By MELODY JAMESON
mj@observernews.net
SUN CITY CENTER – This generally conservative retirement community might seem an unlikely host, but two new excursions into the new-age world of the metaphysical now are taking root here.
The Whole Life Expo, a three-day event involving more than 25 speakers and practitioners offering open windows on the entire spectrum of human consciousness, is scheduled to get underway Friday, June 11, in several areas of the Kings Point Clubhouse. The weekend expo is slated to continue through Sunday, June 13, in the Banquet, the Atrium and the Social Rooms of the gated community’s massive Tudor-style activities center parallel to S.R. 674, according to Ed Leary, event coordinator. Set to run from noon on Friday until 5 p.m. on Sunday, the expo is open to the public and presented without charge, Leary added. It is the first of an anticipated annual series of such events, he indicated.
The event follows on the heels of a newly-established, new age- influenced SCC bookstore and learning headquarters named The Chakra Center. Opened May 15 by Doni Doti, an Apollo Beach resident, the facility is located on the second floor of the former WCI corporate office building, second structure to the south behind the CVS Pharmacy.
During summer months, the center is open Tuesday through Thursday from 1 to 7 p.m., on Fridays and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Doti said.
The expo’s Friday schedule begins at noon in the Atrium Room with an introduction to metaphysics titled “Ask Me Anything,” led by Mary Anna Elias, lecturer and psychic reader. Reiki Master Robert Austin is to deal with restoring harmony between the physical and spiritual body at 1 p.m. The afternoon continues at 2 p.m. with “Discover At-One-Ment” conducted by speaker Debbie Dienstbier, described as a medical intuitive, with Michael McGoldrich, a detox specialist, addressing “The Key to Age Reversal” at 3 p.m. and with a film focused on “The Living Matrix — The Science of Healing” at 4 p.m.
Simultaneously, in the Social Room, Friday afternoon topics include “Vibrational Medicine and Biofeedback,” reconnecting to the body’s deep inner wisdom by removing chronic tension, and “The Healing Power of Crystals and Gem Stones.”
Back in the Atrium Room on Saturday, the program consists of seven more subjects dealing with human spirituality and health, beginning at 9 a.m. with “What is the New Thought Spiritual Movement?” continuing with “Experience Body, Mind, Spirit, Healing” and wrapping up at 4 p.m. with “Reboot Your Life with the Power of Thought.”
The Saturday schedule in the Social Room covers four related topics, including “Hypnosis Works” applied in weight loss or smoking cessation, led by Velora Peacock, hypnotherapist, plus “Self-help Pain Relief by Directing Energy Flows” presented by Marcia Wilson, Reiki Master and certified natural health practitioner.
Sunday’s seven programs in the Atrium Room feature “You Can Manifest What You Want to See in the World” with Psychotherapist Sue Meixner, “Healing Aspects of Color, Chakras and Auras with Susanne Robb, an aura analyst, and “How to Stop Inflammation and Pain Naturally” with Kare Possick, lecturer and visionary artist.
During the same timeframe in the Social Room, among the seven topics scheduled, Lawrence Steinhart is to share the beauty secrets found in psychic readings of Edgar Cayce in “Beauty Can Be Natural” beginning at 9 a.m., Chiropractor Heather Haverfield plans to discuss “Chiropractic and The Latest Healing Sciences” at 11 a.m., and Dr. Carol Roberts, physician, author and lecturer headquartered in Brandon, is to talk at 1 p.m. about the forms of alternative medicine she practices and promotes.
In addition, Leary said, some 20 of the speakers are expected to be on hand in the Banquet Room at various times during the weekend, available to discuss their books, elaborate on their tools or conduct individual demonstrations. Included in this group are practitioners in astrology, numerology, hypnotism, dream interpretation, meditation for wellness, chiropractic and gemstone jewelry use.
Books and CDs on these as well as related subjects, plus appropriate greeting cards, candles, incense, crystals and jewelry, also are available at The Chakra Center during business hours through the week, Doti noted.
Eventually, she said she hopes to host both speakers and classes at the center “in order to share knowledge; learn about living from another perspective.” It is envisioned, Doti added, as a comfortable locale where residents or visitors might “drop in and have a cup of tea with me.”
Sun City Center also has among its numerous resident organizations a substantial Metaphysical Society which meets weekly and informationally explores human aspects beyond (meta) the physical — emotional, mental or subconscious, plus an active meditation group.
© 2010 Melody Jameson