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 By Stephen Dinan, founder and CEO of The Shift Network
Tragedy hit close to home in the past few weeks as wildfires devastated Northern California, burning hundreds of thousands of acres, destroying thousands of buildings, and claiming over 40 lives. Some of our staff and faculty were evacuated and many in our extended community lost their homes, including faculty member Dawson Church (see Featured Articles), the parents of one staff member, and our housekeeping staff.
We are humbled by the devastation and very aware that people around the world are also dealing with tragedy — Puerto Rico struggling with the aftereffects of Hurricane Maria, women coming out in the #MeToo campaign about sexual abuse, Vegas reeling from its mass shooting, Syria devastated by years of war…
This is an intense time for our world and we need to directly support those in need whenever and wherever we can. AND tragedy sometimes provides the catalyst for deeper shifts in the culture. We’ve been working on ideas for how Weinstein’s downfall and the #metoo movement can lead to permanent changes in the culture around sexual abuse… for helping to rally support for Puerto Rico aid... and for developing a campaign around a California Moonshot to address climate change based on a presentation at California Vision 2020 by our ally Rinaldo Brutoco.
As a social enterprise, we are doing our best to balance serving up inspiring educational offerings with serving pressing needs. So when you invest your money in a Shift program, you are also supporting our social transformation work, which we do as much of as we can.
With that said, our free upcoming summit, Thriving in Your Third Act: Women Finding Fire & Fulfillment After 50, asks the question, “Are you ready to flourish in your ‘next act?’”
If you’re passionate about fulfilling your higher purpose, being a voice of wisdom, and guiding our world toward important changes — this four-day virtual event, which takes place November 7–10, is ideal for you. You’ll have the opportunity to hear from top experts in the emerging fields of women’s empowerment and conscious aging — thirty bold leaders who are on fire with possibility and purpose!
These wise, courageous women, including Marianne Williamson, Jean Houston, Anodea Judith, Katie Hendricks, and Reverend Deborah Johnson, will guide you in how to fully step into your purpose and power in the later phases of life — as well as how to navigate the new challenges.
You can register for this inspiration-packed summit here.
In keeping with this theme of self-discovery and renewal of the Summit, we would love to hear your answer to the question, “What activity or skill would add an exciting new dimension to your life?” To share your thoughts in our Facebook Page community, click here.
Also, I want to highlight that our next Shift Trip to Rishikesh, India is now open for applications. The Sacred Pilgrimage into the Soul of India (February 27 to March 10, 2018) is taking place during the 50th anniversary of The Beatles’ historic trip to Rishikesh and will include a visit to The Beatles Ashram.
The pilgrimage is being led by Philip M. Hellmich, our Director of Peace, and Sandra de Castro Buffington, Founding Director of the Global Media Center for Social Impact at UCLA. This trip promises to be a powerful, spiritually transformative journey, one that will explore the deeper aspects of seva (selfless service). Space for this trip is very limited and slots are filling fast, so you’ll want to apply soon. For more information, click here.
Finally, I’ve decided to open a limited number of spots for my personal mentorship, guidance and advice until October 3. If you’d love my help in taking your business, vision, or work to the next level, you can find out more here.
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An Angel With a Guitar Changes Wendy's Life
 One night, as 19-year-old Wendy De Rosa and her roommate were walking and talking about Wendy’s intuitive pull to drop out of school and take off for Colorado...
… her angel approached and sang her a song.
Even after all these years, Wendy still gets chills remembering what her angel said to her… how he knew what he couldn’t possibly know…
Click here to watch and listen to Wendy tell her amazing story.
You can still join intuitive healer Wendy De Rosa’s new 7-week course, The 4 Foundations of Intuitive Healing. For more information, click here.
I Have a Message for You
Opinion and Documentary by Matan Rochlitz
Originally published in the New York Times
 Originally published in the New York Times
To escape Auschwitz, she left her father to die. Decades later, she got a message from him.
To read more, click here.
Michael Gelb on the Art of Connection
Video interview with Phil Bolsta
In this exclusive 46-minute video interview for Catalyst, Michael Gelb shares ideas and insights from his book, The Art of Connection: Seven Relationship-Building Skills Every Leader Needs Now.
 I have a client over in New Jersey, an engineer. He explained to me... “My clients love me,” he said, “because I go out to lunch with them. I have coffee with them. I sit there with them. I don’t check my phone. I look them in the eyes and I listen to everything they have to say. In my business, I really need to listen to what their concerns are so that I can address them and my competitors don’t have as much attention available to give them and so they’re more loyal and bonded and connected to me.” He said, “I don’t have to take them out for a fancy meal. They know that they can count on me for my full attention.”
Can your children count on you for your full attention? Can your partner? Can your clients? Can your colleagues? Are you able to bring yourself into the present moment 100 percent right now as needed? If you don’t have some practice for strengthening that ability, chances are you will be dispersed and distracted because that’s the default setting in our world today. That’s why the book is filled with all these simple research-validated and experientially validated practices for helping people cultivate that alignment.
To watch the video and read the text, click here.
 Your Voice
We want to know: What new activity, hobby, or skill would add an exciting new dimension to your life? To share your thoughts in our Facebook Page community, click here.
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Extraordinary Aging: The Art of Reinvention
By Cynthia James (a featured speaker in the Thriving in Your Third Act summit)
 I am in the third “trimester” of my life. I can honestly say that I am more comfortable in my skin then I have ever been. I feel on purpose, in tune, and aligned with my destiny. I would love to tell you that it was a straight route to this point. However, there have been many twists and turns. There were times when I questioned my sanity and my choices but, miraculously, I was always guided and supported.
I am a seeker and a lifetime student. I have always looked for new ways to express and step into different adventures. I truly feel that I am a reinvention master. Even in high school I found ways to support myself, meet interesting people, and travel. I believe that pattern of operating is what has allowed me to live a fabulous life and journey into magical and mystical life experiences.
To read more, click here.
Remaining Vital
By Rev Deborah L. Johnson (a featured speaker in the Thriving in Your Third Act summit)
 The gardening season is almost upon us and perhaps this year is your first time planting a garden. Growing your own garden can be a wonderfully enjoyable thing to do, even if you do have a few weeds to pull. But it can also be a little bit confusing when you first get started or even a little disheartening if you aren’t sure how to get things set up. If only it were as easy as just planting seeds and watching yummy things grow!
Never fear! If you are a first-time gardener and you have some questions before you get going, this is an article for you. Hopefully, after you finish reading this you will feel a little more empowered and ready to get your hands dirty this gardening season.
To read more, click here.
Thriving Through the Years: Problems and Portals
By Kathlyn Hendricks (a featured speaker in the Thriving in Your Third Act summit)
 It may come as no surprise that our culture is scared of aging. You might have experienced what I call the “assembly line” that seems to pop up for people of a certain age. The implication suggests that we should just move over, get out of the way, disappear, or at least become invisible. I don’t like being dismissed and imagine you don’t either, just when you’re coming into the richness of your experience, wisdom, and ability to contribute. I want to suggest some new perspectives on the amazing possibilities of midlife and beyond, from some new windows to possibility.
To read more, click here.
Santa Rosa Fire: We Are Safe — House and EFT Universe Office Gone
By Shift Faculty Dawson Church
 We feel incredibly grateful to be alive.
At 1:30 a.m. on Monday morning, October 9, a wildfire consumed northern Santa Rosa, our home, and the EFT Universe office.
My wife, Christine, woke up at 1 a.m, woke me up, and I saw a glow on the horizon. A minute later, I looked out the window again and I could not believe how fast the fire was moving.
I yelled, "Christine, we are leaving right now." I threw on my clothes, grabbed the car keys and my wife’s hand, and sprinted to the car, which was parked at the office building in the back of the property. As we got to the car, a 40-foot high sheet of flame erupted behind a nearby storage building.
To read more, click here. To read Dawson’s subsequent blog posts about the effects of the fire, click here.
The Dark Night Survival Kit
Part One: 6 Inner Practices
Featuring audio teaching by Andrew Harvey
Click here for details about Andrew’s brand new 7-week live training, The Fierce Feminine: Reclaiming the Gifts of Your Radical Divinity, which begins on Monday, November 20.
 In your darkest hour, when all seems lost, and your last vestiges of hope are sinking beneath the waves of a tumultuous sea of sorrows…
… when everything familiar and right and good has been stripped away, leaving you nothing real or imagined to cling to…
… still, there are great forces at work conspiring on your behalf, ensuring that no matter how dimly the light of the Divine flickers in the darkness of your despair…
… that light carries with it the promise of rebirth.
To read more, click here.
Character Structures: Moving From “Being in Pattern” to Being Fully Present
By Shift Faculty Anodea Judith
 The defensive strategy a child uses to face the challenges of life is dependent upon what skills they have under their belt. A younger child, whose charge is less regulated, has fewer skills to deal with insult than an older child. Infants, for example, have no verbal skills to defend themselves, and no ability to fight or run away. If they don’t like what’s going on, they can cry, which may or may not fix the problem. To read more, click here.
Anodea’s new 7-week course, The Character Type Training, begins Tuesday, October 31. Click here for more information.
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Untethering My Soul With Mickey Singer
By Philip Hellmich, Director of Peace, The Shift Network
 For the past 28 years, Michael Singer has been one of the most influential people in my life for spiritual and personal growth.
I met Michael, or “Mickey” as he prefers to be called, in rural Florida where he was quietly teaching at his center, The Temple of the Universe.
It was 1989 and I had just returned from the Peace Corps. I had been living for four years in small villages in the bush of Sierra Leone, West Africa. While in Africa, I had lived with subsistence farmers, people who were living on less than a dollar a day. My African friends opened me to a way of living that was profoundly simple and yet filled with a peace from being connected with community, nature, and a deep sense of spirituality.
To read more, click here.
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Mapping U.S.-based Peacemakers
 | In an effort to understand our collective power as peacemakers in the United States, Communities in Transition (CIT) and PeaceTech Lab are mapping the location of conflict transformation practitioners, mediators, dialogue facilitators, circle holders, religious peacemakers, non-violent communication, interest-based negotiators, restorative justice practitioners and other practitioners and peacemaking organizations residing in the U.S. If you or your organization work in the United States to bring together parties who disagree by using dialogue as a tool, we would encourage you to click here to add your information to the map.
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Stand Up For Humanity!
Washington D.C., November 3, 2017
Awakening Love and Light in the Nation’s Capitol at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool
- Imagine a Million Souls on the Mall of our Nation’s Capitol standing for peace, love, light, tolerance, acceptance, and honoring the sanctity and sacredness of all life.
- Imagine creating a gathering and critical mass for the shifting of human consciousness and elevation of humanity.
- Imagine people bringing their light, literally and figuratively, be it a lantern, flashlight, camera light etc. to surround the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool with light.
- Imagine people signing pledges of sacred action on a commitment wall. We have all been called for such a time as this.
Featured speakers include Stephen Dinan, founder and CEO of The Shift Network. Click here for more information.
A Sacred Pilgrimage into the Soul of India
February 27 to March 10, 2018
 You’re invited to join us on a pilgrimage into the heart of India to explore the ancient roots and modern application of yoga!
This will be an intimate trip of just 10 to 12 people. Our time there will include exclusive sessions with enlightened teachers, visits to sacred sites, and yoga classes with world-renowned teachers.
We’ll also be participating in the International Yoga Festival! Here’s a short video we made during last year’s festivities..
Apply before November 21 and receive a $400 discount!
For more information — and to watch videos from our previous trips to India — click here.
Costa Rica Retreat with Karuna from Light On Kundalini
December 2–9, 2017
Blue Spirit Yoga & Meditation Retreat Center in Nosara, Costa Rica
 Join us for a week of deep spiritual exploration in the serene and beautiful surrounds of the Blue Spirit Yoga and Meditation Retreat Center in Nosara, Costa Rica (Blue Spirit has been named a Yoga Journal “Best Yoga Escape 2017”). We will be breaking down the walls of resistance by going deeper into peace and tranquility through meditation. The week will include in-depth exploration of the technology of Kundalini Yoga for re-rooting, rest and restoration of the Complete Self from the stresses of daily life. You’ll develop a fulfilling everyday discipline, creating devotional practice with Sadhana at the ambrosial hour, meditation and chanting, and breath walks on the oceanfront, experiencing deep immersion into the Soul! For more information, click here.
The Global Indigenous Wisdom Library is a collection of audio and video interviews featuring Indigenous leaders from around the world sharing prayers, sacred songs, prophecies, spiritual teachings and pathways to healing, as well as concrete examples for birthing a new era — one in which all members of the human family are treated with respect, understanding, compassion and justice. This sacred wisdom is important medicine for us all. The production of The Global Indigenous Wisdom Library is a gift from The Shift Network, designed to inspire, inform and involve you by highlighting the voices and important messages of Indigenous leaders from around the world. We thank all the speakers who have contributed to this body of knowledge! To learn more, click here.
Book by Stephen Dinan: Sacred America, Sacred World. Infused with visionary power, Sacred America, Sacred World is a manifesto for our country’s evolution that is both political and deeply spiritual. It offers profound hope that America can grow beyond our current challenges and manifest our noblest destiny, which the book shows is rooted in sacred principles that transcend left or right political views. To order your copy, click here.
 World Peace Library. Designed for the layperson and professional peacebuilder alike, the World Peace Library has over 425 audio and video interviews with some of the most remarkable, inspiring peacebuilders in the world available to you at NO COST. You’ll find hundreds of hours of inspirational, peacebuilding, compassion-spreading talks and trainings at your fingertips with this FREE global resource. There’s no way you can’t come away from the World Peace Library deeply inspired, transformed — and part of the solution. Click here to find out how to take peace to the next level — and help co-create a global culture of peace that leaves a legacy of good for our children, our children’s children and all of humanity and life on earth.
If you would like to submit something to The Catalyst, please see the submission guidelines: click here.
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2017 Catalyst:
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(#22, 10/29)
(#21, 10/15)
(#20, 10/1)
(#19, 9/17)
(#18, 9/3)
(#17, 8/20)
(#16, 8/6)
(#15, 7/23)
(#14, 7/9)
(#13, 6/25)
(#12, 6/11)
(#11, 5/28)
(#10, 5/14)
(#9, 4/30)
(#8, 4/16)
(#7, 4/2)
(#6, 3/19)
(#5, 3/5)
(#4, 2/19)
(#3, 2/5)
(#2, 1/22)
(#1, 1/8)
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Reflect on the contributions you’d like to make in the “next act” of your life, assuming that time, money and other life circumstances presented no obstacles to whatever your heart tells you is possible. Then take one step — no matter how small — toward making that dream a reality.
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 The Medicine of Ayni: The Shamanic Healing Art of Living in Sacred Reciprocity With All Our Relations — A Free Virtual Event With Respected Peruvian Shamanic Healer and Transpersonal Psychologist don Oscar Miro-Quesada. Discover the Keys to Reverence and Living in Right Relationship With Others and the Earth Through Sacred Andean Practices & the Restorative Power of Ayni. Wednesday, November 8, 2017 at 5:30pm Pacific
 Discover the Power of Celestial Plant Medicine: How to Use Herbalism, Essential Oils and Vedic Astrology for Healing, Happiness & Spiritual Growth — A Free Virtual Event With Pioneering Ayurvedic Teacher, Medical Astrologer & Brazilian Healer Arjun Das. Experience a Profoundly Holistic Healing Approach to Access a Deeper Level of Wellbeing. Saturday, November 11, 2017 at 10:00am Pacific
 Shamanic Approaches to Death, Dying & the Afterlife: Journey to the Other Side, Communicate With the Departed & Make Death Your Ally for Living Courageously — With Dream Shaman and Bestselling Author Robert Moss. Discover advanced shamanic practices to journey to the Other Side and access helpful and timely communication from the departed for your healing and theirs. 13-week Live Training Starts Monday, October 30, 2017
 The Character Type Training: Liberate Your Body, Energy & Mind From Limiting Childhood Patterns — With Bestselling Author & Expert on the Chakra System Anodea Judith. Discover how to heal from your early family conditioning, reclaim your authentic self, and regain a sense of joy, aliveness, and excitement about life.
New 7-week Live Video Training Starts Tuesday, October 31, 2017
 Chinese Reflexology for Women 40, 50 & Beyond: Ancient Wisdom to Rebalance Your Hormones, Clear Energetic Blocks & Reignite Your Vitality — With Chinese Reflexologist, Author & Dragon Spirit Guide Holly Tse. Unlock the power to heal your body with easy practices that support and replenish your natural energy, as well as address underlying imbalances. New 7-week Live Video Training Starts Thursday, November 9, 2017
 Finally, Truly Loving Yourself: Healing Attachment Wounds & Finding Self Acceptance Through Inner Bonding — With Renowned Psychologist, Bestselling Author and Co-creator of Inner Bonding Margaret Paul. Release the Negativity, Judgment, Fear & Shame That Have Kept You “Living Small” And Discover Deep, Unconditional Love… From Within. New 7-week Audio Training Starts Thursday, November 9, 2017
 Medicinal Plants & Spiritual Evolution Intensive: Harnessing the Power of Herbs for Health, Aging, Intimacy & Spiritual Awakening — With Plant Medicine Pioneer David Crow, LAc. Receive advanced insights, practices and teachings for experiencing the profound benefits of medicinal plants for your health, wellbeing, longevity and spiritual transformation. 6-month Training Starts Thursday, November 9, 2017
More Upcoming Events: (all subject to change)
November
• Wendy De Rosa 7-week course
• Andrew Harvey 7-week course (with special guests (Caroline Myss, Mirabai Starr et al.)
• Arjun Das 7-week course
December
• Andrew Holecek 7-week course
• don Oscar Miro-Quesada 13-week course
• Linda Backman 7-week course
January
• Hank Wesselman 7-week course
• Donna Eden 12-week course
• Suzanne Scurlock-Durana program
• Chloe Goodchild 16-week program
• Caroline Casey 12-week program
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Northern California Fire Relief Agencies
Funds donated to the following agencies go directly to the people and animals impacted by the fires. They all contribute much needed guidance during this crisis:
1) The Redwood Credit Union: North Bay Fire Recovery Fund (locally organized fund; 100% goes to those affected by the fire.) Click here to donate.
2) Sonoma County Resilience Fund (for mid- to long-term recovery needs). Click here to donate.
3) NorCal Fire Relief Fund (supporting families, farmworker communities, and coordinating regional resources for immediate and long-term needs). Click here to donate.
4) Sonoma Humane Society. Click here to donate.
5) Marin Humane Society. Click here to donate.
6) Sonoma County Wildlife Rescue (they no longer need to consider evacuation and now are focusing on the overwhelming task at hand; their daily feed bill alone has skyrocketed). Click here to donate.
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Global Fund for Women
We are a global champion for the human rights of women and girls. We use our powerful networks to find, fund, and amplify the courageous work of women who are building social movements and challenging the status quo. By shining a spotlight on critical issues, we rally communities of advocates who take action and invest money to empower women. We advocate for freedom from violence, economic and political equality, and sexual rights and health. Click here to visit our website. Click here to make a donation to change the future for women and girls.
Awakening Women
We are Yoginis, feminine spiritual practitioners. Rooted in an ancient lineage, we practice embodied spirituality in the midst of our lives as modern women. We meet in online Sadhana intensives, in live retreats, and trainings. In our daily lives we support and challenge each other into the real in our vibrantly alive online community forum, and many women meet in Women’s Temple Groups in their hometowns. All the work of the Awakening Women Institute arises out of a passionate intention to bring true peace and happiness to all sentient beings, and our programs are our contribution to that. Click here to visit our website.
Shared Hope International began in 1998 when U.S. Congresswoman Linda Smith traveled into the heart of the brothel district in Mumbai, India. The brutal sexual slavery and exploitation of women and children she witnessed there inspired her to establish Shared Hope International to help bring healing to devastated lives. Their dynamic story of prevention, restoration and justice initiatives has continued unbroken, as you will see as you scroll through the timeline that follows this brief video — click here.
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Lori Shorin, Sculptor
Lori Shorin is a classically trained figurative sculptor whose work is inspired by the quiet moments of contact between two or more people that express an inner connection. In the past six years, she has created compositions of figures of different faiths having a shared experience; the mother of Buddha breast-feeding baby Moses in Manna from Heaven, for example (right). And the expectant mothers of Jesus and Krishna are portrayed together in Spiritual Sisters, which is on view in the permanent collection at the Museu Europeu d'art Modern (MEAM) in Barcelona, Spain. Currently, Lori is in the process of combining the classical approach to the figure with new technology to deepen her exploration of connectedness between people. To view more of Lori’s artwork, click here.
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