How Was Your Spore

Thanks to all of you for such a wonderful SF Spore experience. Everyone has been so warm and gracious out here that I'm truly dragging my feet at the thought of going back to NYC. Anyway, here's a blog I wrote up about the SF Spore. Feel free to add on in the comments section of the post if you like.

Cheers,
Joanthan

How Was Your Spore

http://www.evolver.net/user/jonathan_phillips/blog/how_was_your_spore

In SF this week, I attended my first non-NYC Spore. From kundalini yoga to sound healing to medical marijuana farming, the night proved both magical and educational. Here's a brief account of my experience and I invite fellow evolvers to share their own Spore stories.

The first thing I realized when coming to the Sera Phi Center in the Soma District of SF is that you just can't find spaces like this easily in NYC. On the first floor was a lounge, cafe, smart bar, and DJ loft, all decked out with mandala paintings and fractal-like drapes that made it look like a full-on Burning Man theme camp. Upstairs, “Sonic Wizard and Superfood Scientist” Ananda Ji was at a turntable, blasting notes through a vibrating floor he’d constructed. He said the music created vibrational mandalas that release blocks and open up people’s energetic channels. Fifty or so people showed up and we got to test Ananda’s claims as he pumped musical vibrations across the floor during a kundalini yoga workshop with Dr. Yogi. This was one of the more intense yoga classes I’ve taken, as the sounds created healing ripples in “stuck” parts of my body, releasing little pockets of trapped energy.

After the workshop, Dr. Yogi gave us a 10 minute explanation of kundalini and then Ananda explained how certain sound vibrations created light matrixes and mandala soundscapes that may allow angels and other enlightened beings to enter our field of existence. He also made a claim I’d like to check out for myself – that the US’s alternating currency of 60 Hz isn’t very harmonic. Apparently, it creates garbled, irregular patterns when vibrating on a sand board (unlike other frequencies) and is one of the reasons we may be out of balance with ourselves and the energies around us.

Local figure Dr. Binal then explained how she’s helped kick-start “Gift Economy HealthCare” with her new Karma Clinic in Berkeley. Let the Obama administration beat that! She apologized for “advertising” her work but I mentioned that the was one of the main intentions of the Spores – to share and promote the gifts, talents, and visions we have so that we can build our community of evolvers and help create a more equitable, enjoyable, and dare I say, funkier, lifestyle, where we get to do the things we're passionate about.

After that, Laura, a local medical marijuana farmer talked about the sustainable practices and reverence she puts in creating medicine for others. She argued that there needs to be more regulation out there, as the quality going to patients is often sub par.

Regina Gelfo, the primary SF regional coordinator did an amazing job holding the space. She had us all form a circle and started off the meeting, asking us to consider what it means to be in community, to think about our usual roles when in group, and inviting us to try out new ways of being with others, and to allow for a communal spirit to emerge through our shared experience. I found this a natural way of keeping space for the night and it was a welcome change from the usual panel format where large groups of people stare up at a few people on stage.

The social time afterward was an unexpected highlight. I met VerDarLuz, who writes astrology columns for Reality Sandwich. He’s now moved to Colorado and is going to join forces with the Spores in Denver and Boulder. Also, when he comes to New York, we’ll try and organize an “Embodied Astrology” workshop to treat Evolver NYC to his talents.

I then met Michael Chichi, who hosts the Psychedelic Society group on Evolver. He lives in Hawaii but stopped by for a Spore visit on his way to the Symbiosis Festival near Yosemite, as did a couple of nice people from Canada. I met several others who I've been virtual friends with on the Evolver site, and I now feel grateful to know them personally.

It really did feel like I was visiting “our tribe” out in SF, and those traveling through seemed to feel the same way. Regina (the SF coordinator) had a similar experience when visiting the nice folks at Evolver Naples for last month’s shamanism Spore. I know we’re just getting started with this Evolver network -- it's hard to believe this was only our third Spore -- but it seems to be already happening. We're creating this rich, interconnected web of talented, inspired evolutionaries. We are the ones we are looking for and we just need to keep finding and connecting with each other.

So that’s my story. What’s yours? Tell us in the comments section and let’s see what’s been happening across the network!