*For complete event details including workshop descriptions, vendor list, and to register and pay online, visit www.happydancingturtle.org. If you’d like to register now, you can go to our online registration site.*
At every Back to Basics, we try to get a wide variety of workshop presenters. We stick with ones that have filled out year after year but we also like to make sure that new topics are introduced to bring a fresh feel to the event.
We do this to keep B2B an attractive use of your time, which is a challenge we love to attack. We get so many quality speakers and workshops, it’s amazes me. However, the underlying truth is that available time is becoming more and more of a diminishing product. There are constant demands on our attention from sun-up to lights-out.
Laura Adrian will be presenting two workshops at this year’s B2B, one on Kundalini Yoga and the other focusing on using Earth energies to heal.
I had a chance to chat with first time B2B presenter Laura Adrian who’s trying to tackle this phenomenon through the art of targeted yoga and nature immersion experiences.
In her first workshop, Healing with the Earth, Adrian, founder of Whole Life Elevation & from the School of Earth Medicine, will help participants focus on becoming aware and in tuned with the energies of the Earth. She feels that once a person is able to become more in synch with these energies, they will be able to defend against many issues currently assaulting our society.
“Historically, people have spent most of their lives outdoors, [yet] now in a very short time we’ve inverted that to spend most of our time indoors! Add in sedentary living, less community, and changes in food sources, it’s no wonder people are experiencing off the charts physical and emotional health issues.”
In a frank disclosure, Adrian opens up about working in a well paying, stabilizing, yet increasingly dissatisfying career, which made her feel stifled and trapped as a “caged bird”. (If you want to read more about it, you can at Adrian’s website Whole Life Elevation).
Laura Adrian
It seems that this negative experience was the catalyst into her taking the jump towards the healing arts.
In 2019, Adrian co-led a trip to the Boundary Water Canoe Area (BWCA) with the intent of bringing “mindfulness, yoga, and nature together” for the participants.
She believed that being away from the constant pulls and stressors experienced daily and using nature as a salve could do wonders for the physical and emotional trauma of everyday life.
There are more trips planned for 2020 as Adrian sees an increased need and demand for this form of detoxification.
“There’s an old saying, ‘If you want something different, you have to do something different.’ Whenever we put ourselves in new situations, there is also so much room for learning. It’s good for the brain. Wilderness teaches us so much, be it survival, teamwork, and presence.”
And, it’s not just the trips through the wilderness that can help with the stressors. Adrian will teach a second workshop at B2B, titled Intro to Kundalini Yoga, which will teach a form of yoga that she believes holds the ability to bolster your body (both physically and mentally) against barrages of an increasingly demanding daily life.
Kundalini Yoga has very, very practical applications for helping people function better in life. Specific poses (called kriyas) are used for healing the liver, reducing stress, building confidence, overcoming fear, strengthening digestion, and so on!
Adrian said that when properly practiced, Kundalini Yoga has the ability to change responses to stress and anxiety. Since it uses both the processes of channeling energy and meditation, Kundalini Yoga has the ability to quiet the mind and help focus on specific issues ranging from past trauma to bolstering current defenses.
She’s found that using these protocols in her lifestyle suits her. Walking that balance between hectic and manageable, Adrian insists that daily use is instrumental in keeping her centered.
I don’t say this much, but I would be a mess without yoga. People think I’m dedicated, and I am, but it’s a way for me to develop skills and habits to meet the stresses of life.
If you are interested in attending and learning more from Laura Adrian, spots are filling up in her workshops. You can even register online. If you want more information on the event, you can learn more about it here.
The 14th annual Back to Basics sustainability event is Saturday, February 15 at the Pine River-Backus school. Workshops and vendor fair run from 8am-5pm. There’s lots to do.