Spirituality Matters by Steven Libowitz “Spirituality Matters” highlights two or three Santa Barbara area spiritual gatherings. Unusual themes and events with that something extra, especially newer ones looking for a boost in attendance, receive special attention. For consideration for inclusion in this column, email slibowitz@yahoo.com.
Qigong Gets Back to the Garden
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arpinteria Qigong/tai chi teacher Jessica Kolbe was one of the last to shut down in personal classes, only giving up her gatherings that were fighting the spread of COVID-19 through social distancing on Carpinteria State Beach when the statewide stay-at-home orders became official in mid-March. She’s been offering online classes ever since, with the more than half a dozen choices featuring at least one free workshop every week (this week it’s an hour of Healing Qigong for Strength and Joint Health) to let prospective students try her out on Zoom at no cost. So it only seemed like things were coming full circle to hear that Kolbe is among the first to take advantage of the relaxing of stay-at-home standards and the slow re-opening of the economy by starting to teach live Qigong/Tai Chi classes with real people, albeit outdoors, once again. The new meetings take place every Thursday at 10 am in the large garden at the Carpinteria Woman’s Club, where Kolbe confirms that participants will practice social distancing while communing with actual nature as well as our internal natures. Participants are also required to wear masks during the session. “Qigong has practices for getting through all of life’s ups and downs, while Tai Chi helps to bring life back into balance and harmony,” writes Kolbe, whose clients include people with Parkinson’s disease, Lewy Body Disease, cancer, dementia, chronic pain, arthritis, balance issues, depression, compromised lungs, and other conditions. The classes cost $18 per session, with discounts for 5- or 10-class packages. Meanwhile, most of Kolbe’s online classes have been recorded and reformatted for airing on TVSB, Channel 17, community access, which now airs her workshops up to seven times a day. And Kolbe Santa Barbara City College summer online class “Tai Chi Easy™” starts Monday, June 1, at 11:30 am. Visit www.QigongSB.com, email JessicaKolbe26@gmail.com or call (805) 705-3426.
Socially Distant Ecstatic Dancing
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Also taking to the great outdoors this week is the Santa Barbara Ecstatic Dance Co-op, which features music programmed by members of the community who are encouraged to express themselves through their choices of songs, rhythms, and beats. Its last dance took place at Divinitree Yoga studio the first Friday in March before bowing to the pandemic. Now host Michael Love has announced a pilot ecstatic dance in person for this Friday, May 22, at 6 pm, at the big meadow at White Rock Los Padres off Paradise Road, opposite White Rock Recreation Area. Dancers should follow the trail to the center of the meadow and find a spot to get your groove on – either on the trail or somewhere in the wild grass – either way respecting proper social distancing of keeping at least six feet apart from other people who are not in your household. The plan is to put a speaker in the middle of the meadow and stage a 90-minute dance as the sun sets. “This is more of a flash mob than an organized dance,” according to the public Facebook event page, and attendees should take care of their own needs regarding water, clothing, etc. “Let’s come together to celebrate our love and good fortune and dance it through our bodies, hearts and souls as we are able to at this moment.” Visit www.facebook.com/events/243347886769817. Meanwhile, Santa Barbara Dance Tribe, the granddaddy of the local ecstatic dance community having celebrated its 15th birthday not long ago, continues to meet online via Zoom in its regular time slot of 11 am to 1 pm on Sundays. Up to 70 or more dancers have been showing up each week, moving and grooving with each other from home via the miracle of online meetings, and most of the participants keep their cameras on to create a strong sense of community. Visit www.sbdancetribe.org for details.
SEL Out Online
SBCC School of Extended Learning’s summer session got underway earlier this week, but it’s never too late to join the ongoing classes, particularly now that all of their offerings are online. Among the selections in the Spirituality, SelfManagement and Psychology sections are beginning and intermediate sections of “Nature and Self-Healing,” where students can explore the local trails via photos and streaming videos and interact with instructor Rodger Sorrow via Zoom; “How Meditation Helps: Mindfulness in Everyday Life”; “Enhance Your Life with Mayan Astrology”; and “Messages from the Ancestors, Wisdom for the Way.” Visit www.sbcc.edu/ExtendedLearning for details and registration. •MJ
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21 – 28 May 2020
