Parenting and teaching may be the two most demanding and challenging jobs on the planet. Bringing a mindful awareness to one’s job as parent or teacher means knowing well our own internal world of thoughts and feelings and bringing that knowledge and awareness directly into the daily interactions we have with our children and students. This presentation will provide an overview of theory and research about how mindful awareness in homes and schools can be useful to fostering wellbeing in parents, teachers and youth. In the presentation we will explore questions such as: what does in mean to be mindful as a teacher or parent? Can we teach mindfulness skills to parents and teachers? If we can, does it make a difference in the lives of parents, teachers or youth? We will examine some of the programs designed to foster these skills in parents and teachers, describe and consider different activities used in these intervention to promote parents’ and teachers’ mindful awareness and explore the research evidence for whether or how they work.

Jamie Lee Curtis is a film actress with starring roles in such acclaimed films as Freaky Friday, True Lies, Trading Places and A Fish Called Wanda.  She recently completed filming the Disney comedy, You Again opposite Kristin Bell and Sigourney Weaver, which is scheduled for release in the fall of 2010.  In television, Ms. Curtis co-starred opposite Richard Lewis in the sitcom Anything But Love, as well as the title role in TNT’s adaptation of Wendy Wasserstein’s play, The Heidi Chronicles, and the CBS telefilm, Nicholas’ Gift.

Ms. Curtis is also an author of best-selling children’s books.  In the fall of 2009 an interactive collection of four of her earlier titles was released entitled, Books to Grow By, A Treasury and in the autumn of 2010, her ninth book, My Mommy Hung The Moon, A Love Story will be released.  In addition to BIG WORDS for Little People, which was released in 2008 and debuted as #1 on the New York Times Bestseller List, she is the author of Is There Really A Human Race?, It’s Hard To Be Five, Learning How To Work My Control Panel,  I’m Gonna Like Me, Letting Off A Little Self Esteem, Where Do Balloons Go? An Uplifting Mystery, Today I Feel Silly and Other Moods That Make My Day, Tell Me Again About The Night I Was Born, and When I Was Little, A Four-Year-Old’s Memoir of Her Youth. 

Ms. Curtis is also an AIDS activist and has a deep and active connection to many children’s charities, including Children’s Hospital Los Angeles and Childrens Hospital of Pittsburgh, as well as being the official spokesperson for CAAF (The Children Affected by Aids Foundation), on whose Executive Advisory Board she is a serving member, and The Starlight/Starbright Foundation.  Ms. Curtis is a recovering alcoholic/addict and was honored to have served on the Board of Directors of CASA (The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University) and The Scott Hitt Foundation.

She is the mother of Annie, age 23 and Thomas, age 14 and has been married for 24 years to actor/director Christopher Guest.

Healing Touch is a biofield therapy using a variety of hands-on techniques to balance and realign the energy system within and surrounding the body.  Healing Touch compliments traditional health care and is used in collaboration with other approaches to health and healing.   A person’s health and quality of life are affected by the health and quality of the energy system.   The Healing Touch Practitioner assists the patient to self-heal through treatment of the energy system.  The goal is to restore wholeness through energy balancing, which allows the body to be in the best functioning capacity for healing.

Make a wish … Did you wish for all your hopes and dreams to come true?  We make wishes every day - wishing the train would come on time, yearning to be noticed by that special person, desiring a new job - but have you ever wondered why you didn’t get what you wished for?  Join the Wishing Circle and your ultimate desire, the one wish you have always hoped would come true, is only steps from becoming a reality. Elizabeth will share simple wish fulfilling techniques sprinkled with words of wish wisdom to create a magical formula for manifesting your dreams. During this experiential Wishing Circle, Elizabeth will provide wish-tips and guidelines that are key to opening an abundance of wish energy. In addition, she will offer some helpful hints to heal limitations that are preventing you from fulfilling your heart’s desires.

Elizabeth Harper is the founder of Sealed With Love LLC. She is an internationally acclaimed color intuitive, psychic artist, spiritual guide, and award-winning author of Wishing: How to Fulfill Your Hearts Desires.  Originally from England, Elizabeth trained as a professional psychic medium and healer at the College of Psychic Studies, Spiritualists Association of Great Britain, and the Arthur Findlay College. Her ability to see auras guided her to embrace color as a tool of prediction and healing. She is the designer of the color-coded healing Rainbow Spirit and Divine Guidance Jewelry line, creator of the Chakra Workout Meditation CD, and originator of the innovative and revealing ColorScope oracle.  Elizabeth has appeared on British and American radio and television, presents workshops and offers consultations worldwide, and is a faculty member of the renowned Omega Institute for Holistic Studies in New York. She is a regular columnist for print and online magazines in the USA and Australia, has been interviewed by many publications, including Women’s World, Redbook, New Age Retailer, and Harper’s & Queen, and is co-founder of the Spiritual Living educational forum and online community. 

The practice of yoga is  much wider and deeper than just the physical asana practice we see and hear so much about these days. Yoga is basically a practice of awareness, specifically, REMEMBERING to be aware. Ms. Lasater will address simple lesson we can draw from the whole of yoga to help us all become more present, more self-forgiving and more human.

Judith Hanson Lasater Ph.D has taught yoga around the world since 1971.  She holds a Ph.D. in East-West Psychology and is a Physical Therapist.  She is a founder of the Iyengar Yoga Institute in San Francisco, CA, as well as Yoga Journal magazine.  Ms. Lasater frequently trains teachers in virtually every state of the union and is often an invited guest at international yoga conventions.  She is president of the California Yoga Teachers' Association as well as the author of numerous articles on yoga and health for nationally recognized magazines.  She is the author of eight books, including: What We Say Matters: Practicing Nonviolent Communciation, YogaBody: Anatomy, Kinesiology, and Asana,  A Year of Living Your Yoga, Yoga Abs, Yoga for Pregnancy: What Every Mom-to-Be Needs to Know, 30 Essential Yoga Poses: for beginning students and their teachers,  Relax and Renew:  restful yoga for stressful times and Living Your Yoga: finding the spiritual in everyday life.  She is married and the mother of three.

Join spiritual counselor, astrologer, and author, Dr. Craig Martin, as he reveals the keys to successful relationships. Discover how health, happiness, and your vast potential as an individual is enhanced and developed in the connections you have with others.
Using excercises and simple methods for self-reflection learn how to make allowances for your challenges, see others in the light of their totality, and create the acceptance that leads to lasting relationship success.

In his work he focuses on teaching self-awareness, acceptance and love in a simple way. He helps people realize that introspection doesn’t need to be difficult - but it is needed - to build great relationships in all aspects of your life.

What if you could slow down, tap in, and pay attention to the clues and cues your children are giving you? Deb Snyder, PhD, the author of Intuitive Parenting, shares wisdom from her groundbreaking guide to heart communication and healing, showing us all how to enhance communication with those we love via our subtle energy systems.  Your children's hearts are speaking—do you know how to listen? Unlike other programs on spiritual parenting that focus solely on changing the child, Intuitive Parenting works just as much on the parent's growth and entire family dynamic. This work will resonate with parents, caretakers, teachers, therapists, and holistic health practitioners how to foster communication at the heart level.

When her daughter was born with a rare brain malformation, Deb Snyder began to experience heightened insights regarding the health and well being of her child. Raegan Aria, who is nonverbal, was able to save her own life by communicating vital information to her mother following numerous surgical complications. Being forever changed by this powerful experience, Deb went on to study the science and theories behind energy communication, consciousness and spirituality.  Deb Snyder holds a Doctorate of Philosophy in Metaphysics from the American Institute of Holistic Theology and is an intuitive consultant and holistic practitioner. As a special needs parent and children's advocate, Deb focuses on bringing these methods and techniques to parents to promote healing and enhance communication for their families. Dr. Snyder’s articles on Telepathy, Intuition and Parenting have been featured in numerous magazines, as well as many websites, newsletters and publications, and has been a radio guest on numerous programs. As an inspirational speaker and teacher to groups large and small, she offers her services in private sessions and classes throughout the country.

Dr. Tomaino will explore functional and physical dimensions of “The Brain and Awakening” for those who are fascinated with understanding how our spiritual experience manifests in us physically.  As a Clinical Neuropsychologist,  Dr. Tomaino has journeyed with people who were focused on an intent to expand their brain function. People have come to her to address the need for better cognitive skills and, consequently, expanded their options and effectiveness in life. In the process of this clinical work she has been able to observe the power of spirit, faith, belief, energy or what ever you want to call the elusive life force within us, to sustain and enhance their efforts. This presentation is focused on what she has learned from these inspiring believers in the seeming impossible, those who stepped forward into the unknown, expanding their brain function and expanding their life.

The title of this presentation describes the focus on meditation, grace and consciousness through which you will explore the power of spiritual dimensions of human experience for enhancing the effectiveness of neuroplasticity, the capacity for adaptability and growth in the brain. For decades we have been seeking the key to the brain's ability to enable the dyslexics to read, the silent to speak, the injured to remember, the wandering to focus and the immobile to walk. As the fields of Neuropsychology and Neuroscience have uncovered the structures and magnificent functions of the human brain, we are beginning to understand how to live in alignment with our goals in a way that most effectively enhances brain function. Admittedly, we have only just begun on this exploration which will likely unfold for generations. But we have begun. This presentation will offer useful insights into how you can manage your own brain for manifesting your potential.

Abraham Verghese, M.D., renowned physician, best–selling author, and Professor for the Theory and Practice of Medicine at the Stanford University School of Medicine, has earned accolades in and out of the medical community for his advocacy on behalf of patients. He is widely regarded as having influenced the way modern medical students think about what it means to be a doctor and to treat people. Dr. Verghese has lectured widely on the importance of the doctor–patient relationship, on the samaritan function of physicians, and on where meaning resides in a medical life.

Much of Dr. Verghese's life's work is brought to bear on his debut novel Cutting for Stone, which has been celebrated by critics around the country. Dr. Verghese has also written two nonfiction books. My Own Country, a memoir about his time treating AIDS patients in rural Tennessee, was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award and was made into a movie. His second book, The Tennis Partner, about his close friendship with a drug-addicted physician, was a New York Times Notable Book and a national best seller.

Dr. Verghese was raised in Ethiopia, attended medical school in India, and came to the United States to practice. He soon became concerned about doctors losing touch with the roots of medicine and with their patients. "The patient in America is becoming invisible," observes Verghese. "It is as if the patient in the bed is merely an icon for the real patient, who exists in the computer." He has worked tirelessly to reverse the trend in his own practice and by speaking publicly. He has appeared on CBS's 60 Minutes and on National Public Radio, and his writing has appeared in The New Yorker, Sports Illustrated, The Atlantic, Esquire, Granta, The New York Times Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, and elsewhere.

Dr. Verghese is board certified in internal medicine, pulmonary diseases, and infectious diseases. He serves on the Board of Directors of the American Board of Internal Medicine.

Jamie Lee Curtis is a film actress with starring roles in such acclaimed films as Freaky Friday, True Lies, Trading Places and A Fish Called Wanda.  She recently completed filming the Disney comedy, You Again opposite Kristin Bell and Sigourney Weaver, which is scheduled for release in the fall of 2010.  In television, Ms. Curtis co-starred opposite Richard Lewis in the sitcom Anything But Love, as well as the title role in TNT’s adaptation of Wendy Wasserstein’s play, The Heidi Chronicles, and the CBS telefilm, Nicholas’ Gift.

Ms. Curtis is also an author of best-selling children’s books.  In the fall of 2009 an interactive collection of four of her earlier titles was released entitled, Books to Grow By, A Treasury and in the autumn of 2010, her ninth book, My Mommy Hung The Moon, A Love Story will be released.  In addition to BIG WORDS for Little People, which was released in 2008 and debuted as #1 on the New York Times Bestseller List, she is the author of Is There Really A Human Race?, It’s Hard To Be Five, Learning How To Work My Control Panel,  I’m Gonna Like Me, Letting Off A Little Self Esteem, Where Do Balloons Go? An Uplifting Mystery, Today I Feel Silly and Other Moods That Make My Day, Tell Me Again About The Night I Was Born, and When I Was Little, A Four-Year-Old’s Memoir of Her Youth. 

Ms. Curtis is also an AIDS activist and has a deep and active connection to many children’s charities, including Children’s Hospital Los Angeles and Childrens Hospital of Pittsburgh, as well as being the official spokesperson for CAAF (The Children Affected by Aids Foundation), on whose Executive Advisory Board she is a serving member, and The Starlight/Starbright Foundation.  Ms. Curtis is a recovering alcoholic/addict and was honored to have served on the Board of Directors of CASA (The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University) and The Scott Hitt Foundation.

She is the mother of Annie, age 23 and Thomas, age 14 and has been married for 24 years to actor/director Christopher Guest.

Healing Touch is a biofield therapy using a variety of hands-on techniques to balance and realign the energy system within and surrounding the body.  Healing Touch compliments traditional health care and is used in collaboration with other approaches to health and healing.   A person’s health and quality of life are affected by the health and quality of the energy system.   The Healing Touch Practitioner assists the patient to self-heal through treatment of the energy system.  The goal is to restore wholeness through energy balancing, which allows the body to be in the best functioning capacity for healing.

Make a wish … Did you wish for all your hopes and dreams to come true?  We make wishes every day - wishing the train would come on time, yearning to be noticed by that special person, desiring a new job - but have you ever wondered why you didn’t get what you wished for?  Join the Wishing Circle and your ultimate desire, the one wish you have always hoped would come true, is only steps from becoming a reality. Elizabeth will share simple wish fulfilling techniques sprinkled with words of wish wisdom to create a magical formula for manifesting your dreams. During this experiential Wishing Circle, Elizabeth will provide wish-tips and guidelines that are key to opening an abundance of wish energy. In addition, she will offer some helpful hints to heal limitations that are preventing you from fulfilling your heart’s desires.

Elizabeth Harper is the founder of Sealed With Love LLC. She is an internationally acclaimed color intuitive, psychic artist, spiritual guide, and award-winning author of Wishing: How to Fulfill Your Hearts Desires.  Originally from England, Elizabeth trained as a professional psychic medium and healer at the College of Psychic Studies, Spiritualists Association of Great Britain, and the Arthur Findlay College. Her ability to see auras guided her to embrace color as a tool of prediction and healing. She is the designer of the color-coded healing Rainbow Spirit and Divine Guidance Jewelry line, creator of the Chakra Workout Meditation CD, and originator of the innovative and revealing ColorScope oracle.  Elizabeth has appeared on British and American radio and television, presents workshops and offers consultations worldwide, and is a faculty member of the renowned Omega Institute for Holistic Studies in New York. She is a regular columnist for print and online magazines in the USA and Australia, has been interviewed by many publications, including Women’s World, Redbook, New Age Retailer, and Harper’s & Queen, and is co-founder of the Spiritual Living educational forum and online community. 

Abraham Verghese, M.D., renowned physician, best–selling author, and Professor for the Theory and Practice of Medicine at the Stanford University School of Medicine, has earned accolades in and out of the medical community for his advocacy on behalf of patients. He is widely regarded as having influenced the way modern medical students think about what it means to be a doctor and to treat people. Dr. Verghese has lectured widely on the importance of the doctor–patient relationship, on the samaritan function of physicians, and on where meaning resides in a medical life.

Much of Dr. Verghese's life's work is brought to bear on his debut novel Cutting for Stone, which has been celebrated by critics around the country. Dr. Verghese has also written two nonfiction books. My Own Country, a memoir about his time treating AIDS patients in rural Tennessee, was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award and was made into a movie. His second book, The Tennis Partner, about his close friendship with a drug-addicted physician, was a New York Times Notable Book and a national best seller.

Dr. Verghese was raised in Ethiopia, attended medical school in India, and came to the United States to practice. He soon became concerned about doctors losing touch with the roots of medicine and with their patients. "The patient in America is becoming invisible," observes Verghese. "It is as if the patient in the bed is merely an icon for the real patient, who exists in the computer." He has worked tirelessly to reverse the trend in his own practice and by speaking publicly. He has appeared on CBS's 60 Minutes and on National Public Radio, and his writing has appeared in The New Yorker, Sports Illustrated, The Atlantic, Esquire, Granta, The New York Times Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, and elsewhere.

Dr. Verghese is board certified in internal medicine, pulmonary diseases, and infectious diseases. He serves on the Board of Directors of the American Board of Internal Medicine.

Join spiritual counselor, astrologer, and author, Dr. Craig Martin, as he reveals the keys to successful relationships. Discover how health, happiness, and your vast potential as an individual is enhanced and developed in the connections you have with others.
Using excercises and simple methods for self-reflection learn how to make allowances for your challenges, see others in the light of their totality, and create the acceptance that leads to lasting relationship success.

In his work he focuses on teaching self-awareness, acceptance and love in a simple way. He helps people realize that introspection doesn’t need to be difficult - but it is needed - to build great relationships in all aspects of your life.

Parenting and teaching may be the two most demanding and challenging jobs on the planet. Bringing a mindful awareness to one’s job as parent or teacher means knowing well our own internal world of thoughts and feelings and bringing that knowledge and awareness directly into the daily interactions we have with our children and students. This presentation will provide an overview of theory and research about how mindful awareness in homes and schools can be useful to fostering wellbeing in parents, teachers and youth. In the presentation we will explore questions such as: what does in mean to be mindful as a teacher or parent? Can we teach mindfulness skills to parents and teachers? If we can, does it make a difference in the lives of parents, teachers or youth? We will examine some of the programs designed to foster these skills in parents and teachers, describe and consider different activities used in these intervention to promote parents’ and teachers’ mindful awareness and explore the research evidence for whether or how they work.

Dr. Tomaino will explore functional and physical dimensions of “The Brain and Awakening” for those who are fascinated with understanding how our spiritual experience manifests in us physically.  As a Clinical Neuropsychologist,  Dr. Tomaino has journeyed with people who were focused on an intent to expand their brain function. People have come to her to address the need for better cognitive skills and, consequently, expanded their options and effectiveness in life. In the process of this clinical work she has been able to observe the power of spirit, faith, belief, energy or what ever you want to call the elusive life force within us, to sustain and enhance their efforts. This presentation is focused on what she has learned from these inspiring believers in the seeming impossible, those who stepped forward into the unknown, expanding their brain function and expanding their life.

The title of this presentation describes the focus on meditation, grace and consciousness through which you will explore the power of spiritual dimensions of human experience for enhancing the effectiveness of neuroplasticity, the capacity for adaptability and growth in the brain. For decades we have been seeking the key to the brain's ability to enable the dyslexics to read, the silent to speak, the injured to remember, the wandering to focus and the immobile to walk. As the fields of Neuropsychology and Neuroscience have uncovered the structures and magnificent functions of the human brain, we are beginning to understand how to live in alignment with our goals in a way that most effectively enhances brain function. Admittedly, we have only just begun on this exploration which will likely unfold for generations. But we have begun. This presentation will offer useful insights into how you can manage your own brain for manifesting your potential.

What if you could slow down, tap in, and pay attention to the clues and cues your children are giving you? Deb Snyder, PhD, the author of Intuitive Parenting, shares wisdom from her groundbreaking guide to heart communication and healing, showing us all how to enhance communication with those we love via our subtle energy systems.  Your children's hearts are speaking—do you know how to listen? Unlike other programs on spiritual parenting that focus solely on changing the child, Intuitive Parenting works just as much on the parent's growth and entire family dynamic. This work will resonate with parents, caretakers, teachers, therapists, and holistic health practitioners how to foster communication at the heart level.

When her daughter was born with a rare brain malformation, Deb Snyder began to experience heightened insights regarding the health and well being of her child. Raegan Aria, who is nonverbal, was able to save her own life by communicating vital information to her mother following numerous surgical complications. Being forever changed by this powerful experience, Deb went on to study the science and theories behind energy communication, consciousness and spirituality.  Deb Snyder holds a Doctorate of Philosophy in Metaphysics from the American Institute of Holistic Theology and is an intuitive consultant and holistic practitioner. As a special needs parent and children's advocate, Deb focuses on bringing these methods and techniques to parents to promote healing and enhance communication for their families. Dr. Snyder’s articles on Telepathy, Intuition and Parenting have been featured in numerous magazines, as well as many websites, newsletters and publications, and has been a radio guest on numerous programs. As an inspirational speaker and teacher to groups large and small, she offers her services in private sessions and classes throughout the country.

The practice of yoga is  much wider and deeper than just the physical asana practice we see and hear so much about these days. Yoga is basically a practice of awareness, specifically, REMEMBERING to be aware. Ms. Lasater will address simple lesson we can draw from the whole of yoga to help us all become more present, more self-forgiving and more human.

Judith Hanson Lasater Ph.D has taught yoga around the world since 1971.  She holds a Ph.D. in East-West Psychology and is a Physical Therapist.  She is a founder of the Iyengar Yoga Institute in San Francisco, CA, as well as Yoga Journal magazine.  Ms. Lasater frequently trains teachers in virtually every state of the union and is often an invited guest at international yoga conventions.  She is president of the California Yoga Teachers' Association as well as the author of numerous articles on yoga and health for nationally recognized magazines.  She is the author of eight books, including: What We Say Matters: Practicing Nonviolent Communciation, YogaBody: Anatomy, Kinesiology, and Asana,  A Year of Living Your Yoga, Yoga Abs, Yoga for Pregnancy: What Every Mom-to-Be Needs to Know, 30 Essential Yoga Poses: for beginning students and their teachers,  Relax and Renew:  restful yoga for stressful times and Living Your Yoga: finding the spiritual in everyday life.  She is married and the mother of three.