New Zealand, My Conference Review (very long!)

[Guest guest]

Hello List, I thought I would post this account of my trip to NZ as keynote

speaker here because I cant put it on my site yet....once I got home I had to

get a new computer and it has Vista and wont let me attach a doc that can be

read....., and I've not transferred my software, so I have some sorting out to

do....... new computers (!@#$@%)- warning, it is sort of long, I had such an

awesome time, hope you enjoy the read.

 

Sylla

 

********************************************************************************\

******

 

 

 

New Zealand Register of Holistic Aromatherapists 2008 Conference

 

June 28-29

 

Auckland, New Zealand

 

 

 

" Celebrating 15 years of Aromatherapy in New Zealand "

 

 

 

Conference Review (Sylla Sheppard-Hanger, July 2008)

 

 

 

Kia Ora (Maori language greeting)! I have to say of all the conferences I've

ever been invited to speak at, or attend (USA, Australia, and Europe), the New

Zealand Aromatherapists (NZROHA, http://aromatherapy.org.nz/) win the prize for

the greatest welcome I've ever received. I have never been so taken care of,

appreciated, and honored. They were so grateful for my coming there to share; I

was made to feel so welcome unlike any other place or time. I met some fabulous

people who were genuine and caring, passionate about what they do. In addition,

this tiny country of 2 large islands (and 1 small one), was so beautiful

(volcanic landscape with nice hills!!, ferns! and very eco-green!), clean and

lovely in spite of the winter weather which I relished as a nice break from the

Florida heat. Now I know why everyone I know or meet nowadays wants to go there.

 

 

 

I arrived in Auckland Thursday, June 28 at the crack of dawn (after a 12 hour

flight from LA, 8 hours from Florida) and was met by beautiful Jeanine (Moss)

and her lovely husband Dave, who whisked me to their warm and comfy home with a

nice view of harbor, water and islands, sailing ships.... for a shower and

breakfast; then after a stop for food for my room, and some power shopping by me

and Janine (NZ made of course!) they deposited me in my room (with an east to

west view of the city and harbor) at the hotel. Next morning Dave picked me up

and we spent 5 hours at the museum as I learned all about the country, its

people and the land. When I saw the Maori performance I was overcome with

emotion at the beauty of the people and their story. Bless Dave for giving me

his day off, showing me all around, and especially for the future promise of a

motorcycle ride next time (Suzuki V-twin...YES.!!!). That evening I met up with

Farida and Sheriar Irani (Subtle Energies from Sydney) who I had met in 2006,

and others from the conference for a nice dinner in the nearby Irish pub!

 

 

 

Next day the conference began and I spoke on our work with the UAE in New York

and the Gulf Coast and showed pictures; other speakers included Kimberly

Patterson who gave a fascinating overview on NZ's unfolding spirituality in her

paper " NZ Blueprint for Global Change " (see her site http://soulpr.com/); then

we heard from Liz Ashley on why plants produce EO, from a biologists

perspective- amazingly informative. Later Nicola Grace spoke on Medsafe and the

importance of the health freedom act- they too are being squeezed by big pharma,

and are fighting to keep their rights as holistic practitioners. I truly think

they will put up such a fight; we could look to this small country for pointers

(www.healthfreedom.co.nz). Sharon Erdrich spoke on stress and management with

aromatherapy, and then Wendy Maddocks-Jennings gave a wonderful talk with photos

on travelling to the Turkish rose fields, with samples!! Wendy also spoke on

Sunday about working on children with development disorders in NZ and is looking

for collaborative workers (www.mjhealth.co.nz). I spoke again on Sunday and

shared our on going work with autism and brain damage children (PARP), and we

had a wonderful story time with Barbara Allpress and her tales of travelling

with a box of tricks - aromatherapy of course. You can see some photos here:

http://picasaweb.google.com/jeanine.moss/2008NZROHAConference

 

 

 

All the papers are available as proceedings I do believe and you may want to

contact Jeanine (NZROHA Aromatherapists nzroha) to check on that. Of

course there were trade stands, I was able to offer my 2 newest books, the

Aromatic SpaBook, and the Aromatic MindBook for the first time publically and

they bought all I took! I also was able to eat jojoba beans from Australia from

the Jojocare stand, and try out some fragonia (Agonis fragrans) from New

Millennium essences (www.nmessences.com/oils), the newest hottest oil I have

been hearing about. In spite of its lack of formal safety testing, its reputed

to be a do-it-all oil, and seems non toxic or irritant; I used it in my room

(smells nice!), and brought some home to play with. Finally several folks made

donations to the UAE (thanks Diane!) so I was able to collect those to bring

home to add to our supply box!

 

 

 

Monday, thanks to Barbara Allpress and Wellpark College giving us the space in

their beautiful college, I did my new Body/mind/spirit workshop " Reclaiming the

Feminine Body- Aromatic Recovery on the Path to Wholeness " (my anniversary story

of recovery in the last ten years of reclaiming my life after breast cancer)

with the beautiful Shelley Monrad, my PowerPoint assistant, and pub bud- first

night she showed me the best local beer ;-). Shelley's energetic presentation on

aromatic reflexology (http://www.aromaflex.co.nz/) was funny, inspiring and

riveting, reminding us (well, some of us!!) instead of dreading it, to call your

menstrual period 'your Friend' she says because we need to befriend our bodies!!

That's one friend I don't have anymore! (Strangely though, on the way from Tampa

to Auckland I had just read the Red Tent by Anita Diamant ..a very good female

read). You can see some photos here:

http://picasaweb.google.com/jeanine.moss/NZROHAMondayWorkshop30608

 

 

 

Tuesday Janine drove me around the countryside for more NZ shopping, eating, and

touring, talking all the while, then home to lie in her jade infrared massage

beds (Jeanine will have to explain) and then it was back to the airport in the

evening for a lovely 12 hr. flight to LA. I was still reeling from the glorious

time there as I watched the movie Whale Rider before sleep. Just like a dream

thanks to the internet list, Michele (aka Chaeya) picked me up from LAX

and whisked me down to a cool spot at Hermosa Beach where we talked and ate by

the Pacific ocean, with Christina M. joining us later for coffee. It was so cool

to put faces with names and I felt I'd known them forever!! Bless them both for

coming to help me " re-enter " during my 7 hour layover. Thanks to Michele's

awesome driving, I was back to the airport in time to catch my 10.30pm red-eye

flight home - NOT- it was delayed 3 hours, and then I missed my connection in

Atlanta....finally getting home mid afternoon instead of morning. But as I

pondered the awesome trip I had just experienced, and realized the next day I

could have been in an awful mess as Christina told me the LA airport closed for

4 hours due to an idiot with " explosive devices on his person " , I began to see

that the late flight incident was just to make me more grateful for what I had

just been given; and not to get caught up in the small stuff for goodness sakes,

I made it home just fine!!

 

 

 

Now I'm home, after days of adjusting to the time change, I am re-reading my

beautiful card they gave me that everyone signed, listening to Moana and the

Tribe- awesome gift from Jeanine of Maori music (www.moananz.com) and holding

onto my precious pounamu- carved jade friendship symbol necklace they all bought

me (and each held) I know I will return soon as the story goes, the jade wants

to return (me!). I was given a precious gift, of this trip, and I learned a lot

about myself in putting together years of material to present in the workshop

that was deeply personal and meaningful to me. Little did I know the feeling I

now have of having done something I was scared to do (go there and share myself)

and the gifts I returned with would have such an impact on my life. I will never

be the same. I can truly say it was the best conference experience of my life

and I can't wait to go back in 2009.

 

 

 

How can I ever convey my deep felt thanks to Jeanine and Dave, and all the NZ

Aromatherapists, for the most awesome welcome of my life; and thank you to

Michele and Christina helping me come back to this hemisphere, our world. Thank

you all for this wonderful summer adventure. What a group we are, aromatherapy

forever!!

 

love

 

Sylla

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

Hi Sylla

Thanks for posting this - sounds like you all had a wonderful time :-)

I've left your post intact, below, in case anyone missed it

LLx

 

2008/7/21 Sylla S. Hanger <sylla:

> Hello List, I thought I would post this account of my trip to NZ as keynote

speaker here because I cant put it on my site yet....once I got home I had to

get a new computer and it has Vista and wont let me attach a doc that can be

read....., and I've not transferred my software, so I have some sorting out to

do....... new computers (!@#$@%)- warning, it is sort of long, I had such an

awesome time, hope you enjoy the read.

>

> Sylla

>

>

********************************************************************************\

******

>

>

>

> New Zealand Register of Holistic Aromatherapists 2008 Conference

>

> June 28-29

>

> Auckland, New Zealand

>

>

>

> " Celebrating 15 years of Aromatherapy in New Zealand "

>

>

>

> Conference Review (Sylla Sheppard-Hanger, July 2008)

>

>

>

> Kia Ora (Maori language greeting)! I have to say of all the conferences I've

ever been invited to speak at, or attend (USA, Australia, and Europe), the New

Zealand Aromatherapists (NZROHA, http://aromatherapy.org.nz/) win the prize for

the greatest welcome I've ever received. I have never been so taken care of,

appreciated, and honored. They were so grateful for my coming there to share; I

was made to feel so welcome unlike any other place or time. I met some fabulous

people who were genuine and caring, passionate about what they do. In addition,

this tiny country of 2 large islands (and 1 small one), was so beautiful

(volcanic landscape with nice hills!!, ferns! and very eco-green!), clean and

lovely in spite of the winter weather which I relished as a nice break from the

Florida heat. Now I know why everyone I know or meet nowadays wants to go there.

>

>

>

> I arrived in Auckland Thursday, June 28 at the crack of dawn (after a 12 hour

flight from LA, 8 hours from Florida) and was met by beautiful Jeanine (Moss)

and her lovely husband Dave, who whisked me to their warm and comfy home with a

nice view of harbor, water and islands, sailing ships.... for a shower and

breakfast; then after a stop for food for my room, and some power shopping by me

and Janine (NZ made of course!) they deposited me in my room (with an east to

west view of the city and harbor) at the hotel. Next morning Dave picked me up

and we spent 5 hours at the museum as I learned all about the country, its

people and the land. When I saw the Maori performance I was overcome with

emotion at the beauty of the people and their story. Bless Dave for giving me

his day off, showing me all around, and especially for the future promise of a

motorcycle ride next time (Suzuki V-twin...YES.!!!). That evening I met up with

Farida and Sheriar Irani (Subtle Energies from Sydney) who I had met in 2006,

and others from the conference for a nice dinner in the nearby Irish pub!

>

>

>

> Next day the conference began and I spoke on our work with the UAE in New York

and the Gulf Coast and showed pictures; other speakers included Kimberly

Patterson who gave a fascinating overview on NZ's unfolding spirituality in her

paper " NZ Blueprint for Global Change " (see her site http://soulpr.com/); then

we heard from Liz Ashley on why plants produce EO, from a biologists

perspective- amazingly informative. Later Nicola Grace spoke on Medsafe and the

importance of the health freedom act- they too are being squeezed by big pharma,

and are fighting to keep their rights as holistic practitioners. I truly think

they will put up such a fight; we could look to this small country for pointers

(www.healthfreedom.co.nz). Sharon Erdrich spoke on stress and management with

aromatherapy, and then Wendy Maddocks-Jennings gave a wonderful talk with photos

on travelling to the Turkish rose fields, with samples!! Wendy also spoke on

Sunday about working on children with development disorders in NZ and is looking

for collaborative workers (www.mjhealth.co.nz). I spoke again on Sunday and

shared our on going work with autism and brain damage children (PARP), and we

had a wonderful story time with Barbara Allpress and her tales of travelling

with a box of tricks - aromatherapy of course. You can see some photos here:

http://picasaweb.google.com/jeanine.moss/2008NZROHAConference

>

>

>

> All the papers are available as proceedings I do believe and you may want to

contact Jeanine (NZROHA Aromatherapists nzroha) to check on that. Of

course there were trade stands, I was able to offer my 2 newest books, the

Aromatic SpaBook, and the Aromatic MindBook for the first time publically and

they bought all I took! I also was able to eat jojoba beans from Australia from

the Jojocare stand, and try out some fragonia (Agonis fragrans) from New

Millennium essences (www.nmessences.com/oils), the newest hottest oil I have

been hearing about. In spite of its lack of formal safety testing, its reputed

to be a do-it-all oil, and seems non toxic or irritant; I used it in my room

(smells nice!), and brought some home to play with. Finally several folks made

donations to the UAE (thanks Diane!) so I was able to collect those to bring

home to add to our supply box!

>

>

>

> Monday, thanks to Barbara Allpress and Wellpark College giving us the space in

their beautiful college, I did my new Body/mind/spirit workshop " Reclaiming the

Feminine Body- Aromatic Recovery on the Path to Wholeness " (my anniversary story

of recovery in the last ten years of reclaiming my life after breast cancer)

with the beautiful Shelley Monrad, my PowerPoint assistant, and pub bud- first

night she showed me the best local beer ;-). Shelley's energetic presentation on

aromatic reflexology (http://www.aromaflex.co.nz/) was funny, inspiring and

riveting, reminding us (well, some of us!!) instead of dreading it, to call your

menstrual period 'your Friend' she says because we need to befriend our bodies!!

That's one friend I don't have anymore! (Strangely though, on the way from Tampa

to Auckland I had just read the Red Tent by Anita Diamant ..a very good female

read). You can see some photos here:

http://picasaweb.google.com/jeanine.moss/NZROHAMondayWorkshop30608

>

>

>

> Tuesday Janine drove me around the countryside for more NZ shopping, eating,

and touring, talking all the while, then home to lie in her jade infrared

massage beds (Jeanine will have to explain) and then it was back to the airport

in the evening for a lovely 12 hr. flight to LA. I was still reeling from the

glorious time there as I watched the movie Whale Rider before sleep. Just like a

dream thanks to the internet list, Michele (aka Chaeya) picked me up from

LAX and whisked me down to a cool spot at Hermosa Beach where we talked and ate

by the Pacific ocean, with Christina M. joining us later for coffee. It was so

cool to put faces with names and I felt I'd known them forever!! Bless them both

for coming to help me " re-enter " during my 7 hour layover. Thanks to Michele's

awesome driving, I was back to the airport in time to catch my 10.30pm red-eye

flight home - NOT- it was delayed 3 hours, and then I missed my connection in

Atlanta....finally getting home mid afternoon instead of morning. But as I

pondered the awesome trip I had just experienced, and realized the next day I

could have been in an awful mess as Christina told me the LA airport closed for

4 hours due to an idiot with " explosive devices on his person " , I began to see

that the late flight incident was just to make me more grateful for what I had

just been given; and not to get caught up in the small stuff for goodness sakes,

I made it home just fine!!

>

>

>

> Now I'm home, after days of adjusting to the time change, I am re-reading my

beautiful card they gave me that everyone signed, listening to Moana and the

Tribe- awesome gift from Jeanine of Maori music (www.moananz.com) and holding

onto my precious pounamu- carved jade friendship symbol necklace they all bought

me (and each held) I know I will return soon as the story goes, the jade wants

to return (me!). I was given a precious gift, of this trip, and I learned a lot

about myself in putting together years of material to present in the workshop

that was deeply personal and meaningful to me. Little did I know the feeling I

now have of having done something I was scared to do (go there and share myself)

and the gifts I returned with would have such an impact on my life. I will never

be the same. I can truly say it was the best conference experience of my life

and I can't wait to go back in 2009.

>

>

>

> How can I ever convey my deep felt thanks to Jeanine and Dave, and all the NZ

Aromatherapists, for the most awesome welcome of my life; and thank you to

Michele and Christina helping me come back to this hemisphere, our world. Thank

you all for this wonderful summer adventure. What a group we are, aromatherapy

forever!!

>

> love

>

> Sylla

>

>

>