04/09/2022
About 30 years ago while researching stress and health I came across an article about Candace Pert's research on the “Molecules of Emotion” in a publication by The Institute of Noetic Sciences. I was intrigued by both the article and the organization. With a closer look I was hooked!
The Institute, IONS for short, delved into out-of-the-ordinary topics yet did so based in the scientific method. They bridged the accepted methods of discovery in our culture with subjects not often discussed, at least by most folks. I learned they had “Community Groups”, attended a workshop put on by a Community Group in my region and felt I'd found my tribe! I decided if there wasn't a group where I eventually settled I'd start one!
Hi, I'm Jan Lewis and I'm the facilitator of the Northern Wisconsin IONS Community Group and administrator of this page. I thought I'd tell you a bit about myself and why I wanted to start this group.
The “me” part: I've facilitated IONS Community Groups before, I've formally studied human development, holistic stress management, diversity studies, and mental health. I've developed and presented research-based programs on alternative healing modalities, stress and coping, and women as healers including the role of intuition. Woven through my studies and programming is the perspective of quantum physics: I believe there's more to our world than the mechanistic viewpoint that has been dominant. Enter IONS.
“I realized that the story of ourselves as told by science—our cosmology, our religion—was incomplete and likely flawed. I recognized that the Newtonian idea of separate, independent, discrete things in the universe wasn’t a fully accurate description. What was needed was a new story of who we are and what we are capable of becoming.” Dr. Edgar Mitchell
Mitchell, founder of IONS, “saw a need to reconcile his training as an engineer and astrophysicist with the wisdom of the ages to transcend the limitations of what he saw as an outdated materialist worldview. A new framework would be needed: one that could help explain the unexplainable—and spark transformation. He called this framework 'noetic sciences'.”
Here's why I love IONS:
IONS “trains the lens of science onto noetic phenomena...to gain a deeper understanding of the interconnected nature of reality. How can we better access this place of inner knowing? What are the practices that enhance our experiences of transformation, innovation, and well-being? What can science reveal to enhance those practices? How does this positively transform our lives and create a better world for all?”
IONS Community Groups are places to explore the science and inner knowing. This group will bring together the “Noetic Handshake” (“the inclusion of science and direct experience”) and opportunities to discover one's “Noetic Signature” (“personal capacities for noetic knowings”).
In the time I've facilitated IONS Community Groups one common statement I've heard from attendees is “I can't talk about these things anywhere else!”.
Sound like a fit? If so, check out the Second Saturdays meetings in Eagle River. First one is today, April 9th at the library in Eagle River (11:45 to 2:30 – bring your lunch!)
