Worthwhile Workshops

At James Patrick Kelley's workshop, "Twenty-first Century PR: Promoting Your Career on the Net," held on Saturday at SNHU through the New Hampshire Writers' Project, he delivered even more than promised. Although I knew his reputation as a sci-fi writer, I didn't know that he is also a consummate presenter. His session provided much helpful advice regarding blogs, vblogs, podcasts and other internet tools for getting one's message out in the world. It was a day very well spent - and this blog is the first (and hopefully not last) evidence of its utility.

Last Wednesday, I attended "Find Balance and Joy with Ayurveda," presented by Beverly Walsh Gobbi at the Women Supporting Women Center in Exeter. Having heard Deepak Chopra and many yoga teachers refer to Ayurveda, I've always been curious to know more. This informative overview helped me to understand my own prakriti (dosha or energetic constitution) and inspired me to begin reading "The Complete Book of Ayurvedic Home Remedies" by Vasant Lad, one of Beverly's teachers. Ayurveda is the oldest continuously practiced natural medicine on the planet and is recognized by the World Health Organization. Although I still know relatively little about it, it seems to meld nicely with the Shamanic healing I've been studying.

In September, I attended a weekend workshop on basic Shamanism sponsored by Michael Harner's Foundation for Shamanic Studies. I knew nothing about Shamanism, but had seen the word in the subject line of some spam and landed at the FSS site when I Googled it. A most ancient tradition, Shamanism has been around as long as humans have (some say up to 40,000 years), and is found in every indigenous culture on the planet. Harner, an anthropologist, studied with a number of cultures around the world and then distilled the common practices to create a body of work that he teaches through the Foundation. What Shamans do is tap into the wisdom of the spirit(ual) world to guide us on this plane. Returning from the workshop, I read Harner's "The Way of the Shaman" and am now reading "The Secrets of Shamanism" by Jose Stevens and Lena S. Stevens. Despite the cheesy title, I find the latter book very informative; it's written as a hands-on guide with helpful "how-to" side bars for each technique.


Now to carve out time to put all this exciting learning into action...