MARIGOLD
BEAVS GIVE 2025 CAMPAIGN
10 Years of Contemplative Studies | 10 Special Events | To Raise $10,000
10 YEARS OF CONTEMPLATIVE STUDIES: GIFTS FOR AND FROM THE HEART
This year marks 10 beautiful years of the Contemplative Studies Initiative at Oregon State University; join us in celebration by supporting CSI's eleventh year or by attending one of ten special events at Marigold, offered freely and/or by donation in support of the Beavs Give fundraising campaign.
This year, donations will support:
- Graduate student participation in Marigold classes and programs
- Costs for exterior building signage at Marigold
- CSI's ongoing free and low-cost programs like Monday Night Mindfulness, Recovery Dharma, book studies, special events, and others.
or
EVENT DESCRIPTIONS + REGISTRATION
LOVE SONGS TO THE DIVINE: RESTORATIVE YOGA & SERENADE
With Johanna Beekman
Marigold February 12, 2025 6:30PM - 8PM 18 spots
Open to All | No Cost | Donations of Any Size Gratefully Accepted
Join Johanna Beekman for a candlelit evening of restorative yoga and serenade. This special event will guide you into deep relaxation and the spirit of love through gentle yoga postures, intention setting and mantra, and the transformative power of sound. Whether you seek relaxation, healing, or spiritual connection, this event is an opportunity to return to love within yourself and the world.
Johanna Beekman is a multi-genre singer and recording artist as well as a E-RYT 500 yoga teacher. Her music, featured on her latest album Yoga Tracks Vol. 2 with Ben Leinbach, is known for its soothing, prayerful essence. She offers world-inspired, gospel-infused Kirtan. Kirtan is a traditional Indian practice that involves singing sacred mantras as a community and is a form of bhakti yoga, the yoga of devotion. Her introduction to Kirtan was through Krishna Das and Ram Das.
CLASS OVERVIEW
- Restorative Yoga: Relax into supportive postures designed to release tension and calm the nervous system. Using props like bolsters and blankets, this practice allows for deep fascia release to support physical healing. Johanna will be assisted by a supportive team providing musical accompaniment to deepen your experience.
- Love songs to the Divine: Johanna will share original songs and sacred mantras in English and Sanskrit, inviting you to connect with the Divine and open your heart to love in all its forms. Enjoy the pairing of instruments such as guitar, harmonium, Tibetan bowls, chimes, and gong.
- Sankalpa and Shared Mantra: Practice will begin with a Sankalpa (intention) and close with a dedication focused on love - whether self-love, love for others, the earth, a cause, or universal love. Sharing the mantra OM will anchor the practice at the beginning and end of the session.
Joahnna Beekman
E-RYT 500
Johanna is an E-RYT 500 and YACEP-certified yoga teacher and a gifted musician whose soulful voice has touched hearts around the world. Known for her transformative Lullaby Yoga sessions, Johanna also advocates for children in Nepal through her Mantra Sangha project. Her music and yoga practices inspire deep healing and spiritual awakening.
THE GREATEST MYSTERY:
Where Does Consciousness Come from, Why Are We Here, and What Really Matters
With CSI Co-Founder Dr. Winston McCullough
Zoom Only February 13, 2025 5:30PM - 6:30PM PT Unlimited
Open to All | No Cost | Donations of Any Size Gratefully Accepted
Where does consciousness come from, why are we here, and what really matters? Okay, an admittedly ambitious topic… let’s explore the nature of consciousness – its origin, where it may be going, its relation to our body/brain, and what we can do about all of that to build an enjoyable life that really matters. We’ll be looking at perspectives from both modern science and Eastern contemplative wisdom traditions.
ABOUT THE TEACHER
Dr. Winston McCullough
Winston McCullough has two masters degrees and a PhD in psychology from NYU and has worked in industry for 30 years as an industrial/organizational psychologist and director of communications and employee benefit programs. He taught for several years at Columbia University and teaches currently at Oregon State University, including courses such as Positive Psychology, Psychology of Meditation, World Religions, and Great Figures: Jesus and Buddha. Winston has studied and practiced Tibetan Buddhism and yoga for several decades, is well educated in ancient Tibetan Buddhist scriptures and has studied deeply with prominent Tibetan Buddhist Lamas at Sera Mey Monastery in India. Dr. McCullough also completed an in-depth course of personal study reflecting a Christian seminary curriculum under the guidance of Marcus Borg. Winston has led hundreds of Buddhist courses and meditation retreats in the U.S. and internationally for the past 20 years, and he preaches an occasional Sunday sermon. First and foremost, Winston is a loving husband and father to three amazing adult children, and he is a grateful and happy man.
SPECIAL VALENTINE'S DAY DANCELAB
With Julie Masters
Marigold February 14, 2025 6:30PM - 7:45PM 18 Spots
Open to All | No Cost | Donations of Any Size Gratefully Accepted
DanceLab is a space to playfully experiment with moving the body spontaneously through shifting moods and musical shapes - freeing ourselves from the mind’s tyranny of judgment and comparison - into a space of freedom, joy, and plain old fun! Take some time out to let go, cut loose, and honor your movement expression in a welcoming space. Your dance is unique as your fingerprint, while dancing together builds energy and community. There are no steps to learn - it’s freestyle movement inspired by community and a changing selection of evocative and lively music. We close with a meditative cool down and reflection.
DANCE ETIQUETTE
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This is not a contact-heavy dance space, but please ask for consent for contact dance
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Vocalizing, singing, quietude, movement, and stillness are all welcome.
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Be aware of and take care of others in the space (please avoid trip hazards, specifically), and take good care of yourself!
ABOUT THE TEACHER
Julie Masters
Julie's offerings are based in her experience and devotion to discovery of the Self, pursuit of insight, healing, beauty, and joy. She has training in holistic health, feminist spirituality, various healing modalities, and has participated in many workshops, retreats, yoga classes, and personal growth sessions and programs.
Julie is retired from a career as a lawyer, where she wrote administrative law appeals in Oregon. So she has navigated the workaday world and also explored the inner worlds where subjective experience is valued.
Julie has spent time doing inquiry into deep aspects of her experience, guided by intuition and respect, gratitude, kindness, and humility. With these allies, we can relax our defenses and tensions, sinking back into the beautiful background of spaciousness, finding natural rooted strength and unconditional support. The practice of inquiry is a free-form exploration of the present moment experience, following one's own resonance to discover what is true. In either inquiry or we-space practice we can restore our natural knowing that we are valid, inwardly connected, mysterious and alive.
MONDAY NIGHT MINDFULNESS
With Dr. Vicki Tolar Burton
Zoom Only February 17, 2025 6:30PM - 7:30PM PT Unlimited
Open to All | No Cost | Donations of Any Size Gratefully Accepted
Vicki will be leading a meditation that seeks to blend the Japanese aesthetic concept of Wabi Sabi with practices of self-compassion. Wabi Sabi combines the notion of “wabi,” meaning there can be beauty and value in things that are imperfect and broken, and the notion of “sabi,” which includes a melancholy appreciation of the rustic and the old, also reminding us that we cannot stop time. Kristin Neff, the top research scientist on self-compassion, emphasizes the elements of mindful presence, sharing in the human condition, and expressing compassion to one’s self. We will explore the connections among these concepts and practices.
Dr. Vicki Tolar Burton
Vicki Tolar Burton is Emerita Professor of English at Oregon State University, where she taught courses in rhetoric, writing, and literature. After retirement, she has continued to serve on the OSU Contemplative Studies Steering Committee, which she calls “the best and most serene committee in the university.” She has had a meditation practice for more than 30 years and draws from many meditation traditions, including Christianity, Buddhism, and mindfulness. Vicki is one of the meditation leaders of Monday Night Meditation.
BEATS 'N BREATH: YOGA FLOW BY CANDLELIGHT
with Jessica Mylan
Marigold February 21, 2025 6:00PM - 7:15PM 18 Spots
Open to All | No Cost | Donations of Any Size Gratefully Accepted
This contemporary yoga flow class integrates vinyasa and pranayama (breath practices) in the beautifully candlelit space at Marigold. A carefully selected playlist is influenced by music from around the world to inspire a mind-body connection and fluid, organic movement. As an all-levels flow, class will begin with a gentle warm up, followed by a more intense flow that allows you to move with the breath, and finishes with a mellow cool down, meditation, and rest. Whether you are looking to deepen your spiritual practice, strengthen through movement, or make connections, let's move together in this evening candlelit class.
Jessica Mylan
RYT 200
Jessica has over 5 years of teaching experience. She has been practicing yoga and meditation for about 10 years. Her classes invite playfulness and intuitive movement; they also provide opportunities to deepen a philosophical and somatic appreciation of yoga.
She is a graduate of the Applied Ethics masters program at Oregon State University, where she centered her research on contemplative ethical frameworks in support of eco-conscious tourism. She also provides administrative support for the Contemplative Studies Initiative in addition to teaching at Marigold. Alongside these academic and professional pursuits, Jessica appreciates sustainable travel, discovering waterfalls, taming houseplants, and networking with wonderful people.
MINDFUL MEDICINE:
An Evening for Healthcare Providers and Clinicians
Marigold February 24, 2025 6:30PM - 7:45PM 30 Spots
No Cost | Donations of Any Size Gratefully Accepted
This event is specifically for healthcare providers, mental health clinicians, first responders, and their partners. If this is you, please email us at [email protected] to register.
In this session, Dr. Jan Chozen Bays shares her decades of experience as a pediatrician with a specialty in the evaluation of children for abuse and neglect, and as a Zen teacher, mother, and wife. Chozen will address burnout in caregiving professions and ways to rekindle purpose, passion, and connection to one's inner life, using simple mindfulness practices and "rescue remedies" tailored to health care professionals.
ABOUT THE TEACHER
Dr. Jan Chozen Bays, MD
Roshi
Jan Chozen Bays, Roshi has studied and practiced Zen Buddhism since 1973. She received Jukai (lay precepts) in 1975 and Tokudo, Priest’s Ordination, in 1979 from Taizan Maezumi, Roshi. From 1978 to 1983 she lived at Zen Center of Los Angeles, studying with Maezumi, Roshi and directing the Zen Center’s non-profit Medical Clinic. She finished formal koan study in 1983 and she was given Dharma transmission (authorization to teach) that same year. Following the death of Maezumi, Roshi in 1995 she has continued her training with Shodo Harada, Roshi, a Rinzai Zen teacher and the abbot of Sogen-ji monastery in Japan.
Since 1985 Chozen, Roshi has been the teacher for Zen Community of Oregon. In 2002 she helped to found Great Vow Zen Monastery and is the co-abbot. In 2011 she also helped found Heart of Wisdom Zen Temple in Portland, Oregon.
She has published many articles about Zen in the periodicals Tricycle and Buddhadharma. Her first book, Jizo Bodhisattva, Modern Healing and Traditional Buddhist Practice (Tuttle, 2002), has been re-issued in paperback as Jizo Bodhisattva, Guardian of Children, Women and Other Voyagers by Shambhala. She is the author of How to Train a Wild Elephant: And Other Adventures in Mindfulness (Shambhala, 2011), Mindful Eating: A Guide to Rediscovering a Healthy and Joyful Relationship with Food (Shambala 2011), and Mindful Medicine: 40 Simple Practices to Help Healthcare Professionals Heal Burnout & Reconnect to Purpose (Shambala 2022).
Chozen, Roshi is also pediatrician, mother, and wife.
LIBERATORY CHANGEMAKING: CREATING SPACE FOR BELONGING
with Michele Ribeiro, EdD
Marigold February 26, 2025 6:30PM - 7:45PM 30 Spots
Open to All | No Cost | Donations of Any Size Gratefully Accepted
How do we create communities of curiosity and connection over hostility and division? The need to belong is essential to our well-being and deeply buried in our biology. This talk will focus on the psychology of belonging within a liberatory social change model that is based on the principles that liberatory change is ongoing, emergent, non-violent, and systemic. Join us as we reflect on the ways we have personally found belonging and how we need to continue creating that space for each other.
Michele Ribeiro, EdD
Michele D. Ribeiro is a licensed psychologist at Western University of Health Sciences, COMP-NW and is adjunct faculty for Oregon State University, Zanzibar University in Tanzania and most recently with the International Institute for Trauma Studies within the State Pedagogical University of Ukraine. She is board certified in psychology, a fellow with the American Psychological Association and the American Group Psychotherapy Association; and serves on the AGPA DEI Task Force, on the APA Council of Representatives, and is President Elect for the APA Division 49-Group Psychology and Group Psychotherapy. She has published two (co)edited books entitled: The College Counselor’s Guide to Group Psychotherapy (2018) and Examining Social Identities and Diversity Issues in Group Therapy: Knocking at the Boundaries (2020) with Routledge Press and two digital seminars (2019) entitled: Yoga for Trauma and Yoga & Mindfulness Therapy through PESI Inc.
CONTEMPLATIVE AND CRITICAL APPROACHES TO DECOLONIALITY
With Dr. Rebekah Sinclair and Dr. Dee Denver
Marigold February 27, 2025 6:30PM - 7:45PM 30 Spots
Open to All | No Cost | Donations of Any Size Gratefully Accepted
Dee Denver and Rebekah Sinclair will lead a conversation focused on the topic of decoloniality, ways of thinking and acting that aim to undo the effects of colonization and establish a more just world. The discussion will explore contemplative approaches to decolonizing minds that show up in social justice and environmental efforts, alongside critical perspectives that call into question common decoloniality narratives. We will consider the ways by which these views on decolonizing efforts might lead to more effective and meaningful alliances and outcomes.
Deep Roots Family Medicine Presents
MENOPAUSE AS SPIRITUAL PRACTICE
An Ayurvedic Approach with Dr. Amy Loschert, ND FABNO
Marigold March 5, 2025 6:30PM - 7:45PM 30 Spots
Open to All | No Cost | Donations of Any Size Gratefully Accepted
Menopause is not a disorder that needs fixing but represents the dawning of a beautiful age for women. It is the time of life when we can most easily access our true Nature and be clear about our purpose. In this talk, we will look at one of traditional Eastern Philosophy's oldest set of tenets, the 5 Niyamas, as a backdrop for shifting our perspective on what it means to be menopausal. How do we take a more holistic approach to healing and loving ourselves more as we age? Dr. Amy will touch on the topics of self-care, food as nourishment, botanical allies for women over 50, and the practices of gratitude and meditation. This event is generously sponsored by Deep Roots Family Medicine.
ABOUT THE TEACHER
Dr. Amy Loschert, ND, FABNO
Dr. Amy's professional career started in 2003 as a licensed naturopathic physician where she spent her first ten years in private practice as a general practice physician in many wonderful places including Arizona, Washington, Colorado, North Carolina and Minnesota. As an Ayurvedic Wellness Counselor she was able to personalize people’s nutritional and lifestyle plans with much success to treat several complex, chronic diseases that modern conventional medicine couldn’t heal. Nature-cure modalities such as classical homeopathy, botanical medicine and therapeutic nutrition, hormone balancing, detox, supplements and functional testing when needed were the main pillars of her practice.
After 11 years, she was called to work with cancer patients. After many patient hours, advanced training and a rigorous examination, she became a Fellow of the American Board of Naturopathic Oncology and licensed as a naturopathic integrative oncologist, a credential held by around 100 physicians in all of North America. Having worked inside hospitals and outpatient infusion centers alongside conventionally trained oncologists and surgeons, she developed an appreciation of the power of true integrative medicine where 1 +1= 3. You reap more success when you receive the benefit from both forms of medicine simultaneously. Currently, she treats cancer survivors, works with cancer patients integratively who are going through conventional treatment, and also has a vibrant general practice seeing adults with mainly hormonal, metabolic and immune related disorders. Dr. Amy practices at Deep Roots Family Medicine, just steps from Marigold.
YOGA AND PSYCHEDELICS
with Dr. Stuart Sarbacker
Marigold March 7, 2025 5:30PM - 6:45PM 30 Spots
Open to All | No Cost | Donations of Any Size Gratefully Accepted
What is the relationship between yoga and psychedelics? In this talk, we will look at the role of psychoactive substances within traditional yoga practices and in contemporary psychedelic therapy. This will include a discussion of key concepts in relationship to Indian psychoactive substances—such as soma, amṛta, viṣa, oṣadhi, rasāyana, mūla, dravya, and mudrā—and their relationship with practices of asceticism and meditation. We will also address the ways in which yoga has entered the culture of contemporary psychedelics, within the context of preparation, journeying, and integration, with special attention to how yoga serves as a resource for facilitators and psychonauts.
ABOUT THE TEACHER
Dr. Stuart Sarbacker
Stuart Ray Sarbacker is Professor of Comparative Religion and Indian Philosophy in the School of History, Philosophy, and Religion at Oregon State University (USA). His work centers on the relationships between the religious and philosophical traditions of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism, especially with respect to mind-body discipline (yoga) and the interface between religion, philosophy, and technology. He has written three books, including Samādhi: The Numinous and Cessative in Indo-Tibetan Yoga (SUNY Press), The Eight Limbs of Yoga: A Handbook for Living Yoga Philosophy (Farrar, Straus, and Giroux), and Tracing the Path of Yoga: The History and Philosophy of Indian Mind-Body Discipline (SUNY Press). He is the co-founder of the American Academy of Religion’s Yoga in Theory and Practice unit. Professor Sarbacker is an active yoga and meditation practitioner and teacher, having trained extensively in in India and the United States. He recently completed a 3-year Luce Foundation funded program on religion and technology administered by the Institute for Buddhist Studies in Berkeley, California. His work in this sphere applies philosophical and ethical concepts associated with Indian contemplative traditions to emergent technologies, especially those of human augmentation. This includes research on the so-called “Psychedelic Renaissance” or “Second-Wave Psychedelic Movement,” especially the Oregon Psilocybin Initiative, as well as the role of psychoactive substances in the context of historical and contemporary yoga and meditation traditions. He is a graduate of the inaugural cohort of the first state-approved Psilocybin Facilitator training program in Oregon, InnerTrek.