Contact Information

Name: Alliance For Holistic Living

Contact: Deborah Ravenwood
Phone: (860) 432-2081

Email: info@afhlnow.org
Website: www.afhlnow.org

Year Founded: 2009

Member Meetings: Second Fridays from 9-11 a.m. & the following Tuesday from 7:30-9 p.m.

Click figures for larger images.

Description

The Alliance For Holistic Living is a group of centers, practitioners and interested community members, focused East of the Connecticut River with the mission of promoting holistic living in our communities through collaborative ventures.

Wisdom Circle: The Alliance is guided by a Wisdom Circle, which is an ancient form of leadership, where all present are equal and all ideas respected. The Wisdom Circle acknowledges both the individual's and the group's cumulative knowledge, accessing this wealth of experience to create and focus the intention of The Alliance in service to the community. It currently consists of ten of the founding General Members who have been consistently active in the development of the Alliance.

History: The idea of finding ways of working together as a community grew out of conversations at the monthly practitioner breakfasts in Vernon. The November and December 2008 breakfasts were used as facilitated meetings to explore the concept. With Anastazia Owsiak facilitating we brainstormed lists of ideas and possibilities. By January a Vision and Mission statement had been created and meetings alternated between Spirit Matters in Ellington and Ravenwood in Manchester. By Spring we were sufficiently organized to begin holding events, and throughout 2009 we explored a variety of activities.

This year the Wisdom Circle meets only as needed and our Friday morning monthly meetings are for the full membership. Our focus this year is on a variety of activities, and meetings involve their planning. Committees are created and dissolved for specific events as needed. We also began holding once a month evening meetings for members not available during the day.

Holistic Community: Working closely together for the past two years Alliance Members have become a community of friends who enjoy each others company and support each other on life's journey. Over the summer we've held our monthly meetings at cottages at Misquamicut and East Lyme combining planning with outdoor fun. Community service projects as well as quarterly potlucks are other opportunities to get to know each other well and enjoy the camaraderie. The Alliance invites all to join whether practitioner or supporter.

Projects

Community Service: The Alliance supports a variety of community projects as a way of both giving back to the communities we live in as well as a way of being recognized by our neighbors as a community of holistic practitioners.

Projects have included river and trails cleanup in Manchester and Vernon for Earth Day 2009, Rebuilding Manchester 2010 and building a public labyrinth in Tolland this summer.

Wellness Clinic: A free Community Wellness Clinic was offered at Spirit Matters in Ellington during the Spring of 2009. Practitioners associated with the Alliance offered Reiki, vibrational healing, energy field clearing, relaxation training, EFT, Reconnective healing and channeling sessions while workshops were presented on Tibetan Bowls, shamanism, grounding and the energy body. Another clinic is being considered for the near future.

In-Service Presentations: The Alliance offers free In-Service programs or workshops for organizations or groups requesting them. They do two In-Services a year at Ravenwood in Manchester for the East Hartford Masonicare VNA Hospice volunteers. At the first each volunteer attended four introductory energy mini-workshops on Bach Flowers, Tibetan Bowls, the chakras and the energy system. A second In-Service was done for the same group in April 2010 presenting to the full group.

If you know of or are part of an organization such as veterans, unwed mothers, health support groups or VNA'a presentations can be tailored to your specific needs or interests. The Alliance is exploring other opportunities to serve the community.

Wellness Workshops: Free monthly workshops are offered by Alliance members on the third Thursday of each month on a variety of topics at different East of the River locations. The purpose of this series is to introduce people to integrative healing modalities and to help people in their healing process. They have proven to be extremely popular with an average attendance of over 30 people, many new to holistic ideas.

Workshop descriptions are listed in the Conscious CT Calendar for the third Thursday of each month or Click Here for a listing of all upcoming Alliance events.

Heal The Healer: This is a new event, which they hope will become regular in which practitioners exchange services. It is open to practitioners with any type of modality whether an Alliance Member or not. It is to help practitiones learn more about other modalities as well as to help them on their own journey.

Farmers' Market Wellness Fair: The Alliance was invited to produce a Wellness Fair in September 2010 for the Coventry Farmers' Market. There were 25 tents, demonstrations and opportunities to sample massage, energy work and vibrational healing. It was the only holistic fair in the region during 2010.

Fairs & Expos: The Alliance frequently takes a booth to invite the public to our events as well as to make ourselves more visible. They are not for the promotion of our individual businesses although there is often the opportunity for members to have their own space. We have done the MCC Holistic Health Fair, Herbfest and Goodwin College fairs in 2010.

Membership

Membership is open to practitioners and others who share our goals and ideals, and are willing to contribute their time and talents to building community through service and education. There is no cost to become a member, but you should be ready to participate. New members attend an orientation session provided by the Membership Committee where they learn about the Alliance and we can learn about their skills and interests.

There are two levels of membership determined by the commitment you can give to the Alliance. Members are those who can attend and participate in at least three Alliance sponsored events each six-month period. Supporting Members are those who can only participate in events from time-to-time.

If interested contact Deborah Ravenwood, Membership Committee, whose contact information is provided above.

Quarterly Potlucks: Each quarter, around the time of the solstice or equinox, we hold an Open House Potluck for members, guests and anyone curious about us. This is a chance to just socialize and for non-members to learn more about us. And there is always plenty of good food. Potlucks are held at Ravenwood in Manchester.

Directory of Members: A directory recently became available. An online version of the directory is on the Alliance website or Click Here for printable version.