What we’re about
Centered is a community school that offers classes, training workshops, and both local and international wellness retreats to the New Haven County community. What sets Centered apart is our emphasis on teaching from traditional or thoughtfully informed practices, including spiritual, religious, or philosophical teachings.
Upcoming events (4)
See all- Ecstatic Dance at Centered!Centered , New Haven, CT
Centered is hosting ecstatic dance! 💃🕺🪩
Ecstatic Dance is a beautiful celebration of movement and self-expression, inviting participants to flow freely in a warm and welcoming atmosphere.
As you step into the space, you're greeted by an uplifting energy, with music that ranges from enchanting melodies to vibrant beats, all designed to inspire your body to dance.
The event begins with a gentle opening circle, where everyone gathers to set intentions and share a sense of connection. Guidelines create a safe haven for exploration, emphasizing respect for personal space and the joy of being fully present. The event is drug and alcohol free, and free of technology such as phones and cameras to maintain a space that participants can be free to be themselves.
Once the music starts, it’s all about letting go. Ecstatic dance is a nonjudgemental space. Each dancer is encouraged to follow their own rhythm, allowing the sound to guide them into spontaneous movement. This dance is more than just physical; it's a form of meditation, a way to express emotions, and a path to deeper self-discovery. 💞🧘
As the event flows, the energy in the room builds, with smiles, laughter, and shared moments of joy creating a tapestry of connection among participants. When the music fades, a closing circle invites everyone to share their experiences, reinforcing the sense of community.
Ecstatic Dance is a magical journey where you can explore your creativity, connect with others, and experience the sheer bliss of moving your body to the rhythm of life.🤩
Cost: $28
Tickets here:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/ecstatic-dance-tickets-1312830624739?aff=oddtdtcreatorParking Info:
There is Free parking on street and a free parking lot across the street and free parking around the corner near sports field.
PLEASE DO NOT PARK IN THE PARKING LOT TO THE RIGHT OF THE BUILDING, those are reserved spots and are marked as such. This area's gate locks before our event is over. You can enter the building via The East Rock Market Place doors and walk around the lockers to your right. Follow the 'Centered' signs. You can also enter through the Taekwondo studio door at EAST side of the building (where you are not supposed to park).Feel free to bring your own snacks or meals
- Cacao & Cuddles!Centered, PLLC, New Haven, CT
EPIC Cacao Ceremony & Cuddles!
Ever just need a HUG? Want to meet new people? Heard about Cacao and curious?
Bring your PJ's and Experience Ananda (bliss) through ourselves and each other with the help of cacao medicine & cuddles!
This is an EMPOWERING LEVEL 2 workshop on boundaries, consent, and communication skills. You must have attended a Cuddle Party Event prior to attending this one.
Criollo Cacao is a wild plant that grows on the Pacific slopes of Guatemala. Ceremonial Cacao is similar to hot cocoa, a mildly intoxicating beverage made from the seeds of the Cacao fruit but without any of the fillers, preservatives or other additives typical in industrialized chocolate, truly an ancient recipe. It is known to act as an aphrodisiac, induce bliss, open the heart, and stimulate creativity. Besides containing theobromine, an alkaloid found in Yerba Mate tea, Cacao contains anandamide, known as "the bliss molecule" and is named after the Sanskrit word for BLISS! With that said, it's no wonder that in 1753 Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus assigned the name Theobroma as a fitting description for this magical plant, which translated reads as, "Food of the gods". Come learn more about this amazing medicinal food and experience some heart opening bliss!
Amanda is a Certified Cuddle Party Facilitator and is honored to host these events! Come try this unique oxytocin bliss-filled experience and let your stresses melt away. In our cozy, safe space, we will start with icebreakers and the rules of cuddling for the evening. You will practice setting boundaries, expressing your NO and delivering it with compassion.
You will also be encouraged to navigate the evening with fearlessness and fun to ultimately discover your HEAVENS YES Dreams! These are skills that can be taken into your personal life and can drastically improve ALL your relationships!
You will walk away with new confidence & unforgettable memories!
What you'll gain:
*Connection
*Friendship
*Community
*Personal Development
*Giving/Receiving Affection
*Healing Touch
*Laughter
* ♥
Think hugs, back rubs, foot rubs, nuzzling, head scratching, spooning and non-sexual snuggling!PLEASE BE PROMPT, WE WILL START THE WELCOME CIRCLE at 7:15pm AND DOORS WILL BE CLOSED (if you are running late please PM me.)
Things to bring:
*Mug for cacao
*Water Bottle
*Comfy Clothes
*Yummy, Healthy Snack to Share (dense food can help ground after the event, improving sleep)35$ tickets:
https://thetantricmama.mykajabi.com/offers/URZ6hzw5/checkoutPlease eat lightly beforehand. We'll be drinking Cacao around 8pm and it absorbs better if you are not full.
This is an alcohol and drug free space and nonsexual environment.
Check out "What is a Cuddle Party?"
https://youtu.be/ubQMhcLNeHQYou can find more about the organization here:
http://www.cuddleparty.com/18+ EVENT
COVID PROTOCOL: none, please stay home if you don't feel well.
We are grateful to be using Embue Cacao in our Ceremony
https://www.embuecacao.com/Contraindications to the Cacao: for those who take antidepressants, have a serious heart condition, or are pregnant or breastfeeding please inform us beforehand in private so we can adjust your dose of the cacao medicine accordingly.
ABOUT YOUR FACILITATOR:
Amanda Ananda is an International Tantric Facilitator and Domestic Goddess of 2 outrageous young boys. Amanda has a diverse Tantrica background that allows for a unique, blissful and radiant experience to unfold in her workshops, online courses, and sessions. She has studied with The School of Tribal Tantra based on Kashmir Shaivism and Shamanic Ritual, Ipsalu Tantra – Kriya Yoga based on Osho’s dynamic teachings, and Babaji Nagaraj’s esoteric Cobra Breath Technique and Urban Tantra combining modern tantric philosophy with conscious kink. As a life-long student, Amanda immersed herself in the sacred teachings from the Temple of Isis and Mary Magdalene, and is diving deeply into Somatic Trauma Healing. She encourages you to live blissfully in this intense world by gently taking care of yourself and making joyful wellbeing your first-and-foremost priority. Her techniques will help you to become embodied with simple-yet-profound, heartfelt tools that you can apply in your daily life.You can follow her at Amanda Ananda on Facebook or @thetantricmama on Instagram. Go to www.TheTantricMama.com for free meditations, online courses, private sessions and event schedule.
- Psychedelic Retreat informed by Acceptance and Commitment Therapy!Mother's House, Weert
In the recent Special issue for "Psychedelics in the Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science 2020", multiple leading researchers illustrate how ACT and psychedelics can be interwoven to create what may become new era of breakthrough therapies. This retreat has been developed in a very similar vein and following the daily data of 62 single cases that we already collected during these retreats.
This programme is aimed at mental health professionals interested in becoming psychedelic-assisted therapists, psychedelic therapists interested in an ACT-informed psychedelic experience and those wishing to better support people in integrating psychedelic experience. There is currently a psychedelic research renaissance involving sizeable clinical trials in both Europe and the USA. The current results suggest unprecedented success rates for depression, addictions and more. With such trials underway, psilocybin is expected be medically licensed in the next 5 years.
Following recent developments in psychopharmacology research (see New Atlas FDA Breakthrough therapy, or Wired for more depth). The purpose of this retreat is to prepare and connect those interested in such developments. If you are interested in collaborating on future retreats like this, you are especially welcome.
Event Location: Mother's House, Weert, The Netherlands
The Programme: This four and a half day retreat + two month (average length) integration programme consists of:
**Day 1:** Arrival (in the afternoon) and preparation: approaching the psychedelic experience as an opportunity for personal growth, leaning into challenging emotions and opening to a flexible sense of self.
**Day 2:** Self-as-context meditation breath and bodywork – you are not your programming. Afternoon ceremony – with Psilocybin Truffles, you embark on your psychedelic journey with the support of sober mental health professionals.
**Day 3:** What is still coming up? Being in your direct experiencing. ACT-informed authentic relating exercises to go deeper into our personality structures, face shame and bond in our common humanity. A spectrum of selves exercise to integrate your parts and foster a transcendent self.
**Day 4:** Increasing willingness and noticing the barriers of mind. Let different parts of you speak. Breathwork. Second Ceremony – an opportunity to go deeper.
**Day 5:** Further integration – Is any of your inner or outer behaviour changing? What new paths do you feel invited to follow? Is a new view emerging of the kind of life you want to live? Balancing the head with the heart: Awareness practices coupled with behavior change.Minimum facilitator ratio: one to every 3.5 participants minimum. Each participant will also receive one-on-one pre, between and post-ceremony check-ins.
Each day will include experiential practices to help us get into our direct experiencing. Through sharing circles we will learn from each other.
**Integration therapy:** Then each participant is then offered four 60-90min integration sessions via zoom. These sessions further support the unfolding of awareness that opened during the retreat and help translate this awareness into multiple domains of your life. It may also be a critical learning period to take advantage of. Our current integration model brings together evolutionary science, ACT and ‘parts work’ in psychedelic context as described in Henry’s "Spectrum of Selves" publication, integrating behavior change to find a new balance between self-care, relationships, community and environment.
In preparation you may consider your personal challenges in terms of ‘willingness’ (how open are you to certain discomforts?), ‘experiential avoidance’ (what are the obvious or subtle ways you avoid those inner discomforts?), your motivations (what impulses behind your inner and outer behaviors are keeping you from what you truly want). Simple metaphors such as the ‘reverse compass’ may guide us on our way: where is your mind telling you not to go? Preparatory work suggested a from a month before the retreat.
To integrate your psilocybin experience into a life better lived, you may also consider if your old thought patterns take you where you really want to go. What new behaviours do our insights invite? How might our old patterns get in the way of what we really want?
As well as offering these latter perspectives, the ACT model also invites its own integration with other models and traditions, into a behaviourally aware eclecticism. Some of these modalities of integration include breathwork, art therapy, shame work and Internal Family Systems therapy.
Minimum facilitator ratio: one to every 3.5 participants minimum. Each participant will also receive one-on-one pre, between and post-ceremony check-ins.Spaces are highly limited to a maximum of 14.
- £2300 (accommodation and meals included, excluding cost of psilocybin truffles (approx £80 – provided by a trusted legal third party).
- Two low-income places of £1500 are available.- Contact us for concessionary fees or other questions (https://psychflex.co.uk/contact-us/)
Event Website/ Registration link information: https://psychflex.co.uk/product/psychedelic-retreat-for-mental-health-professionals-informed-by-acceptance-and-commitment-therapy/
- New England Cuddles Campout!Wildheart, Wallkill, NY
## Ever wished Cuddle Party was longer, maybe a sleepover event?Now it is!
I took your feedback and created us a summer New England Cuddles Campout!! Bring your fav pjs, fun summer games and experience a sweet WEEKEND bubble of nourishing connection!!
At our New England Cuddles Campout weekend we hope to extend the sweet energy of Cuddle Parties to include making meals together, music jamming, fireside chats, cold water plunges, morning meditations & karaoke night and obviously LOTS OF SNUGGLES!!
More information and tickets here:
https://thetantricmama.mykajabi.com/new-england-cuddles-campout-2025
(enjoy the BEAUTIFUL pictures of the Hudson Valley and the WildHeart Center)WE WILL SHARE OUR FIRST MEAL TOGETHER @ 5:30/6pm, COVER THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW & START THE WELCOME CIRCLE at 7:00pm Friday, the 18th.
Closing brunch will be Sunday at 10:30am and checkout is at 12pm.
Please note this is an alcohol and drug-free space and nonsexual environment.
## About Your Facilitator:
Amanda Ananda is an International Tantric Facilitator and Domestic Goddess of 2 outrageous young boys. Amanda has a diverse Tantrica background that allows for a unique, blissful and radiant experience to unfold in her workshops, online courses and sessions. She has studied with The School of Tribal Tantra based on Kashmir Shaivism and Shamanic Ritual, Ipsalu Tantra – Kriya Yoga based on Osho’s dynamic teachings, and Babaji Nagaraj’s esoteric Cobra Breath Technique and Urban Tantra combining modern tantric philosophy with conscious kink. Amanda as a life-long student, immersed herself in the sacred teachings from the Temple of Isis and Mary Magdalene, and is most recently now diving deeply into Somatic Trauma Healing. She encourages you to live blissfully in this intense world by gently taking care of yourself and making joyful well-being your first-and-foremost priority. Her techniques will help you to become embodied with simple-yet-profound, heartfelt tools that you can apply in your daily life.
Working with Amanda will assist you to clear the “murky gunk” that blocks you from your true light, guiding you in opening up to the miracle of life, and embracing the bubble of “ananda” (or, in English, bliss!) that is constantly accessible to us all. She is tremendously enthusiastic and humbled to share these teachings with the wonderful souls who say ‘HEAVEN’S YES’ to time spent with her.
Amanda is responsible for bringing Cuddle Party to the New England area. She is ecstatic and honored to support the ever evolving local Cuddle Monster community.
You can follow her at Amanda Ananda on Facebook or @thetantricmama on Instagram. Go to www.TheTantricMama.com for free meditations, online courses, private sessions and event schedules.
