Hi there, We're very excited to be invited to play this year's Expo (Feb 13th, 7pm) read below and you'll see why! This article was in Entertainment Today, Feb. 2004 Waking Life - by Sandra Kraisirideja The Conscious Life Expo in Los Angeles wakes Southern Californians up to health of mind, body and soul Also read: The month I went new age If you don’t know the difference between a chakra and an aura, but are interested in finding out what they are, the Conscious Life Conference and Expo is a great place to start. Think of it as a boot camp for enlightenment. There will be more than 100 presenters, over 100 free lectures, and numerous activities geared toward yoga, meditation, holistic health, mystical arts and spirituality all under one roof and jam-packed into three days. The Conscious Life Conference and Expo takes place Feb. 13-15 at the Los Angeles Airport Hilton. Attendees are encouraged to stay at the hotel, which is being taken over by the event. Program Director Shima Moore said the main areas of the hotel will be re-arranged by a feng shui expert to maintain positive energy throughout the location. “Anyone can go to this,” said Moore. “You don’t have to have a metaphysical, conscious or New Age slant.” Moore said her goal was to provide information on conscious living topics that people may not get in other places. “One of the great things about this conference is that it’s pulling information in from a lot of different places (and) making it easy to find information that is not easy to find, and certainly not easy to find all in one place,” she said. A number of free events will be offered over the weekend in addition to the free lectures. Friday afternoon the new Ram Dass movie Answering Life’s Questions will be screened. In the film, Dass—formerly known as Richard Alpert, who collaborated with Timothy Leary, Ralph Metzner, Aldous Huxley, Allen Ginsberg and others to pursue intensive research with LSD and other psychedelic chemicals—shares how he was brought even closer to God after suffering a stroke. What is conscious living? From what I’ve been able to gather from talking with organizers and presenters, conscious living involves being aware of everything that is around you and knowing how your actions and thoughts effect your surroundings and the people in your life. The culture tends to attract folks interested in natural remedies, like aromatherapy, and people who use tarot or astrology to understand life. The Conscious Life Conference and Expo—which has been around in one form or another since 1982—has been reincarnated so many times it would make Buddha blush, but this time organizers seem to be on the right path. There are two sides to the event: the conference and the expo. The conference contains all of the activities, lectures, seminars and workshops. The expo is where 150 vendors will hawk hard-to-find or unusual items pertaining to conscious living. Think gem stones, herbs and audiocassette tapes by Deepak Chopra. The conference has a new format meant to satisfy all levels of interest from the uninitiated to the complete convert. Attendees can choose from one of eight conference tracks or pick and choose a variety of workshops, special events and half-day intensive seminars to basically create their own conference track. The eight conference tracks were designed for attendees who want the most current information from leading authorities in their fields. Rather than scan the program for seminars and workshops pertaining to metaphysical arts, for example, speakers on that topic are organized under one track and are easy to find. Plus, there’s no need to juggle your schedule to fit all the programs on that topic. Here’s a breakdown of the eight conference tracks: Passionate Living: Love, Relationship and Sexuality In honor of Valentine’s Day, the organizers have created a conference track aimed at couples and those hoping to be in a couple. Presenters for this track include celebrity love guru Dr. Ava Cadell; former Miss USA and anger management coach, Terri Amos; wizard of sexuality David Deida and mistress of fun Kristina Catalina. “The way I look at expos is they are like big candy stores,” Amos said. “You can taste something and if it doesn’t taste good you can spit it out or, if it tastes really good, it can become a part of your life.” Amos’ workshop titled, “Cleaning the Crap out of Your Relationship,” will help couples release all the anger, judgment, blame, depression and self-hate that may be harming their relationship. Amos believes there is negative programming in the subconscious mind that gives people false data on what they need to be in order to be loved. “[I focus] on the relationship you have with yourself [and how to improve it] through healing the relationships you have with everybody else,” Amos said. Presentations like Amos’ are not the only events connected with this conference track. Those looking for love are invited to a singles mixer and dance party on Saturday. Couples can enjoy an intimate, rooftop-garden dinner for two also on Saturday. Spiritual Cinema and Filmmaking Workshop and Day-Long Seminar Veteran producer Stephen Simon, who worked on What Dreams May Come and Somewhere in Time, will give a keynote address on Friday and then lead a day-long, hands-on workshop on both Saturday and Sunday. Simon is partial to films that inspire individual and social transformation and that have themes that stress meaning and hope. During the workshop Simon will work on scenes from scripts brought in by those attending the course. Personal and Planetary Transformations: Social Responsibility, Ceremony, Prosperity and Celebration Actress, director and yoga author Mariel Hemingway is among the speakers taking part in this track, which discusses the state of the planet and what people can do to insure it will be around for another billion years. Hemingway’s presentation titled, “Finding My Balance,” will be held Sunday at 10 a.m. Other speakers include Shakti Gawain, Peter Camejo and Gabriel Cousens, M.D. Healthy Minds, Healthy Bodies Discover the latest in cutting-edge healing technology and hear the latest scientific discoveries with Kevin Borad, Robert Jaffe, M.D., John Laird, M.D., William Eidelman, M.D., Stephen Lewis, Master Zhi Gang Sha and Judi Lekic, R.N. Borad is offering an intensive two-and-a-half hour workshop, titled, “Activating Prana to Prevent Disease and Manage Stress.” Senior Essene teachers Gabriel Cousens and Daniel Maziarz will be joined by the Simcha Band and will lead the audience in an evening of chanting and dancing to enliven the body and awaken the soul. The evening will conclude with meditation. Saturday morning Laird is offering “Seven Steps to Self-Healing — Gently & Easily,” an intensive workshop that will guide participants in a simple, step-by-step process to bring deep healing through love. Attendees will leave the workshop with tools to help accelerate personal growth and healing, as well as a set of skills to help others. Also part of this conference track is a women’s health symposium titled, “The Life Stages of Women’s Health.” Moore, the program director, was especially proud of this lecture series, which features Hyla Cass, M.D., Jesse Hanley, M.D. and Cynthia Watson, M.D. “Women are much more at risk for autoimmune diseases and heart diseases (but) you don’t usually hear about that,” Moore said. “We really wanted to have an event for women to educate them and their families on how to deal with some of these questions.” Ancient Science, Modern Mystery Here’s where some people may get a little uncomfortable as the presenters in this conference track would make Fox Mulder from the X-Files look like an amateur. Speakers include former NASA consultant and Mars controversy expert Richard Hoagland; British author Sir Laurence Gardener; investigative mythologist William Henry; anthropologist Dr. Richard Boylan; British crop circle researcher Denni Clarke; acclaimed Nibiruan messenger Jelaila Starr; author John Major Jenkins; and radio host George Noory. Henry’s presentation, titled, “Awakening the Divine Particle,” reveals the existence of the Central Healing Sun as the source of the Divine Particle, home to “twin flame” and “sacred self.” Through a variety of exercises and meditations attendees will deepen the connection between their inner Divine Particle and the rays of the Healing Sun. Metaphysical Arts Celebrity astrologer Maria Shaw; tarot expert Dr. Hillary Anderson; astrologer James Coleman; and hand analyst Ronelle Coburn engage in practical magic and divination skills through their respective esoteric arts. Conversations with Spirit: Angels in the City of Angels Do angels exist? Is there a guardian protecting you from harm? The authors in this conference track seem to have found answers to these questions and others pertaining to angels in our midst. Acclaimed authors Kevin Ryerson, Tricia McCannon, Gary Quinn, Echo Bodine, Walter Semikiw, M.D. and Bettye Binder are scheduled to attend. Binder’s intensive workshop titled, “Past Life Regression Experiential,” will include a 90-minute lecture and discussion with a Q&A session. This will be followed by a group meditation with each participant going on a private journey under Binder’s guidance. Comfortable clothing is recommended. Latinos and Latinas Spiritual Awakenings Moore said organizers did not set out to create a conference track aimed specifically at the Hispanic market. As numerous Spanish-speaking radio and TV personalities agreed to lecture, however, Moore realized she had enough to create a specialty conference track. Among the speakers are Karmen Dehesa, Mabel Katz, Edward ’O, Emigdio Espinosa, Dr. Edgar Villamarin and Enrique Villanueva. The Conscious Life Conference and Expo is open 3 to 10 p.m. Friday; 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday; and 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday. Admission to the expo is $10 on Friday and $15 Saturday and Sunday. A three-day pass can be purchased for $35. Admission is included with the purchase of a conference package, which range in price from $115 to $250, or a combination ticket. Pricing for individual workshops, intensives and special events vary and are based on the length of each program. Workshops are one and a half hours and cost $25. Intensives are two and a half hours and cost $35. Special events are three hours and cost $45. For information, call (800) 367-5777.