Kara Marie Dean-Assael, DSW

As a social worker since 1997, I am passionate about developing and disseminating programs and practices to help families, children, and adults. I co-founded a 501c3 in 2012, called Fareground, a food justice organization focusing on food security in The Hudson Valley, NY. Holistic in my approach, I believe in working with people where they are to honor integrity, collaboration, generosity, and compassion. I am also trained in shamanic reiki and focus on compassionate listening to life, pain, and joy beneath the surface.

Vanessa Valencia, RN

Local RN, by way of NYC, who started in med/surg nursing and has moved through different specialties, such as telemetry, hospice and now, specialty infusion. Holistic health minded with an affinity for energy work, essential oils and social change. Truly lives for O+ fest!

Eric Hurliman RN -BSN

As a young man I was a roadie for friends and stage managed for sandwiches; later hosted pop up music and food events with my wife. I’ve been a nurse for 16 years now, ten in primary care with The Institute of Family Health, and this past year and 1/2 with Woodland Pond’s skilled nursing unit. Over the years volunteering for O+ has been a special pleasure, connecting with artists and other health & wellness providers.

Maggie Carpenter — The Box | Reinventing how we care for ourselves

ExplO+re Class: The Box | Reinventing how we care for ourselves

Workshop to discuss alternatives to our patriarchal health care system, particularly concerning reproductive health. It is time for people to engage in their own health and we will discuss ways of doing so.

A family doctor with over 20 years of experience and many interests, Maggie got her BA in Russian Studies from Brown University before graduating summa cum laude from SUNY-Downstate Medical School. She completed her family practice residency at Swedish Hospital in Seattle. Before settling in the Hudson Valley, Dr. Carpenter lived and worked in Lawrence, Kansas, Wairoa, New Zealand and Brooklyn, New York. Maggie specializes in reproductive health as well as palliative care. Her passion for global health led her to start Go Doc Go in 2013, a not for profit focused on preventing cervical cancer around the world. Together with other volunteer doctors, Go Doc Go has established programs in Senegal, Ethiopia, Haiti and The Gambia.

GoDocGo.org

B.A. Miale

B.A. Miale is a prolific video creator and live projection artist. She has directed and edited over 50 music videos and in 2007 began performing custom live projection art shows at concerts and events. To this date, she has created over 500 unique visual sets around the country and beyond. B.A. lives in the Hudson Valley with her husband Gregory Stovetop and beloved super mutt, Swayze.

www.visualsbybam.com

https://www.youtube.com/@bamalama

Connie Dasilva — Dance with Plants

ExplO+re Class: Dance with Plants

Dance With Plants is a new Conscious dance party that brings together meditation, music + dance, live performances, interactive art and plant based living into one epic experience.

We have live drums, saxophone and violin freestyle with a DJ who plays a mix of music from deep house, tribal house and tech house.

We bring real plants to the dance floor to create a unique dance setting, incorporate CBD into every event. We also have a wonderful community of artists who create interactive art for our events.

Connie DaSilva founded Whole Clarity in 2013 as a plant based skincare line. Since then, Whole Clarity has expanded the brand into a creative agency producing plant and nature focused interior design and experiential events. Dance With Plants launched in January 2018 at BSP and the community has flourished ever since.

Her experience includes producing alongside Daybreaker, Oprah, Weight Watchers, Kaplow Communications, and Revolver Productions at incredible venues such as the World Trade Center, Woolworth Building, Metropolitan Pavilion/Altman Building, and Horn Blower Cruise Lines in New York and One Culver in Los Angeles.

www.wholeclarity.com

Jipala Kagan — The Five Dynamic Elements

Five Dynamic Elements:
Water
Wood
Fire
Earth
Metal

These five archetypical agents influence our perceptions of the world. They help us see pathways and direct us to rediscover our core natures, our pre-ordained destiny. Collectively, the elements teach us agency and design. They have accompanied human evolution for thousands of years. Five colossal energies that assist, in the re-patterning of our neuro-pathways and the healing of trauma. Nature is the ultimate teacher.

The five elements are messengers, systems, voices, images, sounds, and olfactory sensations. Together they offer us a salient way to use our inner laboratories of consciousness and effect change, promote resilience and embodiment . The five elements, natural forces that make up a powerful energy. They live within us and surround us, constructing a web of life. We can simplify the extraordinary, invite the elements to help us sort the clutter, and get to the root. It does not matter if the work we entertain is physical, emotional/psychological or spiritual, the elements operate on a continuum.

This material is perennially useful in all matters of health and personal interaction.
I will be sprinkling in a bit of Five Element Facial Diagnosis as well, so much fun and so useful. This class will be an introduction to all things Five Element and how that relates to our health. Prepare for an interactive experience.

Jipala R. Kagan founded Transpersonal Acupuncture in 2004. She is a licensed acupuncturist, writer, teacher and mother. Her practice focuses on emotional and physical wellbeing and spiritual healing.

Transpersonal Acupuncture
transpersonalacupuncture@gmail.com

Jesse Thundermoon — Qigong Breathing

ExplO+re Class: Qigong Breathing

Breath is the root of life. The Daoist saying, “One can live for weeks without food, and for days without water, but only minutes without air,” emphasizes the importance of breath work to life and well being. Breath is the foundation of Qi, and the bridge to relaxation and enlightenment. In this workshop the mechanics of Daoist breathing will be taught and how they can transform your sitting, standing or movement based practice and life.

JJesse Thundermoon is a certified instructor, a top student of Grandmaster C.K. Chu. and a daily practitioner since 1998. He has taught hundreds of students Tai Chi & Qigong in New York City at C.K. Chu Tai Chi and the Tai Chi Chuan Center of New York. He was a founding instructor of the popular Bryant Park Tai Chi program, and a 2019 Baguazhang Silver Medalist and 2005 Tai Chi Push Hands Bronze Medalist in the International Kuoshu competition.

For more information: http://www.completerealitytaichi.com
– or – jesse@completerealitytaichi.com

Katie Down — Community Sound + Music on the Green

Katie Down, LCAT, MT-BC, MM, is a licensed creative arts therapist and professor with SUNY New Paltz’s music therapy program. She runs SoundWell Creative Arts Therapy, PLLC, a private practice based in the Hudson Valley and in Brooklyn, NY. Katie has been facilitating sound bath meditations, sound walks, and other sonic meditative experiences for many years, always listening and learning about ways to engage with sound in our ever-evolving world. 

www.soundwellcenter.com

The Yoga House


The Yoga House

House Flow with Felipa Gaudet and Kelli Ingersoll.This is our classic, open-level Vinyasa Flow class. In it, we honor the infinite possibility inherent in each breath as we move through an asana practice that is equal parts challenging and sweet. Asana practice becomes a transformational and healing experience when it is intimately tied to meditative awareness and breath. Although the class is physically rigorous, we offer modifications to accommodate your level of experience.  

Intro to Ashtanga Yoga, a Practice of Self-discovery with Laura Olson.The principles of the traditional practice of Ashtanga Yoga can bring a deeper sense of awareness and connection to your yoga practice no matter what style you practice. Join Asthanga instructor, Laura Olson, to learn about the systems of energies, breath and focus established in the Ashtanga lineage which help create a stronger practice, both physically and spiritually. We’ll dive into the incorporation of these elements to bring you into a fuller awareness of the self while practicing. All practitioners, new and experienced, welcome. 

www.theyogahouseny.com