Alternative Therapies
Shambhala Mountain Center, the name alone brings an air of peace and tranquility; a welcoming place where Buddhist spirituality is brought to our modern lives in hopes of conscious awakening and ultimate enlightenment. For close to forty years, this 600 acre Colorado mountain valley center has represented one of the basic truths of Buddhism: that people can be profoundly open to the wisdom of the present moment. In accordance with ancient tradition, Shambhala Mountain Center seeks to create an enlightened society where it is understood that humans inherently possess wisdom, compassion and goodness. The Center also boasts hundreds of expert led programs on Buddhist meditation, yoga, and contemplative disciplines.
Each year, Shambhala Mountain Center reaches out to a very special and beautiful group of people, women who have been touched by cancer. On August 26, 2009, women around the world are invited to the inspiring and life changing fourth annual Courageous Women and Fearless Living Retreat.
Shambhala Mountain Center’s team understands the burdens and hardships of cancer; it is an experience that can take the mind and body captive, leaving the victim feeling helpless. They know this invasive disease can be traumatic for earth’s nurturing life givers, so much so that it leads them to question their uniqueness as a woman and who they once knew to be.
Cancer Camps & Retreats
Jordan Melnick is a grad school scholar, a phenomenal writer/journalist and…my sisters’ fiancé (And might I add what a fine young chap he is!). He recently wrote an article that we both felt needed to be shared, about the economies effect on funding for special-needs camps. Many camps are getting hit twice by cutbacks in corporate support and then again by subsidizing camper admission fees, because families just don’t have money right now. Read more and together let’s figure out what we can do to help:
The recession has hurt all summer camps this year, but special-needs camps—those serving children with cancer, diabetes and other diseases—are especially feeling the pinch.
One Step At A Time, a summer camp for cancer and leukemia patients run by a Chicago-based organization, has suffered a more than 20 percent drop in donations.
Perhaps the biggest hit has come from corporations, whose donations typically anchor these camps’ budgets. But this year many companies have shrunk their contributions or eliminated them entirely as hard times have constrained corporate generosity.
Chicago-based Children’s Oncology Services Inc., which runs the One Step At A Time camp for cancer and leukemia patients on Lake Geneva, in Williams Bay, Wis., has seen a 20 percent to 25 percent reduction in all donations, according to Executive Director Jacob Drescher.
