My work with sacred eldering programmes began in 2015 after I graduated from one of the first pilot programmes in Conscious Ageing certified by the Institute of Noetic Sciences (IONS) in Petaluma, California. Since that time, my classes and retreats have been further developed to include my decades-long professional and spiritual work in East Asian medicine, spiritual healing, and Sufi mysticism.
About IONS
The Institute of Noetic Sciences was founded in 1974 by Apollo 14 astronaut Edgar Mitchell as a non-profit research, education and membership organisation. The word “noetic” was coined from the Greek word “noesis/noetikos” meaning inner wisdom, direct knowing, intuition or implicit understanding.
Its mission was to support individual and collective transformation through consciousness research, educational outreach and the engaging of a global learning community in the realisation of human potential and the power of consciousness. The programme Conscious Ageing was one of their educational projects created over four years, and was field-tested across a broad range of practitioners and settings. This included social workers, nurses, coaches, counsellors, ministers, churches, universities, senior centers and health care facilities. Those early programmes were developed for seniors over 60 years of age who were ready to embrace their arrival into elderhood.
Although the Conscious Ageing programme is no longer a part of IONS offerings, its mission continues to be relevant to the work of eldering as it reveals the interconnected nature of reality through scientific exploration and personal transformation. See: https://noetic.org/about/noetic-sciences/
About Quan Yin Wellness Consultancy
Quan Yin Wellness Consultancy has been a private clinic for East Asian medicine operating for 30 years in Voorburg, the Netherlands. Its modalities included acupuncture, somatic therapy, bodywork, medical and spiritual qigong and herbal medicine. Until 2019 when our world changed with COVID19, and social distancing and lockdowns caused disruptions in opening its doors to offer in-person treatment modalities to patients seeking alternative medicine.
The “silver lining” from this was that our services had to find new avenues of outreach. So Quan Yin Wellness was birthed, and its services expanded to include online wellness consultations for self healing and preventive medicine. Today, it continues to empower people to take a more active role in their own health and wellbeing through individual consultations, classes and retreats. One of our popular year round series of online classes is The Seasons of The Breath which combines breathwork, movement, and meditation to harmonize with nature’s elements inherent in human life cycles. See: https://www.quanyin.nl/
About Lightsong Inayatiyya
Lightsong Inayatiyya is dedicated to awakening and actualizing the sacred in daily life. It is connected with the Inayatiyya International, an ecumenical fellowship sparked by the visionary legacies of Hazrat Inayat Khan and his son Pir Vilayat Inayat Khan. Our retreats, classes and special gatherings are rooted in a universal approach to Sufi mysticism. Lightsong Inayatiyya offers personal spiritual guidance, silent retreats, meditation training, and sacred music gatherings to support personal transformation and community.
Lightsong Inayatiyya believes that each person’s spiritual growth is an important stepping stone in humankind’s realisation of unity and interconnectedness with all of life. Our activities aim to promote greater understanding and acceptance of the many and diverse pathways to this recognition, and strive to integrate mystical teachings into different areas of our lives, including the personal, professional, social, ecological and spiritual. See: https://lightsong.info/
Some additional resources and contacts:
- The Center for Conscious Eldering: https://www.centerforconsciouseldering.com/
- Gray is Green: http://grayisgreen.org/
- Sage-ing International: www.sage-ing.org