At the opening of the second annual Winter Feast for the Soul, 30 hearty souls rose early to participate at the first global meditation at St. Thomas Church in Ketchum at 5:30 a.m. Thursday, Jan. 15. Another 17 people attended the 5:30 a.m. meditation at Emmanuel Episcopal in Hailey. And in Georgia, 18 people climbed to the top of a mountain to celebrate the opening meditation together, said organizer and founder Valerie Skonie of Hailey.
"We have no way of knowing the total number of people who have joined the Feast around the world," Skonie said. "And it all began here in Sun Valley one year ago."
She said 2,100 people registered on the organization's Web site prior to Thursday, though she believes there are many more who didn't register but are participating in the 40-day meditation period.
"I certainly know that there are large numbers of people here in the valley who have not registered," she said.
Currently there are three on-line guided meditations hosted daily by Winter Feast for the Soul on talkshoe.com. Find them by visiting the site, then do a search for Winter Feast.
David Nicol, founder and director of the Gaiafield Project and the Center for Subtle Activism in San Francisco, spoke in Ketchum last week as part of the Winter Feast's local launch. He recorded a one-hour presentation on subtle activism that is accessible also on talkshoe.com.
For more information and a list of meditation sites in the valley, visit winterfeastforthesoul.com.
