September 13, 2004

A crowd for wellness

By John Darling
Tidings Correspondent

If the plethora of seekers, teachers and healers here at World Wellness Weekend - and the well-attended talks by famed author and mind-body researcher Deepak Chopra - are any indication, Ashland has arrived as the region's spiritual capital.

The World Wellness Weekend held at SOU Saturday and Sunday offered Southern Oregonians alternatives in diet, medicine, and stress relief as well as alternative structures, which two-year-old Bryn Scott, of Ashland, plays in front of Saturday. Andrew Mariman | Ashland Daily Tidings

Countering memories of 9/11, several thousand crowded Southern Oregon University's stadium Saturday and Sunday to sample massage, crystal work, ayurvedic cooking, aura photography, acupuncture, vortex maps, meditation, exotic teas, kinesiology and many other offerings from 90 exhibitors, 65 classes and 20 speakers.

A consistent theme in the weekend was, despite world crises, a growing number of people are changing the world via difficult inner work - and not so much by looking to political solutions or authority figures.

"We're moving into a new era of peace and harmony," said Lyn Wandell, an essential oils teacher in Phoenix. "There's so much more positive than negative in the world and this helps balance out all the negative. So many people are waking up to higher consciousness. We need it. The planet needs it."

Said Genna Southworth of Ashland Massage Institute, "There's so much fear in the world now that a significant and growing number of people want to move beyond that and they know they can't do it without dealing with their personal fears. Ashland is becoming a big place for that work simply because it has a more open approach to being human and like attracts like."

A rift in the soul

The well-attended talks by Chopra (author Bernie Siegel cancelled his Saturday talk) emphasized a quantum physics view of consciousness, healing and personal happiness, noting that humanity is going through a major paradigm shift because we're at a "crisis of perception" that needs to be cured.

"It's a rift in our collective soul," said Chopra, a medical doctor and author of 45 consciousness books. "It's the source of all conflict. We're healing the wounds of the planet, which is our extended body."

Chopra said each person possesses immense power to change self and planet because "the essential nature of the physical world is not physical, but is empty space in which information, energy and love are created and empowered by the intention of the individual."

Ashland physician David Jones, now an educator of doctors, lauded Chopra's teachings, as well as the upsurge of alternate healing techniques, saying they are being taught now in 25 medical schools, including Duke and Georgetown.

"We live in an era of reenchantment of the world around us," Jones said. "There's a robust reassessment of the experience of the human being going on. It's not a question of whether these things have implications for health but how we work out the implications. It's the most exciting time to be a doctor."

Motivational speaker Laura Derocher, who delivers much of her inspirational message in songs she's composed, called on members of Southern Oregon Women's Access to Credit, which hosted a brunch for Chopra, to "fulfill your unique destiny and dreams, because if we don't do what we are meant to do we affect the whole planet negatively."

SOWAC vice president Terri Pound, who invited Chopra here, echoed the importance of personal discovery and development through laying a foundation of awareness, health, good finances and a purpose that will make a difference

"There is no difference between who we are in business and who we are as spiritual creatures," said SOWAC board chair Suzi Aufderheide. "If you're scrounging for bread all day there's no way you're going to be whole."

Seeking

Never before have so many people been seeking self awareness, said Chopra in an interview, "and all political, social and environmental change depends on people individually going through the great evolutionary struggle we're in now."

Asked about the big picture politically, Chopra said, "Whatever happens is fine. It's the crumbling of the imperial empire. The world recognizes we're moving into a different era and the policies of the present system just accelerate it. Chaos always leads to a creative leap in evolution - though we will pay the price for it meantime, for our self-centered arrogance."

A woman from New York, who asked not to be named, said she attended the fair with her cancer-stricken father, an Ashland resident, in hopes he can find healing by "opening to this and getting beyond the closed-minded way of life he grew up with."

Mary Ann Woodman of the Rogue Valley Metaphysical Library noted a "flood of new truth seekers exploring personal growth and questing for wholeness," both at the fair and in increased attendance at library lectures - and creating a broad sense of community among themselves as they do it.

Energy kinesiology worker and artist Debra Hurt of Ashland taught "The Frustrated Warrior - Change Your Energy and Change Your World."

Hurt said, "People are realizing they're not getting the results they want because they've been abdicating to others for the answers and living with the alarm response turned on, thus amplifying fear and diminishing spiritual and emotional intelligence."

Her teachings steer people toward self-discovery and a "quality presence in the moment," she said, adding with a wink, "You must be present to win."

Mount Shasta masseuse Debbie Davis said, though it's a struggle to work against social conditioning, Chopra helps awaken "the still, small voice inside, the truth that everyone gets at some point - that it's all divine and God is love."

"It's already here," said Ashland therapist Shaktari, "and we're all exploring who we are and sharing it in loving, open ways. People are willing to do this, to play from their hearts and to live what they believe."