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Come for the Meditation, Stay for the Community

			Bring Miriam Shulamit (Mindy) Ribner to your community, shul, or school for day-long or evening workshops

		Below are general workshop topics that can be combined and tailored to meet the needs and interests of your group. Single Sessions are generally around two hours in duration. Day-long sessions are generally 5-6 hours. Workshop material can be integrated into a scholar-in residence program involving a number of sessions over a weekend, a week, or two. Workshops for All Levels New Moon Celebrations According to Kabbalah, the Jewish calendar is a road map for personal transformation, the original twelve-step program. Each month brings in new energies and unique opportunities to realize ones potential and overcome the limitations hindering the true expression of one's essence. Learn what the energy is for this upcoming month we are entering and how to grow and flow this month. The new moon is a most auspicious time for meditation for what we open to at the time of the new moon shapes our experience for the entire month. This workshop is based on the material in my book Kabbalah Month by Month. Beginning a Jewish Meditation Practice or a Meditation Group An introductory workshop(s) on the basics of Jewish Meditation addresses the most basic questions: What is Jewish meditation, what are the various forms of Jewish meditation, how is it similar and different than other forms of meditation and how a person can easily introduce a practice of meditation for personal healing and spiritual growth. This workshop includes lecture, questions and answers and guided meditation. This workshop is based on the material in my book Everyday Kabbalah. NEW! Kabbalah of the Feminine (Women Only) Kabbalah tells us that it will be women and/or the feminine principle that will lead the new order to heal our so very troubled world. What is the power of the Feminine? What has been and will be its contribution in the future? Why has it been hidden until modern times? Why does Miriam, the ancient prophetess of biblical times emerge as the leading symbol of the power of the Feminine today? Kabbalah holds the keys for spiritual empowerment, helping women to fulfill their spiritual mission for themselves as women and for the world. The spiritual needs of women are best met by women sharing and learning in the way that women learn which is different than the way men teach or learn. These workshops on the Feminine provide a wonderful learning and celebration of the Feminine. Meditation and Healing Much more than a stress reducer, meditation is a most powerful vehicle of healing on all levels of being of a person-physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. Powerful breathing,guided prayer, meditation and dyad processes are tailored to the individual needs of people present to effect healing and personal transformation. Additionally, you will go home with specific ways to pray and meditate that will promote healing for yourself and others. Enhancing Prayer Our sages placed the deepest secrets of creation, prophecy and meditation right into our prayer book but for many it remains a closed book, no matter how many times we look at it and say its words. We pray and pray and yet we feel that we remain the same. How can we pray so we feel nourished and excited to be alive? We will look at the inner structure of the prayer book and well known prayers such as the Shema, and the Amidah, as well as various psalms, and commonly sung songs such as Adon Olom and Yigdal to experience their awesome depth and transformational power. This workshop will help to unlock the secrets of prayer, enabling you to pray with a Siddur so that you feel empowered, loved, healed and grateful for the opportunity and privilege of prayer. This workshop will strengthen the most important and lasting relationship you have in life; that is, with yourself and God. Inner Learning through Meditation This workshop is the address for the theological questions of knowledge and faith that you have carried inside but were afraid to ask or never received sufficient answers. This workshop explores theoretically and experientially basic Jewish concepts such as the nature of God, the human soul, the oneness of God, transformational opportunities of Jewish holidays, weekly Torah portions, Maimonides Thirteen Principles of Faith, etc. This is the place for your questions to be heard deeply and not just on the surface. Through learning of relevant texts, prayers and primarily through meditation and group processes, this workshop is designed for you to experience the deepest teachings of Judaism, and receive the answers to your questions inside your own being. Learning through meditation involves your entire being- your mind, heart, soul, and body rather than just the intellect that is usually addressed in Jewish classes. The experience of this kind of meditative learning is holy and it is transformational, providing access to the inner knowing within each of us, enabling us to live life more authentically from the inside out, rather than the outside in. New Age Judaism Many things we associate with the New Age movement such as meditation, angels, holistic healing, vegetarianism, reincarnation, unitary consciousness, personal transformation are not new but are part of kabbalah. Kabbalah also has relevant prophecies that are essential to know at this most auspicious time in history that we live. Named after my book New Age Judaism, this workshop will present teachings and answer questions that people have about Judaism and its message and relevance to our time. Because my book was written before September 11th, some of this material that will be presented in this workshop was not included in my book. With hindsight after September 11th, the Zohar, a most basic kabbalistic text, emerges as prophetic text revealing important information that we need to understand to make sense of what is really going on in our world at this time. Who Am I Really? — Living Authentically According to Reb Zusya, a beloved Jewish saint," I will not be asked in heaven when I die, why was I not like Moshe, but why was I not Zusya??" Our life mission is to be ourselves and make the kind of contributions that our souls agreed to before entering into this world. This is an experiential self -discovery workshop to access the inner truth of who we are and to support us in living more fully from that place of authenticity. Special meditations, powerful psycho-spiritual processes, dyads, group processes and individual facilitation will help peel off layers of self, allowing for greater access and release of feelings, unblocking deep buried emotions, healing of childhood wounding, and reconnecting with one's true essence so as to live more authentically from the heart and soul. This work is an outgrowth of my work as a psychotherapist using meditation as part of treatment. Strengthening Jewish Identity Growing up in our parents' home we receive all kinds of messages from them about who we are and who we should be as people and as Jews. The workshop through meditation, and interactive processes will address theforces that have impacted on our current Jewish identity. We will gain insight into choices we have made in our life to express our Jewish identity such as what kind of Jew we are, how Jewish we want to be, whether we are proud of being a Jew, whether we feel deep inside that it is safe to be a Jew, or even if we are embarrassed or ashamed of being a Jew. Becoming more aware of the messages we have received either consciously and unconsciously from our parents is not only extremely fascinating, but it gives us the capacity to make more conscious choices for ourselves as adults. Workshops for Advanced Meditators Introductory experiential workshops in Meditative Kabbalah Within the body of knowledge that is known as Kabbalah are powerful teachings and meditative practices to heighten spiritual awareness and transform your life. Drawing on the meditative practices and teachings of Rabbis Isaac Luria, or Joseph Gikatilla, or Abraham Abulaffia, or Reb Nachman of Breslov, Ibn Paquda and/or the Alter Rebbe of Lubavitch and others weaved into breathing techniques and guided visualization, this workshop will enable a person to let go of limiting concepts of self and God, and receive direct insight into the answers to the deeper questions of life. This is meditative learning. Similar to the Inner learning through meditation workshops, the teachings and the meditations of this workshop are more intricate, deeper and more powerful. This workshop(s) are recommended for people with some meditation or Jewish background. Kabbalistic Tantra, The Bliss of Spiritual Intimacy The most intimate experience of our own soul and its connection to God is found within kabbalistic meditation. Through specific breathing, visualization, and meditation techniques, kabbalistic meditation becomes a kind of lovemaking between the Divine and the human soul,transforming our experience of our own body to that of a holy temple, receiving and containing the presence of God. For those who want to be filled with divine love and rapture, this workshop is for you.