Note: These are educational lectures and seminars. Sacred ceremonies are not listed here, are not offered for "sale", and some are not open to the public.

Lectures and seminars are offered at conferences, workshop centers, universities, churches, museums, book stores, and for Native American health centers and communities. To schedule an event, contact Kenneth Cohen's office at P.O. Box 1727, Nederland, CO 80466, U.S.A. Phone: 303-258-0971.

Calendar

Lecture and Book-signing Description

HONORING THE MEDICINE:
NATIVE AMERICAN HEALING

In this dynamic, information-packed, and entertaining talk, Kenneth Cohen will share cross-cultural perspectives on the principles, ethical values, and practice of Native American medicine. He will explore Native American medicine not as a thing of the past but as a living and still evolving tradition. He will discuss common misconceptions and stereotypes promoted by media, Hollywood, and the highly "imaginative" New Age Movement. Information will be presented from traditional and modern perspectives. Interspersed with songs and stories, Ken will attempt to answer: How do Native Americans understand health and disease? What is the purpose of common healing methods, such as counseling, herbs, vision-seeking, and ritual? He will also explore the connection between western and indigenous science, looking at what can and cannot be measured. At the end of the talk, Ken will sign copies of his book Honoring the Medicine, winner of the national health and wellness book award.

Workshop Descriptions

NATIVE AMERICAN MEDICINE:
PRINCIPLES, VALUES, AND PRACTICES OF THE LIVING TRADITION

Note: In addition to the educational program described below, there will be an evening Public Healing Ceremony and pot-luck dinner. Everyone is welcome, and there is no charge for this event. Donations will be gratefully accepted and 100% given to an indigenous charity.

The medicine is in us and around us; it is the beauty and sacred power of nature. It is also our sense of life-purpose and direction. Ken "Bear Hawk" Cohen, a traditional healer with more than 30 years teaching experience, will explain how discovering and honoring the medicine creates health, harmony, and happiness. Although focusing on Native American healing, Ken will also share effective and complementary practices from other ancient cultures, including Africa and Siberia. These traditions can teach us about living in harmony and beauty and how to heal our bodies, souls, and planet. Learn:

• Native American/ First Nations values: respect, courage, generosity, and humor
  
• Native American meditations to find life-purpose
  
• Breathing exercises to awaken healing energy
  
• The role of the voice in healing self and others
  
• Principles of diet and plant medicine
  
• An introduction to Native American energy medicine, including the early history of acupuncture in North America!
  
• The practice of silence, presence, and prayer
  Through discussion, story-telling, song, and experiential exercises we will awaken our indigenous hearts.

THE EAGLE AND THE SERPENT:
HEALING WISDOM OF THE AMERICAS

With Kenneth Cohen
and Grace Alvarez Sesma

Join this dynamic husband and wife team, Grace and Ken, as they share their many years of experience on the path of indigenous wisdom. You will learn about the culture, discover how to soar like an eagle, to see from a wider, spiritual perspective, and how to be close to the earth, like a snake, aware of earth energy and the healing power of nature. You will experience the use of prayer, song, and dance in healing; learn about the role of herbs in indigenous medicine; practice subtle energy healing techniques; and, through discussion and story-telling, learn about the ancient values that are the key to a whole and happy life. We will also explore such important topics as cultural appropriation-- that is, what are the appropriate and respectful ways to learn about the original healing ways of the Americas? As indigenous calendars, such as the Mayan, come to a turning point, it is time to break down barriers formed by small-mindedness. Opposites are brought to unity and harmony: eagle and snake, male and female, mind and body. We merge with El Gran Silencio, the Great Silence of Spirit. Join Ken and Grace for a weekend of traditional teachings, prayer, ceremony, dreaming, and healing.

Bio Sketch

Ken "Bear Hawk" Cohen is an internationally renowned educator, author, and traditional healer. Of Russian Jewish ancestry-- a tradition he deeply respects-- he has followed the path of indigenous wisdom, his calling and his gift, for more than 40 years. He was an apprentice to Rolling Thunder, Keetoowah, and other noted North American Indian medicine people, and also worked closely with elder healers among the Chinese, African Zulu, and Nigerian Igbo peoples. A member of the Red Cedar Circle and other medicine societies, he maintains close ties with his adoptive Cree Indian family from Canada. Ken's lectures and keynotes have been sponsored by universities, clinics, and conferences, including the Mayo Clinic, the American Cancer Society, the Canadian Ministry of Health, the Menninger Institute, the International New Thought Conference, and the World Congress on Energy Medicine (Switzerland). He is the author of Honoring the Medicine: The Essential Guide to Native American Healing, best-selling Sounds True audio/video courses, and more than 200 journal articles on spirituality and health. In 2003 Ken won the leading international award in energy medicine, the Alyce and Elmer Green Award for Innovation and Lifetime Achievement. 

Griselda (Grace) Alvarez Sesma, www.gracesesma.com, a curandera (healer) of Mexican/Yaqui heritage, was born in Baja California. She has studied with several indigenous healers from Mexico as well as the United States, principally with the noted elder, Yaqui/Lacandon Maya Medicine Man, Tezkalci Matorral Kachora of Mexico. A leader in the Latina community, in 1993 Griselda was the recipient of the prestigious leadership fellowship award by the National Hispana Leadership Institute in collaboration with Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government. That same year, she became the founding President of the Imperial Valley, California chapter of MANA, a national Latina organization, based in Washington, D.C.  Griselda is Adjunct Professor at Arizona Western College in Yuma, Arizona where she teaches "Exploring Native American Healing Traditions.”  A lively and inspiring presenter, she has a consulting and private healing practice which draws from Aztec and Mayan spiritual and healing traditions.  She collaborates with physicians to integrate western allopathic medicine with traditional Mesoamerican healing and lectures nationally on curanderismo.

Ken and Grace are happily married, parents to beautiful children and grandchildren, and live at 9,000 ft. elevation in the Indian Peaks Wilderness area of Colorado.

Calendar of Lectures, Workshops & Courses