Amazing Int'l Focusing Conference

The experience of presenting at the International Focusing Conference in Quebec, Canada far exceeded my expectations. Affirmation of the model was given in so many ways, from my presentation being well attended, to people individually telling me later just how inspired and deeply touched they were, to serendipitous occurences such as the one shared below.

For the conclusion of my presentation, "Restoring Connection: Experiencing True Joy", I had planned a guided experience, using a passage from "Black Elk Speaks: Being the Life Story of a Holy Man of the Oglala Sioux". Black Elk's vision so beautifully reflects the conference theme of "Beyond Duality" and the "Restoring Connection" sensibility of being in relationship with all that is.

I had planned the Black Elk guided experience as the conclusion to my presentation before the conference. Parenthetically, Native American Spirituality is one of the spiritual traditions that resonates most deeply for me. We have a medicine wheel and sweat lodge on the land in back of our home. So to arrive at the conference & have the Montreal planning committee present "First Nation" tradition as "the frame" for the conference was beyond my wildest dreams. ("First Nation" is the term Canadians so respectfully use instead of "Native American".) It was this amazing experience of the outer world reflecting my inner world of connection to Native tradition.

In the closing ceremony of the conference, as the sacred Native directions (East, South, West, North, Below and Above) were once again so beautifully acknowledged and thanked, I had a strong sense of how we had energetically been held by them throughout the conference. I also totally loved the addition of the seventh direction, the direction Within. It feels so right.

It was a profoundly meaningful experience for me to present at the conference, one I'll hold in my heart forever. The Montreal planning committee headed by Marine de Freminville did a spectacular job & I am most grateful to them as well as the Focusing community at large for their open hearted reception. Thank you so much.