“Zingies” is a nickname that’s found its way to our house, which can refer to the Delicatessen, the Roadhouse, or even the Bakehouse at Zingerman’s. Whatever your family calls it, if you live in the Ann Arbor area, you can expect that family or friends will want to eat out at this delightful dining destination. “Making food that’s safe for our guests” is one of the mottos of the many-faceted food palace, and it’s good to know in advance what will be safe for you.
Posts filed under Issue 69
Reflections on the Power of Music as Support and Healing for Teenagers
Last spring I heard Aaron Dworkin, violinist and former Dean of the U-M School of Music, Theater & Dance, speak at a leadership workshop at Zingerman’s Roadhouse. He expressed the best part of playing in a group/ensemble as a child was that he felt like he was ‘included’ for the first time in his life. Prior to this, he didn’t know anyone else like him and he lacked a sense of ‘belonging.’ He inspired me to investigate further. I wanted to hear from Ann Arbor students and teachers about their experience playing music in collaboration with others and what it means to them.
Classically Trained ~ Thoughts on the Ann Arbor Youth Ensemble Scene
We have all read articles touting the positive effects of music on brain development, and seen the studies that show music can improve test scores and academic performance in children. What isn’t written about so much are the social and emotional benefits of music.
Raising Musical Kids--Musical Musings ~ A Peek Under the Roof of a Musical Household
It was clear to me that our family was “different” when it was the Ohio Michigan game, and instead of tailgating, we were all home watching a documentary of the history of jazz in America. At intermission, our dog ran figure eights around the multiple music stands and instruments that were scattered about the living room floor. Why the living room, you ask? There is no basement in our house. We like to think that by allowing kids to play in wide open spaces, it makes the whole house vibrate to some higher frequency.
Michigan Flower Growers’ Cooperative Brings Local Flowers to the Table
In the middle of the growing season in 2017, something brand new sprouted in Ann Arbor. Grown with care, the Michigan Flower Growers’ Cooperative was founded on July 5, 2017, and ran through the rest of the growing season with great success. Now, they’re approaching their second year of bringing locally-sourced flowers to southeast Michigan, serving everyone from local flower shops to DIY brides to individual consumers with beautiful blooms.
The State of Bees
Imagine a living thing that has an effect on almost every food you eat. It also plays a role in the trees you see, the weeds you pull, and the coffee you drink each morning. Our entire ecosystem would be radically changed if these beings were to disappear. Bees are the tiny, hard working, often pesky pollinators that so graciously play a part in maintaining the delicate ecosystem we share. We need them, desperately, to be able to do their job: pollinate.
Taking a Drive to Hidden Lake Gardens
There are few places left in our area where we can find natural gems that are virtually unknown yet created for the public’s use and enjoyment. Michigan State University owned and operated Hidden Lake Gardens is just one of those spots in Southeast Michigan within a short and scenic forty-five-minute drive from Ann Arbor.
A Barefoot Approach to Wellness
Hello, Spring! Hello sunny days, birds singing, flowers blooming, and green, green, green! Hello to light layers, wind on our skin, warmth in the air, and soft soil underfoot. Our planet is full of awakening and liveliness.
Forest Therapy ~ Embracing Nature, Connecting with Others
On the night before winter solstice in 2017, I was part of a small group that set out at dusk from the parking lot at Matthaei Botanical Gardens, carrying paper globes as we entered the adjacent woods on a footpath. Our guide, Ann Arbor artist and art teacher Cayla Samano, had distributed the lanterns beforehand. As darkness came down around us, the light-sensitive globes turned on, bright white orbs in the shadowy woods. Ice and snow crunched underfoot. We took our time, Cayla reminding us not to rush, asking us to slow our pace.
Namaste, Katie...
Whether you’re a seasoned yogi or getting ready to roll out your mat for the first time, here you’ll find a variety of useful tips from local yoga instructor Katie Hoener.
Zooooooooooooooooooom. Zoooooooooooooooooooo-ooooooom ~ Chase Me Now! Taming the Crazy that is Puppyhood
In the World of Dog, evening crazies are actually a thing, particularly in puppies. “International Puppy Zoomie Time” often occurs between 7:00-9:00 p.m., on a nightly basis, immediately before your new youngster crashes for the evening. You hope. Or, it may not be until the early hours of the morning.
Woman Within International — First Person with Lauren Tatarsky
Lauren Tatarsky is the facilitator of Ann Arbor’s Women’s Circle, a private practice Spiritual Guide at Inspired Life Counseling. Here she shares her first person perspective of joining Woman Within International.
What need attracts women there? What outcome?
My experience was that a lot of women came because they had a desire to connect with other women. Many shared that they struggled in their relationships with women and wanted to pursue more supportive connections. Many were also drawn because they desire a space for personal growth among a tribe of women. I remember a number of voices about personal healing in the company of wise and loving women. I also know a number of women who had friends or family members who had gone and so came almost solely based on the high recommendation.
Personal healing and connection to a community of women. I’m thinking this question and the first question, though different, actually have the same answer. I think women receive exactly what they come for. It is a powerful weekend that does in fact accomplish the desires shared above in amazing ways.
Does the retreat space meet the goals in your experience?
Yes, beautifully. I went to the retreat in Julian, California, outside of San Diego. The retreat space was in a beautiful setting, meals were delicious, spaces were supportive of the process. Some women may have been surprised that we slept in large rooms with many bunk beds and shared bathrooms. I found them quite comfortable.
When in life is this coming into focus for many women? Are there common times of life like menopause or healing from divorce that this experience uplifts for people in your experience?
I think a lot of women felt themselves to be in a time of transition and in need of new inspiration, direction, healing from the past, a supportive and loving environment (many had so little of this in their own lives). Since the retreat is open to all women over 18, the details of these transitions varied. Yes, I do think many came after a divorce and/or empty nest situation. Some came, like me, out of college and looking for personal growth and community. Others because they were of an age where they wanted to share their wisdom with younger women and be honored as an elder. Still others because they felt lost and needed to find themselves again, or something painful had occurred in their lives and they needed to find a way back home to themselves.
Why is it transformative?
Great question. I think it’s transformative first and foremost because it creates a sacred container for women, in a way that has been lost in our culture for too long now. It brings back the essence of red tent times, of times when women knew how to be with one another in our journeys. The rituals, conversations, and activities are all conducted in a very sacred way. There is a lot of space for internal connection and exploration as well as deep sharing and support. There is significant emphasis on women supporting women and powerful rituals that allow this to occur in an embodied way. It is an experiential retreat, where one experiences being held by other women, being seen and understood, engaging in deeply healing rituals and conversations that allow women to release old wounds and open to new life.
Why does it work?
Aha, the mystery. The energy exchange between women that occurs in a sacred container? The power of ritual? The power of holding sacred space for each other’s healing? The safety and permission? The acceptance and love? The sacred setting? It’s a mixture of factors that come together to create transformation, both a science and an un-nameable thing.
How did you feel in it and after it?
At first I felt nervous, not knowing any women or what was about to happen. This is to be expected. It didn’t take long for the experience to ease us and welcome us in. I felt like it was a transcendent experience. Otherworldly. It was like a craving deep in my bones had been wholly satisfied. I also had a deeply healing experience that created a sense of profound connection to myself, to other women, and to the ultimate sacred. It has represented a home-base for my experience of who I really am and what our human existence is really about.
Given the rise in consciousness around female empowerment in recent events, what need do you see Woman Within responding to? Do you see it growing?
I really imagine it growing, but I am always surprised by how few women know about the organization. More men know about ManKind Project than women know about Woman Within. I’m really not sure why. I find myself thinking that Woman Within created a powerful foundation for the rise of women we are seeing today. Perhaps, in an unseen way, they were part of making what we see now more possible. I see that they are evolving a bit with the times and adding new kinds of retreats. It will be interesting to see how it evolves.
What are E Circles? How do women continue this work together?
E Circles are groups of women who meet regularly after having attended a Woman Within weekend. After your retreat, the agency will connect you with other women in your area who either have an E Circle already operating that is open to new members, or they will connect you with other women who have attended the retreat and are looking to start a circle. More experienced women in your area will train your group to start your own, based on the powerful and amazing principles of the retreat. Some of these circles have been going on for many, many years. The circles contain a lot of ritual and communication elements that you engage in at the retreat, so the level of depth is profound, available, and supported by the tools the agency provides.
Briefly, do your current women’s group and retreat designs incorporate Woman Within concepts?
In some respects. Since the women in my circles here have not been to the retreat, we are not an official E Circle and there isn’t the essential foundation for some of the experiences that E Circles can engage in. But I do draw on my experiences in my own circles to open and close our group, and I personally try to use their tools as much as I can to guide the conversation throughout.
What is the status of the local network that is forming of women’s circles?
We are assessing interest, gathering women, and figuring out how a network might come together. It is nascent, but clearly desired. We have a lot of resources for any woman who wants to start a circle and can direct our list of interested women to anyone who wants to step up and coordinate, with guidance we’d be happy to provide. So collecting women and responding to what arises is our current strategy.
The next, closest to Ann Arbor retreat is in Mt. St. Francis, Indiana, August 10–August 12, 2018. Registration is $725. More information can be found on the womanwithin.org calendar.
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Featured
The ManKind Project — First Person with Callan Loo
The ManKind Project nonprofit (MKP) hosts a signature weekend retreat program called New Warrior Training Adventure. Callan Loo answers questions about his experience.
Parenting in the Age of Legal Cannabis — Telling Your Children the Truth Gives Them Freedom, Not Permission
Dori Edwards of Blue Sage Health is the co-founder of the Ann Arbor Medical Cannabis Guild, which promotes standards for cultivating holistic Cannabis alongside professionalism and integrity in cannabusinesses. After decades of prohibition, parents are now in a strange place. In the CW Journal Conscious Parenting column, Edwards asks, "So what can you tell your teenager that is more nuanced and appropriate in the age of legal Cannabis? As parents, we should stay focused on what we genuinely know, and not let fear get the better of us."
Three Ann Arbor Gluten Free Pizzas That Are Worth the Trip
It’s refreshing to feel those serving you have had even two minutes of training dedicated to gluten free (GF) realities. It’s the simplest diet at this point in U.S. food trends, so there’s no excuse not to have the knowledge if you make your living serving food. When I told the first server on the line at Blaze Fast Fire'd Pizza that I was GF, the others heard it quickly.
Earlier this year I made my annual mammography visit to Trinity Health’s Women’s Health Center in Ypsilanti. On that particular morning, the sun beaming in the windows really lit up the healthy, beautiful plants at the entry. Inside the mammography suite, there are several beds of green Pothos plants with golden highlights, and every plant looks so vibrant and perfect that at first glance, you might think they are artificial. While I was waiting for my appointment, I realized that these lovely green beings were offering messages.