows women to set better boundaries in life. What a gift for ourselves and daughters. Let’s not let society normalize adult diapers. Let’s celebrate our pelvic health.

 

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On Homeopathy with Hung Yeh-Peisinger

This workshop aims to introduce you to the complex, powerful and mind boggling system of healing  – homeopathy, and will give practical advise on how to use homeopathic remedies in situations like FIRST AID, and common acute conditions such as flus, earaches, stomach upsets, teething, colic.

 

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Below is a sample of some of the workshops offered at the third-annual Womyn’s Summit in 2016.
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Transmuting Stress into Relaxation with Denise Carson
Stress is the silent killer, but what is it?  How does it feel in our body? and how can we recognize when we are stressed and choose to bring ourselves back into a state of peace & calm?  This talk will give you some tools to become aware of stress in your life, as well as give you practical tools to manage your stress in the moment.  You will learn a simply breathing technique that everyone in your family can easily learn and apply.  This technique can change the stress dynamic and reactions for your whole family
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Introduction to Natural Family Planning: The Sympto-Thermal Method with Eli Leblanc
The Sympto-Thermal Method (STM), an effective, evidence-based, economical and ecological method of natural family planning. In this workshop, you will go through the basics of the feminine cycle and see how this precious knowledge can be used to avoid pregnancy, to increase you chances of conception or just to be more in phase with your body, using simple direct observations. The STM is a great way to empower yourself by taking charge of your fertility.
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Full Bloom Under the Sun and Moon – Flower Essence Workshop with Savayda Jaron
We will walk among the flowers in the light of the thunder moon, which will lead into a group plant attunement, followed by the making of a lunar flower essence. We will gather again on Saturday to further prepare the essence for long-keeping and each participant will take away a bottle of this super charged lunar/solar flower essence. Flower essences are used to restore balance and harmony to our emotions, and to further us on the spiritual path by deepening self knowing.
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The Art of Ceremony with Jennifer Ayer
For far too long we have been disconnected from our bodies, the natural world, and universal energy.  Whether you call it life-force, magic, chi, shakti, or love, women, from the beginning of time, have known how to access and work wit hit.  Midwives (with woman, witches (wise women), shamans (access the other world) or goddess archetypes (flowing energy through creation), have all been trained to communicate with this invisible energy.  It spins our planets and moves the tides.  It initiates the contracting of the womb, and shows us the path of re-membering. All you have to do is believe.  In this workshop I will share with you the seven habits, practices and rituals that I use to work with this energy in order to shape the outcomes of my life.  This will help you learn how to embody your spiritual energy on a daily basis, and to inspire the other women in your tribe.
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Tara the Female Buddha with Pam Rubin
Who is Tara, the Female Buddha? How does an ordinary person become a compassionate Buddha – Tara, also known as the Swift Liberator Heroine, made this journey and we can too. Learn about Tara and the Buddhist practices associated with invoking her powers of wisdom, compassion and rescue.  How can we use these practices to overcome suffering in our lives and in the world? What does it mean to see with the eye of wisdom?  How can we manifest our true nature in our everyday life?
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Empowering Your Warrior Soul Through Song and Drum with Courtney Trowse
If humanity is to thrive, the voices of womyn need to be heard. We are the wisdom keepers, the healers, the warriors who shall stand for those who can not speak, who can not fight, we are the Goddess incarnate. In this workshop we will lift our voices in song with our Sisters, drumming in rhythm with the sacred heartbeat of the Earth. Through our songs we will receive healing and be bathed in strength. Our voices will rise through us,unleashed, powerful, and formidable as we offer prayer, healing, possibility, and hope. Our songs shall awaken our Souls, ignite fires, and give us the confidence to be heard and embrace our roles as catalysts of change that the Earth needs us to become. Please bring along a drum or rattle if you have one. No singing experience necessary, just a desire to speak your truth.
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Cacao Ceremony with Mara Panacci
Come and explore the mystical depths that lay resting in your heart centre, using ceremonial grade raw cacao from the Guatemalan highlands. Together we will use cacao as medicine, as ancient cultures throughout modern day Central and South American have been doing for centuries. Cacao can be a portal to the creative and sensual parts of ourselves, and can be used to release negative emotions and heal old wounds. We will drink, share stories, make art, find movement, dance and allow the medicine to reveal it’s messages. Please bring your own cup and journal.
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Re-Childing: The Value of the Healing Spirit of Nature in the Life of a Child with Laura Martin
We hear about it more and more, how our children’s cultural landscape is plagued by inactivity, obesity, and over-consumption of tech time. Today’s children  are more aware about our global environmental threats than ever before, but their intimacy with our natural physical world is fading. This disconnect is painful to both parties. Join me as we discuss how the healing spirit of nature supports the incarnating child, and promotes wonder, reverence, and gratitude in our children. We will explore Rudolph Steiner (founder of Waldorf Education)’s philosophies of children’s lower senses and how time spent outdoors, free from the restriction and imposition of adult interference, can strengthen and heal them and our physical world.
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Who Is the ‘Real Me’ In The Many Faces I Adorn That Are Shaping My Reality? with Joanne Rolfe
Inspiring women at all stages of life to strive towards living a life of authenticity, purpose and direction. By shedding the layers of what has been defining us, to be more in touch with our ‘Being’, brings us closer to our truth. Shifting our focus from our external reality, perceptions and expectations of others, to our inner being, we gain clarity on what is Our unique life journey, what we want to experience and how we want to FEEL. Honouring our needs as we maneuver through various stages of life can be challenging if we don’t have clearly defined values, beliefs and boundaries to guide us on our journey.
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Empowering our Bodies & Minds with Bellydance with Barbara Aubie
This Bellydance workshop is suitable for everyone. Learn fundamentals and combine movement to create simple and pleasurable dances for yourself.
According to the Journal of Women & Aging (Jan. 31, 2014) women take up Bellydance for fitness, friendship and visibility. Bellydance can help with physical and psychological changes that occur by boosting feelings of overall health and the intergenerational relationships that develop by bonding thru dance often create a supportive atmosphere for those coping with common concerns. A particularly important aspect of belly dance is the opportunity to allow older women to maintain visibility. How Bellydance makes a woman feel, the self-confidence achieved through dancing in with others and in public, often spills over into other aspects of daily life.
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#YesAllWomen: Coping with the Risks and Realities of Male Violence Against Women with Katie Burke 
“Each time a woman stands up for herself, without claiming it, she stands up for all women.” – Maya Angelou
The United Nations defines violence against women as: “Any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or in private life.” In the climate of male violence being an undeniably urgent problem, idealized qualities of caring, compassion, empathy and forgiveness can put women at extreme risk and require close examining. In this talk, we’ll discuss women’s vulnerability at a societal and personal level, and look at real indicators of danger – including where they come from and how to interpret them. We will also share critical information including key contacts for law enforcement, women’s shelters, legal information and financial support, as well as what to expect in navigating these systems.
In the second part of this talk, we’ll explore radical self-care for surviving the psychological, social and physical impacts of stress, and the mammoth task of healing as individuals, families and communities. Whether you’ve experienced the intense stress of feeling unsafe in your home, or the general fear of being a woman in the world – let’s be stronger together.
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