presents

with Tara Bennett Goleman, Daniel Goleman, Aaron Wolf, and Seema Mehta and Jason Samuels Smith

$649

PRESENTERS: Tara Bennett Goleman, Dan Goleman, Aaron Wolf, and Seema Mehta and Jason Samuels Smith

DATE: May 21-22, 2022

TIME: All day Saturday and Sunday (10 am - 5 pm ET on Saturday; 10 am - 4 pm ET on Sunday)

VENUE: The Aligned Center, outside in a tent next to the Hudson River

Connection begins within and radiates out to create a greater sense of interconnection to everything around us. By exploring these interrelated dimensions – the inner, the interpersonal, and the larger world – we can awaken a greater awareness, compassion, and ease of communication in relationships of all kinds. In any encounter, we can become more aware of what obscures the genuine bond we seek – and work through our differences from a place of connection.

When we’re operating at our best, we’re connected to ourselves and to others. In this shared secure mode we feel seen and heard, respected and cared for, with a sense of trust and belonging.

This workshop with renowned authors and teachers Tara Bennett Goleman, Daniel Goleman, Aaron Wolf, and Seema Mehta and Jason Samuels Smith will allow us to understand, internalize, and ultimately better live this chemistry of connection with those around us.

• Ways to reach across perceived divides
• Working through inner and outer obstacles
• Transforming adversity from a place of connection
• The neuroscience of relationships
• Widening our circle of caring, including for the natural world
• The arts as a connective force across differences
• How we can reconnect with each other and the world in better ways

Tara Bennett Goleman will draw from her books Emotional Alchemy and Mind Whispering to explore how to transform emotional patterns that separate into ones that connect. She will draw from perspectives and practices of Eastern and Western psychologies to guide us into what she calls an “inner secure base,” which enhances natural qualities within ourselves that refine our capacity to connect individually and collectively.

Daniel Goleman will draw from his books Emotional Intelligence and Social Intelligence, detailing our deeply wired need for social connection, and how that makes us constantly engaged in a “neural ballet” – a brain-to-brain link that connects us to those around us.

Aaron Wolf, an environmentalist, researcher, and professor of water resources, is a trained mediator who has worked with water conflicts around the world. He will share his methods for bringing opponents into a cooperative mode in resolving their differences.

Seema Mehta and Jason Samuels Smith, luminaries of classical Indian Kathak dance and tap dance, respectively, give a lecture-demonstration on their dance collaboration, showing the power of two different cultural dance traditions connecting through the universal language of rhythm.

Emotions are a force that can separate or connect us all. In this rich tapestry of interconnectedness we'll experience diverse ways to enhance a genuine connection with ourselves and each other.

$649

Tara Bennett Goleman, MA, is a psychotherapist and educator who leads workshops internationally, and is the author of the New York Times best-seller Emotional Alchemy: How the Mind Can Heal the Heart, which has been translated into 28 languages, as well as Mind Whispering. Her post-graduate studies were at the Cognitive Therapy Center of New York. Dr. Aaron Beck, founder of cognitive therapy, recognized her as  “a pioneer” in integrating cognitive therapy and mindfulness. She is a longtime meditator who has studied worldwide with acclaimed masters of the insight meditation and Dzogchen traditions.

Daniel Goleman, Ph.D., is a psychologist and science journalist who has reported on the brain and behavioral sciences for the New York Times. He is the author of the international best-seller Emotional Intelligence, and has written about meditation and managing our emotions in several books, including A Force for Good: The Dalai Lama’s Vision for Our World and Destructive Emotions: How to Overcome Them. His most recent book covers scientific research on meditation.

Aaron Wolf directs the Program in Water Conflict Management and Transformation at Oregon State University, through which he has offered workshops, facilitations, and mediation around the world. He is the author, most recently, of The Spirit of Dialogue: Lessons from Faith Traditions in Transforming Conflict. He brings his skills to a variety of conflict settings, notably between entities who share water resources, as well as faith and interfaith communities, and with and between government agencies.

Classical Indian Kathak dancer Seema Mehta is the Director of Chhandam Nritya Bharati-India where she teaches over 100 students in Mumbai and Kolkata, India. She has worked with the children of Kolkata’s red light areas, and children from the Akanksha and SMILE Foundations in Mumbai. She studied under renowned Kathak maestro Pandit Chitresh Das starting in 2000 and began performing at San Francisco State University in 2003. Seema often collaborates with Emmy-winner Jason Samuels Smith, a professional tap dancer, choreographer, and director based in NYC. Samuels Smith has performed in dozens of movies, television shows, live performances and on Broadway, and has won both an Emmy and American Choreography Award. His accidental meeting with Seema's teacher Pandit Chitresh Das in 2004 began a global Kathak-tap conversation through dance that continues to this day.

“Chemistry of Connection is a truly unique experience. Never before have I experienced the beautiful integration of perspectives on deeper connection within ourselves and with each other.”

― Laura S.

An Aligned Life is taught, explored, and cultivated through the Aligned Center, a gathering and practice space in Irvington, New York. An Aligned Life finds wholeness and accomplishment in all the places we touch our world. Visit us at www.thealignedcenter.com to learn more about our classes in Mind-Body Awareness, Work & Wealth Abundance, Heartfelt Community and Knowledge of Systems. 

The Aligned Center is a beautiful 40 to 50 minute MetroNorth Railroad ride north of New York City along the  Hudson line, and also within easy driving distance of I-87, I-287 and the Saw Mill River Parkway. The Center is located in a complex of buildings next to the train station.

COVID Protocols

With new COVID-19 variants continuing to risk our collective health and well-being, strict protocols will be in place for this event. We will be hosting the entire weekend outdoors in well-ventilated areas. Masks are mandatory, as is proof of vaccination. We will also be limiting attendance so we can practice social distancing throughout the weekend. Please note because of this, the event may sell out faster than normal.