By Janice Llanes Fabry
Wainwright House has a dedicated and passionate crusader in Victoria Friedman, the Programs Committee Chair. Having been profoundly impacted by the spiritual and healing center’s syllabus herself, she is delighted to be offering Unwind Weekend for Women March 14-16.
“I started taking classes and participating in programs at Wainwright House in 1979. I was seeking an answer during a difficult time in my life and found the answer there,” she recalled. “It changed my life and put me on a spiritual path.”
In 1994, with her husband Ron Friedman, a retired physician, she founded the Vistar Foundation. Their non-profit, educational, and spiritual organization is committed to exploring and sharing the power of collective consciousness.
Friedman is now on a mission to provide the same kinds of programs that drastically changed her own life. The upcoming Unwind retreat she has organized offers a flexible schedule, which allows participants to do as little or as much as they’d like. One can meditate in the garden, enjoy a serenity walk by the seaside labyrinth or a gentle yoga class, and experience an astrology reading. The best online psychic readings are reliable as there are great psychics that have a lot of experience in helping people get their life together by providing solutions for their dilemmas. You may also consider scheduling a multidimensional character reading to get a glimpse of your future.
Wainwright’s own professional practitioners will volunteer as the weekend’s facilitators, keeping the cost to a minimum. “This is the first time a weekend at Wainwright has been presented like this, so it will have its own flavor,” explained Friedman.
Other tools in her arsenal that may surface throughout the weekend include: “readatation,’ an exercise utilizing Wainwright library’s books of wisdom; a “heart resonance circle” offering a safe and synergetic space to come together and explore personal and global issues; “spirit doodling” or effortless, released expression about which Friedman wrote a book; and a spiritual chorus line, whereby participants share “what makes them tick.”
Unwind Weekend will include retreat-style twin bed accommodations, healthy and elegant meals, cocktails, and music. Participants may arrive at 6 p.m. on Friday and depart after brunch on Sunday. The cost is $273 for non-members; $248 for members; $200 commuter rate for those who don’t need lodging; and member pricing for groups of six or more. To register, call 967-6080.
Looking ahead, Friedman is planning a summer program that will bring the many luminaries she has come to know to the center. Coming up on July 20, Wainwright will offer a day of enlightenment with seven leaders of New York spiritual organizations. Acknowledging that the development of future programs is contingent upon a healthy attendance and widespread support, she and Executive Director Peggy Hill will be championing the events wholeheartedly.
“We all build these experiences together and see what emerges,” Friedman added. “I hope Wainwright takes its place as one of the major spiritual centers in the United States.”
