Heart of Now is one of the most powerful transformation experiences anywhere, and has touched the lives of thousands of individuals, helping bring them clarity, healing, connection, and greater joy.

At Heart of Now we do exercises that enable us to access the art of being present. We focus on body sensations, what we are feeling,thinking and what emotions are present. We notice what our intuition, and our gut are telling us. Then we create closeness and honesty (with ourselves and others) by sharing what is true for us, right now, in this moment.

We begin by simply being present with our self and each other. When we do this, our insecurities might come up. We might notice that we have a story about ourselves - about our unworthiness, or our desire to be liked. We might notice that we trust. Or that we don't. When we take the time to be present with our self and listen, we can notice that life isn't just happening to us. We create it each moment in the midst of whatever filters, fixed ideas and emotional contexts we attach to it. Suddenly, we can look at the choices we've been making, and realize the world is filled with many other options! Then, at Heart of Now, we will then spend time looking at what is inside us that inspires us and what next steps we can take to create that.. Many people who go through this workshop begin to interact with others with more ease, experiment with new ways to deal with difficult issues in their personal lives and at work, and take more risks towards getting what they want. For more info., please visit our website: www.HeartofNow.org.

Lisa Stein: People and growing are my greatest passions. On my last 30 years, my life feels so much richer, more alive, so full of life, with more periods of joy for longer periods of time. I look at feelings of depression and hopelessness with curiosity. I acknowledge the cycle of distress and if I haven't grown to appreciate those feelings, at least I feel confident about delving in, and seeing what they are all about, and having a confident knowing that there is an end in sight, which comes faster and easier these days. From wherever we are starting from, things can get better, easier and lighter. Not like a magic wand. But like an ongoing growth of more ease, contentment, joy and self comfort. When we cut off our pain, we are also cutting off our joy. We can feel it all!! And maybe the sad parts don't feel great, but there is an aliveness in allowing the sadness that actually feels good. I assure you it beats apathy, denial and hopelessness. Vulnerability is a great strength. It is our path to closeness.

My roots are in psychotherapy, co-counseling, Jung, Process-Oriented Psychology, developing intuition and Heart of Now. Thirty years have given me a large tool belt! But essentially, just talking doesn't seem to be as effective for most people as including noticing what is present with body sensations, emotions and using role playing. Each person is an individual with her or his own unique needs. My belief is in trusting each person's inner wisdom. You know what you need. I can help you access it. For more info: LisaStein.atspace.cc

In Contact, Improvising & Exploration!

Seven Simple Options for Immediate Dancing and Infinite Exploration! and Safety 101

https://contactgames.wordpress.com/writing/7-options/

Contact Improvisation is relational medicine. It is freedom grounded in connection. It is a powerful balm and sublime fun when there is awareness present and options available for immediate use.

It is improvisation. You are the source, filter and framer of your experience. You are the initiator/responder, receiver/transmitter, master/student -- in charge of the changing nature of your experience. Become intimate with gravity. It is the lord of us all, dictating our relationality.

You are an intricate and unique part of a whole. If the whole is not healthy, the parts suffer. At all times you are influencing and being influenced. Pay attention to this lively dynamic at play. Own that you are the one and the all. Own your participation and responsibility in the mutuality of interbeing.

Track the perpetual unfolding of the one and only moment. Notice whether what is is beneficial. If it is not, notice and act upon what else is possible. Commit to caring for yourself, first. Then, extend your caring to all you are related to!

Contact Improvisation as a Practice of Belonging and Freedom

Dancing the meaning and possibility of mutual thriving - via fun and games!

The stories we tell and our choice in relationship to them. What does it mean to care for yourself, first. Then, what? What are you doing? What else is possible?

Show up. Ask what wants to happen. No place to get, you are already there. The present is the present. Receive it.

Carolyn Stuart

Carolyn Stuart has been in Contact Improvisation since 1984 with research spanning 17 countries, hundreds of projects, and diverse populations. Her primary teachers have been curiosity, the blindfold, and the thread of investigation with Patrick Gracewood called the Touchmonkey version of Contact Improvisation. She's found Contact Improvisation holds a key to mutual well-being. Imagining it offers us a paradigm to live by, her focus is to distill the vastness of possibility to the simplest of terms, so that anyone can dance their way to inter-being that cares for us all! Currently, she bases in Portland, OR at Gracewood Studio.

How would you like to know what's really going on with the people in our community? What could you share that would help you feel more connected and more authentic? "Going Deeper" is about skillful transparency that brings us closer as a community by co-creating a container for self-revelation and compassionate listening, building trust one relationship at a time. Very often it's the things we don't say that keep us from creating deep intimacy; that inhibits new connections from blossoming into friendships. We think we're being kind by not saying what's really going on for us — it's so much easier to say nothing than to take a risk. But those "unsaids" can fester and create distance, and powerful cultural norms help keep that pattern in place. Let's strengthen our power as cultural creators of summer camp! Join us in our daily practice and let's make it a habit to share difficult truths, intimate appreciations, and vulnerable parts of ourselves as we go about our day. Consider the possibility that we have no idea who our closest friends could be once we start sharing at this level.

Facilitated by Roberto Rodriguez, Marta Gradilone Rodriguez, Debby Sugarman

Hot Pink Puja

Caroline Carrington's legendary Hot Pink Puja is an interactive experience expanding connections, intimacy and love. You are guided through a series of fun and playful exercises including sound, breath, energy and conscious touch and invited to choose a variety of partners through the evening.

Sample the juicy delights Tantra has to offer. Tantalize your senses while getting high on energy itself exploring your heart, energy and a deeper connection with yourself and others. This is the perfect place to come and explore Tantra whether you're dipping your toes in for the first time or a reasoned pro!

Caroline Carrington

The whole point of Tantra in my view is to celebrate all of us with all of our humanness, uniqueness and diversity. I am committed in my workshops, events and private sessions to share Tantra from a place that welcomes all people regardless of race, sexual orientation, religion or gender identity. I want as many people as possible to find a safe space for their exploration in an experience of love and welcoming instead of discrimination. I welcome people from all across the spectrum including the LGBTQI community. I also want the heteronormative men in my community not to be discriminated against based on gender and charged more or asked to find a gender balance to be able to attend my events.

I am committed to creating more opportunities for people to break down barriers in our hearts and lives to welcome more love in. I believe we change the world by touching hearts and lives, one at a time and then going out and sharing that love with the rest of the world. Let keep choosing to gather in spaces where opportunities to dive into more love and break down the barriers are available.

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"I learned more at your evening White Tantra workshop than during a full weekend tantra workshop provided by somebody else. You have found your calling!"
    ~ Gayle Roberts, Fundraising Consultant, San Francisco

"Caroline's presence as she leads the group is nothing short of stellar. She holds a very large container that includes all, yet her connection to the intimate and the nuanced never wavers. Her power and intentions come through in her delivery, pacing and groundedness as she takes the tribe on a beautifully composed, delightful journey through awakening, aliveness and sensual juiciness. As I journeyed with her, I knew we would hear more from her. Experience her now while you can, this woman is going to soar! "
    ~ Kathy Vinson, Sexological Bodyworker, Mountain View

Exploring Inner and Outer Awareness and Diversity

Shay brings an experiential process to explore awareness through deepening our connection to our deep essence and movement. Shay incorporates work described by Arny and Amy Mindell as process work and Deep Democracy. How does our inner process relate to the outer process? How might we deepen this relationship? Are there areas in our outer process that we might become more familiar with as we deepen this relationship? How might we engage with this and integrate it? What parts of ourselves might be marginalized? How might this translate to the marginalization of other experiences we observe? What do we experience that can serve areas of diversity in our life? How might our experience of our deep essence and/or dreaming support this work? These questions will be explored as we share time engaging in processes of self exploration of the outer and inner, and how this might relate to world issues such as privilege and racism or other areas that the group identifies.

No preparation needed, attendees are invited to read Deep Democracy of Open Forums and or The Shamans Body by Arny Mindell if interested

Shay Tianna

Shay has masters level training in Feminist Psychology, Multiculturalism and Women’s Spirituality from New College and California Institute of Integral Studies, She has been studying and recently attended an experiential workshop with Arny and Amy Mindell on Deep Democracy's Relativity and Shamanism. She has found her work as a science and movement teacher, and recently in areas of social justice inspiring. She has an MA in Waldorf education, BS in Biology and is a certified Bothmer and Spacial dynamics movement teacher.

Rewilding

Come join us as we support each other in rewilding and opening our core bodies, using breath work, bodywork, sounding, playful movement and powerful ritual!

Feelings of being lost, overwhelmed and numb are symptoms of our inner disconnection from our deep core wisdom. We are trained by our culture to live in our minds, and ignore the beautiful beast that lives in our guts.

Amara

Amara has been studying alternative healing since 1978, having studied Swedish, Esalen and deep bodywork, Chinese healing, herbology, and Macrobiotics. She was trained in psychic reading, healing and meditation for two years at the Berkeley Psychic Institute, and has taught numerous classes in the same since then.

Amara taught Re-evaluation Co-counseling, a method of peer counseling, for over five years, and has been studying and practicing it since 1983. In 1989 she developed her own approach to peer counseling, called Wholistic Peer Support, integrating many ideas from RC with spiritual meditation practices, psychic healing, breathwork and body centered techniques. This has since evolved into a network of people under the name of Holistic Peer Counseling. She has taught hundreds of people to do peer counseling, and leads classes and support groups, including groups for sexual healing, parents and leaders.

She began studying Tantra and Sacred Spot work, a method of sexual healing, on Maui in 2003, and has since studied six different methods of pelvic bodywork. Among them were studies with Joan and Thomas Heartfield and Caroline Muir through the Divine Feminine/Awakened Masculine Institute. She studied and traveled with Chetan Samarpan, a French tantra teacher trained by Margot Anand. She learned Rivers of Love healing massage from David Bruce Leonard, .author of "How to Worship the Goddess and Keep Your Balls". She studied Taoist Practices in the tradition of Mantak Chia with Saida Desilets, author of the book "Emergence of the Sensual Woman". She has been teaching Sacred Sexual Healing Massage for men and women, and leading Tantra Pujas, on Hawaii and the west coast. See http://www.newculturehawaii.org/tantra.htm

She developed Heartbeat Nurturing Therapy, a method of healing the inner infant self using cradling, hypnotic induction and suckling to address emotional issues stemming from lack of breast feeding and loving closeness as an infant. She is the author of "Heartbeat Nurturing Therapy- Healing our Hearts".

She also has led and participated in many Goddess song circles, camps and Neo-pagan rituals since 1980, being attracted to the honoring of Nature, women and the natural cycles, and continues to offer these at La'akea. She eats all raw food, identifies as polyamorous, and currently lives in a land based permaculture community in Hawaii (see www.permaculture-hawaii.com). She currently is producing reproductions of her art as banners and prayer flags, which can be seen at www.karunaarts.com.

One of her primary goals is to empower as many people as possible to be effective, supportive allies for each other, and to encourage people to grow emotionally and spiritually, to be free and have fun.

Developing Deep Trust through Process Work

In this workshop, we'll use a combination of inner and outer relationship work to help us develop and maintain trust. Inner work supports us in letting go of old patterns and moving through stuck places so that we can be present to open to trust. Outer relationship work helps us determine our level of trust and build strong, trusting connections.

We'll touch on the following important trust related work:

• Signal and double signal work
• Roles, ghost roles, and relationships
• Rank and power
• Developing the energetic unity to be fully present
• Trust building through combining movement awareness and touch
• Cracking out of stuck old relationship patterns

Gary Reiss

Dr. Gary Reiss holds an LCSW, PhD., and is a certified trainer in Process-oriented Psychology. Gary has a private practice in Eugene and Portland, Oregon, and teaches Process oriented Psychology worldwide. He is a senior faculty member at the Process Work Institute, and brings 35 plus years’ experience to his work. His specialties include family therapy, sex therapy, working with coma patients, Worldwork in hot spots in the world, organizational development, and integrating Process work with different spiritual traditions. He has published 10 books including "The Dance of Sex"; "Dreaming Money"; and "Families that Dream Together". His new book that came out in 2015 is "Love, Power, and Wisdom."

Sheya and Owl are a team of evolutionary love artists and nomadic pollinators, committed to growing and sharing new/ next culture.

Sheya's primary offering is transformational heartistry. Bringing together all her years of initiation, decivilizing, and more trainings and tribes than can be named here... She is a dancing freedom and breath-wave practitioner as well as a next culture trainer, Also a wild grandma. And a visionary artist. She loves being a weaver of village. Currently her favorite activity is synergising and making up fresh language and practices for the new world. Her supershero love powers include grace, creating, clarity and possibility.

Owl is a nature wizard of harmony and deep heart. He brings decades of experience in healing ( Rolfing, yoga, Taoist and shamanic practice, bone whispering and human design) He is passionately into authenticity, empowerment, and assisting the great mutation. His superhero love powers are ease, high level fun, and service. He can often be found playing shakuhachi in the forest or chess..

Dancing Freedom

Dancing freedom is a free form, authentic movement practice. Integrating elemental waves of music and magic, we give body to our prayers. The process is lightly facilitated, mainly self directed, a recipe for community coherence and human rewilding, welcoming to all.

Soul Song Singing

First we'll explore the foundations of voice through movement and breath, then experiment with the elemental forces that naturally want to move through the voice and sometimes become blocked. We'll end with an uplifting game that brings these pieces together improvisationally and communally.

Second Sight Singing - Group Singing with a Twist

Join seasoned song-leaders, Aimée Ringle and Aimée Kelley on an experiential journey of sound, vibration, sensation, communication and wonder through group singing with a twist. For one [or however many] block session, she and a cadre of brave and trusting souls will navigate a community song circle with the varying limitations of blindfolds, earplugs and movement/interaction exercises to challenge and play with our skills of deep inner listening, group learning, socializing, adapting, and all that other stuff that comes up to be dealt with when the two senses we "drive" with take the back seat (or do they?). Along with this unique chance to change up an increasingly common phenomenon within our wider community (group singing), The Aimées comes humbly and joyfully accompanied by a flock of songs they have collected over the past few years that are ripe for the sharing and that dearly want to be taken home and sung when and where they are most needed! This session presents a unique learning and memory making opportunity as the songs and the feelings that come as we sing them (including 'this is weird, I can't see') take a more prominent role in our experience.

How would you like to know what's really going on with the people in our community? What could you share that would help you feel more connected and more authentic? "Going Deeper" is about skillful transparency that brings us closer as a community by co-creating a container for self-revelation and compassionate listening, building trust one relationship at a time. Very often it's the things we don't say that keep us from creating deep intimacy; that inhibits new connections from blossoming into friendships. We think we're being kind by not saying what's really going on for us — it's so much easier to say nothing than to take a risk. But those "unsaids" can fester and create distance, and powerful cultural norms help keep that pattern in place. Let's strengthen our power as cultural creators of summer camp! Join us in our daily practice and let's make it a habit to share difficult truths, intimate appreciations, and vulnerable parts of ourselves as we go about our day. Consider the possibility that we have no idea who our closest friends could be once we start sharing at this level.

Facilitated by Roberto Rodriguez, Marta Gradilone Rodriguez, Debby Sugarman

Embodied Community- Weaving Ourselves Together

"We can only love another as deeply as we love ourselves"

This afternoon, we will experience community building in a way that will leave us feeling more at home in our own bodies, more loving toward ourselves and more connected to each other.

We will integrate our second week campers into the love bubble that the week one campers have created. Playful movement, with verbal sharing and self reflection can be expected..

Lizzi Juda

Lizzi Juda has over 20 years of facilitating group processes and will draw on this knowledge to sweetly and smoothly create a space for playful, meaningful and sensual exploration.

Life is short. Time is money and there's never enough of either. Gotta look out for number one in this dog-eat-dog world.

What does it take to challenge these ideas and create a different reality in our community? What does it take to move into trust when playing the "money game"?

In this workshop we will unlock the possibility of greater ease and connection by revealing the challenges we face in giving and receiving abundantly within our community. We will develop our capacities of trust and gratitude as we discover that together we already have plenty of ability, resources, and wealth to fulfill all of our hearts' greatest desires.