Elena Tonetti-Vladimirova in Australia and New Zealand
December 19th, 2008Are you tired of ingrained habits and the same old blocks?
Do you want more bliss and ease in your life?
Would you like to experience and remember being born in love, no matter how you actually were born?
Join Elena Tonetti-Vladimirova in Australia and New Zealand as she offers her profound Birth into Being weekend birthshops
“I assure you that the process is poignant, powerful, and also fun. My daughters and I were profoundly moved. “- Christian Northrup, US Obstetrician, author of Women’s Bodies, Women’s Wisdom
Elena’s first workshop in Byron Bay was sold out, and an incredible, powerful and fun experience….
You can still book for workshops in Bellingen, Melbourne, Perth and Auckland,
Dates and places as follows:
March 7-8
Bellingen Email Mieke info@lovetobirth.com.au or phone 02 66552992 or 0488995249
March 14-15
Melbourne Email jo@birthattendants.info or phone 0409 955 779 or 03 8677 1881
More info at www.birth attendants.info
March 21-2
Perth (ALMOST FULL) Email Victoria victoriagrey@optusnet.com.au or or phone 0414 828 331.
March 28-9
New Zealand (Auckland) Email Janice janice@soulmidwifery.com or phone +64 3 318 1480
You can also meet Elena and attend a screening of her film Birth as we Know it in the week before the workshop- contact the organizers in your area for dates, times, and venue
Elena says:
“This Birthshop is not just for pregnant people, it’s for anyone who was born on this planet Earth by less then ecstatic delivery.
Historically, most of the masterpieces of human culture reflect the drama of life - jealousy, greed, lust, hate, lost dreams, unrealized potential,- Shakespeare’s plays, centuries of paintings, classical music - are very beautiful ways of speaking about human despair. Only a small fraction of cultural heritage speaks of Love, Beauty and Fulfillment. Why is that?
I think it’s because the flow of creative juices is determined by how we feel and experience life. And how we experience life is greatly determined by our limbic imprint. It turns out, our limbic imprint is greatly responsible for our likes and dislikes, what we find beautiful and attractive and what repels us. Also, imprinting is not limited to the time of the actual delivery, as was thought previously. The work of the pioneers in the field of pre- and perinatal psychology, such as dr. David Chamberlain, dr. William Emerson, dr. Michael Gabriel and such helps us understand, that birthing of the human being doesn’t start at birth and doesn’t end at birth. Imprinting starts from the moment of conception and goes on through our first few formative years.
So, from what I understand about it, in order to give birth to an enlightened masterpiece, whether it would take a form of a human baby or a beautiful poem, or a healthy garden, or simply a rich, fulfilling day that was worth living, - one must first experience being birthed from and into Love.
There are many ways of recovery of our sense of wellbeing, and I am offering one of them in my birthshops. What goes on there? One word describing it would be POWERPLAY. Another - MAGIC… 
My class is designed to allow the participants to heal their own birth traumas through having an actual in-the-body experience of being conceived, gestated and born in love and ecstasy . It is achieved through a sequel of processes and techniques that bring a group into a slightly altered state of mind- not hypnosis! - a shift that allows people to access that parallel reality, the void, from which we arrived here, on Earth in the first place. There was time, remember? - when we were not!… and then, all of a sudden, - there we were! It turns out, it’s not very difficult to go back and create a brand new Limbic Imprint (the science of pre-natal psychology gives this fancy name to the original “programming” that our nervous system receives at birth). As 95% of people are born in terrible suffering, our race, in general, is “programmed” to suffer.
The good news is, now we can make lots of good new choices and conscious decisions about the way we want to be born while in that altered state during the workshop and have an actual in-the-body experience of it. The workshop is a combination of lecture/exercises/movement/breathing/role-playing/dancing/voicing …you name it. It’s very entertaining, pleasurable and fun:) I found it very effective instead of trying to fix the old “programming”, by going back into re-living the initial torture and shock of being born, by thoroughly investigating what exactly went wrong in the first place - in stead of it, just acquire a whole new vivid, rich, wonderful and sweet experience of being born into loving, welcoming world. It’s like custom-designing a new software, installing it and deleting what’s not operating to our new requirements.
The main secret of effectiveness of my approach is that during the process of acquiring of a new limbic imprint, all 3 areas of the tri-une brain are engaged equally (cortex - thinking, reptilian brain- pure physiology and the limbic system- feelings, emotions). I suspect that the reason why the talk therapy takes so long, same as any healing physical activity (dance, yoga, etc) allows people to stay symptomatic for a long time, is because they engage only one part of the brain at a time. We are either talking without engaging the body, or moving, without engaging the cognitive function. When alignment of all three parts happens, the results are amazing. It’s that proverbial union of the mind, body and soul…
There is no script for the workshop as it depends on who is there, what condition they are in, how many people, how fast is their inner speed, and how attached they are to their dramas. There is also no telling what YOUR experience will be like. Everyone will have their own journey, depending on where one’s attention will take them. And it’s not me who is running the show,- I only help a group to create a container - a birthing field - and then let the self-organizing power of that field do its job, as I hold the space. I know, it doesn’t sound very scientific… Well, I never claimed to be a professional - I’m just having fun… So, it’s definitely not for everyone. Those who are in a serious business of conquering their shadow don’t usually like my style. It only works for those who like to play
You, too, can enjoy the delicious, juicy experience of comfortably owning a body, being fully engaged in life, and loving it. I think, enjoyment of life is the most practical and secure form of living. Anything other than the deep sense of wellbeing is very expensive, confusing and energy consuming,- we are capable of spending a lot of resources trying to make up for not feeling right.
What started for me in 1982 as work with the Russian Waterbirth Pioneer and Conscious Birth Movement, as a search for ways of eliminating the birth trauma for the babies grew into a deep and beautiful healing experience for me personally. If you want to meet me in my deep commitment to a greater happiness, I’m willing to share with you what I have learned.
For more information and to hear Elena’s 35 minute interview:
www.birthintobeing.com
Dates and places as follows:
March 7-8
Bellingen Email Mieke info@lovetobirth.com.au or phone 02 66552992 or 0488995249
March 14-15
Melbourne Email jo@birthattendants.info or phone 0409 955 779 or 03 8677 1881
More info at www.birth attendants.info
March 21-2
Perth (ALMOST FULL) Email Victoria victoriagrey@optusnet.com.au or or phone 0414 828 331.
March 28-9
New Zealand (Auckland) Email Janice janice@soulmidwifery.com or phone +64 3 318 1480
You can also meet Elena and attend a screening of her film Birth as we Know it in the week before the workshop- contact the organizers in your area for dates, times, and venue.
More info about Elena
Birth as we Know it
Birth Into Being Birthshops
More information about Birth into Being Birthshop
Twenty five years of thorough research in the field of prenatal psychology show undoubtedly a direct correlation between the way we were born and our subconscious behavioral and emotional patterns- defining the quality of our experience of being in the body throughout our entire life. We come into this world wide-open to receive love. When we receive it as our first primal experience, our nervous system is limbically imprinted, “programmed” with the undeniable rightness of being. Being held in mother’s loving arms and seeing the great joy in father’s eyes provides us with the natural sense of bliss and security; it sets the world as the right place for us to be in. If our first impressions of being in the body are anything less than loving, then that “anything” imprints as a valid experience of love. It is immediately coded into our nervous system as a “comfort zone,” acting as a surrogate for the love and nurturing, regardless of how painful it actually was. Statistically, 95% of births in the US are rated as “traumatic”. As adults, we unconsciously re-create the conditions that were imprinted at birth. But it turns out it’s not very difficult to create a brand new Limbic Imprint. It’s very effective instead of trying to fix the old “programming” (by re-living the initial shock of being born) - just acquire a whole new vivid, rich, wonderful and sweet birth experience. Birthshop participants can have an actual in-the-body experience of being conceived, gestated and born in love and ecstasy. The Birthshops combine lecture/exercise/specific movement/specific breathing/ role-playing - it’s very entertaining!
We as adults have the opportunity to heal our own birth trauma, regain our authentic power, and set the stage for our children to step into their lives as peaceful, empowered guardians of Earth.
Christiane Northrup, US Obstetrician and author of Women�s Bodies, Women�s Wisdom says-
The importance of our limbic imprint became more meaningful to me after watching Elena Tonetti�s important film Birth as We Know It.
Its magic is not so much in the information presented, but in how it�s presented. When we see this beautiful footage of women birthing in joy, in ecstasy, in power, and in love, the experience begins to reset our own limbic imprints about what is possible. It also stirs up and helps us release what is no longer necessary. Examples include the belief that the pain of childbirth is punishment for Eve�s sin, that childbirth is the worst pain a woman can experience, or that there is nothing to be gained by birthing without drugs or surgery. I once had a patient whose mother tried to abort her. She spent the first half of
her life feeling guilty for even being alive! At midlife, she finally found out the truth from her mother� and began to heal.
Other examples of adverse limbic imprint are: life is designed to be endured, pain and suffering are all one can expect, and suffering “buys” us something. After seeing the film, I called Elena and invited her to come back East to do a workshop. I had an ulterior motive. Yes, I wanted her to speak to the Winter Mastery class at Mama Gena’s School of Womanly Arts along with me. But I also wanted to participate in her workshop with my daughters. I saw Elena’s film numerous times, including with my mother, brother, my daughters, and my daughters’ friends, all of whom were profoundly touched by this film. It was deeply moving to the audience at Mama Gena’s School of Womanly Arts, too.
Childbirth is, after all, a sublime womanly art! I could think of no better way for my daughters and me to release generations of family birth trauma than by doing this workshop together. And we did. It was wonderful.
There’s nothing quite like being in a group of 20 people all of whom intend to transform their limbic imprints and rebirth themselves or like letting Elena work her magic by creating a “birthing field.” You simply have to experience her Birthshops to understand fullydescribing them doesn’t really do them justice. However, I assure you that the process is poignant, powerful, and also fun. My daughters and I were profoundly moved. Elena points out that her technique works because you can’t heal trauma by re-traumatizing yourself. Trauma is healed by its opposite: joy, pleasure, and love. (Dancing helps, too!) If you’re interested in learning more from Elena or others who have taken her class go to www.birthintobeing.com/ workshops/shtml.
It�s Never Too Late
Because of our limbic imprints, most of us have trouble actually receiving all the joy, pleasure, and love that are available to us. As one of my former patients put it, �In my family, we have a ceiling on our joy. You�re not allowed to get too happy or have too much fun.� That�s why you may experience resistance from people in your life when you�re about to move into the next orbit of fun and pleasure! Trust me�it takes discipline and courage to demolish the �ceiling� on your joy and push it higher.
But it can be done. Many of you are living, breathing examples of this. And so am I.
Excerpted from the Newsletter of Dr Christian Northrup, March-April 2009 wwww.drnorthrup.com
Elena describes the processes she uses:
“Re-inventing yourself in a slightly altered state of mind through a series of progressive exercises designed to clear the pathways for your creative flow. A brilliant mix of new science approach to old breathing techniques, guided imagery, role playing, movement exercises, questioning authorities, melting down frozen belief systems, interactive mess! Some lecturing about the correlation between specific characteristics of birth trauma and behavioral disorders in the adult individual, which are responsible for the blocked creativity in the first place; -about the ways of harmonizing the cortex with the reptilian and the limbic systems of the brain in order to heal the birth trauma, so we can be all we intended to be”.
1) Please wear comfortable clothing - for freedom of body movement and laying down on the floor.
2) Bring paper/journal and pen. Also bring some snacks for yourself to maintain your blood sugar and if you will need something to drink during short breaks.
3) If you have something special - a pillow or small blanket, a photo or a favorite childhood object, please, bring it.
4) Please, no perfume or makeup.
MORE COMMENTS ABOUT BIRTH INTO BEING BIRTHSHOPS
Carin Nardone -
I bought your dvd and watched it several times before giving birth to my daughter Kristina on April 29th, 2007. I gave birth naturally!! The birth of my daughter Sophia 3 years ago was very difficult and I had interventions, so I knew that I wanted a different experience this time around. I worked with my midwife to work through a lot of emotional issues in my past and it truly did allow me to totally let go - the emotional work we did was very challenging but so worthwhile. I am so grateful to have watched your documentary because I knew that I really wanted to bring my baby into the world in the most gentlest way, with ease.And my dream was actualized - thank you thank you thank you….
Robin Garrison, midwife, mother of 4, Maui, HI:
Thank you, Elena, for the class today, it was extraordinary … I just love who you are and the fact that you live what you teach. Congruency is so crucial and it is not very often that I see it in a facilitator. Bless you, my sister, and the work you are doing … it is truly exquisite! I wanted to share with you what I wrote today after your class about my experience:
Intertwining the Greatness of Being
Allowing that Which Is - to Just Be
Seeing Sights Unseen without Surprise
Realizing that Nothingness is Oneness
and Aloneness is to be one with All
. . . . .
Sensing the Real in the Now
Nurturing , Wondering , Realizing
Wanting Nothing More in this Moment
. . . . .
Giving Thanks
For the Great Things in Life
Which Are Everything
The Joy . . . The Love . . . The Laughter
Amen
Hello family! This is May from the “Birth into Being” workshop in Berkeley in October 2006. I had my baby! and just wanted to share with everyone! I had an incredible, ecstatic, and blissful experience. It was definitely a beautiful blessing. My water broke around 8pm and he slip right out at 8:58pm! It was very short, pain-free, and just simply one the most beautiful moments in my life. He was born in water, at home in our tub!
I want to say thank you to everyone who was there with me at the workshop. I know that it was one of the biggest factors that helped me. Thank you, Elena! The workshop was amazing. I felt all the love and support from all of you.
Much love and blessings, May
Rose Mary Amantia, Florida -
Dear Elena!I want to share with you about my amazing healing that happened at your workshop. I am 64 years old, nevertheless, I am so happy to have attended it. I didn’t really want to go, but my daughter, Ra-El, who had been to your workshop before and who is my biggest teacher! wanted me to go with het this time. So I went. My experience was amazing! So much good came out of it. And, it was done so well!
The part where we experienced to be born in Love was the most powerful! It was done with so much kindness and gentleness - it was just what I needed! The healing that I felt that weekend has had such long-lasting effects, especially with my heart. I have a pacemaker implanted because of a weakened heart condition. Two weeks after the seminar I had my six-month test following the implantation. For the past 7 1/2 years my heart’s pumping efficiency had been at approximately 27, when normal is 55. The test indicates that I am now at 50! I attribute that to the healing I received during your workshop. The doctors are overwhelmed, because they say it is extremely rare that such an improvement can occur. I call it a God-given Miracle. Another powerful gift from that re-birthing experience, has been my release of my daughter. She has been also re-born in my mind and spirit to be free to live the life she chooses. I have been free now to accept that she lives so far away, in CA, and free from the overwhelming sadness from missing her presence. And finally, there was a first-time experience of being at peace with the other women. The loving, caring atmosphere was so nurturing to sooth my fears and anxieties. I’ve never had that in my life. The guidance from you, Elena, was so wise and focused on being unashamed and supporting one another. It too was truly a gift! I can hardly wait to go on the second level to continue the healing. Thank you!
Mahriah Blackwolf, Body Alignment Practitioner:
A powerful awakening into being more present in my life than I have ever been before! I am so happy I did not miss this rare opportunity! Elena was a wonderful model to watch as I don�t think I have ever met anyone who seems to be so fully at ease, comfortably and completely present in her body.
George C. Denniston MD, MPH - Retired Professor of Family Medicine, University of Washington President, Population Dynamics, Seattle WA President, Doctors Opposing Circumcision Former Associate Medical Director, Planned Parenthood Federation of America
Every young woman in the world, before she even thinks of having a child, should see this film. She needs to know that she has a choice. The choice is between fear, and joy. Which will she choose? Before she can make that choice wisely, she must see the film, Birth as we Know it. It is about the happiest day in a woman�s life � the day she gives birth. This film will help her to have a joyous birth, instead of a possibly wretched birth. This film will help her avoid the pitfalls of �modern� medicine, which fails to recognize that birth is a normal, natural process that women have been carrying out successfully for five million years. This film will lead her toward experiencing the empowerment that a natural birth will give her, which is her birthright. It is unlikely that she will ever see as important a film again during her lifetime. If you would like to acquire this film, go to Birthintobeing.com.
H.,New York:
I’m terrified at the thought that I might have missed this class!
Lahni Davidson, Mill Valley, CA:
The workshop with Elena is a time of Truth and Love. My experience was absolutely life changing. I believe the main reason for this was that everyone intuitively felt able to completely trust Elena. And then, based on that, an atmosphere of trust formed between all of us. In this atmosphere, each of us could “go to” those events and relationships we needed to understand to heal them. The second reason is that the understanding Elena transmits gets to the very root of what “ails” us. And it is only from that place in ourselves that true healing can occur.
Christina Magdalene, Maui, HI
Aloha Elena! Thank you for facilitating such a wonderful experience here on Maui! I had a profound experience. I feel different. After the car accident in March, I felt like I lost my sense of self and was in constant reaction mode. I felt like there was something wrong with me. Well, I left your class feeling a very different person in many ways- most importantly I simply feel good most of the time now! I almost forgot what it supposed to feel like! Again, thank you so much for being who you are. You are so appreciated!!! Much aloha!!
Patricia Gale, Santa Rosa, CA: Thank you so much for the adventure! At the workshop, I felt so wonderfully connected with the people there, effortlessly, respectfully and lovingly. There was a great ease in being together, working very personally, with great depth of feeling and meaning. And some very hard work was accomplished! Yet the spirit was light and freeing and celebrative. A very creative, satisfying process. A lot like delivering a baby, in fact! A lot like being born!
Susan Bradford, holistic childbirth practitioner:
Elena’s on to something big! It’s absolutely true! The process is simple, fast, easy and pleasurabale; and yet, at the same time, it is profound, powerful, deeply transformative and undeniably effective. I’ve been seeing and feeling a big shift since I took the workshop. I highly recommend it for… well, everyone!
Ra-el Corsini Owner and Artistic Director of The Flying Lotus Movement Center of Mt. Shasta, CA Midwife Assistant and recovered C-section Mother www.theflyinglotus.com
Elena�s �Birth into Being� workshop moved through every part of my life. It assisted my relationships on all levels. I am now able to recognize the behaviors that are directly linked to my daughter�s c-section birth trauma. Through gentle guidance by Elena, my husband and I have applied techniques that have served tremendously for family harmony. My business has been positively affected as well. By reprogramming my thoughts, and deeply imprinting my subconscious with rebirthing my own personal birth, I am able to succeed in ways I did not have the confidence to handle before. This workshop is for all, not just the expectant mother. The bonding and peeling away of self is crucial for humanity�s growth and potential. Elena creates a fun, loving, safe environment that supports all types of people. Repeating the program was a pleasant surprise for me. I got to climb to the next level of healing, and re-apply techniques that I thought I was done with. Of course they immediately served, and more success was created. I believe in the profound, powerful, and enriching work Elena is gifting us with, and am open to answering any questions about my personal experience.
Michael T., 51, level 1 participant, Chico, Ca, 2/28/04:
I was very impressed and pleased with the facilitation of the workshop by Elena Tonetti. She skillfully guided me to a deeply relaxed state in which I had a life-changing experience. By the end of the workshop I had practical tools and a deep grounded sense of optimism that my life had taken a turn for the better. I think each of the other participants seemed to benefit equally as well, expressing enthusiastic interest in level 2 of the workshop.
Mary K., Writer/ Resourceplanner and Community Pro-Activist, 2003 Oahu, HI:
This workshop saved my life! Recently, at the age of 54, I was at yet another �turning point�. I felt close to seeing my own mortality and wondered how long I was to be on this earth. A dear friend kept insisting I take a class about �birth�. Since I am well into menopause, I couldn�t see the value of such a class but finally due to her loving insistence, I went to her house and began my new life. I have taken many seminars, self-help workshops and yet “Birth Into Being” was one of the most profoud, powerful and life altering experiences I have been through. In the workshop, I realized the blockages, patterns and deep core issues that kept me from being my true self- a being of joy, pleasure, creativity and freedom. I shed many tears as I moved through old belief systems and let go of self-destructive images and behaviors. I realize I was a �good person� and worthy of having a happy and fulfilling life. The workshop was gentle, supportive and life transforming. I will always be grateful for my loving friend, to my Godself for guiding me to this moment and to Elena, who supported me in this new birth with strength, compassion and great love. -
Wes Vaught, Cranio - sacral work / education:
Elena is a gift bearer. This workshop touched new places in my growth. I feel more at home and at peace. It also enhanced my creativity, spontaneity and ability to communicate. Thank you for this transformative occasion!
Martha Landt, midwife (Hilo, HI):
My experience in a Soul Awareness workshop was very powerful. We explored our preconceptions - the bliss, light, safety, the frequency. We re-patterned lovingly and consciously our conception, gestation and birth. As a result of that my old thought forms were expelled and my core cry arose. Our focus was to recode the imprints on our limbic brains and intentionally plant our true alignment with deeper wisdom. It was a healing that will continue in the present as long as I am willing to be calm, consciously responsible for my own frequency. As a midwife/childbirth educator/massage therapist and a mother of 4, this workshop gave me the experience of what I want to teach others. It brought me to my awareness of my inner child who seeks someone to trust, it brought me in full circle back to my eternal, radiant, light Self/Soul.
Amani, Puna, HI:
Sharing such intimate space with people I had never met created a level of trust that I needed… Being guided through the birth canal with Elena created an experience of healing I’ve needed my whole life.
D. Sommers, Sebastopol:
Elena, I deeply appreciate your beautiful synergy of being both grounded and comfortable with your humanness and your obvious passion and connection to the unlimited potential of Spirit.
Donna, Mt. Shasta:
I have had issues with communication most of my life. What I addressed at the workshop was the issue of not being heard. I am a facilitator for a program that works with high risk families.
When I went back to work on Monday I facilitated 2 family meetings, both of which had difficult issues between parents and children and needed some conflict resolution. During the meetings I felt empowered and unafraid to speak the truth about what I felt was going on. The meetings went well and three people thanked me afterwards for being direct and honest and thought it was of great help to the families we were working with. When I went home that night I got together with a man I had been in relationship. Our main issue was the poor communication, both of us were highly unsatisfied. What I got from all the work we did at the workshop with Elena, was how much I have been keeping people away from me. Holding my breath had been one of the ways of creating a barrier of protection. After the weekend and choosing the empowering mantra for my truth and working with it I did free myself up! That night my friend and I had true communion, totally nonsexual, but we clicked in with each other and that was what we were both missing. Elena, what happened for me when you were talking at the Conference, is that my heart opened and I got tears when you were talking about what you are doing…that’s when I knew I had to be there, in your class. And when you said at the end of the workshop “Thank you for showing up; not for me just here for the weekend, but thank you for the courage to show up in this life, for yourselves”…I had so many tears because at that moment I recognized that I have succeeded in accepting and loving myself. Real tangible results…Thank you! Lovingly, Donna
Johnathan J., Mt. Shasta:
I thrive on a hands on approach that Elena has mastered. I’m into the following week after the Birth Into Being workshop and a shift in perspective is still with me from the event. I am noticiing more where I put my thoughts and energy and observing old patterned responses before being acted out. It’s like going into a self-judgment spin when I miss the head of a nail. I do carpentry work. I let it out in the moment and after a miraculous pause, often speak the words that trigger my ability let it go and get back to enjoying life. I find this rearrangment all-encompassing, affecting my relationships, self-esteem, money, and my life in general. I’ve known how to do this, but after a difficult relationship I simply forgot. Spirituall concepts and theories don’t cut it anymore, and I intend to apply some of the techniques I learned in the workshop in the Affinity Circle work I facilitate. Holding a safe, loving space where healing can naturally happen is what the Affinity Process is all about and Elena worked diligently to help us get to that place by letting go of our “stories” and opening to the love that surrounds us constantly. Right after the workshop I was stopped by our town ‘bag lady’, a woman who talks loudly and sometimes angrily to invisible beings from public street corners. In the past I have felt myself avoiding her. I knew I had to stop this time. After some time listening to her victim story I realized she just wanted to be heard and loved. Suddenly she stopped and saw me smiling at her, she burst out saying that she loved me! I tapped into some birth trauma at the event around mother-nurturing and crying out for help but getting no answer. The woman on the street was very much my little child inside me that needs sometimes just to be heard, instead of being judged. Thank you again, Elena, for the reminder to be all of who we are. I am so looking forward to the level two workshop!
Crystal S., Ashland, OR:
In the days following this last workshop, I felt so much unfolding … of the things you shared and the work we did. I feel deeply inspired to continue the work. Thank you so much! That was one of the most beautiful and inspiring workshops that I have ever attended!
Deidre S., CA: I felt the transmission of your life experience very directly and simply and received a subtle but very powerful healing. I have since felt a deep retrieval of my power and clarity of embodiment. For many years I have felt drawn to be involved with the conscious birth movement and I deeply resonate with what you have been a part of pioneering. I feel inspired again and open to how this passion might show up now. My primary focus right now is in creating conscious community. I intend to co-create a model of sustainable living and I feel that conscious birth is a huge piece of it. There are many facets of the jewel, but ultimately they all share the same essence, which is conscious awareness. My whole life has been dedicated to the healing arts and awakening to the truth of being. I feel some kind of coalescence emerging, with everything that has been my passion and focus of study. I felt the ‘emptiness’ within you recognize the ‘emptiness’ within me. It is a precious recognition and just about the only energy that I really trust. And thank you again for a wonderful weekend. I am grateful to have met you and I trust there is more.
Dorothy Mandel, MA, hypnotherapist:
I have been in the pre- and perinatal community for a number of years and studied with a number of mentors. I especially valued this workshop because of its pleasure centered experiential nature. Many workshops and trainings address issues of past trauma. Few address the re-creation aspect of linking that missing sense of bodily pleasure and safety into the everyday reality of life�s mental challenges. I came away from this workshop with profound inner changes. For example, I noticed that my body felt roomier and more expansive inside in a very pleasurable way. A few days later I noticed that that inner roominess was mirrored in my outer life in a particularly interesting way. I had always felt crunched by time and I noticed a new sense of spaciousness in my perception of time. Reclaiming the physical pleasure and safety that is our birthright seems to me a foundational necessity for the kind of healing that invites the fullness of our souls back into the expansiveness of our bodies. I am very grateful for and feel gifted by Elena�s offering and my experience in this workshop.
Hadar, New York:
I connected so closely to my soul, to my very core. My experiences in “Birth into Being” workshops were truly mind expanding. I felt certainty and safety after the “create your own birth” journey-meditation. All in all I felt the birthing workshop was an exercise in self-discovery. It was so simple yet so deep! Many protective layers that were no longer serving me were peeled off in a mere weekend! I feel I am now connected more to the universe, to nature. I beleive this to be true since I felt myself to BE part of nature, not simply observing nature from afar or reading about it in a book.
I purchased the “Birth into Being” video and pass it to all my friends and now it’s gone to freinds of freinds. I make sure it keeps going. Wathcing that video has made me aware of the natural and beautiful miracle of birth. I view pregnant women on the streets in a different light. They hold creation in their womb! I also view children now with a more clear and sensitive light. This in itself was worth it for me in meeting you.
I hope to keep in touch with you, Elena. You really helped me in a deep, profound way without even getting too personal. I wish you luck with your workshops. Next time you come to New York I hope I can help spread the word of your approach.
Thank you!
Tommy, New York:
Thank you so much for the workshop! In record time, my life changed for the better. I was surprised at how quickly I was able to move on… Options are presenting themselves at a much quicker pace than I am accostomed to. I have a big interview tonite! One thing is certain, I am no longer stagnant. The last two weeks since the workshop have been a whirlwind and the nearest future promisses to be very active as well. Infinite thanks!
Ras, New York:
The workshop was a wonderful eye-opener and a reminder for me of what my real priorities in life are; and also how not to get bogged down in things that at the end of the day are not really important. I can only give it my highest recommendation to anyone who ever stresses over their work, life, family, etc. You will gain a true perspective.
Christy, Oahu, HI: “Birth Into Being” workshop was a day of nurturing for my heart and soul. Elena created a space of total acceptance. In this space, I was able to really look within myself and touch places that were just waiting to have Love touch them. Elena has such positive birthing energy and so being in her presence is like a reminder that I am free! I feel energized to share this experience with anyone who is willing to look within and take charge of their life and feel good. May the light grow brighter and brighter as we accept the waves of love that are always pulsating in the universe. MAHALO!!!” Best wishes on you journey, Elena!
Barbara Essman, Oahu, HI:
It was a great experience! What a gift we got from you, Elena! It was a bit scary to know I would be going so deep into my being, and very exciting all at the same time. Stuff came up that I really thought I had fully processed and put into my past. It hit me fully, once again, and I had an opportunity to find a better way to deal with past trauma. I really liked finding my “key,” and have found myself using this on a regular daily basis to unlock my energy and let go of the unwanted counter-intentions. It is nice to be free! - to know I AM free, at peace and fully included in whatever I choose to be included in. I hope to never feel excluded and isolated again. Thank you for giving us this opportunity and the path to a life full of pleasure! Thank you for your manao (wisdom) with us. You touched us deeply and I know many seeds were planted for the kind of birthing and parenting this world needs. I hope Hawaii can be a place of change for what has to happen in order to move us all on a path to peace, love and harmony. Aloha nui - see you soon, Barbara
Paradise Newland, Puna, HI, Sirius Institute co-founder:
I was very comfortable with Elena’s manner, experience and wisdom and felt more at ease in letting myself go more deeply to my earliest moments. This in turn helped me identify my core cry which I found was other than what I had thought. This cascaded into a feeling body sensation of a very deep core of energy flowing through me. I felt this had been bound up inside my whole life. I have felt lighter, more overall serenity and elation since our work together. I am excited about sharing Elena’s work here again as I know it will be helpful in our work with the “DAWN” birth camp project.