VITALITY...a circle that changes you, me, + the world
At our Inner Journey this past week, Helen Buswinka and I were noticing that what we do at VITALITY is very different from other groups.
We do not have speakers or events where people just come hear people blab on.
We sit in a circle and while someone might begin a conversation, we invite everyone who wants to to speak, to talk about their experiences, to offer ideas and questions that could be pivotal to shaping the conversation.
Do we expect everyone to speak?
Of course not. Though everyone is welcome.
And that's how we do it differently. We know the circle has a way of transforming us all -- and might be exactly what our world needs. It's so easy to fall into the trap of authorities, of expecting all the ideas and leadership to come from a single person or even a panel of people. That's a triangle arrangement -- and quickly creates a hierarchy of who is valued and how much that person is valued and why others are all too often less valued.
But in a circle, everyone is valued. Are there still leaders? Sure. Of course. Though the leaders ensure they are not dominating the conversation and see their real work as making sure all who wish are given the opportunity to speak.
Tomorrow/Saturday we celebrate a new book from our press, VITALITY buzz, bliss + books...our friend Jack Kennevan's Conversations with Prisoners: A window into the lives of our brothers and sisters.
Open House
TOMORROW/Saturday, Jan 13
2 - 4p
we'll honor Jack at 3p and begin a conversation
all welcome for cookies & tea/coffee
This book invites a conversation, for sure, and celebrates conversations Jack had for well over a decade with prisoners at our county jail. Compare our prison system with other countries and it's very quickly apparent that we as a nation have a lot of work to do to catch up. Note this article referenced in the book, and the bipartisan support for such an idea in the US; click here to read it.
What would our world look like if we were all valued and recognized and looked in the eyes of everyone, opened our ears to everyone, allowed for the possibility that our hearts and minds might be moved and changed by all?
Let's discover together.
Brian Shircliff
coming up: Healing Touch Sessions for the Public...$20 donation for 45-minutes...this Tuesday at 6 & 7p...claim your spot by replying to this email
and one week from tomorrow is our Winter Retreat, Jan 20! details in the attachment below, and note some special offerings coming soon too!
* donations for our drop-in programs help us pay our rent, and we know $10-20 could be too much for someone...all gifts welcome, from the change you found on the sidewalk today to a check if you won the lottery...no one is ever turned away for our drop-in classes...all truly welcome!
need a new rhythm?
Has movement become difficult for you? Not able to do the things you want? Feel less flexible and less strong than you did last year? Achy back or neck or knee or shoulder preventing you from doing all the great things you want to do? Bones for Life® has something for you!
Bones for Life's gentle moves create quick change because we re-engage developmental patterns that helped you and me and all humans to build one's nervous system, each on our own unique ways, all to help us stand tall and walk....and run and dance and on and on and on.
Many opportunities coming your way this month...though they fill quickly so reserve your spot...details below!
drum+roll
a unique, 90-minute interactive experience of drumming led by Josiah Wolf
& gentle moves led by Brian Shircliff
TODAY! Sat, Jan 6 at 3:30p
$24 donation (or pay what you can)
RSVP to Brian by text/call: 513.300.5174
in-person drop-in $20 Bones for Life classes
four 75-minute sessions to choose from, or come to each one:
Tues, Jan 9 at 10:30a
Thurs, Jan 18 at 6:30p
Fri, Jan 26 at 10:30a
Tues, Jan 30 at 10:30a
RSVP to Brian by text/call: 513.300.5174. All welcome - age 18+. All welcome whether you're new to Bones for Life or have some experience. Brian will tailor the class to your needs!
free Bones for Life: 3-part Live Series (Zoom), each at 10a EST,
hosted by our friends at Future Life Now
January 16 - Stand Tall, Don’t Fall
January 18 - The Roots of Healthy Walking
January 23 - Arthritis to Osteoporosis: What to do?
Experience the near-magical feeling Bones for Life can give you in a few minutes.
Click here to learn more and register.
The 10:00 EST doesn’t work for you? That’s ok! Register anyway and we will email you the replay videos of each session.
What if your path to regaining flexibility and strength and balance and joint-health could be a lot easier than you ever imagined? Would that new discovery put a new rhythm in your step? in your whole life?
It sure does mine!
Brian Shircliff
* and reminding you too that Inner Journey journaling is this Tuesday, Jan 9 at 6:30pm...led by Helen Buswinka
* donations for our drop-in programs help us pay our rent, and we know $10-20 could be too much for someone...all gifts welcome, from the change you found on the sidewalk today to a check if you won the lottery...no one is ever turned away for our drop-in classes...all truly welcome!
new
As we leave one calendar behind for another, a new one, I always wonder what each new year might be inviting. Yesterday gave me a glimpse...flexibility!
Two events planned and two events already needing to be rescheduled!
drum+roll
Sat, Jan 6 at 3:30p (was scheduled for today; rescheduled for illness)
a unique, 90-minute interactive experience of drumming led by Josiah Wolf
& gentle moves led by Brian Shircliff
$24 donation (or pay what you can)
Jack Kennevan's Conversations with Prisoners
Book Launch & Open House
Sat, Jan 13 from 2 - 4p (was scheduled for Jan 6)
Jack has offered so generously the letters he wrote to prisoners for years; we are honored to publish them with donations supporting VITALITY and prison ministry...hope you'll join us to celebrate with cookies!
and we're thrilled to announce these!
reply to this email to save your spot for any and all!
Winter Retreat
Sat, Jan 20 from 10a - 2p
led by Helen Buswinka, Logan Probst, and Tonia Smith
a little gentle movement, a little meditation, a little lunch, a little Healing Touch self-care, a little journaling…a huge boost to your season! $72 or pay-what-you-can
Healing Touch & Capacitar
Self-Care/Family-Care Workshop
Sat, Jan 27 from 10a - 12:30p
led by Mary Duennes
such easy-to-learn practices to bring calm, relieve stress/pain…
for yourself or your loved ones,
$24 or pay-what-you-can
We hope you'll join our circle and grow with us in 2024!
Brian Shircliff
* donations for our drop-in programs help us pay our rent, and we know $10-20 could be too much for someone...all gifts welcome, from the change you found on the sidewalk today to a check if you won the lottery...no one is ever turned away for our drop-in classes...all truly welcome!
tonight...nature's holiday?
I've opted to say this year "Happy All The Holidays!" when wishing people well.
It seems more fitting to me...
until I begin to consider what is a holiday for the Earth, the planet on which we all spin together.
Holidays, after all, are what humans have created to commemorate some story we tell ourselves, something we want to remember, something pivotal to a particular group of humans. We create rituals and expectations around those stories and remembrances. They are important, right?
But what is important to the Earth?
It all keeps going on.
And yet tonight there is a definite shift...the proportions of darkness and light change. Beginning tomorrow and each day after that until the Summer Solstice here in our northern hemisphere, we know we begin gaining moments of light...but how deeply do we sense this?
Tonight is a pivotal moment. We pivot. And our ancestors noticed. They felt it, sensed it, often more than just the changing of darkness and light, I suspect.
I often need a calendar to remind me of the pivot.
Hmmm.
I was amazed to discover on a voyage to Hawaii that some of our ancestors could navigate the massive Pacific Ocean by tasting the water, remembering by taste what continents and islands they were near based on what flowed into the water from those land masses, so different in each place.
Happy All The Holidays. All that's important to each one of us, all of us on this Earth together noticing by sense or by calendar or by weather app that the darkness/light ratio is flipping. And will do it again in six months. And then again....
Or maybe the better greeting is simply 'happiness'...one word a friend often says to me when we look at old photos from generations gone by, where even moments that were once painful now from a long distance feel differently. Each moment simply a moment in a much larger fabric. Happiness. The long view. Full of 'moment by moment' and pivots all at once.
I hope you can join our circle tonight.
Winter Solstice Zoom Party
hosted by Penny Costilla
TONIGHT - Thurs, Dec 21
6:30pm ET
offered by donation...$10-20 suggested
RSVP appreciated
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86501049196?pwd=M09nenVwU3RPWUNsN3dZSUw4QXNQZz09
Meeting ID: 865 0104 9196
Passcode: 215933
And I got a preview last night of Josiah's drums he'll invite us to use Jan 1 -- wow! Thanks to those of you who have already registered. Details below and more coming, the long view.
Brian Shircliff
* donations for our drop-in programs help us pay our rent, and we know $10-20 could be too much for someone...all gifts welcome, from the change you found on the sidewalk today to a check if you won the lottery...no one is ever turned away for our drop-in classes...all truly welcome!
come get your word
This year has seemed fast and slow all at once to me. Now that snow is flying here in the Ohio River Valley, the feel of Winter seems close, even though I still get wisps of October in the air.
But one thing's for sure, it's darker. Darker and longer spells of dark. And as we descend into the gifts of the deeper darkness and the comforter and more and more tea, perhaps you too are feeling the solstice is close.
This will be our 12th or 13th Winter Solstice Party in our VITALITY circle. I think that first year of our existence we were still rehabbing and didn't gather. But we have every year since then, and now with the powers of Zoom, we'll gather again no matter where we are in the world.
As you might recall, Penny will invite you to give her a number. And your number is matched with a whole bunch of cards with one word on it. And she'll give you one word -- a delightful word that could be significant for your new season, your whole year.
I remember mine from last year, for sure.
Whole new worlds open up...
Winter Solstice Zoom Party
hosted by Penny Costilla
this Thurs, Dec 21
6:30pm ET
offered by donation...$10-20 suggested
RSVP appreciated
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86501049196?pwd=M09nenVwU3RPWUNsN3dZSUw4QXNQZz09
Meeting ID: 865 0104 9196
Passcode: 215933
And catch a sneak peak below of some fun events coming up, including a New Year's Day event with drummer Josiah Wolf!
Brian Shircliff
* donations for our drop-in programs help us pay our rent, and we know $10-20 could be too much for someone...all gifts welcome, from the change you found on the sidewalk today to a check if you won the lottery...no one is ever turned away for our drop-in classes...all truly welcome!
did you get your name in the book?
We're very close to layout time -- game time! -- with Jack Kennevan's book Conversations with Prisoners...a selection of those inspiring letters he wrote to prisoners with whom he was meeting for more than ten years at our county jail.
As I write and send this to you, these friends have pre-ordered copies, which helps us pay the costs for the book's layout and publication -- THANK YOU!
Sue Antoinette & Russ Martin, Helen Buswinka, William Coleman, Beth Corbo, Mary & Tim Cronin, Mary Duennes, Denise & Mike Eck, Sherri Elmore, Mike & Fran Harmon, Spencer Kociba, Patricia R Leigh, Kim & Mark McLaughlin, Marianne Mundy, Krista Powers & Patrick Flerlage, Peg Niehaus, Judy & Fred Reuter, Mary Ann Roncker, Mary & Bob Schneider, Jodi & Wayne Shircliff, Brian Shircliff, Tonia Smith, Peggy & Dan St. Clair, Beverly Thomas, Thomas VonderBrink, Amy & Steve Whitlatch, Carol Yeazell, Carol T & Bruce Yeazell
Don't see your name here? Then order by the end of the day and we'll be sure your name is included. We take pride in noting inside each one of our books all who have supported the project.
You bring new ideas to life!
pre-order by clicking here...
and if you are planning to pickup your copy at the party or at a VITALITY class after Jan 6, you could use the Coupon code PICKUP and then click FREE SHIPPING to save you a few dollars :)
And our world needs new ideas, yes? This book inspires so much love. May our world feel ever more such ripples.
Brian Shircliff
PS Jack has generously offered this collection of letters and interviews with him about his experiences to be published with proceeds supporting VITALITY Cincinnati’s holistic mission and ministry, just as his pastor Richard Bollman, S.J. has done with Selected Homilies. In honor of Jack, VITALITY will make a donation of a portion of the proceeds of Conversations with Prisoners to Transforming Jail Ministries.
conversations with prisoners
Jack Kennevan inspired me as a St. Xavier High School golf coach...
and little did I know then that he was meeting with inmates every week as as volunteer chaplain too.
Jack visited Hamilton County Justice Center nearly every week for over 10 years. After retiring from an inspiring career as a high school teacher, coach, and principal, he was trained and volunteered as a jail chaplain through Transforming Jail Ministries. Through those years, Jack wrote 290 letters, about one a week to inmates with whom he met who could then have something upon which to reflect back in their cell after talking with Jack at a table with two chairs.
Conversations with Prisoners is a selection of those inspiring letters.
Jack has generously offered this collection of letters and interviews with him about his experiences to be published with proceeds supporting VITALITY Cincinnati’s holistic mission and ministry, just as his pastor Richard Bollman, S.J. has done with Selected Homilies. In honor of Jack, VITALITY will make a donation of a portion of the proceeds of Conversations with Prisoners to Transforming Jail Ministries.
Order by Monday, Dec 11 and get your name in the book as a VATRON…a patron/matron/supporter of the book…and be invited to a party at VITALITY on Sat, Jan 6, 2024!
and if you are planning to pickup your copy at the party or at a VITALITY class after Jan 6, you could use the Coupon code PICKUP and then click FREE SHIPPING to save you a few dollars :)
Pre-ordering your copy helps us to pay our graphic designer and get the book listed and printed before we make it available to the whole world. Thank you for considering!
These letters welcome such deep reflection, no matter what holds us back from the life we want. May we all discover through Jack's writing new ways forward for our own lives, for reshaping jail/prison life, and for growing human community on this planet...that we might all shine.
Brian Shircliff
forty-five minutes
Krista Powers has so inspired me. You might know her from her book she published with us last year, Midlife Calm: An Alternative to Midlife Crisis.
She's on a healing journey which she shared with Liz Bonis of Local 12, and you can catch a little window into her journey here.
Healing Touch is powerful -- simply taking some time for oneself could be a huge contributing factor to its power to change lives.
What could forty-five minutes do for you this Tuesday?
Whole new worlds could open up...
Healing Touch Public Sessions
this Tues, Dec 5
appointments available at 6 & 7p ET
offered by donation...$20 suggested
RSVP to this email required to claim your appointment
Forty-five minutes for yourself might be just what you need to find clarity in the midst of the holiday season, in a world undergoing such vast changes, often painful changes? Come discover.
Brian Shircliff
* donations for our drop-in programs help us pay our rent, and we know $10-20 could be too much for someone...all gifts welcome, from the change you found on the sidewalk today to a check if you won the lottery...no one is ever turned away for our drop-in classes...all truly welcome!
small business, big moves
Things are in full bloom at VITALITY!
And so can you be...
Sign up for the next Bones for Life® series which begins Tuesday!
From Seriously Stressed & Sore...
to Perfectly Patient & Poised!
a Bones for Life® series hosted by Brian Shircliff
four Tuesdays, each from 10:30 - 11:45am ET
Nov 28 + Dec 5, 12, 19
RSVP required -- 8 participants welcomed in our new space
so reply to this email to guarantee your spot
$81 for the series payable by clicking here
So many newcomers to Bones for Life® have shared with me how amazed they are by the relaxation, awakening, peace of mind, and vitality they found in their bodies from a single session.
And on this Small Business Saturday, check out another way you can support our holistic mission...
We published two beautiful children's books this year:
Adventures of Hope - click here to discover more
Rodney the Rhino - click here to discover more
Great gifts for little ones and adults too! Or consider purchasing our three kids-book-bundle, which includes Mike Eck and Claire Long's With You in Our Dreams!
The holistic vision is an important one during these times when things often seem so fractured by war, by politics, even by medical models that want to divide us into a bunch of parts.
Staying with the vision that it's all WHOLE...now that's a vision that could bloom any time of year!
Bloom with us into delight!
Brian Shircliff
make your moves
Last week we welcomed 25 people from around the world -- Australia, Great Britain, Japan, Norway, all over the US -- to Cincinnati for the Bones for Life® Teacher Training sponsored by Future Life Now...the group who certified me about 8-9 years ago. We convened at Hueston Woods, where I captured this amazing sunset below.
I got to meet each one of these 25 people via Zoom to share Bones for Life® the past few years and what a gift to get to know them in person.
They are brilliant teachers sharing this brilliant work. Each week I teach on Zoom or in person, I become more and more amazed at what Bones for Life® makes possible in making bigger moves in life.
What moves do you want to make? Want to walk without pain? Hike again? Hit the golf ball further and straighter with ease? Play pickle ball? Be able to get up and down from the floor with ease to play with your kids or grandkids?
Bones for Life® offers gentle and easy processes through which to upgrade your ability to do just about anything with more ease on this gravity-rich planet. I don't usually offer drop-in classes for Bones for Life®, though tomorrow I'm offering one for you to discover if it's right for you to consider joining the next series of classes:
Bones for Life® drop-in sessions
hosted by Brian Shircliff
tomorrow/Tues, Nov 14
Fri, Nov 24
10:30 - 11:45am ET
RSVP required -- very limited spots in our new space
so reply to this email to guarantee your spot
$20 donation*
And remember too that our monthly in-person journaling is also...
TOMORROW/Tuesday
Inner Journey with Helen Buswinka
6:30pm (finish by 8pm)
by donation: $10 - 20 suggested*, all welcome
We have all the materials you'll need, just bring you and your curiosity! Zero experience required...you're likely to feel at home whether you are beginner or a seasoned writer/contemplative.
How important is it that we make moves toward health? Look ahead in your life -- one year from now, five years from now -- about what healthy habits might help you to bloom into even more health and vitality...Bones for Life® and journaling might be just what you need.
Make your moves before the sun goes down again...
Brian Shircliff
* donations for our drop-in programs help us pay our rent, and we know $10 could be too much for someone...all gifts welcome, from the change you found on the sidewalk today to a check if you won the lottery...no one is ever turned away for our drop-in classes...all truly welcome!
