Introduction to the Climate Odyssey and Climate Café

February 7, 2017
7 – 9 pm
Central Lutheran Church. 1820 NE 21st Ave.

Welcome to the Climate Odyssey program! Designed to offer support to those who feel a need for community, connection, and resilience in these turbulent times, the Climate Odyssey offers experiences, skill-building, and community resilience practices to strengthen the Climate Justice Community.

We’ll also do some sharing in community via a process of facilitated small group conversation called the Climate Café, designed to help us get to know each other, share our concerns and hopes, and grow in the understanding of our individual and collective capacity to respond to the challenges at hand. This process emphasizes the value of our collective wisdom and compassion, as well as works to diminish the isolation that some of us experience in the feelings of overwhelm related to the news of the day.

Some participants will be veterans in the climate movement. Some will be new to this community. All are welcome to share and support each other to bring our best gifts to the world.

Barbara Ford

Barbara has been involved with climate activism and education since 2001, mostly in the interfaith community. She is the past president of the national Unitarian Universalist Ministry for Earth. Barbara is keenly interested in the intersection between the arts, spirituality, and activism, and offers workshops on hope and creativity for social change.

Chi Kung for Activists

March 7, 2017
7 – 9 pm
Central Lutheran Church. 1820 NE 21st Ave.

This beginning class will cover a basic set of Chi Kung excercises for cultivating good physical and mental health. Chi Kung is an inner practice which bypasses the intellect working directly at the energetic level. It is excellent for transforming stress into vibrant presence.

The basic set of exercises include:

  • Nei Dan – a sitting practice with controlled breathing and visualization
  • Some simple standing and slow movement with connected breathing
  • Shaking Exercise for ridding the body of dis-ease
  • Five Organ Breathing (not covered in this class, but may be in a follow-on class)

Chi Kung, literally translated, means life energy cultivation. I consider it an essential practice in a society that teaches people to use their energy up whenever they have it, which leads to a chronic state of depletion. Chi Kung not only charges the batteries, but it refines the nature of the energy itself.

For the class, wear loose comfortable clothing and expect to be sitting straight backed for 15-20 minutes.

Deva

A lifelong practitioner and teacher of Eastern philosophies & spiritual practices, Deva worked with Portland Indymedia starting in 2001 in order to counter the false narrative of corporate media following the WTO protests in Seattle. He then collaborated on an urban based organic farming project for 5 years. Deva built & helps maintain 350PDX’s website as well as providing ongoing mentorship and trainings for 350PDX interns, fellows and volunteers. Deva considers the integration of activism and spirituality essential to the goals social movements aspire to.

Radical Resistance: Uprooting Oppression through Intersectional Climate Justice

March 18, 2017
9am – 4pm
Central Lutheran Church. 1820 NE 21st Ave.
Donation of $10-30 requested. No one turned away for lack of funds.

This experiential workshop develops insight and tools for actively integrating social justice, collective liberation, and ecological sustainability. We will explore topics of structural oppression, institutional power, white supremacy, patriarchy, and capitalism, within an intersectional, anti-oppression framework. Through various activities we will build cultural competency, lay the groundwork for true solidarity, and investigate the interconnection of anti-oppression and sustainability. This workshop draws from the practices of Joanna Macy’s Work That Reconnects, Generation Waking Up, Deep Culture, and Theatre of the Oppressed.

Barbara “BJ” Jefferson

Barbara “BJ” Jefferson is a queer, black, gender non-conforming experience designer and facilitator specializing in solutionary leadership, anti-oppression, personal and community development, and collective healing. BJ thrives when creating “brave spaces” for individuals to critically and wholeheartedly nurture their purpose in service of social, political, ecological, personal, economic, and spiritual change.

BJ is a lead trainer with The Work That Reconnects, Generation Waking Up, and Young Women Empowered; and a full-time business student. In Seattle, you can find them hosting Black Folk’s Dinner – a monthly potluck dinner party for people of the African Diaspora.

Theater Improvisation for Community Building

April 4, 2017
7 – 9 pm
Central Lutheran Church. 1820 NE 21st Ave.

Mary Rose will be offering a variety of games and improvised experiences that transport us from our normal trains of thought (often stuck in memories of the past, anticipation/fear of the future, or judgements of ourselves and others), into the sensory moment that we are experiencing in the present.  A certified teacher of Action Theater–a practice of improvisation that has its roots in physical theater, meditation and dance–she is passionate about uncovering and activating the human potential for connection in the moment.  We will move our bodies, tune in to our breath, focus on what we are sensing and experiencing, share stories, laugh, connect.  We will play with movement, sounds and words.  We will sometimes try exercises in a group, sometimes with partners, and sometimes alone.  You will always have the option of being a witness instead of participating if that is what you need at that moment.  You will always be encouraged to take care of your body and not push beyond its limitations.

The value of this work shows up in so many ways.  In this time of many intense emotions, it is important to have ways of connecting joyfully with others with no need for anything but your self.  It is also so valuable to tap into a larger sense of self–once you experience your own body in the moment, you gain an ability to explore movement and vocal expression in ways that are not usual for yourself and liberate you from any boxes you or others put you in, connecting you with the greater human/life experience. Additionally, many of the games offer an experience of being seen and heard and having your experience reflected back to you in such a way that you can let go of feelings of isolation and helplessness.  We are all in this together!  Let’s find ways of playing with what we have!

Hope Is What You Do: Resistance and Resilience Practices for Personal and Community Care

April 8, 2017
1-4:30pm
Central Lutheran Church, Fellowship Hall
1820 NE 21st Ave.
$10-$15 donation requested, no one turned away

Hope is what we do, not something we have. In reclaiming hope as a stance and an embodied intention, we free ourselves to choose how we will live with integrity, no matter the circumstances. The ongoing work for justice calls us to grow our capacities to resist the messaging of consumer culture, oppression, powerlessness, and polarization. We are also called to strengthen our personal and collective capacity for connection, creativity, and commitment to ourselves and the larger world community.

This gathering offers an opportunity to examine our relationship to hope, to our natural emotional reactions to world events, and to new ways of seeing and being in community. Combining creative arts, contemplative practices, movement, and interactive practices, we start to grow a deeper understanding of ourselves of part of a resilient living community striving for a just and sustainable world.

About Barbara Ford

Barbara is an activist, facilitator, singer, songwriter, and artist with over thirty years of experience working with individuals and groups, including faith groups, activists, intentional communities, non-profits, and schools.  She is a leader at 350PDX on the Arts team, and coordinates the 350PDX Climate Odyssey Program. She offers workshops for activists and others struggling to stay present to the destruction and injustice of our world.

For the Activist: An Evening of Heart-Centered Meditation

May 2, 2017
7 – 9 pm
Central Lutheran Church. 1820 NE 21st Ave.

Rev. Jayna Gieber, Meditation Teacher in the tradition of Thich Nhat Hanh, offers this experiential workshop with guided meditation to crystal bowls designed to support and balance the passionate hearts and minds of activists.

Much is asked of us as lovers of the earth and life. It is imperative as we do the work of tending the world, we tend ourselves, keeping our hearts soft yet strong, even in the midst of heartbreaking planetary developments.

In a supportive atmosphere with climate and social justice companions, come take refuge. All are welcome.

Rev. Jayna Gieber
Spiritual Director of People of the Heart, www.PeopleoftheHeart.com

Senior student of Thich Nhat Hanh, Al Gore, Spotted Earth Woman, and Joanna Macy, Jayna addresses the concerns of our planet with a spirit of engaged love and compassion. As grandmother to Pepper and Kai, she devotes her lifeforce to creating a just and sustainable world for present and future beings of all species.