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FEM Talks – Berkeley – 2nd Mondays

Ripe Paradigm

 

Author, Christine Arylo

See link to Christine’s free video below

When You Have Nothing More Left to Give… 

The alarm rings and you awake

Realizing that even though you just slept the night

Your body is exhausted

Your soul is tired

And while you try to fire your engine

To zoom out of bed to meet the day

You roll out, slowly, puttering instead of zooming

Your mind feels a little cloudy

So you attempt a few of your tried and true go-tos to slough off the tired blanket that has wrapped itself around your entire being

A shower, some yoga, caffeine, the internet … those should get you going

But yet even if they do provide a small jolt of wake up Continue reading »

 

Author: Claudia Weitkemper L.Ac., O.M.D., Naturopath, R.N.

I hope you have had a wonderful Holiday full of celebrating and spreading good cheer and spirit with your friends and family.  Now is a great opportunity to pamper ourselves with a gentle cleanse giving ourselves a break from the high sugar, fat, low fiber and artificial additives diet we consume during the holidays.   January and February, with the abundance of citrus fruits we have here in the desert, is a perfect time for a Liver Flush. Continue reading »

 January 14, 2012  "How To..." No Responses »
 

Notes from KC Baker’s December 2011 FEM Talks presentation, live in Berkeley.

Our favorite quotes & tips from KC Baker, founder of The School for The Well-Spoken Woman!

December 12th 2011 was a fiery and dynamic evening designed to reframe on-stage and on-camera fear & anxiety as pure power & charisma. Our keynote KC Baker, founder of The School for The Well-Spoken Woman teaches women how to craft presentations designed for impact, to unleash our voices out to the world.

Here are just a few of our favorite quotable quotes from KC’s interactive FEM Talks presentation “How to Generate Legendary Charisma & Freedom to Shine”: Continue reading »

 

Jessica Hadari shares about her experiences as a volunteer hospice caregiver in SF.

The way a person looks when life is leaving their body. Why is it that people at the end of their life often look light as feathers, so slight and thin. I guess for some of them, their bodies have fought so hard or so long that they simply have nothing left and no reason to layer on the usual fat and supple skin we are so used to seeing on even the thinnest of healthy human beings.

Writing this it seems obvious, that a person would be so thin, so slight at the end of life; but to see a person in the dying process as diminutive, as if they might sink down and disappear into their bed; skin like shrink-wrap over bones that seem impossibly thin and fragile, and also insignificant in the moment. Continue reading »

 December 8, 2011  Real living No Responses »
 

Flowers at the Guest House

Jessica Hadari shares her experiences as a volunteer hospice caregiver in SF.

Today’s shift seemed slow. I felt useless but there was little to be done. The cook had no tasks for me. The nurse had none. Jenny, Melanie and I sat with Ben and Alice while they ate. Both residents coughed a lot. It seemed painful for them to eat. It was hard to witness.

Ben was a bit flirtatious and seemed very open to our feminine attention. He told me his hands were cold – they were, but I think this was his way of getting to hold hands with me. I got a couple of smiles from Alice, who had not smiled at me before. I felt recognized.

And then everyone slept.

I had missed the email last week from Roy about Christian, the 30 year old resident with all the friends. He had passed on. I felt heavy with the information, but relieved because he had been so close last week and now it was over. Continue reading »

 November 22, 2011  Real living No Responses »
 

This wonderful conversation happened within our women’s Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/RipeParadigm/

Feel free to join us on Facebook for these conversations and start your own any time…

Continue reading »

 November 20, 2011  Inspiration, Real living No Responses »
 

Notes from Elizabeth Bachaman’s keynote presentation at the November 2011 FEM Talks

Here is just a sample of the nuts and bolts advice that Elizabeth Bachman gifted to all of the women at the November 2011 FEM Talks. We also did a number of experiential exercises so we could practice embodying these practices in front of the room. Needless to say it was one of the most grounded FEM Talks! The usual ecstatic energy was replaced by an exuberant grounded feeling for the rest of the night. Here are just a few of Elizabeth’s teachings.

  • Do not make the mistake of focusing on the words (reading from notes, powerpoint etc) Find the beginnings and endings of each section or each point you want to make. Build up the parts in between with your own embodied teachings (talk about the stuff you have already mastered and do not need your notes to speak boldly about) Continue reading »
 November 18, 2011  "How To...", Inspiration No Responses »
 

Jessica Hadari shares her experiences as a volunteer hospice caregiver in SF.

Today’s shift was a breath of fresh air.

My morning started out with a lot of swearing under my breath. I was running late again! I was able to slow down on the BART trains.

I arrived early enough to get my americano at the corner cafe. Preparing for an upcoming women’s Tahoe writing retreat, I was glad to catch all of the email communications at the start of the day.

I headed to the Guest House – which already felt like a home. Continue reading »

 November 15, 2011  Inspiration, Real living 1 Response »
 

I’m not a goodbye-sayer. I enjoy heartfelt goodbyes with friends and family I’ll not be seeing for a while. In day to day interactions I tend to sneak out the back door.

At parties saying goodbye feels like a waste of time; I’ll see everyone again soon, and the goodbyes can drag on for an hour or more if I connect with everyone. I’d rather leave silently and then follow up on loose ends with emails and lunch-dates later.

Our 6th hospice training was this evening. We paired up; instructed to imagine that we are blind, cannot speak and cannot feed ourselves. Our partners instructed to feed us slices of orange, pieces of cake. One of us acted as a hospice resident (patient) the other, the volunteer caregiver.

Blind, how does one know when to open their mouth for the very moment of the bite?

How does one ‘hear’ a request for water or distaste of the food from a person who is mute? Continue reading »

 November 15, 2011  Real living No Responses »
 

Author: Jessica Hadari

Sharon's petals

Today for the first time I saw and touched a dead body.

Rushing to my first shift at the Guest House this morning, I had funny thoughts of myself making fun of people, who rush to get to their yoga classes. Images of yogis-with-road-rage shouting “Hurry up so that I can relax!” As I was running late for my shift, I felt the stress chemicals in my body and heard the part of my own mind mantra-ing, “I’ve gotta hurry up so that I can slow down…”

I arrived and was so blessed to be sent on several errands. Get coffee at the corner cafe, help in the kitchen.

Sharon, I was told, had resided in the Guest House for only a few days. She passed away in the night. Her family had agreed to the traditional Zen ritual bathing ceremony offered at the House. In preparation, I was to get the container marked “Ritual” from the basement. Continue reading »

 November 8, 2011  Real living 1 Response »