Lucidity Festival, a mainstay in the Santa Barbara region and a trendsetter in the blossoming Southern California music and arts festival community, is entering its fifth year at the Live Oak Campground from April 8-10, 2016.
Prior to the event opening to the public, a select group of participants can enroll in the Lucidity University Courseweek, a series of master classes taught by leading instructors from April 4-6.
The University program is an expansion of an incredibly successful Permaculture Design Certification offered in 2014, where more than 35 students spent the week learning techniques and best practices around designing in harmony with natural ecosystems.
That pilot program culminated in a Permaculture Action Day in Santa Barbara, when more than 150 volunteers worked on community improvement projects while dancing to the music of The Polish Ambassador and Ayla Nereo.
Lucidity Festival is offering five different realms of study, each designed to appeal to those seeking opportunities outside of the traditional education system, to jumpstart their outlook and creative thinking and to train students to apply valuable techniques to their career paths.
“We’ve noticed that traditional education is not for everyone,” said Jonah Haas, marketing director for Lucidity Festivals, LLC. “Many fall through the cracks or don’t see a place for themselves in the system.
“Lucidity, as a ‘transformational’ festival, has sought to be a place for people to experiment with new ways of being, to learn new skills and to experience a set of possibilities that are not typically offered in today’s degree-focused paradigm,” he said.
The Courseweek represents an opportunity to learn problem-solving for present and future ecological and social challenges in a communal, hands-on environment.
Mid-career professionals will also find the experience a meaningful retreat from traditional professional development programs.
Students will receive a total of 24 hours of instruction over three days, be fed three lovingly prepared meals per day, and will be able to participate onsite earlier than ever before as the village of Lucidity Festival is built around them.
Their learning opportunities will continue into the festival, as students put the skills and theories they learned to immediate use in hundreds of workshops, performances and panels.
Led by Loren Luyendyk of Santa Barbara Organics and other inspiring guest teachers, Intro to Permaculture Design will teach the art and science of creating and maintaining abundant human managed systems.
This course is an introduction to permaculture, with a special focus on designing social and ecological systems, such as natural farming, water management and sustainable architecture.
Thomas Peisel, creator of the online community DreamLabs.io, and Laurel Lyons, spirituality coach at The Origin Medicines, will guide students on a journey into deep inner realms through the experiential Lucid Dreaming course.
Lucid dreaming has been studied by artists, existential teachers, philosophers and, in recent years, scientists hoping to quantify the experiences of consciousness and awareness.
Beyond a theme or an idea, lucid dreaming unlocks a profound shift in one’s personal journey. Learn how to reconnect to your dreams and ultimately master a powerful skill.
Reiki is a Japanese practice of healing, focused primarily on alleviating blockages in the flow of energy throughout the body. Combined with or independent of many modalities of massage and bodywork, it is a powerful tool to opening and mending channels of pain and trauma.
A Reiki master with over 40 years experience as a facilitator, teacher and practitioner Astarius Miraculii will lead two levels of intensive training for novices interested in learning the basic art of transmitting healing energy to the self and others.
Master creator Dave Zaboski will guide students through the secret practices and teaching used by Masters across time to turn thoughts into things with ease and grace in an Art and Creativity course.
Designed for makers, artists and creators of all skill levels and disciplines, this course is a powerful tool to innovate more effectively, collaborate more powerfully, build artistic skill or simply bring something entirely new into the world.
Zaboski has lived a creative life. He was a senior animator with Disney, Sony and Warner Bros. during the second golden age of animation, contributing his artistry to Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, Pocahontas, The Lion King, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Fantasia 2000 and others.
Zaboski is a classically trained painter who has co-created several internationally published children’s books with luminous authors Dr. Ken, Maddy Dychtwald and the legendary Dr. Deepak Chopra.
He speaks regularly about the magic of creativity, innovation and collaboration and has taught collaborative creativity to entrepreneurs, educators, artists and others at world renown retreat centers Esalen, Summit, Rancho La Puerta, Singularity University, UCLA, USC, Art Center College of Design, The Animation Workshop and more.
In an Embodiment and Movement course, Samantha Sweetwater will empower students through movement and interpersonal communication, changing the way participants interact with their world through body language, dance and community.
Starting in 1997 after a career as a professional dancer, choreographer and community organizer, Sweetwater founded Dancing Freedom, a movement practice for all bodies for the evolution of self and community.
She has helped to birth the emergent conscious dance industry, having facilitated Dancing Freedom on five continents and trained over 100 facilitators.
“Free Together” will shake up previous concepts and identities, give powerful and practical tools to support long term growth, and recenter purpose and action in the ancient/future vision you hold in your heart.
— Jonah Haas is the marketing director for Lucidity Festival.