Last week, Urban Dharma, the Tibetan Buddhist Center on Page Street in downtown Asheville, celebrated its fifth anniversary with a week-long schedule of programs, including the construction of a special Vasudhārā sand mandala. In Tibetan Buddhism, Vasudhārā is the deity of abundance, openheartedness, generosity and magnanimity. Throughout the week, the Asheville community was invited to watch […]
Southeast Wise Women, a woman-owned and -operated business, will sponsor its twelfth annual herbal conference at Lake Eden in Black Mountain Oct. 14-16.
Hailing from the African Yoruban tradition, Chief Olu Derrick Lewis and priestess Yeye Omileye Achikeobi-Lewis will bring ceremonies, classes and prayers for the four elements to OM Sanctuary as year-long artists-in-residence.
One of Asheville’s newest activities embraces dance, yoga, shamanic ritual, pilgrimage and community connection, says local astrologer Virginia Rosenberg. It’s called Qoya (pronounced COY-uh), and “the guiding principle is there is no way you can do it wrong,” she says. ‘Qoya,’ which means ‘queen’ in Quechuan, a pre-Incan language in Peru, captures the empowerment women […]
The Sacred Fire Foundation brings two elders from Canada to share their wisdom around a fire in Weaverville May 21-22.
Through the remedial practices and harmonizing of planetary influences, Vedic astrologers claim that we can bring ourselves back into harmony with nature and through that process realize the most fundamental aspect of our being.
Plant spirit medicine can bring about healing by serving as a bridge between the body and the mind. Flower essences help people to release an underlying emotional weight or spiritual malaise, say local practitioners.
Asheville offers a wide variety of options to bring in the New Year intentionally, whether it be doing yoga, singing and dancing, creating a vision board, or taking in the qualities of the buddha-nature.
Activated by the opening of a yoga studio, a ‘wellness block’ of like-minded businesses has sprung up in South Liberty Street area, creating a wellness-oriented community.
Whether it’s getting centered with an abdominal massage or allowing gravity to ground you while someone stands barefoot on your back, Asheville has a multitude of massage options.
YogaFest organizers hope to make Asheville a yogic destination by offering the premier yoga festival in the Southeast. Festival director Mike Hiers plans to create “a boutique, intimate and serious yoga festival that maintains the beauty and flavor of Asheville.”
“How has the practice of qigong or tai chi changed your life?” Several local participants in World Tai Chi Day, observed April 25 at Recreational Park in East Asheville answered the question by demonstrating a pose that answers this question.
We know how to pack our days full of activities, but how many of us really know how to stop, take time off and experience true rest? Instead, we tend to just keep going at a faster pace, doing our best to convince ourselves that this is “normal.” More and more folks, though, are finding that by consciously taking time away from their daily routine.
“Stones are truly as fundamental as it gets,” says Sarah Thomas, owner of Clarity Acupuncture and Clarity Stone Medicine, who has been studying Chinese medicine and the applications of stones in healing for the past eight years. “Indigenous cultures of the past such as the Taoists and Native Americans realized that everything in nature had a purpose […]
When it comes to sleep, where we spend nearly one-third of our lives, many individuals in our culture are finding it more and more difficult to accrue the quality rest needed to support physical, emotional and psychological well-being. At this time, there are millions of people in the United States suffering from sleep problems and […]
Touch has the power to heal, or at the very least to soothe us when we’re not feeling well. In Asheville, several practitioners apply this power, using a method of therapeutic touch created in the 1970s by Dora Kunz and Delores Krieger. “We are energy fields,” says Padma Dyvine, an Asheville-based practitioner for more than 20 years […]
Nutrition experts from across the country are gathering in Asheville Friday-Sunday, Nov. 14-16. One of the reasons the conference is being held in Asheville is that our local restaurants are already modeling “how alternative dietary patterns and eating styles can be made accessible to a broad population.”
In Asheville, most meditation groups incorporate community building through open public sittings, group discussions, potlucks, hikes, book shares and, in some cases, volunteer projects.
Ayurvedic medicine came to Asheville at least 12 years ago, when Vishnu Dass opened Blue Lotus Ayurveda, a Panchakarma clinic. Back then, “There was nobody practicing clinical Ayurveda in Asheville and very few in this entire region,” says Dass, who started teaching the art at various yoga and clinical herb schools in the area, including […]
“Sound healing” — what exactly is it? If you have been in Asheville for longer than a week, you’ve probably heard of it or seen a flyer for musical healing offerings. Seeking to learn more, I contacted local musicians, therapists and yoga teachers. I quickly found that sound is perhaps one of the most intangible subjects […]
This is not your typical catwalk event: “The fashion show is about showcasing the use of local materials, local models and local fashion and textile artists,” says Melanie Wilder, supervisor of the fiber arts program at Warren Wilson College. She’s talking about the Project Handmade Fashion Show, which returns to the Diana Wortham Theatre for […]
