Are you ready to vulnerable?

Are you ready to share openly?

Are you trying to be your best self?

If so, then join us at our first live event since COVID, for a “town hall” style format, on Thursday November 2nd, 2023 at 7 p.m. to discuss the current state of the our minds and life.

As you may or may not know, The Academi of Life was founded as a place where people gather to discuss the things in life that matter most that we did not learn in school.

We are in the midst of one of the worst decline in history…mental health is at an all-time low, the respect for our fellow man is at an all time-low and decency and integrity are at an all-time low. We need to talk!

At this Town Hall meet-up, we'll discuss seven brutal truths about life that no one wants to admit, but need to hear.

1. WE ARE ALL MENTALLY UNWELL
2. YOU AND ALL THE PEOPLE YOU KNOW WILL DIE –AND YOU DON’T KNOW WHEN
3. PARENTING IS IMPOSSIBLE AND NEEDS DISRUPTION
4. LIKE BARBIE – WE MUST GET OUT OF THE BOX – “UNBOX”
5. NO ONE CARES ABOUT HOW DIFFICULT YOUR LIFE IS –YOU ARE THE AUTHOR OF YOUR STORY
6. YOUR MONEY, SUCCESS AND ACHIEVEMENT WON’T MATTER ON YOUR DEATHBED
7. WHAT REALLY MATTERS

The conversations will be brutally honest, insightful, meaningful and wise. Come prepared to talk. Come prepared to share meaningfully with each other. Come prepared to discuss ideas to improve our minds, souls and wellbeing. The dialogue will be guided by a select group of experts in the field of holistic self-development.

The event is limited to 50 persons.

The first person to register will win the “Design the Life You Love Kit” designed by an Academi of Life Scholarch, Ayse Birsel. The kit includes an Empathy Slippers, Optimism Glass, Sleep on it eye mask, What If? Pillow, Room Spray, and a Playful Rabbit.

The ticket price includes a Wordeee Journal + a Glass of Prosecco.

Note: The inspiration for the event was based on an article shared by a friend, published in Inc. titled “20 Brutal Truths About Life No One Wants to Admit.”

Lately life has been hard and the feelings of anxiety and sadness we're currently experiencing are entirely normal reactions to difficult circumstances.

Yet we need help to ease those feelings of anxiety and sadness. Best-selling author and accomplished meditation teacher Light Watkins — the man who taught Meghan Markle to meditate, is coming to New York to help us.

Light Watkins, a man with loads of light, will share inspirational insights from his recent book on the tools and methods we can use to find peace and ease in a world of uncertainty and hardship.

He’s been profiled inTime, Vogue, Forbes, People, the New York Times, and mindbodygreen.

EVENT FREE

REGISTER HERE: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/light-your-way-to-a-better-future-tickets-425473431487

ABOUT

A transformative, groundbreaking Youth Well-Being Summit that will gather teens, young adults, parents, educators, the curious, and anyone interested in helping our young people thrive and flourish. We will share well-being tools, practices and ideas that can be applied to their lives, to make them happier, more meaningful and fulfilling.

The summit features 10+ speakers -- some of the worlds leading thinkers, educators, physicians and researchers from Yale, Harvard, Stanford, Riverdale School, and The Jed Foundation.

WHY ATTEND

The way our teens are living isn’t working. Anxiety is on the rise, teen suicide is on the rise and depression is on the rise. In this volatile, uncertain, chaotic and ambiguous world, increasing numbers of our young people are feeling isolated, exhausted, overwhelmed and disengaged.

We need new mindsets, new tools, new ideas, and new skills for coping and living in this era.

This groundbreaking Youth Well-Being Summit signals a new transformative journey for parents, educators and students. You will discover new models and tools for well-being and character education. You will make long-lasting connections, and discover new ideas and practices that will awaken the best in your teens and young adults.

Join us and learn what visionary changemakers are doing to help teens and young adults seek and give help, navigate mental health challenges, and prepare them emotionally to enter adulthood and fulfill their potential. Don’t miss your chance to be a part of this important movement to help our kids survive, thrive and flourish.

AGENDA

12:00pm – 12:30pm                          Registration

12:30pm - 12:45pm                           Opening Remarks +

12:45pm – 1:10pm                             Dr. Oneeka Williams, Urologic Surgeon + Children’s Author

Not Even The Sky Is The Limit

1:10pm– 1:40pm                                 Dominic Randolph, Head of School, Riverdale

Helping Students Thrive & Flourish

1:40pm – 2:30pm                                PARENT + YOUNG ADULT BREAKOUT EXERCISE

2:30pm – 3:00pm                                SNACK BREAK, BOOKSTORE

3:00pm - 3:35pm                                 Teen Panel: Let’s Hear From the Young Adults –Teens Talk
Moderated by John MacPhee, Executive Director/CEO Jed Foundation

3:35pm – 4:05pm                                Parent Panel: Let’s Hear From the Adults – Parents Talk
Moderated by, Dr. Anna Yusim, Psychiatrist and Author

4:05pm – 4:50pm                                Laurie Santos, Ph.D. Professor Psychology, Head of Silliman College, Yale University

What Makes Humans Happy – The Science & Practice of Well-Being

4:50pm – 5:00pm                                Closing Remarks + Announcement

AN EVENING IN CONVERSATION WITH JOANNA BARSH 

Joanna Barsh director emerita at McKinsey & Company, where she has worked for more than 30 years, has written a remarkable book, Grow Wherever You Work - Straight Talks To Help With Your Toughest Challenges, in which she dispenses powerful, unvarnished advice for growing through the work challenges all aspiring leaders face.

“The business world is full of catchphrases: follow your passion; think positive; be authentic; suck it up; take more risks; network. All well-intentioned, but let’s be honest. This inch-deep advice just isn’t very helpful. How do real people succeed in the real world of work? That’s the question bestselling author, Joanna Barsh sets out to answer – not by asking motivational gurus, leadership experts, or well-established CEOs but by diving into the trenches with today’s boldest, brightest, up-and-coming leaders.”

Joanna heard stories of important work challenges from over 200 rising leaders in 120 companies and wrote this hands-on guide to help us:

• Handle rising pressure and recover from colossal mistakes
• Bounce back from poor performance reviews and use them to up your game
• Get people on board with you and your mission
• Deal with office villains like a superhero
• Take uncomfortable risks and dare to challenge
• Thrive when everything around you is falling apart
• Know when it’s time to find another job

She shares raw experiences and on-the-job coping strategies from a rich diversity of voices from all industries – immigrants and first-generation Americans; Blacks, Hispanics, and Asians; Ivy League alums and high school grads; and parents some of whom are single.

Don’t miss the opportunity to learn how ordinary people turn challenges into extraordinary opportunities for action.

A copy of the book is included in the ticket price.

Let's Dance

Uncertain and chaotic times calls for furious and fearless dancing. It’s time to dance. We need to dance. Did you know that dancing provides moments of deep and simple joy? Did you know that dance moves also affect our bodily chemistry, creativity and emotions?

Join us Friday, December 15, 2017 and let’s dance.

The night will be a celebration of “the truism that the soul that moves so many of us, that we groove to, that animates our lives, that in some ways binds us as a global community — pop music — is the opposite of nativist.” We will celebrate ONENESS, cross-cultural understanding, harmony and peace in the world.

We will dance to world music, eat world food and sip on world cocktails. The dance party is strongly recommended for people who think they can’t dance. You are never too young or too old to party. Let’s close the year with unbounded, absolute joy!

WORLD MUSIC 

WORLD FOOD

WORLD DRINKS

WORLD DANCE LESSONS

FREE CLAIRVOYANT READINGS

SURPRISE GUEST

BRING  SPOUSE + PARTNER + FAMILY + FRIEND 

QUOTES ON THE VALUE OF DANCE 

Jorge Rodolfo De Hoyos Jr. Dance is a way to embody the universe and remember ourselves as nature.

Jim Tobin, Bay Area Dance Watch Dance allows me to stay creative in many ways and for me, that is more important now than ever before, as I grow older.

Tonya Amos, Grown Womens Dance Collective I discovered that dance is our connection to the earth, to the air, to culture, to the universe.

Lily Cai, Lily Cai Dance Company Dance awakens the human spirit. It is the one true way to express the human soul through motion and emotion. Dance is joy and happiness…and so much more.

Shreelata Suresh, Vishwa Shanthi Dance Academy Dance is a means of collective meditation centering on beauty, sacred music, rhythm and harmony. Through dance we create an atmosphere of cross-cultural understanding, peace and harmony in the world.

Eric Solano, Parangal Dance Company To set self at ease and freely. A relaxation of the mind. Celebration of spirit. A travel around the world. An Inspiration. Reinvention. Life.

A portion of profits from ticket sales will be donated to I AM ACCEPTANCE COLLEGE TOUR, a mental well-being organization focused on initiating conversations with college students on the topic of mental health in order to educate and empower them to seek support. http://www.iamacceptance.org

Are you living the life you though you always wanted but feel that something is still missing? Considering all that you have, do you think you should be happier than you are? Have you achieved your professional or personal goals but still feel racked with insecurities, anxiety, or depression … and can’t figure out why? Are you tired of multitasking and always being on the go?

Harvard & Yale trained psychiatrists and authors, Dr. Srini Pillay and Dr. Anna Yusmin know just how you feel. And they have written two amazing books: Tinker Dabble Doodle Try and Fulfilled: How the Science of Spirituality Helps You Live a Happier, More Meaningful Life to help us understand these feelings. They will share their years of research and studies on how we can live our best lives: fulfilled and unfocused.

Description of Fulfilled: How the Science of Spirituality Helps You Live a Happier, More Meaningful Life by Anna Yusmin, M.D., Standing at the intersection of empirical science and spirituality, Fulfilled puts forward a ground-breaking new approach to self-actualization, one firmly rooted in science and offering a unique balance of spiritual and concrete practices, including meditative exercises.

Over the past 15 years, psychiatrist Anna Yusim has made a startling discovery that flies in the face of most modern medical teaching, including her own. Her patients’ primary complaints, ranging from anxiety to depression to sexual dysfunction, often coincide with spiritual neglect—an all too common problem in Western cultures that champion intellectual development over spiritual care. Medical research is now substantiating what Anna has known to be true for many years: spirituality is a powerful path to healing.

Anna has developed a program that marries empirical science and spirituality for true healing. Filled with fascinating research, practical wisdom, and interactive exercises, Fulfilled will appeal to skeptics and seekers alike, and to readers who are looking for more meaning, joy, and contentment in their lives.

"More and more psychiatric professionals are recognizing the role of spirituality in treating anxiety and depression, part of a vital pushback against overmedication of Americans. I admire those like Dr. Anna Yusim who are leading the charge.” -Marianne Williamson –New York Times best selling author of A Return To Love

Description of Tinker Dabble Doodle Try by Srini Pillay, M.D., A fascinating tour through brain wavelengths and rhythm, mindsets, and mental relaxation, this ground-breaking book, demonstrates how specific kinds of planned unfocus stimulate cognitive calmness, jumpstart productivity, enhance innovation, inspire creativity improve ling-term memory, and of course, help you stay on target.

“Cognitive rest is the new exercise.” With techniques for training the brain to unfocus, concepts for scheduling busy lives, and ideas for controlling this new cognitive-toggling capability, this book will change how you think about daydreaming, relaxing, leaving work unfinished, and even multitasking. By unlocking the power of the unfocused mind, what you’ll discover is a greater freedom, a deeper intelligence, and a more profound joy in your life.

“Dr. Srini Pillay offers a brilliant, deeply researched, and even more deeply imagined blueprint for using one’s full mental armamentarium, conscious, unconscious, and all the undiscovered rest! A fantastic book!” -Edward M. Hallowell, M.D.,

HOW TO LOVE WELL

We’ve heard it said before, by poets and sages and songwriters: “All you need is love,” “love conquers all,” “love your enemies.” We know that love is the answer; we agree with the golden rule. So, why then, is it so difficult for us human beings to be the love we long to see in the world? Why do we struggle and fumble in our attempts to give and receive love with our mates, our kids, our friends and colleagues? These are always relevant questions, and they are even more pressing now, when we as citizens we are being called to love beyond the boundaries of difference.

It takes courage to love well—to love oneself, to love our family, to love people with whom we may disagree at work and in the world. Elizabeth Lesser, author and co-founder of the Omega Institute, has spent her life seeking understanding about what it means to be true to oneself and at the same time, authentically connected to others.

She’s a modern day ‘Anam Cara’, soul-friend in the Irish language. Her new book, Marrow: A Love Story, a mesmerizing and courageous memoir, is the story of two sisters uncovering the depth of their love through the life-and-death experience of a bone marrow transplant.

Join us for this magical evening as we explore together the complex question about what it really means to love, and the healing process of putting aside pride and defensiveness to make way for soul-baring and truth-telling. She will also share the deeper transformational lessons that can be learned from difficult moments.

Lesser will be joined in conversation by TED PRIZE storyteller and Executive Director of Women, Action, & the Media, Jamia Wilson.

We Will Explore 

• Insights into how to authentically communicate with people you love
• How to have the difficult conversations with the people you love
• How to develop stronger relationships with people you love
• When, if and how to say the ‘unsayable’ between 2 people
• How to steady ourselves in the presence of evil
• How to stand up for your moral integrity with love
• You don't have to wait for a life-or-death situation to clean up the relationships that matter

Out beyond the ideas of wrong doing and right doing there is a field I will meet you there. - Rumi

What is the value of achievement if we are unable to attain or maintain joy after having reached unimaginable success? How much of our education or scholarly research is applicable to passing the ‘tests’ we will be given throughout life, regarding parenting, love, resilience, aging, death, mental well-being, and self-awareness? Most of us would agree it would be inappropriate to address such topics in english class or before a  math exam, so where do these subjects get addressed?

The great thinker and Rhodes Scholar, E. F. Schumacher, believed that all through school and university we are given guidance about life and knowledge, and generally this guidance had little relevance to the things that people cared about or the way they conducted their lives - the way life is really lived. The ACADEMi of Life was founded to fulfill Schumacher’s observation, and to address these important topics … we created ‘a place’ where people can gather to discuss the things they care about --- the things that matter most in life, that they didn't learned in school.

So, on November 10^th, 2016 at our ‘6x10’ event, we will gather, to hear six speakers talk about the six things that matter most in life. Each speaker will present for ten minutes on one of the six topics. The event is designed to provoke, awaken and deepen our thinking about the essential life-skills we need to live a meaningful, peaceful, fulfilling and valuable life – you will be inspired, transformed, entertained and educated.

THE 6 THINGS THAT MATTER

Mental Well-Being: So many recent events have revealed that mental health is a critical well-being skill that must be addressed and valued. It is our belief that mental health is more important than getting good grades – it’s more important than IQ. There is no health without mental health.

Resilience: How do we hold it together in the face of extraordinary challenges and uncertainties? How rapidly do we bounce back and recover from hardship and adversity? Resilience, a critical skill we need in a life where the only constant is change.

Parenting: “There are few situations in life which are more difficult to cope with than an adolescent son or daughter during the attempt to liberate themselves.” We will share how to transform your relationship with your child into joy, empowerment and kinship and raise them to be their best, truest selves.

Self-Mastery: No one is perfect. Understanding and acceptance of our imperfect ‘dual-nature’ with the goal of continuous personal improvement is the secret to self-mastery. Leonardo da Vinci once said, 'the height of a man’s success is gauged by his self-mastery; the depth of his failure by his self-abandonment.'

Aging & Dying: A revolutionary examination of why we age, what it means for our health, and how we just might be able to fight it. An easy-to-follow plan to prevent and reverse the signs of aging will be shared.

Love: There is no other factor in medicine, “not diet, not smoking, not exercise, not stress, not genetics, not drugs, not surgery”, that affects our health, quality and length of life more than feeling loved and cared for. Love matters.

We are beyond excited and thrilled to have creative business leader and iconoclast, Kevin Roberts, Chairman of advertising giant Saatchi & Saatchi (a company that works with more than half of the biggest 50 advertisers in the world) back at The Academi of Life. If you are a leader under enormous pressure, totally committed, intensely driven, highly intelligent and at times utterly miserable, don't miss this conversation... come CONNECT and be INSPIRED by Kevin Roberts.

He has written a new book 64 Shots: Leadership in a Crazy World a collection of value-accelerators for business and life. It is gathered as a 64 shot method from the astute observations and remarkable life of Kevin Roberts and from his new role as “Head Coach” for a team of about 45,000 employees. A provocative figure traversing the peaks of global commerce, media and sport, Kevin Roberts - creator of the groundbreaking idea and book Lovemarks - is recognized as one of today's most uncompromisingly-positive and inspirational leaders.

In 64 Shots, Roberts draws on the biggest ideas, toughest experiences and greatest influences of his life to present 16X4 stripped down, straight-forward and instantly-absorbable insights on how to bring order to the chaos of business and life. The punchy insights about winning - hitting readers lightly jab after jab - are an array of one-liners, sound bites, tweets, charts, quotes and historical reference points. They are loaded with Roberts' experience, story, brio, provocation and direction.

The language is extreme, brimming with the irrepressible attitude and provocation that fueled Roberts' meteoric career. While there is a sequence, the 64 shots are stand-alone signposts towards living an enterprising and winning life. Anyone can dip into the book anywhere and find value.

64 Shots - will you take them? As the musical Hamilton reminds us – “don’t throw away your shot.” So if you want a real ‘shot’ at leadership and life –don’t miss this provocative and inspiring conversation. Each attendee will get a signed First Edition copy of the book.

Early bird special of $89.00 until 5/30/16. After 5/30/16 price is $119.

Summit Description

A transformative One-Day Summit that will gather business leaders, business executives, business owners, educators and the curious to discover the emergence of a new era of leadership within a new type of organization.

The Agenda

Inspirational speakers, real-time tools, panels, group dialogue, stories and opportunities for genuine connection will be featured. We will explore topics like:

• Return on Character: The Real Reason Leaders and their Companies Win
• A Tale of Grace, Grit, Resilience & Entrepreneurship
• A Conversation on Diversity Identity: Beyond Race & Gender
• Beauty, Business and Love
• From Surviving To Thriving: How To Thrive at Work and in Life
• Doing Well & Doing Good
• The Power of Storytelling: Reconciliation of a Flourishing and Wilting Society
• Evolutionary Leadership: Leading from the Inside Out

Why Attend

The way we’re working isn’t working. In a volatile, uncertain, chaotic and ambiguous (VUCA) world, increasing numbers of people are feeling exhausted, overwhelmed and disengaged. We need new mindsets, new systems, and new skills for leading and living in this era.

This groundbreaking Summit signals a new transformative journey for leaders and teams. You will discover new styles of leadership, skills and systems that awaken the best in people and organizations.

Join us as we examine the newest, most powerful approaches to unleashing productivity, performance, and innovation.

Register now for Early Bird Discount of $249 until September 16, 2015! 

WHEN YOU’RE FALLING, RISE: The Art and Science of Resilience

Why do some people blossom through adversity while others fall apart? What mysterious power gets us back on our feet after we’ve been knocked down? What do we mean by “the art and science of resilience,” and the transformational possibility of growing to become our best selves in life’s most challenging moments?

Maria Sirois and Mark Matousek have spent decades exploring these urgent questions, in clinical practice, personal memoir, and interviews with some of the world’s great survivor artists. Combining their experiences here for the first time, Sirois and Matousek offer a road map to personal evolution in times of transition, using stories, practices, and principles of resilience.

Integrating the burgeoning field of positive psychology with the science of resilience, as well as spiritual wisdom, they provide a template for growth that incorporates the reality of what is most difficult in our lives with a scaffolding for thriving anyway. “When you tell the truth, your story changes. When your story changes, your life is transformed.”

Using brief writing exercises, Matousek will guide participants through the process of self-reinvention through radical truth telling and the shifting of what Emerson called “the angle of vision,” a critical skill for resilience. Sirois will discuss “the genius of the AND,” and the vital importance of introspection, inspiration, and beauty on the path of healing. She reminds us that while none of us is spared suffering, neither does the world withhold beneficence. Rising requires attention to both and the capacity to face the truth of one’s living with self-compassion and a fierce desire to grow.

Please join us for this extraordinary evening …..

Television legal analyst and attorney Lisa Green has written a compelling, hilarious and compassionate book: On Your Case: A comprehensive, Compassionate (and Only Slightly Bossy) Legal Guide for Every Stage of a Woman’s Life. The book offers something new: a witty, direct and empowering legal guide for women, filled with accessible information they can employ to understand and respond to common legal issues throughout their lives, from dating, marriage, and kids to jobs, retirement, aging parents, and wills.

Lisa Green has an urgent message for women of all ages, especially those who consider themselves fully briefed on nutrition, personal finance, good schools, and great bargains:

What about the law?

Whether or not you invite it into your life, the law will find you. When it does, will you be ready to respond?

Leveraging her professional training as a lawyer and her personal experience as a wife, ex-wife, mother, and daughter, Lisa explains common, even complicated, legal issues in practical, easy to understand terms. Sharing true stories, from jaw-dropping court cases to her own personal challenges, Lisa explains how readers can make the best possible decisions when problems arise. And legal problems will arise, Lisa counsels, so women need to get smart, and get ready.

In her warm, yet firm, voice, Lisa guides readers through the potential legal issues around:

• Relationships: Online dating, pre and postnuptial agreements, engagement and marriage
• Separation and Divorce: Splitting without anxiety, child custody and support, pet custody disputes
• Babies, Children and Teens: Pregnancy and adoption, advocating for a special needs child, misbehaving teens
• Work: Employment and household help
• Domestic violence
• Social media
• Midlife and elder care: Wills, Medical decisions and Power of attorney
• Legal Help: Hiring a lawyer, DIY

As Suze Orman demystified personal finance and put women in the driver's seat of their own financial future, Lisa Green now does for legal know-how. With On Your Case, Lisa empowers you by equipping you with the tools you need to take care of yourself, your assets, your family, and your career.

Don’t miss this powerful conversation. She will share the 3 legal documents every adult should have.

“Lisa Green’s compelling and breezily conversational book gives us the tool kit we’ve been waiting for to wise up and open our eyes. It’s a must-read for all women – and the earlier, the better.” – Lee Woodruff, New York Times bestselling author of Perfectly, Imperfect: A Life in Progress

Have you ever wondered why some people succeed when so many others fail?  Some of the most successful men and women you know were once considered failures.

The path to success is rarely easy or direct. Before making it big, Anderson Cooper couldn’t get an interview for an entry-level job at ABC, Warren Buffett would become physically ill at the mere thought of speaking in public, Rachel Zoe was her boss’s scapegoat for stealing, and Graydon Carter was thrown out of two universities.

These are a few of the many stories shared in Getting There: A Book of Mentors, an inspiring new book in which thirty leaders in diverse fields reveal their secrets to navigating the rocky road to the top. In an honest, direct, and engaging way, these role models describe the obstacles they faced, the setbacks they endured, and the vital lessons they learned along the way. They dispense not only essential and practical career advice, but also priceless wisdom applicable to life in general.

Beautifully photographed and edited by author Gillian Zoe Segal, Getting There also features stories from Michael Bloomberg, Frank Gehry, Marina Abramović, Daniel Boulud, Hans Zimmer, Sara Blakely, Matthew Weiner, Jillian Michaels, David Boies, Laird Hamilton, Kathy Ireland, John Paul DeJoria, Leslie Moonves, Wendy Kopp, Ian Schrager, and Jeff Koons, among others.

Getting There is for everyone—from students contemplating their futures to the vast majority of us facing challenges or seeking to reach our potential. So join us, as Gillian shares these unguarded, inspiring stories and distills the essential ingredients necessary to achieve success.

There will be a book-signing following the conversation and books will be available for purchase at the event.

People of all ages are interested in love, relationships and marriage. We are either on the lookout for the right person or we are trying to make a marriage work over decades.

Finding lasting love can be a challenge, but is there a formula for creating a perfect match?

Cornell University professor Karl Pillemer, seems to think so. He asked over 700 people averaging 43 years of marriage each, to tell him the secret to a happy marriage and they poured their hearts out. He shares what he learned in his new book, “30 Lessons for Loving: Advice from the Wisest Americans on Love, Relationships, and Marriage.”

Here are some of the gems they shared:

• Marriage is hard. It takes spirit and resilience.
• Marriage is something that you work at and get better at, but it is never completed. And when you "look back from the finish line over a half century or more of marriage, lifelong marriage is incredibly good. It's almost indescribable. It's such a source of joy.

Pillemer gathered these insights and many others after spending the last four years conducting the Marriage Advice Project. The sample included some retirees who were widowed and some same-sex couples. It also included folks who had been happily married for years, and those who had been through multiple marriages and divorces.

The longest marriage was 76 years between a 101-year-old woman and 98-year-old man. Pillemer has been married for 36 years to his high school sweetheart, Clare McMillan.

So if you are, searching for a mate, in relationships where you are considering marriage, married and need some new tips, then join us for this fresh, wise, surprising and compelling conversation on “what makes for an amazing love life that stands the test of time.”

When All You Want Is Taken Away: A Personal Love Story of Discovery Through Loss

Sometimes change is deeply unwelcome, disrupting everything we have ever wanted. In Polly Young-Eisendrath’s case, her beloved husband and best friend gradually reversed his cognitive and emotional maturity as early onset Alzheimer’s disease swept through his neurons like a wild fire.

Polly and her husband were long-time practitioners of Buddhism and they came to embrace the inescapable without fanfare or self-pity as their love changed from a partnership, to him becoming profoundly dependent on her. She eventually placed him in end-of-life care.

Dr. Young-Eisendrath will share from her new book, The Present Heart: A Memoir of Love, Loss and Discovery, a provocative and daring memoir, in which she shows how our most intimate relationships, often the source of our greatest pain, can prove to be our path to enlightenment.

The book also offers a new perspective on how to maintain engaged, reciprocal relationships—with a partner, parent, child, or friend—under any and all circumstances. Polly will also share lessons learned about the nature of personal love as a spiritual practice of vulnerability and equanimity that requires being a whole self and accepting another as a whole self, as well.

"Polly Young-Eisendrath illuminates love as a path—not a goal—of self and mutual discovery that goes to the very heart of our nature." - Barry Magid

Colette Baron-Reid started out as a singer in Toronto, Canada, and didn't realize her calling as a spiritual intuitive until she was 28. Since then, she has released three books on spiritual practice and for three years toured
as the opening speaker at publisher Hay House Inc. multi-speaker events and conferences. She has performed spiritual readings for over 50,000 people in nearly 30 countries, and released several music and meditation CDs.

She is most well-known for her lecture style, performing inspirational speeches based on consciousness and spirituality. She has the voice of an angel, is a "life strategist" as well as a world-renowned intuitive counselor, and her goal is to empower everyone she meets to be self-actualizing, awake and authentic. Deeply spiritual, Colette Baron-Reid encourages people to develop meaning and purpose in their lives.
Over the past 25 years, her words have reached nearly 150,000 people through speeches and one-on-one counseling sessions. A trusted advisor to an international coterie of celebrities, politicians and CEOs, Colette's mission is to deliver inspired self-revelation. Her purpose is to help individuals understand where they are, how they got there, where they are heading, and how to live life to its fullest potential and meaningful purpose.

Dubbed the "intuitive's intuitive" by W magazine, Baron-Reid is praised by many of her well-known clients for her objectivity, accuracy and highly detailed readings. She is the real deal when she makes a prediction, and her goal is to provide people with perspective on who they are, where their lives are going, and how they fit into the broader scheme of things. She is a storyteller and believes in the power of the poignant details that make up our lives. Clients are amazed when she can pick up on these intimate details in their lives.
As the year ends, join us for this playful yet informative and intriguing evening of conversation, music and readings. Colette will share with us how to access our divine intelligence, potential and power through our intuition. She will help us remember our future as we plan the New Year.

“We need to open our minds, she says, and explore our miraculous, spiritually profound world rather than denying it, fetishizing it or being afraid of it.” – Colette Baron Reid

• Mentally ill
• Autistic
• Deaf
• Transgendered
• Disabled
• Down's Syndrome
• A Criminal
• A Dwarf
• A Prodigy
• Conceived from rape

• More than 20 million Americans use illegal drugs regularly
• 85% of drug users are not addicted
• Around half of all people with drug addictions are employed full time
• A huge proportion of people having difficulties with prescription drugs are women

"Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor got a research opportunity few brain scientists would wish for: She had a massive stroke, and watched as her brain functions -- motion, speech, self-awareness -- shut down one by one. An astonishing story."

Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor is a Harvard-trained and published neuroanatomist. Her brother’s brain disorder and schizophrenia led Dr. Taylor to dedicate her career to studying severe mental illnesses. She is the author of the New York Times bestselling memoir My Stroke of Insight: A Brain Scientist’s Personal Journey. Dr. Taylor gave a presentation at the TED Conference, which has been watched by over ten million and has become the most viewed TED Talk to date. She was chosen as one of TIME Magazine's 100 Most Influential People in the World.

Dr. Taylor was the premiere guest on Oprah's Soul Series webcast and was interviewed by Oprah and Dr. Oz on The Oprah Winfrey Show. She's now an artist as well as a scientist, creating anatomically correct stained-glass replicas of brains that are sold as fine art and also travels the country on behalf of the Harvard Brain Bank as the "Singin' Scientist.” Dr. Taylor is an adjunct lecturer at the Indiana University School of Medicine.

why attend:

• Learn how to get your brain to do what you want it to do.
• Learn who is who inside of you.
• Learn to access the right brain and improve the quality of your life.
• Learn new tools for your own personal empowerment.
• Experience a powerful story of the resilience of the human spirit.

"How many brain scientists have been able to study the brain from the inside out? I've gotten as much out of this experience of losing my left mind as I have in my entire academic career." - Jill Bolte Taylor

Is there life after death? As ancient as time itself, the idea of an afterlife remains at the core of most religions and belief systems, as humans have sought to find meaning and purpose in their existence on this earth-if any at all. Yet, as the world advances and people become increasingly dependent on science and technology, this question has been further argued and debated, as the rationality of scientific theory seems to disprove the very existence of the supernatural realm.

So the age old question remains: Is there life beyond our physical existence? And if so, is it possible to reconcile this "ancient" belief in an afterlife and the supernatural, with belief in the powers of science and medicine? According to Dr. Eben Alexander, the answer to both of these questions is a resounding yes.

Dr. Eben Alexander, a renowned neurosurgeon and former near-death experience skeptic, has examined these questions and more in his New York Times bestselling autobiography Proof of Heaven: A Neurosurgeon’s Journey into the Afterlife. In the book, Dr. Alexander captivates the reader with a real life account of his miraculous recovery from an inexplicable brain infection, and his even more astounding odyssey deep into the spiritual realm during the week that he spent comatose.

This experience seems to defy medical explanation, but Dr. Alexander, who has spent the last two and half years reconciling his rich spiritual experience with his knowledge of modern science, will explore how his journey is remarkably consistent with contemporary scientific understanding. His story offers a crucial key to the understanding of reality and human consciousness and it will have a major effect on how we view spirituality, soul and the non-material realm. He will explain why the symbiotic relationship between science and spirituality is necessary for true health. Through this discussion, we will learn how to probe deeply into our consciousness, so that we can have the power to transcend the limitations of this physical-material realm.

"This powerful story would be remarkable regardless of who went through the experience. That it happened to Dr. Alexander, a leading neurosurgeon, makes it revolutionary."

• Clarity
• Focus
• Creativity
• Compassion

After having a nationally televised panic attack on Good Morning America, Nightline anchor, Dan Harris knew he had to make some changes in his life. A lifelong nonbeliever, he found himself on a bizarre adventure, involving a disgraced pastor, a mysterious self-help guru, and a gaggle of brain scientists. Eventually, Harris realized that the source of his problems was the very thing he always thought was his greatest asset: the incessant, insatiable voice in his head, which had both propelled him through the ranks of a hyper-competitive business and also led him to make the profoundly stupid decisions that provoked his on-air freak-out.

We all have a voice in our head. It’s what has us losing our temper unnecessarily, checking our email compulsively, eating when we’re not hungry, and fixating on the past and the future at the expense of the present. Most of us would assume we’re stuck with this voice – that there’s nothing we can do to rein it in – but Harris stumbled upon an effective way to do just that.

It’s a far cry from the miracle cures peddled by the self-help swamis he met; instead, it’s something he always assumed to be either impossible or useless: meditation. After learning about research that suggests meditation can do everything from lower your blood pressure to essentially rewire your brain, Harris took a deep dive into the underreported world of CEOs, scientists, and even marines who are now using it for increased calm, focus, and happiness.

He shares this journey in his new book: 10% HAPPIER: How I Tamed the Voice in My Head, Reduced Stress Without Losing My Edge, and Found Self-Help That Actually Works—A True Story. 10% Happier takes readers on a ride from the outer reaches of neuroscience to the inner sanctum of network news to the bizarre fringes of America’s spiritual scene, and leaves us with a takeaway that could actually change our lives.

“A compelling honest, delightfully interesting, and at times heartwarming story of one highly intelligent man’s life-changing journey toward a deeper understanding of what makes us our very best selves.”

– Chade-Meng Tan, author of Search Inside Yourself  

Jeff Madrick has written a compelling book: Age of Greed a Publishers Weekly Top Ten pick for Spring 2011.

Jeff Madrick makes clear in a narrative at once sweeping, fast-paced, and incisive, that the single-minded pursuit of huge personal wealth has been on the rise in the United States since the 1970s, led by a few individuals who have argued that self-interest guides society more effectively than community concerns. These stewards of American capitalism have insisted on the central and essential place of accumulated wealth through the booms, busts, and recessions of the last half century, giving rise to our current woes.

Intense economic inequity and instability is the story of our age, and Jeff Madrick tells it with style, clarity, and an unerring command of his subject. What’s different about the book, is that unlike other recent treatments of the financial crisis, it traces the origins of the problem not to the Bush or Clinton or even Reagan years, but all the way to the late 1960s.

The real scandal revealed by Madrick’s important book is not the well-known tales of dastards such as telecom analyst Jack Grubman or Internet stock promoter Frank Quattrone, but the more elusive and more consequential story of how the government came to abdicate this supreme responsibility.’

'The Age of Greed is a fascinating and deeply disturbing tale of hypocrisy, corruption, and insatiable greed. But more than that, it’s a much-needed reminder of just how we got into the mess we’re in—a reminder that is greatly needed when we are still being told that greed is good'. - Paul Krugman and Robin Wells, The New York Review of Books

"I will tell you the secret to getting rich on Wall Street. You try to be greedy when others are fearful. And you try to be fearful when others are greedy." - Warren Buffett

America is on the verge of losing yet another natural resource. In about ten years, three-quarters of American oldest generation will be gone. They will take with them lessons learned about living through illness, failure, poverty, loss and danger…and more basic things like lessons learned about work, love, parenting and growing old.

Dr. Karl A. Pillemer, a professor of human development in the College of Human Ecology at Cornell University, created the Life Lessons Project in 2004, as a way of collecting practical advice from America’s elders. He knew that for the first time in history we humans have access to the accumulated wisdom of vast numbers of older people.

Pillemer, spent five years interviewing hundreds of elderly Americans, and found himself startled by their candor, their insights, and yes, their wisdom. He has summarized their thoughts in a book titled, 30 Lessons for Living: Tried and True Advice from the Wisest Americans.

Their advice ranged from:

• How to be happy on a day-to-day basis
• The secrets to a successful marriage
• Tips on raising children
• Ways to have a fulfilling career
• Strategies for dealing with illness and loss
• The importance of long-term care
• How to grow old fearlessly and well

His book has been getting a lot of buzz since released…it has hit a nerve! It’s been written and talked about on: CNN, PBS, Huffington Post, New York Times, The Daily Beast, Tampa Bay Times, Psychology Today, Blog Talk Radio and more.

"My grandmother would strongly agree with much of the collected wisdom, particularly the adage that happiness is a choice and that a practice of gratitude is intrinsic to being happy. I can't wait to read the book!" -Chelsea Clinton

We all know the current global economic system is severely troubled. Most people believe that corporate greed plays a major role in today’s economic turmoil and that human values are lacking in business decisions and actions. Money worries top the list of many people.

Patricia Aburdene one of the world’s leading social forecasters and co-author of four Megatrends books with John Naisbitt—including the New York Times bestseller Megatrends 2000, has discovered another emerging megatrend which she describes in her latest book, Conscious Money.

She believes that if you look below the surface of the current economic disaster, there is a holistic, values-based economic transformation underway opening the door to a new era that can bring fulfillment and prosperity. This emerging megatrend she calls: Conscious Money. Conscious Money is a growing movement of people who draw on values, creativity, and the power of human consciousness to clarify and guide their financial choices.

Join us for this new, profound and life-changing conversation as Patricia shares how you can make financial choices that reflect your values by:

• Identifying your unique personal values
• Breaking down barriers to financial success
• Partnering & working for companies that reflect your values
• Expressing your values through conscious shopping
• Investing in enterprises that honor the planet

Patricia has discovered that people want their money life (where they earn, spend and invest their money) to better reflect the values espoused in their personal and spiritual lives. They want to make financial choices that reflect their values and awareness. They also want to develop a new economy and a way of life that grows out of their true values.

"We have a new economic era now – where sustainable values and the genius of human consciousness outperform fear and greed."
– Marianne Williamson

Are you one of those people who have been looking for love in all the wrong places? Or perhaps you are someone who has found love, only to find that it fizzles out faster than a lit match in the spring rain? Have you genuinely tried your best to leave behind your pattern of unfulfilling relationships, only to find that you keep on going back to them, again and again?

Dr. Srini Pillay will spend an evening with us to unravel the mysteries of love and help us make wiser more informed choices about the loving relationships in our lives. He will address the following questions with cutting-edge scientific answers:

1. Why do so many people look for love in all the wrong places? What can you do about this?
2. Why you end up doing all the wrong things in love despite your best intentions? How can you change this?
3. Why does loving someone else require that you love yourself first? How can you achieve without the hype of a contemporary tabloid?
4. Why do you repeat your destructive patterns of falling in love? How can you escape these patterns?
5. Why does love become so boring so quickly? What can you do to lead a more sustainable fulfilling romantic life?

Dr. Pillay will also explain in everyday language how our fears complicate finding and forming loving relationships that last. By helping us understand the science of love, Dr. Pillay will help us move through the roadblocks that prevent us from living a satisfying, fulfilling and magical life.
"The secret to living life successfully is to recognize that you can be different from what is happening to you." - Srinivasan S. Pillay

After having to turn back during her first attempt at climbing Mount Kilimanjaro, Herta Von Stiegel vowed to return a decade later in a big way. For her 50th birthday, Von Stiegel paired a group of seven people with disabilities with able-bodied climbers to benefit Enham, a non-profit that empowers people with disabilities.

The emotionally charged climb to the top was captured in her award-winning documentary The Mountain Within. She also wrote a book about the experience, The Mountain Within: Leadership Lesson and Inspiration for Your Climb to the Top.

The book weaves a dramatic narrative of the gripping Kilimanjaro climb with personal stories of other mountains met and mastered; stories about the obstacles some of the world’s most influential leaders face in knowing themselves and their values, being true to both while ascending the highest peaks. Full of practical wisdom, courage and inspiration, The Mountain Within expands our understanding of what achievement means and the roads we can take to get there.

Von Stiegel’s second attempt was a success. She learned that life may be full of obstacles, but it is the mountain within that most often needs to be conquered. Her story reveals several invaluable lessons for today’s business leaders:

• Ruthlessly prepare
• Use failure as a stepping-stone for success
• Hang on to your vision
• Know when it's time to come down from the mountain

"It’s the mountain within that needs to be conquered one day at a time." – Herta Von Stiegel

Scientists have discovered the secret of healthy permanent weight loss – and it’s got nothing to do with dieting! People are over-weight because they are imprisoned by their bad habits. The fatter someone is, the more habits they have.

Charles Duhigg award-winning New York Times business reporter has written a new book: The Power of Habit …why we do what we do and how to change it. The book examines the specific ways in which people are learning to radically manipulate habits –either their own or those of other people and confirms that once we understand how habits really work, and how change occurs, we can develop new habits or get rid of old ones with the same basic tools. This discovery will inspire people to re-think many aspects of their daily lives.

Duhigg will explore why some people, companies, and communities never achieve real transformation, while others remake themselves almost overnight. He will share the key to conquering our most stubborn vices. We will learn that transforming a habit – or a life – isn’t necessarily easy or quick. It isn’t always simple. But it is possible.

An article adapted from his new book ‘The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business.’ was recently featured on the front cover of the New York Times Magazine

‘By the time we reach adulthood, we are driven as much by habit as by anything else, and there is infinity of habits in us. They do not merely rule us; they inhibit us and make fools of us.’ –Warren Bennis

• How does the mother whose husband and daughter were gunned down by terrorists forgive the men that murdered them?
• How do the parents whose teenage daughters were killed by a drunk driver embrace the person who robbed them of their children?
• And how do we forgive the multitude of lesser wrongs and inevitable slights that we will face throughout our lives?

The question of whether or not the soul exists cannot be answered by science, but we can study the causes and consequences of people's various beliefs about the soul, and that is the area in which we are beginning to make progress," says Daniel Ogilvie.