Festival Program
The multifaceted program includes various offerings of meditation, movement, individual process work, lectures, workshops, and collective processes, as well as artistic performances and dance evenings. Begin your day with invigorating Body Awakening Practices or Yoga, experience the teachings of Thomas Hübl, participate in the seminar events and We Labs, and join in the around-the-clock meditation in the “Cave.” Or relax at Long Pond Lake, walk the gardens and trails with a new friend, and grab a snack, tea, or coffee at the Omega Cafe.
Can’t participate in person? All of the session in the main room will be broadcast live. Plus you will have access to the recordings of these sessions until November 18. Only $99! Click the button below for program details.
Body-Mind Awakening – Movement in the morning with Gary Joplin. 6:00am, Daily.
The Body-Mind Awakening Training from Gary Joplin is a daily invitation to deepen the connection between the physical, mental and energetic bodies, and an opportunity to more deeply ground and then open the body, both physically and energetically. Flowing, harmonious movement sequences supported by conscious breathing patterns are combined in a playful, organic way, allowing the body to simultaneously become more deeply grounded and to expand.
This work is based primarily on the principles of Gyrokinesis®, but also utilizes wisdom from yoga, Feldenkreis, and various dance forms. It is a great preparation for the morning meditation, as it not only fine-tunes the physical body, but also brings a heightened awareness to the subtle energy body while focusing and quieting the mind. Participants will leave the class feeling more grounded and alive with a new-found lightness and sense of bodily expansion.
Tonings with Thomas Hübl, 4:45pm, Daily.
Throughout the Festival, Thomas will lead “toning meditation” sessions every evening at 4:45pm. Toning allows participants to drop into meditative states and gain a profound experience of space, presence, and connection. The sound fields that are created stimulate the potential for deep healing and can help us respond more authentically with love and clarity in daily life. Tonings can be very powerful experiences, especially in larger groups, and participants describe them as a sacred fields of coherence.
Toning sessions typically begin with the creation of a sound field of humming, gradually reaching a crescendo of ritual toning. Through the sound vibration and through the coherence that is built through the sounds in the group, participants can find an inner connection to the subtle higher dimension, to their own life’s experiences, or to deeper creativity, insights, and innovation.
Thomas describes toning as both an individual and collective experience. The beautiful sound-space of toning is a collective composition orchestrated with each individual’s sound. As the individual harmonizes with others in the collective space, each unique sound remains vital and powerful, supporting the collectively shared conscious space that yields mindfulness and wakefulness.
WE Labs, Daily meetings, Monday – Thursday
WE Labs are groups with a maximum of eight festival participants who come together at the beginning of the Festival and meet daily throughout the week. You are invited to share what has happened during the day, what moves you, what needs to be processed, what you would like to have witnessed. The WE Lab is a place where you can move at your own speed with whatever wants to be deepened or developed in you. You will be assigned to your We Lab groups in the Main Hall at the beginning of the Festival and will have support from the WE Lab team as needed.
The WE Lab is a generator of a new We for the entire Festival. Apart from personal questions and individual development, WE Lab explorations include developing a perception of the field that is alive between the individuals, as well as other aspects of shared consciousness. Insights, experiences, and questions from the groups flow back into the festival field and serve as new impulses for exploration. The We-Space is not a physical space outside of us, but an interior dimension of consciousness and awareness. Access to the We depends on the capacity to hold a healthy felt awareness of oneself while also being aware of the other. The designation “WE Lab” goes beyond a simple group of friends sharing experiences. It is the energetic backbone for the festival field, the elementary basis for the entire festival organism.
Transparent Communication Practice opportunities throughout the Festival
Everyone communicates, but few of us understand how to fully open ourselves to the potential of the relational field and bring higher levels of awareness into even the briefest interpersonal exchanges.
It’s so easy to postpone practice. To think, “I’ll practice later. I’ll have more time later. I’ll feel better later.” The contemplative arts teach us that there is no postponing of experience, there is only arriving in the present moment. This is transformational. When we know that every moment counts, that our awakening literally happens now, we become constantly surrounded by opportunities for profound growth.
Thomas Hübl brings these enduring principles to the study and practice of Transparent Communication, transforming small moments with others into expressions of higher purpose and opportunities for innovation. Transparent Communication is the art of communication from the mystic’s perspective, a contemplative approach where we learn how to communicate with deep authenticity and broaden our ability to empathically attune to others.
This dramatically increases our skillfulness in relationship, and allows us to introduce more openness, clarity, and presence into everyday interactions – turning otherwise ordinary communication into an instance of spiritual practice.
The Cave Meditation – 24 Hour Meditation
Shared meditation is an essential part of the Celebrate Life Festival. The Cave Meditation is a collective spiritual practice available 24 hours a day from the opening of the Festival until the closing. This year’s Cave will take place in the Sanctuary at Omega; perched on a hill and surrounded by trees, the Sanctuary is the spiritual heart of Omega’s campus.
You can access the Sanctuary by stepping through the archway next to the Juniper classroom and taking the stone stairway. Along the way, you’ll pass the Yearning Pond, curving stone walls, ever-changing cairns, and more. The space will be cared for by the Festival’s Cave Team, whose intention is for people to intuitively come together to meditate, so that at least one person is always holding the space – also throughout the night.
A continuous field of mindfulness gives rise to a powerful shared space of peace, silence and inner reflection. As the active mind withdraws, transpersonal insights deepen, allowing us to embrace more and more of reality within an alert inner space. The spaciousness and depth of the Cave practice reflects throughout the space of the Festival.
You are invited to participate regularly to hold this collective meditative space.
Celebrate Life Family Program
Children of all ages are welcome at the Festival!
The Celebrate Life Family Team is happy to host a specially prepared space for children and families at the Festival.
In our Discovery Space, we will host simple resourcing play areas with creative materials for children of different ages. This is an open space to explore, enjoy, be present with yourself and your child, and listen. We invite those of you who are parents, grandparents and caregivers to spend time with your children in this space during the Festival. Connect, relax, witness your child.
Our Celebrate Life Family Team will also provide fun, contemplative and creative experiences for families to feel connected in presence and play, such as Family Yoga and Parenting Discovery Circles.
Parenting Discovery Circles
In a safe respective space, parents, grandparents, caregivers are invited to observe and reflect on their inner experiences. Guided exploration and time for reflection support our growing curiosity, insights and relations. There will be a special Discovery Circle for Parents with babies and children 0-3 years. Pre-conceptive and pregnant parents are welcome to join!
Empowered Family Yoga
Caregivers and children ages 3+ are invited to embody elements of the natural world as playmates, develop a shared language of body awareness, and grow lifelong skills in stress release and relaxation.
Parents will be responsible for their children and teens at the Festival. Music and theater may be added to the fun. More info to come!
If you are interested in childcare for ages 5-12 during the CLF main program hours, please visit the Omega Children’s Program to register your child and reserve a space.
Assistants Team, available as needed upon request
The Assistants team has been an integral part of the festival for many years. If you require individual support in deep personal processes, there is skilled support and guidance available. All assistants have been engaged with Thomas Hübl’s work for an extensive period of time. They are also clinically or scientifically trained in psychotherapy or body therapy or have received intensive education and training in how to support process work at seminars and events. An assistant trainee may be present during individual sessions. Assistants are also available for other issues that arise, such as dealing with couple dynamics or one’s spiritual practice.