CSL

Location(s)

See map: Google Maps

It's time again to light your rhythmic fire this coming Saturday. Dan Petersen will again lead us in a drumfest. Note that no experience is necessary, and everyone can participate in the drumming (or movement, if you like--in fact, last time we had some delicious belly dancers!). You can also just meditate and let the communal beat carry you into a transcendent space.

Bring one or more drums or percussive instruments if you have any. If you don't, there always seem to be extras to pass around. So just come!

Stay for POTLUCK FROM 6 TO 8PM-be sure to BRING A DISH FOR 8 PEOPLE (main dish, salad, side dish, bread & beverage, or dessert).

Invite along a friend if you like. Can't make it at 4pm? - then just stop in at 6pm for the potluck! No Need to RSVP.

Location(s)

See map: Google MapsImprovisational theater principles and practices offer a great way to deepen our understanding of ourselves while having fun. We can laugh with others as we learn more about ourselves. We've been trained, traumatized and socialized out of the natural spontaneity of our spirit. Improv takes us out of our habitual interactions, time frames, structures, and ways of being and delivers us back into the fully alive NOW. Learning to feel comfortable in the unplanned flow - letting go of controls and judgements and surrendering to the moment - opens us up to our inner creative wellspring and nurtures our spirit.

Location(s)

See map: Google Maps

We are exquisitely designed for movement with a capacity for ease, flexibility, power and expressiveness, whether we are dancing, singing or working at a computer. All too often, however, we unwittingly interfere with this design resulting in tension, effort, and fatigue. Diana Bradley, a skilled practitioner, will lead us in explorations in the discoveries of the F.M. Alexander Technique to restore our natural coordination and poise.

Wear comfortable clothes, bring a beginner's mind, and be willing to question, and perhaps release old myths about moving with "good posture."  We will explore ease in sitting, walking, standing, bending, yoga, meditation, and anything else you love doing in your lives. Through verbal coaching and gentle hands-on guidance you will gain heightened kinesthetic awareness and a sense of belonging in your body. 

Location(s)

See map: Google MapsSpring is a time of balance between the light of day and darkness of night, as the death of winter gives way to the new growth of summer. How can we explore the balance between the light and shadow in ourselves? What if instead of hiding from our own shadows we explore them and play with them? Who would we be if we balance both our light and our shadow sides? Many of us find ourselves to be more powerful when we are aware of all sides of ourselves! And some of our juiciest growth experiences have come out of the painful fire of shadow work. Afraid of your own shadow? Well, what better reason to come to CSL to explore it in a safe environment with others! Michael Smith will be leading us through a series of engaging processes from 4 - 6 p.m., followed by our usual, fun pot-luck dinner.

Location(s)

See map: Google Maps

Somewhere in the struggle to find "equality" between men and women over the last 40 years, we began to dilute our essential masculine and feminine qualities. "Good" male/female relationships were modeled as 50/50 compromises. Could it be, however, that we lost something along the way?

Barra Kahn and Roger Telschow will lead an exploration this Saturday for women and men in the community.  With the support of our peers, the intention is to honor and celebrate the sacred masculine and feminine in ourselves and in the opposite sex.  You are invited into a dance of yin and yang that can enliven our relationships and rekindle a passion for life.

Location(s)

See map: Google Maps"I'll never understand men/women!" is a popular refrain in our culture. The other sex is indeed a mystery to most of us, irrespective of our sexual orientation, or partnership status. I'll lead this month's gathering, not with the intention to figure it all out, but to offer a rare opportunity to safely and confidentially explore the questions and curiosities we all have about the opposite sex. Only when we see and honor the differences of who we are as men and women can we begin to see the divine in each other. This sacred awareness provides the foundation from which real intimacy, vulnerability, and relationship can emerge. Guided by Shalom Mountain's Principles of Loving, we'll talk with others in an individual and group setting. Women will be able to present their curiosities to men and vice versa. All responses in this setting are of course voluntary. Join us in a session sure to be wonderfully rich and full of honest and heartfelt sharing!

Location(s)

See map: Google MapsCome one, come all, to the Winter Holiday Party at the Community for Spiritual Living! More details soon!

Location(s)

See map: Google MapsWhat's your relationship to the Divine? Is it an intimate, personal friendship? One of distant awe? Perhaps you experience yourself as Spirit, a component of Spirit, or all this and more. Or maybe you long for a relationship with the Divine, but are struggling to establish one.

Join us as Tom Goddard leads us through a series of experiential processes in which we will examine not only our existing relationships (or lack thereof) with the Divine, but also alternative perspectives that may enrich our relationship. Informed by wisdom traditions from across the globe and from throughout the centuries, these processes may take you from what you know about God to perspectives you've never known, or haven't tapped into in years.

Location(s)

See map: Google MapsLast February, participants in the Community for Spiritual Living ("CSL") had a great time at our first ever drumming circle. The most memorable comment was "when can we do this again?" Well, the time has come.

Location(s)

See map: Google MapsMost months, the first Saturday of the month, from 4 to whenever, the Community for Spiritual Living gathers to explore how to integrate spirituality into our daily lives. The next gathering is April 7, in Falls Church, Virginia. We'll do process work from 4-6 p.m., and pot luck from 6:00 p.m. to whenever. Please bring a dish for 8.

April 2007: Befriending Death

Many of the Wisdom Traditions have understood that Death can be a great teacher about Life. In the encounter with the reality of death, whether we view it as the end or merely a passage, we can glean much about the richness of our lives.

Tom Goddard will lead the community through a series of experiential processes designed to create a series of profound learning encounters with Death. As a result of participating in this workshop, participants likely not only will have a deepened appreciation of the life we are given, but a clearer notion about how to live a life filled with meaning and joy. It is no overstatement to say that some participants in the March 2006 CSL exploration of Death, led by Dr. Goddard and Michael Smith, emerged with a radically transformed view of their lives. Some even made profound decisions that changed the very course of their lives, both professionally and personally.

Bring a friend if you like, and then stay for POTLUCK FROM 6 TO 8PM-be sure to BRING A DISH FOR 8 PEOPLE (main dish, salad, side dish, bread & beverage, or dessert).