As attendees arrived at Meaningfulworld’s annual conference at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City on 11 June they were greeted by an ambience that was warm, relaxing, and colorful thanks to fabrics from around the world, the glowing flicker of lit candles, and flowers in all the seven colors of our chakras. Participants greeted one another and expressed how comfortable and relaxed they felt as Tibetan chimes gently rang out in the background. The theme of the event was Transforming Racial, Ethnic, and Religious Divisionism: Nurturing Human Dignity & Ecological Harmony, which took place under the heading of Meaningfulworld’s annual Mind-Body-Eco-Spirit Festival. A very diverse audience of more than one hundred people attended, including United Nations delegates, academicians, government and non-governmental organizations, integrative healers, students, and alternative medicine practitioners. Meaningfulworld Intern Coordinator Raman Kaur welcomed everyone and invited all assembled to observe a moment of silence for reflection and grounding. Then she introduced Dr. Kalayjian as the Founder and President of the Association. In order to start the event off on a loving note, Dr. Kalayjian recited one of her poems called “Let Love Transform You.” After her moving poem, Peter Maniscalco preformed a shamanic drumming meditation while Manny from YogaFit demonstrated yoga movements. The audience was encouraged to participate, and many gladly did so.

     Dr. Kalayjian then announced the Integrative Healing Panel, which opened with Lama Rangbar Nyimai Ozer, President and Founder of Bodihivastu Foundation for Enlightened Activity, who led the audience in a peaceful mediation. After everyone had experienced a deep sense of relaxation through this meditation, the panel continued with Alex Simmons’ presentation on transforming ethnic stereotypes through comic book writing and illustration. He spoke about how people are represented in stereotypical ways in comic books and how this impacts children negatively. He suggested that by stopping ethnic stereotyping in comics, discrimination could be prevented in our everyday lives. His passionate talk was followed by Dr. Kalayjian’s informative presentation on the 7-Step Integrative Healing Model. She talked about different traumas that have occurred throughout history and how they impact us generationally, and she ended her talk by stating that one should always be cautious of one’s actions, because they will affect the next seven generations. Each panelist was very passionate and enthusiastic about his or her topic, which generated a very positive atmosphere. Throughout the panel the audience was very attentive and gestures of agreement showed a very strong level of involvement.

     After the presentations a film of Meaningfulworld’s Humanitarian Mission in Haiti was shown, which was timely since the Meaningfulworld Humanitarian Team is getting ready to leave for Haiti again on 19 June. During the networking break participants enjoyed the beautifully arranged and delicious food buffet. The break was followed by the graduation of Meaningfulworld’s Ambassadors: Renoude Charles, Ramandeep Kaur, Kathy Orchen, Yasmin Quaddoumi, Michael Reda, Lorraine Simmons, Susan Smith, Natalia Tomassini, Pamela Timmins, and Jean Weiss. All of the graduates offered up a short reflection on what is meaningful in their lives and how the training program impacted them, and they all thanked Meaningfulworld and Dr. Kalayjian for such a beautiful experience and expressed how transformative the journey had been.

       After each graduate received a diploma, Lorne Schussel, PhD candidate at Teachers College, Columbia University, led the group in the “Best Self Meditation,” which was very uplifting and empowering.

      Dr. Barbara Wallace presented the keynote address on New Unified Health Psychology for Healing Global Trauma from Racism and/or Oppression: Integrating African and Indigenous Perspectives. Before the closing, Dr. Kalayjian opened up the floor for questions from the audience, during which many asked where they could continue practicing the meditations and yoga that were presented during the panel. To conclude the proceedings Dr. Kalayjian led the group in the Heart-to-Heart Circle of Gratitude and Love, bringing all the participants together into a form of meditation circle with Native American drumming provided by Ohstonha Ohskennonoton.

      The festival was very well received by the participants. One attendee, Dr. Sharma, shared her experience: “I really enjoyed your conference and my students gained a new perspective on the UN. It was a great mélange of East-West therapies.” One of Meaningfulworld’s members also expressed tremendous gratitude: “Thank you for the wonderful graduation experience, it had me in tears! My guest, Harry Kendall, thought it was magical. He is an 82-year-old yoga instructor who commented, ‘The conference healed the old man’s soul!’”

      Our next event is on 25 July, a “Pamper Yourself Party” in Dr. Ani’s Peace and Forgiveness Garden.