[Catalyst 12 - June 11, 2017] Yoga Day Summit

By Ben Hart, VP of Marketing and Media

If you’re like me, yoga has helped you find peace and balance in what can, at times, feel like a chaotic world.

In fact, yoga has become such an integral part of modern life that it has encircled the globe, with people in every country practicing this ancient science and art that is estimated to be over 5,000 and possibly even 10,000 years old.

This is why we are thrilled to celebrate the third annual United Nations International Day of Yoga.

We have teamed up again with UPLIFT, Parmarth Niketan and many wonderful co-sponsors to bring you the Yoga Day Summit – a free two-day online video event on June 21 and 22.

To register for free, click here.

We have gone above and beyond with the Yoga Day Summit this year. We sent Philip M. Hellmich, our Director of Peace, together with Sandra de Castro Buffington (Founding Director of the Global Media Center for Social Impact), Richard Bergin (professional videographer) and four Shift community members to the birthplace of yoga: Rishikesh, India.

To watch Philip’s 90-second video invitation to the Summit, click here.

For nearly a month, they traveled the banks of the holy Ganges River in the foothills of the Himalayas visiting ashrams and sacred sites, participating in the International Yoga Festival and interviewing swamis, swaminis, world-renowned yoga teachers and students.

The Yoga Day Summit will feature interviews and presentations from more than 50 luminaries, including India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi, H.H. Pujya Swami Chidanand Saraswatiji, Sri Prem Baba, Vandana Shiva, Sadhvi Bhagawati Saraswatiji, Kia Miller, Tommy Miller and Anand Mehrotra.

The Yoga Day Summit will also feature UPLIFT’s new film, The New Science Behind Yoga, which highlights cutting-edge research showing the power of yoga therapy and yoga. The film features Bruce Lipton, Sharon Gannon, Seane Corn and Sat Bir Singh Khalsa.

The Yoga Day Summit is unlike any other yoga offering in that it will share over 20 hours of free video content, most of it filmed by our team in the birthplace of yoga, that explores the ancient roots and wisdom of yoga and its practical role in modern transformation, including improving health, overcoming addiction, opening to deeper states of love, taking action guided by natural intelligence to improve the world… and ultimately, awakening to self-realization.

The Yoga Day Summit will also feature hatha yoga classes, meditations and music breaks, all designed to inspire and uplift you.

I am so excited that we can offer you one of the highest quality video productions available on the ancient roots of yoga and how it can help transform your life and the world.

In this issue of The Catalyst, we’re featuring compelling articles by Azriel Re’Shel on the power of Trauma Sensitive Yoga; Anneke Lucas, founder of Liberation Prison Yoga, who asks the question, “How can we possibly connect with people if we’re ordering them around?”; Shift faculty Anodea Judith, who offers an insightful Q&A on the chakra system; Sadhvi Bhagawati Saraswati on the true meaning and purpose of yoga; and Maryam Abdul-Qawiy on a nonprofit that’s spreading the healing benefits of yoga throughout Belize.

In our Featured Media, Shift’s Director of Peace, Philip Hellmich, invites you to our annual Yoga Day Summit; Shift faculty Anodea Judith shares an excerpt on Kundalini from her new book; and Sister Jenna addresses the concept of awakening.

Our Member Profile features Shift Director of Peace Philip Hellmich, whose travelogue details his life-enriching experiences while leading a Shift Sacred Pilgrimage into the Soul of India, where he also conducted interviews for the Yoga Day Summit.

Our Featured Artist is Yopi & Lotta, German musicians whose new album, Namasté Pachamama, is a gorgeously uplifting album of spiritual world/folk music.

We would love to hear your answer to the question, “What’s been the biggest difference in your life since you started doing yoga?” To share your thoughts in our Facebook Page community, click here.

Our Shift Philanthropy section features the Give Back Yoga Foundation, which supports and funds certified teachers in all traditions to offer the teachings of yoga to underserved segments of society; and the Quiet Time meditation training program, dedicated to healing traumatic stress and raising performance in at-risk populations.

Philip Hellmich, The Shift Network’s Director of Peace and the host of The Yoga Day Summit, filmed a special 90-second video inviting you to the Summit. Click here to watch it!

Kundalini: The Underlying Spiritual Force of Chakra Awakening
Book excerpt from Anodea Judith’s Chakra Yoga

No discussion of the chakras would be complete without discussing Kundalini, the underlying spiritual force of chakra awakening. Often misunderstood and always mysterious, this serpentlike goddess of the chakras is the form that Shakti sometimes takes as she rises up the spine. As Kundalini-Shakti, she rises in search of her eternal lover and counterpart, Shiva.

Kundalini is a force that lies latent within each person. Latent, there is little drive toward awakening or perhaps the drive is scattered or sporadic. Spirituality may well exist, practices may be beneficial, but the underlying force that activates these practices may be absent. Many people have said to me over the years, “Oh, I’ve tried meditation (or yoga or pranayama or…) and it just didn’t do much for me.” I’ve never met anyone with a Kundalini experience who would say that.

To read more, click here.

What Does Being Awakened Mean to You?
Sister Jenna

In this one-minute video, Sister Jenna from Washington, DC, a member of The Shift Network’s Summer of Peace Wisdom Council, shares how she defines being awakened.

Click here to watch the video.

Global Shift Meditation —
Join Free! Free Event on the First of Every Month

Join The Shift Network,
The Gaiafield Project and people around the world for Global Shift Meditations the first of each month — click here to register for free. On June 1, we featured Anandra George, a pioneer in the global yoga community who created the world’s first registered yoga teacher training based entirely on the transformational power of sound. (The free recording is available here.)

Your Voice

We want to know: What’s been the biggest difference in your life since you started doing yoga? To share your thoughts in our Facebook Page community, click here.

The Power of Trauma Sensitive Yoga
By Azriel Re’Shel

Some years ago, I was involved in a women’s circle where an older woman, while dancing vigorously after a deep internal process, had a spontaneous memory of a long-buried trauma. As she fell into the vast emotion of this trapped experience, she became unhinged, unable to escape the emotional vacuum of this memory. With experience dealing with trauma, I supported her to come back into her body and find safety so that she could ground and return to stability.

It was extremely challenging to bring her back and it took me and another facilitator some time. But what was most important was not to let her re-experience the emotions to the extent that she was being re-traumatised, and to support her to move through it safely, and find a place of calm in her body that could anchor her once more.

Without a deep anchor in ourselves and our bodies, we are adrift in the sea of life, vulnerable to the storms and unexpected distress that can be unlocked at any time by a sensory trigger. Nearly all victims of acute trauma experience extreme disconnection from their bodies. This is where yoga comes in as a potent somatic technique for healing.

To read more, click here.

The Right Use of Commands
By Anneke Lucas

I started this practice of not using commands in teaching yoga four years ago. I know I didn’t immediately eliminate commands from my teaching: I’ve seen some footage of my prison class in which I am… using commands.

On the other hand, I’ve also become allergic to being commanded. On the rare occasion that I take a yoga class on the outside, I’m usually met with a well-meaning, perfectly nice yoga teacher, ordering me around.

I take it personally. I’m not used to it anymore. I can just imagine what it’s like to be commanded all day long, like prisoners.

How can we possibly connect with people if we’re ordering them around?

To read more, click here.

Q&A on the Chakra System with Anodea Judith, PhD

Q: What are the chakras?

The word chakra is Sanskrit for wheel or disk, and you can think of the chakras as vortices of energy that exist at the meeting point of mind and body. They function as resistors or capacitors for increasing or diminishing the energies that come into us from the outside, and move out to the world from our insides. In this way they are portals between the inner and outer world.

My particular definition is that they are “centers of organization for the reception, assimilation, and transmission of life force energy.” This life force energy exists on different levels and is represented by the elements of the chakras: earth, water, fire, air, sound, light, and thought.

To read more, click here.

Yoga: For Ourselves. For Our Planet
By Sadhvi Bhagawati Saraswati

The Early Days:

As our car pulled into the driveway, my dad checked the mailbox. “Did it come? Did it come?” I gasped excitedly. The year was 1986, and I had been waiting in breathless anticipation for the past two days. I knew that the results of my black belt test had been mailed and my heart plummeted into my stomach every time I thought about it. My dad handed me the thick envelope – filled with handwritten evaluations of the five senior black belts who had assessed my test. Each would have written “pass” or “fail” at the bottom of his detailed analysis of every mistake I’d made in my katas and sparring. At fifteen years old, I was one of the youngest girls, and certainly of the non-Asian girls, to ever test for black belt in Los Angeles. As I forced myself to keep breathing, I gingerly opened the envelope and reviewed the results. One by one they said “pass.”

To read more, click here.

Yoga in Belize: A Catalyst for Change
By Maryam Abdul-Qawiyy

The rhythm of the heart beats steady and sure while pumping blood to our organs. The breath silently slips into our lungs, expanding and releasing. Our bodies move with each inhalation and exhalation, focused and calm, as it orchestrates this union of the mind, body and breath.

Yoga — a spiritual science and art, widely known for its physical postures or Asanas, goes far beyond the bodily movements. Practitioners learn to connect to themselves, to an inner knowing, to an essence within that is a part of every other being, the environment, the earth and the entire universe.

To read more, click here.

Journey to the Birthplace of Yoga: Awakening to Natural Intelligence
By Philip M. Hellmich

In February, I traveled to Rishikesh, India with my longtime friend, Sandra de Castro Buffington (Founding Director of the Global Media Center for Social Impact) and new friends Richard Bergin (professional videographer) and four Shift community members. Sandra and I were leading a Shift Sacred Pilgrimage into the Soul of India and we also were conducting interviews for the Yoga Day Summit, celebrating the third annual United Nations International Day of Yoga.

We traveled to the birthplace of yoga to explore the ancient roots and wisdom of yoga and to better understand its role in transforming lives and societies around the world.

To read more, click here.

It’s almost here! The Yoga Day Summit, a free two-day online video event held on June 21 and 22, will be sharing over 20 hours of free video content, most of it filmed by our team in Rishikesh, India, the birthplace of yoga. Click here to sign up so you can listen to visionary speakers such as India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Seane Corn, Michael Singer, Deva Premal and Miten, and Bruce Lipton. Hosted by Shift’s Director of Peace, Philip Hellmich, the Yoga Day Summit is a one-of-a-kind experience with a global community of yogis — sages, musicians, scientists and beloved teachers from around the globe — that provides you with yoga practices, guided meditations and healing breathwork for restoring, balancing and invigorating your body, mind and soul. You’ll get to experience more than 50 Yoga Day Summit sessions over two days, including exclusive videos with yogis on the banks of the sacred Ganges River! See our list of dynamic speakers and find out everything you need to know by clicking here.

Parmarth Niketan’s International Day of Yoga

Join one of India's most revered spiritual leaders and yogis, His Holiness Swami Chidanand Saraswatiji for a historic first-of-its-kind celebration of International Day of Yoga at the United Nations in New York City on June 20 and 21. Organized by the Indian Mission to the United Nations and attended by eminent dignitaries, this celebration will include music, meditation with Sadhvi Bhagawati Saraswatiji, chanting and dynamic yoga classes with three of America's most renowned yoga experts: Seane Corn, Sharon Gannon, and Gurmukh Kaur Khalsa, along with renowned musician, Jai Uttal. Also joining will be spoken word artist and social media phenom, Prince Ea. For more information on the event, click here. You can register by clicking here.

Join us from September 8 to 10 in Piedmont, South Dakota, to celebrate the fourth and final Black Hills Unity Concert. It’s free to the public, and native youth from the surrounding areas will be invited to attend a special program of traditional teachings just for them. Given today’s political environment and the challenges in the Black Hills, this coming together promises to be like no other.

There is no shortage of statistics and heartbreaking stories within native communities. However, the strength and determination of our youth became apparent for all the world to see during the months-long prayer at Standing Rock. They have decided to fight for the future of our communities and for Grandmother Earth. This year's celebration is a thank you to them, acknowledgement of the commitments made, and a prayer for the future.

For more information, to watch a two-minute video about the concert, click here. To support this free event with your donation, click here.

Within the potent sounds of Sanskrit mantras for peace is connection to a deeply established network of peace — within and without, modern and ancient. Join a global community of peacemakers actively using their minds and hearts to transmit peace into the atmosphere! Together, we learn simple Sanskrit mantras, syllable by syllable in exquisite detail, and invoke peace for all beings. Click here to join the 108-day experience — and to hear the Sanskrit mantra that translates to, “May all the beings in all the worlds be happy.”

Anodea Judith’s Chakra Yoga

This brand new book by Shift faculty Anodea Judith is a must-have resource for anyone who teaches or wants to learn more about yoga. It includes 232 full-color photos, detailed alignment instructions, chakra-based posture sequences, pranayama techniques, mantras, yoga philosophy, and more!

Take a 36-page sneak peek here. You can order your copy — and watch a 2-minute video from Anodea — here.

Soul Awakening Practice
By James O’Dea

This brand new book of prayer and contemplation is for evolutionaries and activists, for deep ecologists, for spiritual seekers engaged in passionate renewal, and for all those thirsty for a spiritually coherent worldview.

Prayer and contemplation can access the deepest aspect of our will to radically change our lives and transform the world — the deeper the contemplation the more profoundly we can be stirred to meaningful action.

Each set of poetic reflections concludes with a short essay by outstanding spiritual leaders and thinkers: Barbara Marx Hubbard on soul awakening; Anodea Judith on heart opening; Ervin Laszlo on light shining; Michael Singer on wounds dissolving and Hopi elder Mona Polacca on peace radiating.

For more information, click here.

A Simple Solution for Our Disconnected World
Thursday, September 7, at 5:30pm Pacific

This global webinar educates adults in the Connection Practice®, an efficient, scientifically-based social-emotional skill for creating a world that works for everyone. Attend this free hour-long webinar, A Simple Solution for Our Disconnected World, and learn about this powerful antidote to violence that is enriching lives around the globe. For more information, click here.

Hanuman Festival
Yoga + Music + Boulder, CO — June 15–18, 2017

If you’re ready to deepen your practice and immerse yourself in conscious community, then join us for four epic days of master classes, music, inspirational talks & celebration in the heart of Boulder. Featuring Seane Corn, Rod Stryker, Gurmukh Kaur Khalsa, Annie Carpenter, Amy Ippoliti, Sianna Sherman, Saul David Raye, Janet Stone, and so many more. Come together to raise the vibration! For more information, click here.

The intention of the 5-day Kriyas Conscious Living gathering in Ibiza at the end of September is “to bring the divine feminine energy shakti into our everyday actions such that a life of consciousness can arise from within its authentic form.” Click here to read an article on this gathering by Shakti Anand. For more details, click here.

The Sattva Summit
November 7 to 13 at the Sattva Retreat in Rishikesh, India

The Sattva Summit is a boutique conscious gathering, offering the opportunity for yogis from across the globe to gather as a community for a week of deep healing, expansion and reasonless joy at The Sattva Retreat, a luxurious sanctuary nestled in the foothills of the Himalayans. We will gather as a community to deepen in our silence through daily group meditation and rituals, harmonize with the body in our yoga practice with globally renowned teachers, connect to ancient yogic wisdom and the evolutionary teachings of consciousness, and nourish our bodies with healing foods from leading Ayurvedic chefs of India, while enjoying live music, chanting and dancing. We will also have the opportunity to discover the beauty that Rishikesh has to offer, including hikes to Himalayan villages, temple tours, ganga dips, cave meditations, rafting, ayurvedic spa treatments, cooking classes, and much more! Click here to watch a short video invitation to the Sattva Summit.

Costa Rica Retreat with Karuna from Light On Kundalini
December 2 to 9
Blue Spirit Yoga & Meditation Retreat Center in Nosara, Costa Rica

Join us for a week of deep spiritual exploration in the serene and beautiful surrounds of the Blue Spirit Yoga and Meditation Retreat Center in Nosara, Costa Rica (Blue Spirit has been named a Yoga Journal “Best Yoga Escape 2017”). We will be breaking down the walls of resistance by going deeper into peace and tranquility through meditation. The week will include in-depth exploration of the technology of Kundalini Yoga for re-rooting, rest and restoration of the Complete Self from the stresses of daily life. You’ll develop a fulfilling everyday discipline, creating devotional practice with Sadhana at the ambrosial hour, meditation and chanting, and breath walks on the oceanfront, experiencing deep immersion into the Soul! For more information, click here.

The Global Indigenous Wisdom Library is a collection of audio and video interviews featuring Indigenous leaders from around the world sharing prayers, sacred songs, prophecies, spiritual teachings and pathways to healing, as well as concrete examples for birthing a new era — one in which all members of the human family are treated with respect, understanding, compassion and justice. This sacred wisdom is important medicine for us all. The production of The Global Indigenous Wisdom Library is a gift from The Shift Network, designed to inspire, inform and involve you by highlighting the voices and important messages of Indigenous leaders from around the world. We thank all the speakers who have contributed to this body of knowledge! To learn more, click here.

Book by Stephen Dinan: Sacred America, Sacred World. Infused with visionary power, Sacred America, Sacred World is a manifesto for our country’s evolution that is both political and deeply spiritual. It offers profound hope that America can grow beyond our current challenges and manifest our noblest destiny, which the book shows is rooted in sacred principles that transcend left or right political views. To order your copy, click here.

Through God’s Eyes: Finding Peace and Purpose in a Troubled World by Phil Bolsta of The Shift Network. Through God’s Eyes is a road map for living a more peaceful, beautiful life. It’s the only book that shows you how dozens of spiritual principles interact, how to weave them together into a cohesive worldview, and how to practically apply this spiritual wisdom to bring joy and vitality to your daily life. One reviewer called it “the owner’s manual God should give you when you’re born.” To order your copy, click here. To request a sample chapter from the author, email Phil at GodsEyes@me.com.

World Peace Library — Free Resource — Be sure to take advantage of the World Peace Library, a wide-ranging resource on peace newly compiled by the Shift Network: It contains more than 300 inspiring talks and mini-workshops from individuals such as Archbishop Tutu, Nobel Laureate Jody Williams, Jane Goodall, Deepak Chopra, James O'Dea, Karen Armstrong, Chief Phil Lane and many more. With neuroscientists and lamas, faith-based activists and political leaders, this Library offers something for all in their peacebuilding efforts. The Shift Network has made the World Peace Library a free resource for all and encourages its use to promote peace in your families, schools, and wider community.

If you would like to submit something to The Catalyst, please see the submission guidelines: click here.

2017 Catalyst:
(#12, 6/11) (#11, 5/28) (#10, 5/14) (#9, 4/30) (#8, 4/16) (#7, 4/2) (#6, 3/19) (#5, 3/5) (#4, 2/19) (#3, 2/5) (#2, 1/22) (#1, 1/8)

2016 Catalyst:
(#21, 12/11)
(#20, 11/27) (#19, 11/13) (#18, 10/23) (#17, 10/2)
(#16, 9/11) (#15, 8/28) (#14, 8/14) (#13, 7/31) (#12, 7/17)
(#11, 7/3) (#10, 6/12) (#9, 5/29) (#8, 5/1) (#7, 4/17)
(#6, 4/3) (#5, 3/13) (#4, 2/28) (#3, 2/14) (#2, 1/31) (#1, 1/17)

2015 Catalyst:
(#25, 12/20)
(#24, 12/6) (#23, 11/23) (#22, 11/8) (#21, 10/25)
(#20, 10/11) (#19, 9/27) (#18, 9/12) (#17, 8/30) (#16, 8/16)
(#15, 8/2) (#14, 7/19) (#13, 7/5) (#12, 6/20) (#11, 6/7)
(#10, 5/24) (#9, 5/10) (#8, 4/26) (#7, 4/5) (#6, 3/21)
(#5, 3/15) (#4, 2/22) (#3, 2/8) (#2, 1/25) (#1, 1/11)

2014 Catalyst:
(#26, 12/28)
(#25, 12/14) (#24, 11/30) (#23, 11/16) (#22, 11/1) (#21, 10/19)
(#20, 10/5) (#19, 9/21) (#18, 9/14) (#17, 9/01) (#16, 8/17)
(#15, 8/3) (#14, 7/20) (#13, 7/4) (#12, 6/15) (#11, 6/1)
(#10, 5/18) (#9, 5/4) (#8, 4/20) (#7, 4/6) (#6, 3/23)
(#5, 3/9) (#4, 2/22) (#3, 2/8) (#2, 1/26) (#1, 1/12)

2013 Catalyst:
(#22, 12/14) (#21, 11/30)
(#20, 11/16) (#19, 11/3) (#18, 10/20) (#17, 10/6) (#16, 9/21)
(#15, 9/8) (#14, 8/25) (#13, 8/4) (#12, 7/21) (#11, 7/7)
(#10, 6/16) (#9, 6/2) (#8, 5/12) (#7, 4/28) (#6, 4/14)
(#5, 3/24) (#4, 2/24) (#3, 2/9) (#2, 1/26) (#1, 1/13)

  

2017 Issue 12 • Jun 11

The Shift Catalyst is a bi-weekly ezine for conscious change, powered by The Shift Network.

If you received this Catalyst from a friend, click here to subscribe (scroll all the way down to the bottom right corner of the site to sign up).

• Shift Network Update
• Featured Media
• Featured Articles
• Profiles
• Movement News
• Action of the Week
• Shift Spotlight
• Shift Philanthropy
• Partner Spotlight
• Featured Artist
• Allies of the Shift
• Back Issues

Like Us. Collaborate!

Invite your family and friends to participate in The Yoga Day Summit, which takes place June 21 to 22. Life-changing insights await! To discover more, click here.

The Next Level of Using Essential Oils for Healing: Harness the Power of Specific Remedies From Ayurveda, Chinese Medicine & Modern Aromatherapy — A Free Online Event With Botanical Medicine Pioneer David Crow, LAc. Unlock the life-enhancing power of essential oils to overcome disease, cultivate more energy, and relax your body and mind. Wednesday, June 14, 2017 at 5:30pm Pacific

Landing in Love After Falling From Grace: How to Turn Divorce, Illness & Other Life Challenges Into Gateways to Boundless Love — A Free Virtual Event With Spiritual Teacher Miranda Macpherson. Drop into a presence within you filled with abundant love, clarity and peace whenever you need to, as a way to help you embrace all of life and live more fully and freely. Saturday, June 17, 2017 at 10:00am Pacific

Dream Journey to Your Soul: Active Dreaming Techniques to Meet Your Soul Family, Become a Time Traveler & Expand Your Powers of Manifestation — A Free Virtual Event With Shamanic Dream Teacher Robert Moss. Discover the power of shamanic dreaming techniques for soul remembering — and reclaim what you knew before you came into your present life. Wednesday, June 21, 2017 at 5:30pm Pacific

The Energy Secrets of Healing, Abundance & Intuitive Guidance: Clear Hidden Blocks in Your Energy Field to Liberate Your Inner Healer & Powers of Manifestation — A Free Virtual Event With Bioenergetic Medicine Pioneer Dr. Sue Morter. Discover your ability to remove the blocks to physical health, financial abundance and intuitive guidance… and liberate the true healer and creator within. Saturday, June 24, 2017 at 10:00am Pacific

Qigong for a Happy Heart: Reclaiming Joy, Love & Health With Ancient Healing Practices — With Qigong Master, Teacher & Healer Mingtong Gu. Discover how to harness your life force energy through Qigong to boost your vitality, rejuvenate your spirit, strengthen your immune system, and even slow aging. New 7-week Video Training Starts Tuesday, June 20, 2017

Shamanic Journeying for Guidance & Healing Part 2: Practices for Divination, Collective Blessing & Helping Others — With Shamanic Teacher Sandra Ingerman. Expand your use of shamanic practices to access hidden dimensions, spirit allies and healing wisdom for your family, community and society. New 12-week Immersion Starts Tuesday, June 20, 2017

More Upcoming Events: (all subject to change)

June
• Ryan Angelo 8-module course
• Summer of Peace
• David Crow 5-month program
• Miranda Macpherson 7-week course

July
• Robert Moss 7-month program
• Sue Morter 7-week course
• Linda Backman 5-month program
• Tim Kelley 7-week course
• Shamanism Global Summit
• Pamela Miles 4-week course

August
• David Crow 7-week course
• Andrew Harvey 7-week course
• Psychology of True Happiness Summit
• Chloe Goodchild 7-week course
• Saul David Raye 7-week course

Give Back Yoga Foundation

The Give Back Yoga Foundation believes in making yoga available to all those who might not otherwise have the opportunity to experience the transformational benefits of this powerful practice. As a national nonprofit yoga organization, they support and fund certified teachers in all traditions to offer the teachings of yoga to underserved and under-resourced socio-economic segments of the community. Through this work, they aim to inspire grassroots social change and community cooperation.

Click here to find out more and donate.

Quiet Time meditation training program through the David Lynch Foundation
Healing Traumatic Stress and Raising Performance in At-risk Populations

In low-income urban schools, traumatic stress is a reality for millions of children who grow up in an oppressive climate of poverty, violence, and fear. This stress impedes learning and undermines physical and mental health.

The Quiet Time program is a practical, evidence-based approach to reduce stress and dramatically improve academic performance, student wellness and the school environment.

Quiet Time provides students with two 15-minute periods of Transcendental Meditation each day to help balance their lives and improve their readiness to learn. This schoolwide program complements existing educational strategies by improving the physiological underpinnings of learning and behavior.

Click here to find out more and donate.

The Yoga Day Summit is presented by The Shift Network in association with Parmarth Niketan and UPLIFT.

Hanuman Academy

The Hanuman Academy believes that within each of us lives a superhero and that we can awaken this vast potential to live in alignment with our passion and purpose. By practicing yoga, both on and off the mat, we can create a balanced, healthy and vibrant life for ourselves and our communities. By raising our own vibration we affect the world in immeasurable ways. To learn more about how to dive deep into the transformative practice of yoga, click here.

The Sports Energy & Consciousness Festival (June 23 to 25)

The SEC Festival is a growing community of practitioners, coaches and high-performance athletes who come together to connect, grow and support each other, and to learn the transformative, multi-disciplined methodology of accessing higher consciousness through sport.

At the SEC Festival — held annually at beautiful Dominican University, just outside of San Francisco, you’ll receive powerful training, profound consciousness shifts, flow-hacking techniques, deep connections, incredible adventures and unique opportunities to take your connection to sport into the stratosphere, so that you can elevate your game AND consciousness to new heights. For more information, click here.

Panelists, presenters and speakers include Shift Network faculty and speakers Dawson Church, Katia Peterson and Michael Murphy. Donna Eden's organization, Innersource, is also participating.

Yopi & Lotta
Recommended by Tara Divina

Singer-songwriter Yopi, and singer-violinist Lotta, have joined together to create Namasté Pachamama, a gorgeously uplifting album of spiritual world/folk music with influences from various South American, Indian and European traditions. Yopi follows the devotional path of Bhakti Yoga, and each of the nine songs he's composed is a profoundly moving expression of the all-consuming love of the Divine. My heart feels especially full while listening to the songs, Pachamamita, Luciole and Jay Ma, which instantly transport me to a wholly luminous, joyful, eternal space. Each song is a sacred prayer for guidance, heart-opening and healing.

Click here to listen to the album, Namasté Pachamama. Click here to visit Yopi & Lotta’s official website.

Solar Action Alliance

Peace Through Commerce

Evolutionary Leaders

The Foundation for Conscious Evolution

The Shift Movie

Humanity's Team

Green America

The National Peace Academy

Sacred Centers

Center for Sacred Studies

International Cities of Peace

Agape International Spiritual Center

Gaiafield Project

Click here to apply for inclusion above.