Choosing Joy: A “Playshop” on Awareness, Fun and Gratitude
- Platinum Sponsor: Shepherd & Goldstein, LLP
- Non-Profit Partner: Alliance for Cultural & Economic Exchange, Inc. Supported by member’s offerings, AlliancExchange has a Silent Auction that raises money for scholarships for girls in the rain forests of Ecuador to receive a secondary education.
Every year, the Dream Factory Community, as a thought leader in building developmental communities, celebrates a new theme that sets the direction for the year. We invite members and guests to participate in conversations, educational workshops, and experiences that are opportunities to engage with that theme and help create it.
- We all work hard; we run businesses, take care of our families, and champion important causes. Rejuvenation is crucial.
- Take a break from your busy life, practice awareness, cultivate gratitude, and allow joy and fun to transform your experience of life. When we hang together–it just makes it better. Join in the fun.
- The Annual Conference will be on Thursday, April 25th 5:30- 9:30pm and Friday, April 26th 9am – 3pm.
- At UCC Conference Center, 1 Badger Rd, Framingham, MA, Edwards House.
- You can come to the Thurs Evening Events: A Welcoming Recepiton, a Silent Auction and Raffle, and then participate in the Convivium Dinner where we have an opportunity to share our passions and talents. Then stay over night making this a Retreat, have breakfast Friday morning, and participate in inspiring Friday workshops, have lunch, and complete the conference by 3:00pm.
We feel so fortunate to have the quaint accommodations at the UCC Conference Center.
The Schedule
- Thursday, April 25th, 5:30-9:30pm, 2013
- Welcoming Reception 5:30 hosted by AlliancExchange
- Silent Auction & Raffle: 5:30-6:45pm
- Convivium Dinner: 6:45-9: 00pm
- Evening/Silent Auction Completion: 9:00-9:30pm
- Overnight PJ Party: 9:30pm-9:00am; Continental Breakfast: 7:30am-9am
- Friday, April 26th, 9am-3pm
- Welcome from Sponsors: 9:00-9:15am
- Opening: Choosing Joy!: 9:15-9:30
- Two workshops: Awareness and Breath: 9:30 – 10:30am
- Two workshops: Choice and Fun: Passion and Laugher: 10:45 – 11:45am
- Lunch: 12:00-12:45pm
- Two workshops: Do Say No and Elf Management: 1:00 – 2:00pm
- Gratitude and Completion: 2:15-3:00pm
Seven Steps to Choosing Joy:
- What if these were the messages you told yourself everyday? How would your life be different? Would you take the risks that you are not taking now? What is it you are really telling yourself? It is only by becoming conscious of the negative messages we have been repeatedly telling ourselves that we can begin to see how they have been holding us back, and realize we have the power to re-write the story. In this fun and interactive hour, you will learn valuable tools to take your power back from your inner critic so you can fully step into the empowered, joyful and expansive life that is waiting for you to claim.
Awareness: Kim Lentros (Agape – Tools for Transformation)
- ‘If there is a Truth that exists that says that absolutely everything is energy – and the list of what that encompasses is vast and wide – then our thoughts and feelings must be on that list. The feeling of Joy is made of a particular vibration, or quality, that has it’s own energy…but can you tell when it is there, or when it is not? As we develop our energetic awareness, we begin to truly see the interconnectedness in everything – from chronic pain to nurturing relationships to growing a successful garden, and so on – and how we can unlock hidden Joy in everyday life. We begin to en-Joy the choices we make. In this hour we will look at the quality of our choices, how they stay with us energetically, and begin to transform old ways of thinking.’
Breath: Leslie Ackles (Oasis-Power)
- What is something that you have with you always, that you can use anytime day or night to bring calm and clarity into your life? Yes, you guessed it….. the BREATH. Breath is the foundation of Choosing Joy Every Day. You have it with you at always. Join us to learn breathing techniques to relax, rejuvenate and find joy.
“Do you have the patience to wait
Till your mud settles and the water is clear?
Can you remain unmoving
Till the right action arises by itself?”
Choice: Kathy Bowen (Kathy Bowen Coaching)
- How many of you would choose to find joy in every day? What we choose and how we choose what is right for us allows us to have more energy and leads us to a more JOYFUL life. Join Kathy Bowen to assess what drains you and how to move from drain to Joy, one small step at a time.
“If all you did was just look for things to appreciate you would live a JOYOUS, spectacular life.”
Abraham 1/2002
Do Say No: Brianne Krupsaw (The Massage Entrepreneur)
- What can you say ‘No’ to in order to bring more Joy into your life? To choose Joy every day we must be able to say no. There is only so much time in the day. So, saying ‘Yes’ to one thing means saying ‘No’ to something else. As women, that ‘No’ is usually to ourselves. Join me to take steps towards choosing Joy by saying ‘No’ to what does not make our heart sing And saying ‘Yes’ to ourselves and to our Joy.
Elf Management: Jean Papagni (Spark to a Flame Coaching)
- You are creative, resourceful, radiant, competent, wise and kind. You have valuable gifts to offer the world and all of the resources you need to live your life to its fullest expression with grace and joy!
Fun: Passion and Laughter: CC King (InterPlay)
- Our bodies were born to be creative. InterPlay is easy, fun, and life changing. It is based in a series of incremental “forms” that lead us to movement and stories, silence and song, ease and amusement. In the process, we discover the wisdom in ourselves and our communities. Join us as we find our sounds, move our bodies and breathe. Have Joy! Release stress in a gentle, nurturing format. InterPlay is firmly based in affirmation and looking for the good. We get enough criticism in our lives; come spend time in the warm bath of acceptance. Let your bodyspirit dance and sing!
Gratitude: Leslie Ackles (Oasis-Power) and Susanne Liebich (Dancing Wellness)
- “Thank you.” When we choose to say thank you for what we have in our lives right now, today, something inside us shifts. We see the world with a new set of eyes. Gratitude can pull us out of our self-absorption and into a state of grace. In closing, we will explore and honor what we are most grateful for in our lives and let it wash over us with a compassionate thank you.
“When we chose not to focus on what is missing from our lives, but are grateful for the abundance that’s present, we experience heaven on earth.”–Sarah Breathnach
“A way of life that keeps saying ‘ Around the next corner, above the next step,’ works against the natural order of things and makes it so difficult to be happy and good.” – Benjamin Hoff, The Tao of Pooh