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REACHING OUT TO TEENS
October 14, 2006
Dear friends,
This is an important newsletter and I entreat you to read
it carefully. After 18 years of working almost exclusively
with adults, I am, for the first time, offering a special
workshop for teens. My reason for doing this is because I
am acutely aware that today's teens face tremendous
pressures from their peers that often lead to problems of
substance abuse and difficult choices around their
sexuality. Additionally, there is the high stress of
academic achievement associated with placement in a good
college.
Perhaps, most important of them all, is their relationship
with their parents. In today's high stress professional
environment and unstable international events, parent's are
themselves having a hard time managing their own lives,
juggling careers, children and personal needs. They require
just as much compassion. However, the extreme stress on
both sides creates a highly volatile situation that often
results in a "no win" situation with teens making poor
decisions and adults feeling completely frustrated.
Today, more than ever, we are compelled to bring
spirituality to our youth, making ancient wisdom meaningful
and accessible to their developing minds, and so I seek to
bring my skills of music, mantra and yoga to this
generation. This first attempt is really a sampler, to see
whether I can meet their needs and if I have what it takes
to offer them a meaningful mysticism, which is really a set
of viable options to drugs, alcohol, self-abuse and
depression. What has been most inspiring to me is the quiet
work of an extraordinary psychotherapist who lives and
works in Baltimore. Now here is the kicker: Katina La Fond
-- who has attended a number of my workshops and retreat
over the years -- has been successfully integrating sound
and mantra in her therapy practice for almost three years
now and feels that there can be something powerful here for
them. This is why I am teaming up with her to offer this
event.
Mysticism, spirituality, yoga are the greatest tools we can
offer these young humans who will soon hold the reins of
power and make decisions that will affect the rest of our
planet. These, are sincere human beings seeking perceptions
that go beyond ordinary, everyday consciousness because
they desperately need to find peace and inner stillness
that is respite from the constant judgment of their inner
critical voices. I would like to introduce them, therefore,
to yogic methods that may enable them to produce moments of
stillness in the midst of a manic whirlwind of hormones and
homework.
So I am off in a few weeks to do this event and I would
love to have your support. If you know of teens in the area
who might benefit from this event please encourage them to
check it out. The sampler workshop, on Sunday, November 5
(from 1:15 to 3:00 p.m.), is meant to provide insight into
what they need and how we can provide it to them, with love
and with humility of course. If it works out, I will
continue to develop programs for them using the skills I
have in music and spiritual practice.
I am also doing a regular weekend for adults: Friday Nov
03rd to Sunday Nov 5th. This retreat is preceded by an
evening of ecstatic chant and dance, Friday Nov 3rd, that
is open to the teens to attend. Imagine three amazing
Indian musicians accompanying me on a variety of Indian
instruments (see description at bottom). That's four rowdy
chantin' bros from the Ol' Om-town, Mother India, givin'
you the low-down at the show down in the dense woods of
Baltimore. That's true folks, for this event takes place in
the midst of nature, at Camp in a forest. And the cost is
so low you can fly out from any part of the country and
still save big bucks on the total event.
You can contact Katina directly at katinalafond@mac.com
Details for the event can be found at
http://www.inspirationsstudio.net/
This website also provides information on the work of
Katina La Fond as well as the extraordinary art and
sculpture of her husband, Marty LaFond, who is also an art
educator:
SPOTLIGHT ON KATINA LAFOND - PSYCHOTHERAPY THAT INCORPRATES
MANTRA: Assisting me for the teen sampler is Katina LaFond,
MSW, LCSW-C is a holistic psychotherapist who specializes
in working with children and teens, as well as adults and
families. The nurturing environment she creates allows
people to explore a range of possibilities that can
institute positive life changes in their lives. Through
sensitive assessment and co-planning, she teaches
self-actualizing strategies that maximize self-healing
As part of her practice that involves groups as well as
individuals, Katina incorporates Reiki and EMDR for healing
trauma and illness, meditation and mantra. In addition, she
teaches "Art and Healing" and "Discovering Inner
Creativity" classes with her husband, Marty LaFond in their
studio nestled in the woods of Northern Baltimore County,
MD.
THE MUSICIANS: Performing with me this weekend, are a trio
of young Indian musicians who a good friend nicknamed "The
Bhakti Boys". Pankaj Sharma, Ajay Sharma and Ramesh
Vaghella are three inspired artists whose mission is to
explore the interior depths of the Self through Sound. The
Sharmas come from a long line of devout Hindu practitioners
who have built a Hindu temple in Pennsylvania where they
perform regularly and offer the opportunity for others to
experience healing through sacred sound. They have
performed with me on several occasions and are truly some
of the most dynamic musicians I have worked with.
Offering their own public events through the use of High
Energy Chanting, Deep Meditation and Dance, Pankaj, Ajay,
and Ramesh are known to open the heart, relax the mind, and
help others discover the joy of silence. They are working
on their first CD soon to be released.
Visit them on the web and learn more about their ministry
at:
http://www.yogaofconsciousness.com
Soon after I finish my weekend in Baltimore, I will be
presenting a weekend retreat at the Cenacle Retreat
facility in Warrenville, IL, (www.cenacle.org) about 30
miles from Chicago. The retreat is titled "The Yoga of
Sound for Christians" and is an attempt to present the rich
tradition of mantra and mysticism from the East to the
Christian community in a way that Christians can appreciate
it and use some of these methods to deepen their Christian
faith and experience.
Obviously, the retreat is not exclusively for Christians,
and I believe that it will be a valuable experience for
yoga teachers and yoga practitioners who wish to learn how
to present the yoga tradition to Christians. It is often
extremely difficult to make Christians understand that yoga
is a universal form of mysticism that is non-sectarian. A
person of any faith can use the principles underlying the
methodology. Yoga does not seek to convert anyone to the
Hindu faith. In fact, the yoga tradition rejects many
superficial and sectarian aspects of Hinduism, the very
same parts that make Christians uncomfortable. On the other
hand, Hinduism is a spiritually rich and universal
tradition that is driven by the perennial philosophy: there
is much in it that is neither superficial nor sectarian.
Please let friends or associates in the area know about
these events. The Cenacle Retreat will be my last event for
this year. Those who cannot attend the retreat can attend a
free lecture that I will be giving on the subject at the
Cenacle on the evening of Thursday, Nov 16. The retreat is
from Friday, November17th through Sunday, November 19th.
For more information about my Cenacle retreat, "The Yoga of
Sound for Christians", please visit
http://shopping.cenacle.org/ProductInfo.aspx?productid=578
Wishing you a blessed fall season,
In One Spirit,
Russill Paul Any content drawn from the public pages of this website must be properly referenced with all required citation information, including complete URL, authorship and date. To learn about terms and conditions regarding our products and services, please view our Company Policies Copyright 1998 to 2009, Russill Paul and Guha Soulworks LLC.
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