Common Street Spiritual Center

Tea, Pray, Knit
2023-01-12 14:00 - 16:00, 2023-01-26 14:00 - 16:00, 2023-02-09 14:00 - 16:00, 2023-02-23 14:00 - 16:00, 2023-03-09 14:00 - 16:00, 2023-03-23 14:00 - 16:00, 2023-05-04 14:00 - 16:00 (America/New_York)
Join Diana, Fran and Donese every other Thursday in the Meeting Room from 2-4 pm. Bring along any handcraft you’d like to work on as we take time to enjoy one another’s company, engage in thoughtful conversations and develop new relationships. We can share thoughts about matters that affect us all such as:

children’s education,
safe neighborhoods, and
food insecurity.

We can exchange prayers and positive thoughts and seek ways to contribute to those in need.
You are welcome to drop in when you can. Children are also welcome with a parent or caregiver.
Our next Thursday gatherings are May 4th and 18th and June 1st, 15th, and 29th.
Please email Donese @ donese.sylvester@gmail.com to RSVP or ask questions.

NatickImprov Comedy Workshop
2023-02-09 20:00 - 21:30 | Fellowship Hall @ Common Street, 13 Common Street, Natick, MA, 01760, United States
NatickImprov offers workshops focusing on different aspects of improvisational comedy and performance to anyone interested in learning the form. Ever wanted to try improv? Have a desire to think faster on your feet? Just looking for a silly evening filled with laughter? NatickImprov welcomes guests of all skill level to attend. Hope you can join us in the fun!

Cacao & Connection
2023-02-14 19:00 - 21:30
This Valentine’s Day you’re invited to come experience the power of love at our brand new event – Cacao & Connection.
We start the evening with a beautiful cacao ceremony led by Camilla (and wonderful healer and leader from Brazil).
We’ll be drinking ceremonial grade cacao which is a stimulating and heart-opening medicine.
This helps you drop into a more heart-centered place where you can feel the warmth of your own love. From this place, you can connect more easily and deeply with others (and with yourself).
Next we move into playing some deep connection games
WHAT ARE DEEP CONNECTION GAMES?
Rather than having a bunch of polite small talk, we will focus on playing games that create heartfelt connections with each other.
By participating in these eye opening (and heart opening) games, you’ll not only have a lot of fun, but you’ll learn a so much about yourself and the people around you.
And on a practical level, you’ll also learn tools that you can use in your everyday life to create a deeper connections with others.
Does that sound like music to your ears? We are excited to co-create this intentional social / ceremonial gathering together with you.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Where is it? – The event is held at the Common Street Spiritual Center in Natick, MA which is a beautiful facility for an event like this.
What time? – We start promptly at 7:00pm and go until 9:30pm (with a break in the middle). Please plan on arriving by 6:45pm so you have time to settle in and meet the other members.
How much? – The cost is $35 which is makes this a very affordable experience for anyone.
How can I best prepare? – We will send you some instructions ahead of time. It’s best to not eat 2-3 hours beforehand so your body can quickly absorb the cacao, and you can drop into the experience.
We’re looking forward to seeing you there.
Warmly,
Jason & Camilla

Men's Wisdom Council
2023-02-16 19:00 - 21:00, 2023-03-02 19:00 - 21:00, 2023-03-16 19:00 - 21:00, 2023-03-30 19:00 - 21:00, 2023-04-13 19:00 - 21:00, 2023-05-04 19:00 - 21:00
What does it mean to be a “Man”?
Most men find that there is no clear answer to that question. It’s never been easy being a man. We take on the roles that society assigns us, without being given clear instructions. Role models that are offered up to us don’t speak to our deeper concerns, or rarely reply from the depths that our spirits require.
Councils have long been used by many traditions and cultures as a way to come together and gain a greater understanding of the world. The Men’s Wisdom Council continues this sacred tradition of sharing and deep listening.
Our circle we will strive to create a safe, supportive, and non-judgmental space where we can take turns telling our stories, sharing our concerns, and learning from each other—as we explore how we, as men, walk through the stages of our lives.
Please contact Michael Corthell (michaelacorthell@gmail.com) for any questions that you may have.
Meets upstairs in meditation room. Enter through school street door.

Stories of Longing for Belonging
2023-03-11 15:00 - 16:30
In this interactive improvisational performance, True Story Theater will bring to life personal stories shared on the longing for belonging.

Are you looking for a unique and intimate experience that allows you to connect with others in a deep and meaningful way?
Would you like to witness the power of improvisation to bring personal stories to life right on the spot?
Would you like to participate in an unforgettable experience that will leave you with fresh perspectives, insight and understanding?

This powerful, moving and memorable theater experience is not to be missed!
We warmly invite you to join us for an interactive performance on the theme of Longing for Belonging, featuring skilled actors from True Story Theater and hosted by Common Street Spiritual Center.
This unique and intimate experience is designed to explore the shared human need for connection and belonging in a world where we can sometimes feel fragmented, disconnected, isolated, or just lonely.
Through the art of creative improvisation, using movement, music, song, and dialogue, the performers will embody and reflect the heart of each story shared by audience volunteers – however ordinary or extraordinary, challenging or joyful.
This powerful and transformative form of theater is known as Playback Theatre. It offers a truly moving experience that fosters empathy – essential for building strong relationships and creating a supportive environment for spiritual growth.
This event offers a space for exploration and reflection, and an opportunity to witness the community’s value, meaning, and purpose in action. It’s a must-see for anyone interested in connection, community, or creative expression.
So come join us for a magical afternoon of listening, learning, laughter, and tears, and witness the power of True Story Theater for yourself. Whether you’re a member of Common Street, friend or family, new to the community or fan of True Story, don’t miss out on this unforgettable experience!
This event is open to the public, and all are welcome.

Pricing for Eventbrite tickets:

General Admission – $15 online ($20 at the door)
Children’s Admission – $10 online ($15 at the door)

Donation Ticket – $20-$50 online (give what you can)

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/stories-of-longing-for-belonging-tickets-556356405987

Door Ticket – $20 (with no one turned away for lack of funds)

Community Gathering
2023-03-12 18:00 - 21:00, 2023-05-07 17:00 - 20:00
Join us to contemplate life together!

A gathering to connect with yourself & raise your vibe!

Spring Equinox Celebration: Honoring the Inner Child
2023-03-21 19:00 - 20:00
Spring Equinox Celebration & Healing Ritual: Honoring the inner child, and planting intention for the renewal of spring
In this all inclusive, participatory ritual, we will bring a healing focus to the inner child within us all and all children in the world that need healing. Each person in the gathering is welcome to participate to their comfort level. We’ll also incorporate elements of fun as we enter the sign of the child, Aries!
Participants are welcome to bring a picture of themselves as a child if they desire. The facilitator, Colleen Butaney, will provide candles, and other ritual items.
This sacred gathering is free and open to all, including those who are new to the Spiritual Center community.

Community Gathering
2023-03-26 17:00 - 20:00
The ceremony offers you a unique opportunity to reconnect with your higher self and tap into an inner well of energy, peace, and willpower.
Come find inspiration, community, and connection!

The Magic of Nonviolent Communication (NVC)
2023-03-28 19:00 - 21:00
The Magic of Nonviolent Communication (NVC)

Authentic Playshop, Workshop and Storytelling:
to learn and practice better ways to connect especially when its hard.

Based on the work of Marshall Rosenberg, PHD.

Rob Kanzer, life and business coach, brings his 42 years of counseling, facilitation and speech coaching
for any and all folks who would like greater ease during difficult conversations.

Written, verbal and experiential approaches allow each participant their own learning style.

The workshop is free and open to the public.

Feel free to reach out to Rob in advance with questions
www.RobKanzer.com (617) 491.8939
RobKanzer@RobKanzer.com

Kirtan Chant: Music to Open the Heart
2023-03-31 19:00 - 21:00
What is Kirtan?
Kirtan is transcendental spiritual music and a meditation practice also described as Bhakti Yoga or Nada Yoga. Its origins come from Eastern Indian and Budhist culture.
Kirtan is a call and response chanting from the vocal leader to the audience, who then recites or echos back the same lyrics. By chanting in this way, the sounds and voices raise a very high conscious vibration that reverberates within and outside of you, opening up energy channels.
This practice calms and quiets the mind. You don’t need to have any previous experience to attend a Kirtan. All spiritual faiths are welcome.

$20 Donation at the door
Pay Cash or with Venmo (settings on friends and family)
Bring yoga blanket or cushions and perhaps a bottle of water. Chairs will be available. Mask wearing is optional.

Nada Brahma Kirtan is a five member band founded by Kāmpa Vashi Deva and Lisa Kawski in 2018. The band originated on the North Shore and the other members come from west of Boston and western NH. They bring their instruments and voices together to share with the community their devotion, invoking the healing light of the Universe. Tapping into the experience opens your heart and mind, helping to bring peace to the planet and beyond.

Band Members:
Kāmpa Vashi Deva – Lead Singer, Harmonium, Mridangam, Slaptop Cajon and Kertals
Lisa Kawski – Lead Singer, Harmonium, Indiginous Drum and Kertals
Steve Sherman – Tablas, Lead Singer, Chimes and Rythms
Theresa Landry – Vocals and Chimes
Rick Landry – Bass, Guitar and Vocals

The Heartfelt Hangout: A Vegan Potluck Dinner Party with a Twist
2023-04-01 17:00 - 20:00 | Fellowship Hall @ Common Street, 13 Common Street, Natick, MA, 01760, United States
Discover the joy of mindful eating, heartfelt connections, and soul-stirring conversations at The Common Street Spiritual Center’s upcoming event, The Heartfelt Hangout!

Join us on Saturday April 1st at 5pm for a one-of-a-kind vegan potluck dinner party. We’ll celebrate the power of conscious living, community, and nourishing plant-based food.

This isn’t just another gathering to break bread together. It’s an experience designed to uplift your spirit, spark meaningful connections, and foster a sense of belonging.

What sets The Heartfelt Hangout apart is its unique blend of mindful eating, engaging discussions, and connection games.

WHAT TO BRING:
The best advice we can offer is to make (or buy) food that you’d offer people that you care about. If we do that, then we’ll have lots of great food to choose from.
In other words, no chips and salsa or bags of chocolate chip cookies please

PLEASE RSVP:
It’s important that we know how many people are actually attending, so please do the following:
Step 1 – RSVP here.
Step 2 – Please visit our Signup Genius page. There you can enter what you’d like to bring so that we don’t all bring the same thing.
Thanks so much. We are looking forward to seeing you at The Heartfelt Hangout.

Amanda & Jason

Children's Easter Festival
2023-04-08 14:00 - 16:00
Join us for children’s Easter festivities! We’ll be celebrating the spring equinox with a lovely Ukrainian Easter story, egg painting and dying, planting flowers in our community garden, and an egg hunt outside.
We welcome friends, new and old, to gather and pause to appreciate these fun traditions associated with the turning of the season.

All ages are welcome; caregivers please attend with your children under 7.

FREE and open to the whole community, including people of all cultures and faiths

Thank you for registering so we can plan re: craft supplies! Sign up here: https://forms.gle/uVauio2jKgVGt6xZ8

Beginning in the Moon Room on the top floor; ending outside.

Red Tent Ceremony
2023-04-28 19:00 - 21:30
Calling women who desire deeper connections!
Are you craving an environment where you can show up in your rawness, be witnessed, and be heard by other women in a sacred way? Are you hungry for more than light and fluffy meditations and aching for rebirth and renewal?
Welcome to the mysteries of the Red Tent. A space where maidens, mothers, queens, and crones meet and share our stories, our pain, our sorrows, our joys, and our celebrations. Take a deep dive into the realm of the Divine Feminine, and be held and cradled in sisterhood.
What happens at a Red Tent Ceremony?
❤ We open ceremony with agreements about how we hold space for each other, without rescuing or taking away from someone’s process.
❤ We share what is in our hearts, souls, and bodies, and we embody our truest authentic form
❤ We discuss the astrology and the moon phases, seasons, and how these energies and cycles affect our lives.
❤ We honor where we are at in our cycles and rejoice in the wonderfulness of our brilliant bodies!
❤ We take a guided journey into our heart spaces to connect with what is alive for you and what you’re desiring to release or welcome into your life.
If this ignites a spark of interest in you and sets your soul ablaze, please join us Friday, April 28th at 7pm!
This event is open to those who identify as women, wherever you are in your cycle. Energy exchange: $22-44 sliding scale. Pay what you can.
Please send your offering to Colleen at https://venmo.com/u/C-puz and include your email address and “Red Tent” in the memo.
Reach out to Colleen at redtentnatick@protonmail.com to make other arrangements or if you have sensitivities to sound, smells, lighting, etc.
Things to bring
❤blankets and creature comforts
❤a journal and pen to take notes and write intentions
❤a snack to share if you feel called
❤a mug or cup for tea
❤wear clothes that make you feel beautiful in celebration of YOU.
Meet your Hosts
Colleen Puzas holds a Bachelors in Environmental Science, double minor in Natural Resources Conservation and Plant & Soil Sciences, and is a 1st generation graduate of the UMASS iCons Program. She is a teacher and supporter of internal and external system biomes, wetland science, women’s sacred spaces, herbalist practices, and alternative healing modalities, such as song, sound, and creative self-expression. She is currently enrolled in Align Your Story as a writer/poet and is a Liaison of the POWER Environmental Division’s Employee Engagement Committee. She studies the earth-based traditions of the Work that Reconnects, fire tending, and revitalization of the Spiral Dance goddess wisdom. She also follows the heart-centered language of the Universe and participates in ForestDance. From my heart to yours, I welcome you.
Stephanie Lynn Brown is a licensed and trauma informed massage therapist, craniosacral therapist, certified practitioner of Arvigo Techniques of Maya Abdominal Therapy® with over 16 years experience in hands-on healing and bodywork. She has a bachelor’;s degree in psychology and background in mental health specializing in behavior modification, and has been training in ceremonial arts for close to a decade. Stephanie is a Tantric Priestess and has studied divine embodiment and sacred sexuality, and is passionate about encouraging folks with mental illness, disabilities, and history of trauma to live their best lives and advocate for themselves in a variety of ways. She is an avid herbalist, animal communicator, and life-long student and seeker of Truth. She is a proponent for safe and ethical use of psychedelics and entheogens for healing trauma and working through energetic blockages.

Meditation Mondays
2023-05-01 19:00 - 20:00 | Meditation Room @ Common Street, 13 Common Street, Natick, 01760, United States
Whether you’re curious to begin or years into a practice, start the week off right with Meditation Mondays. Try out breathwork, chanting, sound baths and other techniques in a collaborative and supportive setting.

Meditators of all levels are welcome to drop in 7-8PM every first and third Monday of the month. FREE. No registration required.

For more information, please email weronika.zawora@gmail.com

Cacao & SoulDance Journey
2023-05-05 19:00 - 22:00
Join us for a special Eclipse/Full Moon Celebration on Friday, May 5th at 7 PM at Common Street Spiritual Center

“..As above, so below…”

The upcoming penumbral Lunar Eclipse in Scorpio will occur on May 5, 2023. This eclipse is going to be very potent with cosmic planetary energies and have lasting effects for the next 18 years.

All eclipses unveil the hidden in us. Let us prepare for the upcoming Eclipse by raising our awareness, creating conscious connection, dancing with our open hearts to elevate the consciousness collectively, to call harmony into our lives.

The program of the evening includes:
Opening circle with a Sacred Cacao Ceremony. Followed by stretching and breathing exercises. We will then elevate our body, mind, and spirit together in a Soul Dance.

And finish with a relaxing with a Live Sound Healing Bath (with Harp) to fully integrate the dance and uplift to the divine universal grace.
Doors will open at 6:45 PM. Please be on time for the opening circle at 7PM.

Bring a yoga mat, water bottle, and blanket for relaxation. Wear comfortable preferably light or colorful clothes (no black please).
Ticket Link: https://souldance.ticketleap.com/souldance/
Early Bird price – $55 Door price – $75
For CSSC Members:
Early Bird price- $45 Door price – $65

A discounted -“Pay what you can” option is available for a limited number of participants with lack of funds. Please connect with us to use this option.
Please confirm your attendance and register by May 1st. The door price is still valid, but we will appreciate if you reserve your spot a bit in advance.

Thank you.

Open Circle and Community Brunch
2023-05-07 10:30 - 12:00
On the first Sundays of the month, we combine our Open Circle Gathering with a community potluck brunch.

We gather and connect in a more relaxed, less structured way, yet with threads of meaning and spirituality tying it all together.

You’re welcome, if it would bring you joy, to contribute a food or drink item to share as part of the community brunch. Another option is to bring non-perishable food or toiletry items for our free mini-pantry.

If you’re new to Open Circle, you’re welcome to sign up here so you can be in the loop for future gatherings: https://forms.gle/Aa18ZuGfyy4Nv3gq7

Our community is finding a creative place in the spiritual world, where new forms of spiritual practice, artistic expression, and self-awareness are emerging to support humanity to meet the challenges of our times. We are finding balance within ourselves, making peace across differences, and stepping up to protect the Earth.

We welcome folks of all beliefs and backgrounds to build community with us as we align around a hopeful sense of common purpose. To become a member, please fill out the membership form here: www.commonstreet.org/membership

Tantra Speed Date
2023-05-13 17:30 - 20:30
The #1 dating event with the highest match rate! Tired of swiping and awkward first dates?
Now in 30+ cities, this Yoga-inspired workshop is more than dating, it’s “Yoga for your Love Life!” Combination relationship skills practice + speed date, you’ll model healthy relationship roles and share a moment of guided connection with up to 20 dates.
Exercises are fun (think light partner yoga, actor’s improv, eye-gazing, dance), and are infused with positive relating. You’ll walk away not only with matches (95% of singles make at least one match!), but with a refreshing perspective on what relationships can be!
Sign up HERE and use code 4COMMONSTREET for $10 off.

Open Circle Gathering
2023-05-14 10:30 - 11:45
The Open Circle is a weekly gathering of like-minded spiritual seekers who show up to connect authentically, share our truths, and be held in the space of a growth-oriented and loving community.

In the Open Circle, everyone has a chance to contribute as we move around the circle. You’re welcome to bring poems, songs, prayers, and insights to share.

Free and open to the public–yes, you can simply show up!

If you’re new to Open Circle, you’re welcome to register here so you can be in the loop for future gatherings: https://forms.gle/Aa18ZuGfyy4Nv3gq7\n
The Spiritual Center community is holding space for change in the lives of our members and in our world.
*we embrace diverse forms of spiritual practice and artistic expression
*we cultivate a hopeful societal vision built on principles of compassion and justice
*we support the growth of a consciousness of interconnection across human differences and between people and the whole web of life around us
*we build authentic community based on principles like love, respect, kindness, and collaboration

If this resonates, please join us! You’re welcome to become a member simply by filling out the form on this page: www.commonstreet.org/membership

Our current schedule for Open Circle is that we are meeting in person on 1st, 2nd, and 4th Sundays, and virtually or hybrid on 3rd Sundays. 1st Sundays include a potluck brunch and are less formal. However, in 2023 we are experimenting with a hybrid 3rd Sundays, with both in person and virtual options.
