Connecting with Your Inner Intelligence

Connecting with Your Inner Intelligence
‘Power of You’ features seminars that provide guidance, self-enrichment
Reporter: Jennifer Miller
When wellness facilitator and author Michael Symonds moved to Whistler a few years ago, many friends and colleagues wondered why he would choose a place that seems somewhat superficial and appears to cater to the pursuit of hedonistic activities.
But Symonds said he considers Whistler to be a very spiritual place — one where people come to connect with nature; a place that seems to draw people who are looking for something deeper in life. People come to Whistler in search of adventure and risk, and Symonds said the journey inward is probably the biggest adventure one can embark upon. That’s why he isn’t surprised that wellness and self-development events and activities like this weekend’s The Power of You seminars are increasingly popular in Whistler.
The Power of You offers participants a taste of several methods for self-development through workshops, discussions and events, while also turning the focus outward to the rest of the world. With proceeds of the fourth annual event going to Families for Children, a non-profit group that operates homes to care for destitute women and children in India and Bangladesh, participants can seek personal growth and spiritual healing while giving to a worthwhile cause.
Symonds is leading a workshop on Saturday (Nov. 17) that will introduce people to a fusion of yoga meditation and chanting, using sound to help people discover a different aspect of themselves and reconnect with their body and inner intelligence.
“It’s very, very dynamic because you’re not just listening to my voice, you’re engaging in the process by actually using the sounds yourself,” Symonds said of the workshop. “Anyone who shows up is going to have some sort of an experience.”
In addition to 17 years of experience as a personal growth facilitator, Symonds is a certified meditation instructor with the Chopra Centre for Wellbeing. He said no experience is necessary for people to engage in the workshop and explore a different level of who they are.
“The beauty of the Nada Yoga Sutras is it’s an effortless process,” he said.
The Power of You kicks off Friday evening (Nov. 16) with Be the Change, an interactive event with Symonds and other wellness leaders that aims to help participants explore their gifts and, as Gandhi said, discover how to “be the change (they) wish to see in the world.” Additional Saturday workshops include Mastery Meditation with Dhyan Vimal, Passion Test with Bernie Lalor-Morton and Kick-Butt Intuition with Cheryl Brewster and Krista Hoffs.