Past Events and Resources for Waking the Oracle

November 14, 2024 | Climate Grief Listening Circle & Sound Meditation

Many of us are experiencing a deep sense of loss because of our changing climate, resulting in feelings of fear, anxiety, and depression. This session will serve as an accepting and supportive space, where you and any feelings you are experiencing are welcome, just as you are and without a rush to action. We hope to create connection by listening with heart, being in silence together, and sharing as you wish. In addition to the listening circle, sonic meditation on earth kinship will be offered as a wellbeing practice, designed for rest and to alleviate stress and nurture resilience.

This event was held in conjunction with the campus-wide Climate Literacy Teach-In Day hosted by the University of Minnesota's Office of Sustainability.

Collaborators:

  • Molly Jane Sturges

November 8, 2024 | Returning To Source: A Music Meditation for Rest, Reflection, and Connecting with Our Inner Wisdom

We all have a remarkable capacity for healing through our innate resilience and inner resourcefulness. However, there are many obstacles and external factors that can get in the way of creating space to tend to our wellbeing. Designed for rest and reflection, this online experience blends evidence-informed relaxation techniques with music and written expression to foster positive connection to our deeper selves and the earth. The Waking the Oracle facilitators will guide you through an hour-long session integrating live music, breathwork, mindful meditation, and reflective journal writing.

There is no experience necessary, and you may participate as much or as little as you’d like. We would recommend having something to write with and write on nearby. If possible you may also wish to find a quiet space without distractions and have somewhere comfortable to sit or lie down.

Resources: 

Collaborators:

  • Molly Jane Sturges
  • Maria Arriola

November 6 & 7, 2024 | Post Election Student Processing Space

University of Minnesota students were invited to come together and process the outcomes of the election. Student affairs professionals will be available to listen to students and offer resources. Various UMN groups will also be hosting activities including the Earl E. Bakken Center for Spirituality & Healing. No RSVP required, just stop by as you're able.

Learn more about these events and similar opportunities on the UMN's Bridging Differences website.

About Our Activity

The Earl E. Bakken Center for Spirituality & Healing through its Waking the Oracle initiative invites students to participate in making a kinship mandala at the Student Affairs Post Election Processing Space. 

This collaborative meditation symbol highlights the unique perspectives which connect us and symbolizes the life-giving relationships between our inner selves, each other, the planet, and the cosmos. Students will have the opportunity to take a deep breath, connect with whatever emotions are present, and participate in a creative mindful reflection. The Bakken Center will also provide make-your-own lavender sachets and mindful moment tip cards for stress reduction. 

Collaborators:

  • Molly Jane Sturges
  • Maria Arriola

September 25, 2024 | Between Earth and Sky: Honoring Our Kinship With Trees Music & Meditation Immersion

The Earl E. Bakken Center for Spirituality & Healing was pleased to showcase our ongoing immersive project, Waking the Oracle, at the U of M Farmers Market. Waking the Oracle guides facilitated individual mini soundrest experiences using tuning forks to support a brief mindful pause for participants.

Guides also led an hour-long yoga and mindfulness experience for resting and de-stressing. The session featured music, meditation, and mindful movement honoring and connecting participants with trees.

Collaborators:

  • Molly Jane Sturges
  • Maria Arriola

August 30, 2024 | Waking the Oracle at the Sustainability Action! Fair

Waking the Oracle attended the Sustainability Action! Fair for the University of Minnesota’s Welcome Week, where over 5,000 incoming and transfer students build community, learn to navigate campus, take part in traditions, and prepare for the semester ahead.

Waking the Oracle guides invited students to participate in creating a community kinship mandala. A kinship mandala is a collaborative meditation symbol and a living emergent collective expression that constantly evolved over the course of the day. Students were also asked to reflect on the question: What is a life-giving gift you can offer from your heart and actions that can support the thriving for all beings on earth?

Collaborators:

  • Molly Jane Sturges
  • Chance York

April 17 & 27, 2024 | Waking the Oracle at Weisman Art Museum

Waking the Oracle events were presented in conversation with the Weisman’s exhibition, The Experience of Expression. Co-produced by the Bakken Center and the Weisman Art Museum, Waking the Oracle Community Circles invite participants into a warm-hearted facilitated space where meaningful connection and dialogue can be had through empathetic listening. With the help of a bit of music, storytelling, and an adaptable gathering space support in the form of a centering well, people gather together and lean-in with the heart-lifting support of the Oracles - surprising and uplifting characters that help us find our way through challenging times, reminding us that we are all Oracles and together we can transform our challenges into fuel for healing and growth. 

Collaborators included the Waking the Oracle Creative Activation Team

March 22, 2024 | Calling in New Life: A Turning Toward Spring Music & Meditation Immersion

You are invited to relax in an online music and meditation immersive experience. During the session, relaxation-enhancing music with a guided meditation will help to relieve stress and promote positive feelings and wellbeing. There is no experience necessary, and you may participate as much or as little as you’d like. Optional reflective journaling time will be offered to help shed old energies and call in futures of wellbeing.

This event celebrates seeds. Every spring small seeds push through dark soil to blossom into miraculous forms of new life. To do this seeds break open as they transform fully into new forms. Seeds are oracles that teach us about change, unlimited potential, and interconnection giving life to all aspects of our precious life together on planet earth.
 

Resources: 

Collaborators:

  • Molly Jane Sturges
  • Maja Radovanlija 
  • Chance York

February 29, 2024 | Keeping Warm Together: A Candlelight Music Meditation and Breathwork Immersion

You are invited to come and relax for a 75-minute musical immersion in a calming candle-lit space. During the event, a musical meditation with easeful guided breathwork will help to relieve stress and promote overall wellbeing. There is no experience necessary, and you may participate as much or as little as you’d like. There will also be optional reflective journaling time offered.

Collaborators:

  • Molly Jane Sturges
  • Matt Rahaim

October 25, 2023 | Autumn Tree Whispers: An Immersive Sound & Poetry Meditation for Resting and De-Stressing

Come relax for an hour in a restful environment which includes both live and recorded tree-inspired sounds and poems. People may lie down, sit down, and move around as they wish. This experience weaves together the therapeutic calming benefits of the sounds of nature, poetry to comfort the heart, and science informed musical elements for alleviating stress.

Resources: 


Collaborators:

  • Molly Jane Sturges
  • Maria Arriola
  • Michael Duffy
  • Elisabeth Workman