Category: Richmond IONS Meetings

Richmond IONS Meeting, September 19, 2015

Featuring a Talk by Dr. Elena Mustakova-Possardt

“Can We Experience Healthy Lives in Our Troubled World?”

Our September program will feature a talk by Arlington author, clinical researcher, developmental psychologist, and spiritually oriented psychotherapist, philosopher and metaphysician, Elena Mustakova-Possardt, Ed. D., LPC.

Her talk will focus on and explore the multitude of existential, metaphysical, moral and spiritual challenges we face in the modern world that often, if not surmounted, impede, impair or undermine our efforts to build healthy lives for ourselves, our families, and our local, regional, national and international communities.

More and more we recognize that our modern world is creating the context for what the World Health Organization has identified since the year 2000 as a Global Social Breakdown Syndrome. This syndrome is ubiquitous and cross-cultural. No socio-economic group, no matter how privileged or well-heeled, is beyond its reach or immune to it.

While we see its most extreme forms today in places like the Middle East and parts of Africa, we also see its effects across Europe and the United States at individual, community and societal levels.

Dr. Mustakova will examine with us the implications of understanding a healthy life on several levels: physiological coherence, as measured by coherent heart rhythms; relational coherence, as measured by coherence of relationships; and societal coherence, as measured by a systemic “social health” approach to creating a framework for mental health and well-being for all.

She brings a unique focus on the nexus between mindfulness as a path to health and dialectical historical understanding as a path to personal empowerment and well-being in an age of anxiety. Dr. Mustakova is in great demand for speaking engagements both in the U.S. and abroad, and we are very pleased and fortunate to have her as our September 19 guest speaker.

About Our Presenter:

Dr. Elena Mustakova-Possardt is an Arlington-based psychotherapist and native of Bulgaria who emigrated to the United States at 29. She has taught clinical psychology and related subjects at five universities in four countries (Zimbabwe, Switzerland, Bulgaria and the U.S.).

Now she devotes herself full-time to private practice and has over fifteen years of clinical experience with individuals, couples and families dealing with anxiety and depression, relational dynamics, addictions, and severe mental illnesses.

As a scholar and educator she has authored Critical Moral Consciousness: A Study of Morality in a Global Historical Context (Praeger, 2003), and recently co-authored a volume entitled Toward a Socially Responsible Psychology for a Global Era. See www.elenamustakova.net for her full bio.

Richmond IONS Meeting, August 15, 2015

Featuring a talk by Douglas Kinney

“Exploring Heaven and the Afterlife.”

Our August program will feature a talk by Silver Spring author, researcher, Newton trained LBL (Life-Between-Lives) therapist and blogger Douglas Kinney.

What (if anything) happens to us when we die? Does some aspect of our consciousness continue? Is there a soul or an afterlife? Is heaven real? Is reincarnation real? These questions and more are the focus of Douglas Kinney’s seminal book, Frontiers of Knowledge: Scientific and Spiritual Sources for a New Era, and will be the focus of our August program.

Organized religions address these subjects as well, but most offer no empirical information about them.

Douglas Kinney’s educational, professional and career background is in science, engineering and systems analysis,
and he approaches these seemingly unapproachable subjects from these perspectives.

Before embarking on his quest to find answers to life’s seemingly unanswerable questions, Doug spent many years working as a systems analyst for Office of the Secretary of Defense, then for Northrop Grumman and other defense contractors, and finally for Johns Hopkins University’s Applied Physics Laboratory.

Doug’s scientific and analytical grounding informs his approach to these subjects and brings to it a seldom seen degree of credibility. Doug’s hypothesis is that through systematic analysis and integration of various information sources, including NDEs, LBL accounts, past-life accounts and others, we now have available to us substantial data and ever greater insights about the afterlife, the existence and nature of souls, the “sociology” of the soul realm, the purpose of incarnating on a physical plane, etc. If these subjects are ever to be demystified and de-woo wooed, it will take people like Douglas Kinney to do it, and we are very pleased to have him as our August 15 guest speaker.

About Our Presenter:

As mentioned above, Douglas Kinney’s educational, professional and career background is in science, engineering, and systems analysis. He spent many years working as a defense systems analyst and engineer for the Office of the Secretary of Defense, Northrop Grumman and other defense contractors, and Johns Hopkins University’s Applied Physics Laboratory.

His spiritual background includes being ordained as a New Thought (Religious Science) minister, a certified spiritual hypnotist in past-life and between-lives-regression, and a Newton-trained LBL therapist. He has authored two books, Frontiers of Knowledge: Scientific and Spiritual Sources for a New Era and Framework of Reality: Understanding Our Subtle Spiritual Nature.

Richmond IONS Meeting, July 18, 2015

Featuring a Talk by Lillie Leonardi

“A Field of Angels.”

Our July program will feature a talk by Pittsburgh author and former law enforcement professional Lillie Leonardi, author of three books, entitled In the Shadow of a Badge: A Memoir About Flight 93, A Field of Angels and My Spiritual Homecoming, plus The White Light of Grace: Reflections of a Spiritual Intuitive, and Messages from the Plane.

As of September 2001, Lillie Leonardi had been a law enforcement professional for nearly twenty years, first as a Pittsburgh police officer for more than 15 years and then, starting in 1998, as a community affairs liaison officer with the FBI. In that capacity with the FBI Lillie was a first-responder on 9/11 at the Flight 93 crash site near Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

What she witnessed and encountered there – literally, a host of angels or angelic-like beings of light securing and protecting the Flight 93 crash site as if it were sacred ground – changed and transformed her life forever, and the many-layered mystical and spiritual aspects of that experience are explored and processed in each of her three books.

Lillie will share her experiences of that day and those which followed with us, as well as the multitude of ways in which those experiences have changed her perspective and altered the course and trajectory of her life.

Lillie’s emotionally riveting account offers profound lessons for all of us, and we are deeply grateful to have her share her story with us.

About Our Presenter:

Lillie Leonardi is a native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and continues to reside there today. After nearly thirty years in law enforcement, first with the Pittsburgh police department and then with the FBI, she resigned in 2010 to dedicate her full time and attention to processing and sharing her 9/11 experiences.

Lillie has received much acclaim for her three books about her experiences, and has been a featured guest on many television and media talk shows to discuss them.

Richmond IONS Meeting, June 20, 2015

Featuring a talk by PMH Atwater

“Proof of God in the Near-Death Experience.”

Our June program will feature a talk by world renowned Charlottesville author and NDE researcher, PMH Atwater, on her most recent book, entitled Dying to Know You – Proof of God in the Near-Death Experience (September, 2014).

After publication of Near-Death Experiences, The Rest of the Story: What They Tell us About Living and Dying and Our True Purpose in 2009, Ms. Atwater announced: “This is my 10th and last book on my findings in near-death research. It summarizes and completes 33 years of work with nearly 4,000 adult and child experiencers.”

Fortunately, however, she has since blessed us with two more offerings, Children of the Fifth World: A Guide to the Coming Changes in Human Consciousness (2012), which she spoke about at our June 2013 meeting, and her latest, Dying to Know You – Proof of God in the Near-Death Experience, the topic of this month’s program.

By some accounts, Dying to Know You – Proof of God in the Near-Death Experience is the most emotionally poignant and intellectually engaging book Ms. Atwater has yet produced on the subject of NDE studies. We hope it will not be her last, but it definitely will be a hard act to follow.

This program will mark Ms. Atwater’s sixth appearance as a guest speaker before our Central VA Ions Community Group over the last 20 years, making her the most frequent outside guest speaker we’ve ever had. We are excited as always to have her back and greatly appreciate her continued support for our group’s programs.

About Our Presenter:

PMH Atwater is the world’s most prolific NDE author, as well as one of its original, most indefatigable and highly respected researchers. Inspired by three NDEs of her own, Ms. Atwater began her research in the mid-1970s, nearly 40 years ago.

Since then she has investigated more than 4,000 NDE cases around the world and authored a dozen books on this fascinating subject. Ms. Atwater has won many awards, appeared on numerous TV shows and spoken around the world – always inviting people to look beyond the surface appearance for the deeper truths underlying what we think we know.

Richmond IONS Meeting, May 16, 2015

Featuring a talk by Annie Pane

“The Dance of Balance.”

Our May program will feature a talk by author, nationally
recognized feng shui expert and frequent media commentator Annie Pane. Annie Pane’s book, The Dance of Balance for the Body, Mind and Spirit, is said by many to be one of the best works on feng shui ever written, with the emphasis on improving your life, not rearranging your furniture.

In her talk to our group, Annie will discuss in lay terms how quantum physics affects the modality of feng shui in creating life balance in body, mind and spirit.

Annie has been a featured speaker and commentator at numerous conventions and many broadcast and print media outlets, including NPR’S The Diane Rehm Show, XM Satellite Radio’s Love and Money, Fox TV’S At Home show, and in The Washingtonian and the Washington Woman magazines.

We are fortunate to have connected with Annie and look forward to her talk.

About Our Presenter:

In addition to being nationally recognized as an expert in the ancient Chinese art of feng shui, Annie Pane has an extensive business background that includes 20 years as the owner and operator of a successful real estate and property management firm.

In her feng shui practice, she has served as a consultant for the World Bank, the State Department, the National Institute of Health (NIH), the Department of Labor, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, USA Today and numerous individuals all over the country.

Annie is a native of Virginia’s Northern Neck, has spent much of her career in Northern Virginia, and has only recently relocated to Richmond.

Richmond IONS Meeting, April 18, 2015

Featuring a talk by Tom Hansen, Ph.D.

“Remembering Our Oneness: Who We Are, Where We Came From, And How We Got Here.”

Our April program will feature a talk by author, singer, songwriter, musician and metaphysical philosopher Tom Hansen, Ph.D., about his most recent book of the same title as his talk (2013, Balboa Press).

In his earlier book, Trying to Remember (1995), Tom Hansen explored this question and statement: “Are you a spiritual being having a physical experience or a physical being having an occasional spiritual experience? Which one you believe makes all the difference in the world.”

In Remembering Our Oneness, Tom explores how to live as the spiritual being that you are, even while experiencing this illusion of a physical universe of separation.

He also explores how to be in but not of this world, and how to co-create a world of love, peace and harmony that will help awaken us to our true multidimensional and divine nature.

Tom’s presentation also will focus on the convergence of spiritual and scientific interpretations of reality, and show the two are coming together in new and exciting ways which demonstrate our consciousness does not derive from physical matter, but rather is filtered and transceived from our infinite oneness consciousness, from the very ground of our being.

Tom has produced several CDs of his songs about spiritual, political, peace and environmental topics. He has performed at many conferences, festivals, workshops and meetings. His 2014 CD, “Book Concert,” consists of songs whose lyrics are all direct quotes from Remembering Our Oneness, and, if time permits, he may perform some of these songs for us as part of his presentation.

About Our Presenter:

Tom Hansen, Ph.D., is a retired mathematics education researcher, author and teacher. He began his teaching career in the Peace Corps in Liberia in 1964. Tom was the Founder and President of the Peace Exchange Foundation, which coordinated citizen exchanges between the Soviet Union and the U.S. in the 1980s.

He was a Non-Governmental representative at the Earth Summit in 1992, and at the United Nations Sustainable Development Commission meetings, working with governments to finance appropriate technology for developing countries.

He earned a B.S. in Mathematics from Drake University, an M.A. in Mathematics Education from Columbia University, and a Ph.D. in Higher Education Administration from the University of Iowa.

Richmond IONS Meeting, March 21, 2015

Presented by Anna Hristova, M.D.

“The Fourth Dimension and how can we operate in it”

What is the Fourth Dimension and how can we operate in it? This knowledge is based on the lectures of the founder of Anthroposophy: Dr. Rudolph Steiner. Science and physics nowadays have suggested that we live in a multi-dimensional universe sometimes called multiverse.

What if we can focus and learn to operate on levels more than the three dimensional world we see and recognize every day? What if much more than we can dream of is waiting around the corner?

About our Presenter:

Dr. Anna Hristova, also known as Dr. Ani, is a Neurologist with 24 years of practice and training in some of the best Universities in the USA and abroad. She is trained to diagnose and treat neurological disorders, which result from abnormalities in the brain, spinal cord and remainder of the nervous system.

In her practice, Dr. Hristova may perform a variety of tests and scans to arrive at the correct diagnosis, which is vital to creating an effective treatment plan for any given patient. Treatments can include medication management, numerous therapies and lifestyle changes.

She has 30 years of esoteric training and practices on three continents. She teaches how science and fate can merge.

Richmond IONS Meeting, February 21, 2015

Featuring a Talk by Mary Mayer

“Are you willing to let your body make you money?”

Did that question get your attention? What if this dialogue isn’t about prostituting yourself . . . in order to have the life you’d like to live, and to have the money to do it with ease? What if, by making peace with your body you’ll become more abundant?

What if, by learning to love your body and listen to it, you’ll be happier, healthier and more resilient? We’ll explore how our bodies can ATTRACT – or REPEL – the energy of money.

You’ll be shown 7 Tools for Change that will allow us to shift into more abundance – including a means to check for bio-feedback from your body. We’ll take a playful romp through the dynamic ideas of ACCESS CONSCIOUSNESS®, the target of which is “empowering you to know what you know.”

Gary Douglas founded this work more than 25 years ago in California and its philosophy has now spread worldwide – with thousands of facilitators teaching classes in more than 100 countries. “Consciousness included everything and judges nothing.”

About Our Presenter:

Mary L. Mayer, The Resilient Optimist, loves to empower and enable compassionate, courageous and openhearted givers to navigate major life transitions with greater ease, joy and fun than they ever imagined possible.

Mary fosters others to become the Resilient Optimists they were born to be, using the dynamic tools of Access Consciousness®, along with verbal clearing and her signature Release /Increase process.

Mary’s intuitive gifts combine with a light and open heart, a gentle, yet courageous nature and a belief that there is nothing broken in us to be fixed, just change to be invited to experience if one chooses.

Richmond IONS Meeting, January 17, 2015

Featuring a Talk by Robyn Bentley

“Introduction to Feng Shui (all kinds)”

What is feng shui? How is feng shui used in the home and office? What is the difference between the different kinds of feng shui (Flying Star, Compass, Form and Western/BTB)? Learn how this ancient Chinese practice of working with energies and energy patterns can help you in your personal and professional life.

Feng Shui Diva Robyn Bentley is a gifted feng shui and holistic living practitioner, author and media personality dedicated to the study of vibrational arts and sciences for the purpose of helping others achieve good health and a better life.

Robyn’s feng shui has been featured nationally and internationally in the Wall Street Journal, First For Women, Canadian Living, and Nirvana Woman. She is a popular guest expert on radio stations around the world giving out tips as Feng Shui Diva and has also appeared on television.

Robyn has a passion for bringing metaphysical and holistic subjects to the mainstream and a knack for presenting a difficult concept in a way that is easy to grasp. She has written and produced a series of audio and video Feng Shui MinutesTM, written countless articles, and is the author of Creating A Haven: Simple Steps For A Healthy And Nurturing Home.

Robyn is certified in all of the main schools of feng shui. She studied Classical Flying Star feng shui with Lillian Too and David Twicken, Compass & Form with Geomancy, and Western/Black Hat with the Shambhalla Feng Shui Institute.

While earning her Bachelor of Science in Mass Communications from Virginia Commonwealth University, Robyn began a lifelong study of metaphysical and holistic arts and sciences including reiki, vibrational healing, therapeutic touch, color healing, crystal energies, aura cleansing, chakra balancing, polarity therapy, herbal medicine, homeopathy, Native American shamanism and animal medicine, Hawaiian Huna, pyramid energies, geopathic stress, psychometry, aromatherapy, numerology and astrology.

In her feng shui work, Robyn utilizes both ancient and modern day practices from around the world to help create a healthy and balanced environment for the home and office.

Richmond IONS Meeting, December 13, 2014

Featuring a discussion moderated by Tom Coates

“Tao to Earth – Remembering and Reclaiming Your True Identity.”

Our December 13 program will feature a discussion led by Tom Coates aimed at exploring some of the many layers of the concept of identity, of who and what we are, and the multitude of ways in which expanding our concepts of identity will expand our horizons, open us to new opportunities and give greater meaning to our lives, while limiting and restricting those concepts will have exactly the opposite effect.

We all have traits or characteristics by which we seek to identify ourselves or others. These commonly include such factors as species (humanoid, reptilian, avian, insectisoid, aquatic, etc.), age/life stage (infant, young, old, middle aged, etc.), racial (caucasian, mongoloid, negroid, etc.), physical (height, weight, eye color, hair color, skin color, etc.), sexual (female, male, hermaphroditic, transgender, etc.), familial/tribal/ethnic (family, lineage, tribe, clan, ethnic group, etc.).

In addition, they include factors such as linguistic (English, French, Chinese, Swahili, etc.), political, nationalistic, geographic, ideological (American, Canadian, liberal, conservative, capitalist/communist, etc.), religious and philosophical beliefs/belief systems and affiliations (Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Atheist, etc.).

Then, there are factors including the following: socio-economic (rich/poor, haves/have-nots, royalty, nobility, aristocracy, peasants, untouchables, slaves, etc.), vocational, educational (unskilled laborers, tradesman, geeks, professionals, scientists, bankers, etc.), behavioral (smokers, nonsmokers, drinkers, teetotalers, meat eaters, vegetarians, etc.), and others.

As our culture encourages, we most often identify ourselves and others through a combination of factors like these. The key element of every identifying factor is that it separates us (or any other to whom we apply it) from those who do not have or share it while simultaneously connecting us with those who do.

This is our present identity paradigm, but its reach, though compelling, is superficial, and fails to provide us significant insight or understanding about who and what we truly are at the deeper levels of our being.

The goal of this program will be to penetrate beyond those outer layers and to discover, awaken, connect with and integrate our Authentic Self, the true identity that lies hidden within each of us. As always, Tom promises that some secrets known only to a few will be revealed.