WORKSHOPS (Only Some of Many!)

Energy Medicine
For literally thousands of years, people of many different religious and spiritual traditions have practiced many forms of energy medicine. All of these are based on the idea that the human body is surrounded by a field of energy. This can be conceptualized in many different ways, and it has been, but science has been able to clearly identify the fact that this field does exist and that it is essentially electrical in nature. It can sometimes be seen in the form of auras, and it can definitely be photographed. It can also be measured through electronic means. This workshop deals with both the scientific aspects of energy medicine, and also touched on many of the more common ways in which people manipulate this energy field for therapeutic results, both physical and psychological.

The Law of Attraction
The Law of Attraction simply says that you attract into your life whatever you think about. Your dominant thoughts will find a way to manifest. The Law of Attraction gives rise to some tough questions that don't seem to have good answers. But these problems aren't caused by the Law of Attraction itself but rather by the Law of Attraction as applied to objective reality. Does positive thinking really affect what happens to you in your life? Can you really change the course of your future just by changing your beliefs? Is this really some New Age Get-Rich-Quick scheme for people who don't want to work hard? Is there actually some profound truth in this idea that people need to learn? Is it possible that the only thing holding you back is YOU?

How to Live a Normal Life (and still not die of boredom!)
Basically, this workshop is the “quick and dirty” version of everything we have learned from 25 years of teaching Developmental Psychology, with lots of spiritual and religious questions from our own lives thrown in. But it is also the “deep and profound” version. It is the things that have really stuck with us over the years as the truly significant aspects of life on this planet. We are, each of us, marvels of creation, and we have a place in the Universe that is much greater and more significant than we often consider it to be. This never ceases to amaze us, and this is a large part of the message of Free Spirit. If you’ve ever wondered whether or not your life (or someone else’s) is unfolding as it should, this workshop is for you.

Dreams as Messages from your Soul
Are dreams just a result of changing neurotransmitter levels in your brain, or are they messages from your unconscious mind? Could the universe be trying to send messages through your dreams? Can dreams predict the future? We will look at the symbolic nature of dreams and how to use dreams to inspire your waking life and your spiritual life? Other topics include recurring dreams, common dreams, lucid dreams, using dreams to problem solve .

Near-Death Experiences as a Vehicle for Spiritual Transformation
This workshop deals first with the psychological and physiological aspects of the Near-Death Experience (NDE), a phenomenon often reported by individuals who experience clinical death and are resuscitated. Specific topics are: Defining characteristics of the NDE, history of NDE study, physiological bases of the NDE, personality changes associated with the NDE, and religious and spiritual implications of the NDE. Beyond this, however, spiritual implications are considered, such as, whether or not NDE’s are evidence of life after death, or whether they have any implications for the evolution of the human species.

Hypnosis and the Power of the Unconscious Mind
As with all of our workshops, our focus here will be spiritual development. Most people are familiar with how hypnosis can be used to help focus one's attention, to quit smoking, to lose weight, and it can certainly be useful in those pursuits. But we believe that one of the most valuable uses of hypnosis is to uncover material that is in our unconscious minds. This workshop will focus on Carl Jung's view of the unconscious mind as a repository of all the things that make us uniquely human, things we share with all other humans who have ever lived and ever will live. These are not things of which we are readily aware, and they are not things that are easy to deal with, but Jung believed (and we believe) that they are worthy of investigation. Coming to grips with who we truly are can be the beginning of spiritual awakening, and hypnosis can be instrumental in facilitating this process.

After-Death Communication
More and more people are reporting incidents of what have come to be called after-death communication. This may involve a clear vision of a departed friend or relative, or it may involve something as vague as just feeling a presence. It may involve a hearing of voice or feeling a physical touch. Or it may involve a dream. It may involve something as seemingly mundane as a telephone call or an e-mail message. Science is beginning to take these kinds of communications more seriously, and this workshop will look at both the scientific research that has been done on the subject of after-death communication and also the spiritual implications of such research.

Values and Beliefs
Everyone has values. Different people value different things. This often results in conflict. We all know these things, but we don't often realize how basic values are to our personality structures. We see the obvious things such as religious or moral values, but we often fail to understand that everyone has their own intrinsic set of values that define the very nature of their personality. For example, some people value physical sensations, and for these people, an “adrenaline rush” is a good thing. They love roller coasters and scary movies. Other people find these things overstimulating and downright terrifying. For other people, stimulating conversation is something to be prized, while to the roller coaster people, this may be the height of boredom. This workshop will examine many typical values that people hold and how we arrive at these values. It will also look at the spiritual implications of our value structures.

Paranormal Phenomena
This workshop will deal with a variety of topics that ordinarily come under the heading of Parapsychology. This will include such things as telepathy, telekinesis, clairvoyance, spirit manifestations, out-of-body experiences, and the like. The focus of the workshop will not primarily be on trying to explain these phenomena, but rather on speculating as to what they might mean in terms of a broader understanding of the way our universe works. Fascinating as they may be in their own right, these phenomena serve as evidence that there is much more to the universe than we usually encounter in our physical interpretation.

Past-life Regression
This workshop will deal with the use of past life regression as a means of examining the unconscious mind. It will address the question of what the phenomenon of past-life regression actually is. Is it validation of the idea of reincarnation, or are there other ways to explain the source of the information gained during regression? Is it necessary to believe in reincarnation in order for this therapy to be effective? We will be suggesting that it is definitely not necessary. Understanding that many people have trouble with the idea of reincarnation because of religious beliefs, we will explain how regression material can be dealt with in a useful manner that does not conflict with religious viewpoints that do not include reincarnation.