Posts Tagged ‘holistic’

Reiki Table

I went to the opening of Share the Sweater’s new space for healing and meditation. What a great place to chill. If you are ever in Easthampton or work, live nearby go check it out. Here is what Susan Downing, founder and director of Share the Sweater had to say:

I’ve opened the Share the Sweater Center for Healing and Meditation as a refuge, a place where you can come for healing sessions, to use the meditation and reflection room, or to just sit in a calm, soothing space and have a cup of tea, read a book, be quiet… This is something unique in our area – a quiet, calm space for you to just sit and relax, or meditate without distractions of music or people talking or food being served around you.

Center is open 30 hours a week for you to visit and use the space. During the group meditation times each day I will open and close the meditation session and offer simple meditation instructions for anyone who would like them. Think of the other hours as drop-in times when you can come to sit, reflect or meditate on your own, or to spend extra quiet time before or after a healing session. There may or may not be others on site during these hours, and you are welcome to make yourself at home!

Really, do think of us as your refuge – you can drop in for a few minutes or a few hours during your day, whenever you need a little calm in the storm of your life.

To find out more visit Share The Sweater or New England Abundance

Reprint from Pioneer Valley Local First.
The BALLE board of directors and staff are pleased to announce their selection of Doug Hammond as the next executive director of the Business Alliance for Local Living Economies. His appointment follows a five-month national search conducted by the firm of Waldron & Company.
“Doug’s the right guy at the right time for BALLE,” said William Shutkin, who guided BALLE as interim executive director for the last nine months and is now chair in sustainable development at the Leeds School of Business, University of Colorado larger dougBoulder. “He’s got the vision, experience, and leadership to catapult BALLE and its 20,000 sustainability entrepreneurs to the forefront of a new economy and a new era. Doug’s, and BALLE’s, time has come.”

His career as an entrepreneur and self-described community systems engineer spans nearly thirty years of developing businesses and organizations that have at their core a deep commitment to economic justice and sustainability. A founding member of Business for Social Responsibility, a long-term active member of the Social Venture Network, and a founding board member of BALLE, he has served as finance chair and treasurer of our organization since its inception and has performed many key organizational capacity-building functions. In addition he has founded and chaired business alliance networks in the Pioneer Valley of Western Massachusetts since 1992, including one of BALLE’s first networks, Pioneer Valley Local First.

“The response to our search for a new executive director was extremely gratifying – through the process we met extraordinary national leaders,” said Michelle Long, board chair. “I’m absolutely delighted to be able to announce Doug Hammond as the right choice for executive leadership as BALLE moves forward to do what we believe is the most exciting and important work of our times.”

In accepting the position, Doug offered these thoughts: “As I prepare for this new role and consider the economic and environmental challenges we face, I am reminded of another role I had the great privilege to provide as a parent of two young daughters. I was their storyteller, and we would gather each evening to conjure up tales full of imagination and possibility. We created a set of characters for whom no situation or set of conditions was insurmountable. Not individual superheroes, but rather common-good contributors who intuitively understood that it was the path of community cooperation that led to greatest achievements. I am mindful of the parallels of those stories to our shared quest today. Epic challenges lie before us as does an urgent call for bold next steps. I’m absolutely confident that it will be through both a strategic and collaborative approach that our vision of local living economies will be fully realized. Together we are a remarkable set of common-good contributors, and as David Korten, a fellow founding BALLE board member, so clearly states in The Great Turning, we indeed are the ones we’ve been waiting for. I am honored to begin this next story with all of you.”

Judy Wicks, BALLE’s co-founder, spoke enthusiastically about the new executive director: “I have worked closely with Doug for fifteen years in the responsible business arena and for the past seven years in taking BALLE from its infancy to a critical force in addressing the dire economic, environmental, and social challenges we face today. Doug has the passion, entreprenuerial know-how, and strategic approach to lead us at this critical juncture. He is committed, heart and soul.”

Doug has outlined ambitious priorities for his first ninety days as executive director that include assessing operational capacities, reaching out to network leaders, meeting with individual and organizational funders and partners, moving forward on BALLE Bold initiatives, and other strategic priorities for the organization. He begins his work for BALLE on October 1 and will move into full-time capacity by January. Doug currently resides in South Deerfield, Massachusetts, and will be moving to San Francisco later this fall.

For those of us from Pioneer Valley Local First in Western Massachusetts, while we are sad to lose Doug to the left coast, we whole-heartedly congratulate him on his new position and feel that BALLE will be very well served by his leadership. Doug, we look forward to continuing to work with you to effectively address the economic and environmental challenges facing communities and local businesses.