F1 Consciousness and Healing: A Town Meeting—Marilyn Mandala Schlitz and a team of health professionals

This evocative participatory workshop will explore the ways in which new discoveries in medicine, science, and society inform an expanded, integral model of health. We will consider new developments that can help each of us to renew and replenish ourselves in the midst of busy days and complex lives, and discuss implications for clinical practice based on our own direct experiences.

F2 Creating Your Own Evolutionary Stew with Passion, Reason, and Imagination—James O’Dea

We will explore the nature and role of authentic passion in fueling our personal and collective growth as a species. At the same time, we will examine the relationship between passion and reason in shaping evolving societal conditions and making reliable and enlightened choices in complex social and global environments.

James O'Dea is president of the Institute of Noetic Sciences and a member of the World Wisdom Council founded by Ervin Laszlo. He was director of the Washington, DC, office of Amnesty International for ten years and spent six years as executive director of the Seva Foundation.

F3 The Living Classroom: Working with Fields of Consciousness—Chris Bache

This workshop will explore the fields of collective consciousness that surface in group settings, and the blending of minds that allows deep insights to arise and hidden truths to be exchanged. Participants will be given specific strategies for working with these fields.

Chris Bache, PhD, is an award-winning teacher, lecturer, and author. He has been a professor of Religious Studies for 28 years, an adjunct faculty member at California Institute of Integral Studies, and the author of Lifecycles and Dark Night, Early Dawn. His work explores the philosophical implications of non-ordinary states of consciousness.

F4 Oceans of Mercy: Surfing the Waves to the Divine—Shaykh Yassir Chadly

Just as the surfer becomes one with the wave, so does the human heart become one with the Eternal through the Sufi practice of remembrance (DhikrAllah, or chanting). We will practice DhikrAllah sitting, standing, and dancing in circles with live music.

Shaykh Yassir Chadly is a native of Morocco and has been the imam (spiritual leader) of the Masjid Al-Iman, a multicultural Sufi mosque, since 1992. He is an associate professor at the Graduate Theological Union (GTU) in Berkeley and the California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco, and is also a musician, Sufi storyteller, and speaker.

F5 Media and Consciousness: A Town Meeting—Matthew Gilbert with Stephen Kiesling of Spirituality & Health magazine, Michael Toms of New Dimensions Media, and others

The power of mass media to deliver deeper truths about the challenges our civilization faces— as well as remarkable opportunities for transformation—has never been more potent. In this panel we’ll hear from a wide range of presenters whose groundbreaking work in print, audio, and film is helping us change the world.

Matthew Gilbert is Director of Communications at the Institute of Noetic Sciences, editor of Shift: At the Frontiers of Consciousness, and editorial director of soon-to-be-launched Noetic Press. He is also the author of two books, The Workplace Revolution: Restoring Trust in Business, and Bringing Meaning to Our Work.

F6 Green-Collar Jobs: The Next Step Forward—Van Jones

As the sustainable portion of the economy grows, it creates more than just business opportunities for the rich and improved consumer choices for the middle class. The green economy also creates job opportunities to lift people out of poverty. This workshop shows how we can bring together the social justice and ecology movements in the service of "greening our cities,” the surest pathway both to peaceful streets and global ecological health.

Van Jones champions alternatives to violence and incarceration in urban America. A Yale educated attorney, he is president of the Ella Baker Center in Oakland, California. Under the slogan “Green-Collar Jobs, Not Jails," he works to build a green economy that is strong enough to lift people out of poverty.

F7 Using Our (Energy) Bodies as Healing Instruments—Gay Luce and Deborah Jones

A huge range of healing modalities is available to each of us, requiring only minimal skill and a little intention. We will learn a variety of methods, from hands-on work to the use of sound, and will play with the mind-body-spirit connection to maximize aliveness and relaxation.

Gay Luce, PhD, is the founder of Nine Gates Mystery School, a transpersonal psychologist, author of five books translated into seven languages, and three-time recipient of the American Psychological Association Award for Journalism. Gay is a visionary who started the SAGE program for the elderly.

Deborah Jones, MA, is executive director of Nine Gates Programs, Inc. and a teacher at the Nine Gates Mystery School. Deborah's spiritual journey began in the heart of corporate America, where she worked for 24 years as an organizational development consultant and advisor to senior management teams. Deborah is a certified hypnotherapist and carries the healing lineage of her Kahuna.

Saturday Breakout Sessions

S1 Spontaneous Re-Mission: Our Positive Future and How to Get There from Here—Steve Bhaerman

In this two-part session, Steve—who co-authored with Bruce Lipton a book with the above title—offers an inspiring and enlightening presentation on why and how to shift from survival to "thrival." Part two will offer an exciting interactive process to help us start "living" this new paradigm immediately.

Swami Beyondananda, aka Steve Bhaerman, is a writer, comedian and “uncommontator.” On the “serious” side, his new book with Bruce Lipton is called Spontaneous Re-Mission: Our Positive Future and How to Get There From Here.

S2 Integral Health: The Path to Human Flourishing—Elliott Dacher

Our uppermost potential for health and healing is not fixed. The integral level of health transcends and embraces all earlier approaches, offering expansive and profound well-being. In this session you will discover the principles and practices of an evolutionary, holistic, and developmental integral health.

Elliott Dacher, MD, is a medical practitioner, researcher, and author probing the frontiers of an evolutionary medicine. His most recent book, Integral Health, introduces the principles and practices of this newly emerging approach to health and healing.

S3 The Science of Transformation—Cassandra Vieten, Marilyn Mandala Schlitz, Tina Amorok, and a panel of scientists.

Studying transformations in consciousness presents numerous challenges. How can we hope to quantify such deeply subjective experiences as increases in love, or fundamental shifts in perspective? Advances in positive psychology, neuroscience, qualitative methods, and psychoneuroimmunology are making such assessments possible. Join us for an extended, three-hour workshop to learn more about how to systematically investigate the transformative process.

Cassandra Vieten, PhD, is a research psychologist at the Institute of Noetic Sciences, associate scientist at California Pacific Medical Center, and a licensed clinical psychologist. She is also coauthor of Living Deeply: The Art and Science of Transformation.

Tina Amorok, PsyD, is a clinical psychologist and research associate at the Institute of Noetic Sciences, an investigator on the IONS Transformation of Consciousness Project, co-author of Living Deeply: The Art and Science of Transformation, and co-editor of the IONS anthology, Consciousness and Healing: Integral Approaches to Mind-Body Medicine.

Marilyn Mandala Schlitz, PhD, is Vice President for Research and Education at the Institute of Noetic Sciences in California and Senior Scientist at California Pacific Medical Center. She is co-editor of Consciousness and Healing: Integral Approaches to Mind-Body Medicine and co-author of the upcoming Living Deeply: The Art and Science of Transformation (Noetic Press/New Harbinger, Jan. 2008)

S4 Expanding Our Heart's Field within Yoga—Shiva Rae

Experience the healing power of the rhythmic, vibratory intelligence of our heart's energetic field. We'll integrate specific heart-centered vinyasa with pranayama, mudra meditation, bhava (feeling awareness), visualization, and chanting with an understanding of our spiritual and physical heart.

Shiva Rea teaches prana vinyasa flow yoga and yoga trance dance worldwide. Her studies in the Krishnamacharya lineage, tantra, ayurveda, yogic art, and somatic movement infuse her approach to living yoga and embodying the flow. She is a regular contributor to Yoga Journal, and Creative Yoga Director of Exhale Spa.

S5 Revisiting Hallucinogen Research: An Experimental Model with Advanced-Stage Cancer and Anxiety—Charles Grob

This presentation will review the anthropology, ethnobotany, and chemistry of hallucinogens and their history as treatment models in psychiatry. We will discuss the clinical rationale, design, and progress of a current, approved investigation exploring the safety and efficacy of psilocybin in the treatment of advanced cancer patients with anxiety.

Charles S. Grob, MD, is Professor of Psychiatry and Pediatrics at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center. He conducts approved research investigations of various psychedelic substances, and is the editor of Hallucinogens: A Reader and co-editor (with Roger Walsh) of Higher Wisdom: Eminent Elders Explore the Continuing Impact of Psychedelics.

S6 Empathy and the Brain: How Humans Connect—Tom Lewis

In the past few years, new imaging technologies have allowed neuroscientists to look inside the brain during times of emotional connection. In this session we will explore these discoveries and what they tell us about the biological basis of empathy, the link that binds us to one another.

Tom Lewis, MD, is Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at the University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine, the author of A General Theory of Love, and an expert on the science of human emotion.

S7 Acting Wisely: Beyond “Us” and “Them”: A Town Meeting—Jane Hughes Gignoux, Sharon Joy Kleitsch, and Nancy Margulies

“Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and right doing there is a field—I'll meet you there.” —Rumi

Town meetings, the bedrock of American democracy, enable the wisdom of the people to be shared and honored. In the respectful environment of World Café dialogue, we will examine critical issues beyond the boundaries that often divide us. Shared understandings among equals can guide our actions, allowing collective wisdom to emerge.

Jane Hughes Gignoux, author of Some Folk Say: Stories of Life, Death, and Beyond, is a past president and board member of FIONS in New York City, a co-founder of the Coalition for OneVoice, and Coordinator of IONS’ Elder Council. She facilitates World Café dialogues widely.

Sharon Joy Kleitsch inspires communities, organizations, and individuals to partner “outside the box” in conversations that matter and actions that make a difference. She has synergized her business experience at Citicorp and a masters in Spirituality with systems thinking derived from the emerging research on love, heart, and fields.

Nancy Margulies is one of the original World Café pioneers and the developer of “Mindscaping,” a unique method for graphically representing ideas. Her books include Mapping Inner Space and Visual Thinking: Tools for Mapping Your Ideas. She has worked with President Clinton, Al Gore, Meg Wheatley, and the Dalai Lama.

S8 How to Live in Peace, Not In Pieces—His Holiness Swami Chidanand Saraswati

As one of India's most revered spiritual leaders, His Holiness Swami Chidanand Saraswati is often asked how to create peace. In this workshop, he discusses the most important foundation of global transformation—becoming the change we want to see in the world. How can we become torchbearers of change until we have found deep peace within ourselves? Join us for discourse, question-answer time, and meditation that will help you tap into the boundless well of peace within so the well can overflow and bring peace to the world.

His Holiness Swami Chidanand Saraswati is one of India’s most revered spiritual leaders. He spent his youth in silence and meditation in the Himalayan forests before becoming president and spiritual head of Parmarth Niketan Ashram in Rishikesh. He is also the founder/chairman of India Heritage Research Foundation, an international nonprofit humanitarian organization.