Morning Meditation: Empyrean & Aether

Ghost Town?, Detroit Abides Tonight & Gregg on the Future of the Lab

take it easy on your eyes and see this as it was intended to be seen. February 18th, 2009 (The Moon Wanes Crescent) -Attention- - Tonight is Detroit Abides, our Monthly Free Movie in Eastern Market's heated Shed 5 is going to be awesome! Bring a chair, a blanket and some friends! Tonight's Movie: Race, The Power of An Illusion [details] - Angela is full of energy and doing very well. The Lab has been recreated to facilitate Aya's birth and we will be updating his blog, Aya Rising with all the details. We are anticipating his arrival this Friday or Saturday, but we're flexible. :) - If you have found value in our work, if we have touched your hearts or imaginations, or you have benefited from our presence in the city please consider making a micro-investment in the Lab by purchasing Lab Notes! Details below! - Note that the Lab will be closed until April 1st -Thank You!- Greetings Detroit and all those who grace us here! We are honored to welcome you to what is probably the most important Evolve Detroit that we've authored. We ask you to please take a moment to read the words below and consider new opportunities for Detroit and our entire region. As "The Lab" takes a hiatus to become the birthplace of Gregg and Angela's son, we are pleased to share our vision of the expanded Detroit Evolution Laboratory that will reopen April 1st. We take up this new phase in the midst of massive local and global changes. In the last few weeks we've seen the closings and announcements of future closings of many businesses in Detroit. This is saddening, but at the same time provides a greater opportunity for redesigning the city to meet the new demands of a relocalized economy. Growtown vs. Ghost Town and Creativity Beyond Class It is fortuitous that two new national perspectives on Detroit were brought into our sights yesterday. First, Creative Class Guru Richard Florida paints a stark picture of Detroit in How The Crash Will Reshape America in The Atlantic's cover story this month. To quote Richard at length: Evolve Detroit is a weekly, or as needed, publication produced by the Detroit Evolution Laboratory and dedicated to Health, Joy and Liberation. Subscribers this week: 833! Please share Evolve Detroit and encourage your friends and family to subscribe. Detroit Evolution Laboratory 1434 Gratiot Ave #1 Detroit, Michigan 48207 313.316.1411 The Detroit Evolution Laboratory promotes Active, Aware, Healthy and Sustainable Vegan and Raw Food Lifestyles in the city. The husband and wife team of Angela Kasmala and Gregg Newsom created "the Lab" in 2007 with the intention to share their talents and raise social, environmental and spiritual awareness. With an invaluable Development Team, a large Volunteer Corps, and the recent addition of partner Alan Scheurman the Lab is growing to meet the needs of our city. The Lab shares classes on Vegan and Raw Food, Yoga, Meditation, Shamanism, and Body Awareness. We also offer Bodywork, Nutritional Counseling and Sustainable Lifestyle Training. We also provide Sustainable Vegan and Raw Food Catering for any sized event. Featured in Hour Detroit Magazine, Model D, The Metrotimes, Fox 2 Sunday Morning, Real Detroit Weekly, and WDIV's 2008 4 the Best, Detroit Evolution Laboratory has been recognized as a community-based, healthy and incredibly tasty alternative for the people of Detroit. "Perhaps no major city in the U.S. today looks more beleaguered than Detroit, where in October the average home price was $18,513, and some 45,000 properties were in some form of foreclosure. A recent listing of tax foreclosures in Wayne County, which encompasses Detroit, ran to 137 pages in the Detroit Free Press. The city’s public school system, facing a budget deficit of $408 million, was taken over by the state in December; dozens of schools have been closed since 2005 because of declining enrollment. Just 10 percent of Detroit’s adult residents are college graduates, and in December the city’s jobless rate was 21 percent." "To say the least, Detroit is not well positioned to absorb fresh blows. The city has of course been declining for a long time. But if the area’s auto headquarters, parts manufacturers, and remaining auto-manufacturing jobs should vanish, it’s hard to imagine anything replacing them." "When work disappears, city populations don’t always decline as fast as you might expect. Detroit, astonishingly, is still the 11th-largest city in the U.S. “If you no longer can sell your property, how can you move elsewhere?” said Robin Boyle, an urban-planning professor at Wayne State University, in a December Associated Press article. But then he answered his own question: “Some people just switch out the lights and leave—property values have gone so low, walking away is no longer such a difficult option.” "Perhaps Detroit has reached a tipping point, and will become a ghost town. I’d certainly expect it to shrink faster in the next few years than it has in the past few. But more than likely, many people will stay—those with no means and few obvious prospects elsewhere, those with close family ties nearby, some number of young professionals and creative types looking to take advantage of the city’s low housing prices. Still, as its population density dips further, the city’s struggle to provide services and prevent blight across an ever-emptier landscape will only intensify." We think Richard has his numbers straight, but he's missing what is to us the most important piece of the puzzle, the People of Detroit. We propose that the people to be celebrated, honored and supported as the Real Creative Class are the people who are working to relocalize our food supply, those helping laid-off workers and high school drop-outs become entrepreneurs, and especially those who have learned to weather economic 'downturns' over the last 40 years. To fill in that piece of the puzzle for Richard and the rest of us we submit Breath of Hope from Flyp. Watching and reading this piece you'll meet some of the people who are working together to recreate Detroit from the ground up. We're honored to call many included here friends as well as heroes and hope that, in light of OUR current struggles, you will be as inspired by their work and message. We applaud Flypmedia.com and the authors/artists for documenting the unsung vitality and creative passion of the People of Detroit. We experience daily a Detroit that is certainly flawed, but one that is actively pursuing a meaningful cultural shift that can serve as a beacon for us all. We see heart centered and food focused communities emerging across the city and region. The expansion and success of these grassroots movements, micro-DIY businesses, and the reconnection to the earth are vital to our survival. We are blessed to be witness to these evolutionary changes and inspire all of our readers to look inward. As e.e. cummings notes, "It takes courage to grow up and turn out to be who you really are..." We are pleased to share that even as we pause for Aya's birth, Detroit Evolution Laboratory and Evolve Detroit are now more than ever dedicated to assisting people in finding that courage within themselves and in each other. We have a great deal to offer one another! An Important Note from Gregg on the Future of Detroit Evolution Laboratory One of the reasons for our easing up on your inbox recently is that Angela and I have been focused on preparing for our son Aya's arrival and the entire Lab crew have been taking a serious look at our past and the future of the Lab. We are excited to share our vision with you here. A Little Lab History Two years ago, when we began this mission, we had no idea what this experiment would reveal and how it would change our lives. It has been an enlightening path with unexpected allies stepping forward, unimagined public support of our work and external cultural shifts that have thankfully assisted to bring attention to our vision of a New Detroit. It has been a very blessed adventure that has been more rewarding than any other we have undertaken. We thank you all for being a part of this leg of our journey. As is bound to be the case in any construct based on dualism, the past two years have also been the most challenging of our lives. When we opened the Lab we did so with nothing but intention and our best 'faith without works is dead' attitude. We're usually a couple of steps ahead of most trends and in keeping with that two and a half years ago Angela and I found ourselves unemployed. I like to think that the economic crisis hit us first so that we could start the Lab and learn about the concepts and skills that we now share every day. We started the Lab with $3000 that we 'found' by selling my car and monthly bills enough to eat that up in a heartbeat. Putting that knowledge to the back of our heads we elected to proceed in rolling out to the public a business with a strange name and an almost unimaginable montage of products, services and radical social theory. We elected to become the business, and joyfully share our talents with our city. To our surprise we survived the first month and carried on ahead. We created an active and evolving business plan that changed based upon our interaction with the community created by our sudden emergence. We laid a solid foundation for the Lab in a near militant dedication to the people of Detroit and to our guiding values; Food Security, Diversity, Progressive Politics, Social, Environmental and Economic Justice, Clean Energy, Universal Health Care, World Peace, Media Responsibility, and Free Education. Firmly rooted in these values, we purposefully have allowed other aspects of the Lab to shift and change as opportunities and challenges have waxed and waned. Now as we prepare to welcome our son to the world, we are preparing for another shift in our business. A Lab Birth To facilitate this shift we closed Detroit Evolution Laboratory on Valentine's Day. Like everyone who has been blessed to join us for classes and events here, we absolutely adore this unique space on the southern end of Eastern Market. As many of you know, we are pursuing a home birth and feel the Lab is the most comfortable, beautiful and energetically sound place for Aya to be born. After we closed our doors to the public last Saturday, with the help of some dear friends we transformed the Lab for this sacred task. We shifted the walls, brought up a birthing pool, and if possible, made the Lab even more comfortable and relaxing than it was before. Some of our neighbors on Service Street, the cobble stone street behind the Lab, have already nicknamed Aya 'Service Street Baby' and it just seems right for us to plan on this being his place of birth. Angela, Aya and I will spend about a month after the birth living here in the Lab, bonding and easing into our new life together. We'll then relocate our personal lives to a new space and reopen the Lab on April 1st. The Future Lab Aya's arrival, and the establishment of a separate personal space, presents us with the opportunity to greatly expand our offerings. We will offer daily open hours, new classes in a larger Lab Studio and improved Lab Kitchen, and a Community Library focused on Health and Awareness. The Lab will also offer evening workshops, lectures and serve as a healthy positive place for people to come together. We are expanding our Catering Business and are pleased to announce that the Lab will offer our healthy vegan food at Funk Night every month! In addition, we will actively deepen our connections with the amazing neighborhoods around the Lab and pursue active Suburban Outreach. We consider it a great honor to be able to step forward, with Aya, and improve our services and offerings. Of course, these opportunities present us with new challenges, especially in the midst of an economic crisis. We have, within the week, seen Detroit businesses close before our eyes. This gives us pause, but our work is founded upon bringing value back to meaningful and heartfelt interactions that inspire the creativity requisite to facing the economic, environmental and social challenges at hand. We consider these challenges to be gateways towards a more sustainable, healthy and aware lifestyle. The birth of our son serves as inspiration to this end for his sake, ours and everyone. Aya also mandates a creative yet sober approach to this new phase of Detroit Evolution Laboratory. As the Lab has grown over the past two years we've had opportunities to pursue large expansions that would have extended us way beyond our means. Though these opportunities have been tempting, we are still healing from past personal debt and in the current economy we're wary of loans and credit. Many believe that growing a successful business demands certain risks and we agree. But the risks that we prefer to make are those that challenge standard business practices. Being slightly ahead of the curve again, our risks are ones that we feel many others will soon be poised to take. It is our intention that the risks we now take on will assist in the creation of a meaningful and responsible business model that can be replicated throughout our city and region. Introducing Lab Notes Today, one of our risks is sharing frankly that, though we have everything in place to reopen, we must ask for your support to meet these challenges and create a sustainable business that will remain in service to our community for years to come. To put our plan into action, gently expand, staff and create a secure financial foundation for the new Lab we need to raise $8,000 in the next few months. We know these are rough times to ask for financial support. We've done the math though, and if our 800+ Evolve Detroit subscribers each invest $10 we will easily meet this goal. So we ask sincerely, If you have found value in our work, if we have touched your hearts or imaginations, or you have benefited from our presence in the city please consider a minimal investment in the Lab and its mission. Of course, we're a for-profit business and, out of admiration for our brothers and sisters in the non-profit sector, we must not confuse that fact. Based on the brilliant capital raising strategy of Jackie and Anne of Avalon International Bakery, we've created a viable opportunity for you to independently micro-invest in the Lab. Rather than simply ask for your assistance without return we are excited to now offer 'Lab Notes' to help us raise the greatly needed yet minimal capital to carry our work forward. How Do Lab Notes Work? For each dollar invested we will present you with .50 in Lab Notes good for any of our offerings. 'Lab Notes' can be redeemed 3 months after the reopening of the Lab. Lab Notes can be used for half the total amount of a purchase. The remainder of unredeemed Lab Notes can then be used for half of your future purchases until complete. For example, if you elect to make a $100 'investment' in the Lab we will issue you $50 in Lab Notes. This $50 can be redeemed for half of your purchases until completed. For further example, if you purchase an $80 yoga pass, you can use $40 of Lab Notes. Your remaining $10 in Lab Notes can be used when you next purchase $20 or more. Purchasing Lab Notes There are many ways to purchase Lab Notes, cash, check, money order or paypal if you would like to do so electronically. Though the Lab is closed we will continue to be active in events across the city, like tonight's Detroit Abides and will be able to issue you a receipt for your Lab Notes. You can mail other forms of payment to: Detroit Evolution Laboratory 1434 Gratoit Ave #1 Detroit Michigan 48207 Please include your mailing address and expect your Lab Notes to arrive within 2-3 weeks. Micro-Invest in Detroit Evolution Laboratory by purchasing your Lab Notes Today! We THANK YOU so much for your support of our work! Other Ways To Help The Lab In addition to this financial support we are seeking advocates and advisors to assist us in not only fortifying our business in this socially conscious and evolutionary model, but to lay the foundation for other like minded DIY businesses that we and others are fostering throughout the region. As always we are seeking volunteers to assist not only the Lab but our community partners and the incredible Transition Movement that we promote throughout South Eastern Michigan. There is no shortage in opportunities for good work in Detroit and we are honored that part of our business is helping people find meaningful projects. We are putting together a few Fund Raisers for the Lab and are looking for Venues, Bands, Artists, and Organizers who would like to help! We are still in pursuit of opening a community based restaurant and are actively seeking partners in this project but our passion and our mission is to educate rather than create a passive dining experience. We have our sites on a viable restaurant location in the Market, a well defined business model, and a community anxious to get their hands on Angela's amazing food, but we have learned to be patient. We are waiting for the all of the right people to come forward and make this dream a reality. We would love to speak with others about this project but we have made reopening the Lab our primary project. Detroit has changed immensely in the past two years and we are honored to be a very small part of that change. As we all know, there is a great deal more change on the horizon. We believe that Detroit Evolution Laboratory's mission and work can continue to assist the people of Detroit to not only survive and sustain but also heal and grow. We want to thank you all for the past two years and look forward to many more as your neighbors and your friends. We thank you all for all of your support and encouragement over the past two years! We would not be here if it were not for each of you! If you have any questions about this or any of our work please feel free to call me directly at 313.316.1411 In Health, Joy and Liberation Gregg Newsom Co-founder Detroit Evolution Laboratory On the third Wednesday of every month DETROIT ABIDES screens a movie on a sustainable topic, explores the topic at the local level through discussion and support from regional groups and businesses, and creates a space to meet like-minded people from all walks of life & grow an active, healthy community. For this casual event, please bring a comfortable seat. Though Shed 5 is enclosed and heated, it’s a large space so bringing sweaters, blankets and friends is advised. Shed 5 is located at the corner of Russell and Alfred St. Parking is available in the lot adjacent to the Shed. Detroit Abides - A FREE Monthly Sustainability Gathering in Eastern Market Wednesday, Februdary 18th, 7 - 9 pm in Eastern Market's heated Shed 5 Dismantling Racism in Detroit This months FREE movie Race: the Power of an Illusion This month please join Great Lakes Bioneers Detroit, Detroit Evolution Laboratory, and Eastern Market Corporation for a powerful DETROIT ABIDES. On Wednesday February 18th from 7 - 9 pm we'll gather and screen 2 of the 3 part series Race: The Power of an Illusion. We will view the episodes The Story We Tell and The House We Live In. This informative documentary will assist us to establish an open dialog on Racism requisite to Social Justice and meaningful change in Detroit. The division of the world's peoples into distinct groups - "red," "black," "white" or "yellow" peoples - has become so deeply embedded in our psyches, so widely accepted, many would promptly dismiss as crazy any suggestion of its falsity. Yet, that's exactly what this provocative, new three-hour series by California Newsreel claims. Race - The Power of an Illusion questions the very idea of race as biology, suggesting that a belief in race is no more sound than believing that the sun revolves around the earth. The Story We Tell uncovers the roots of the race concept in North America, the 19th century science that legitimated it, and how it came to be held so fiercely in the western imagination. The episode is an eye-opening tale of how race served to rationalize, even justify, American social inequalities as "natural." The House We Live In asks, If race is not biology, what is it? This episode uncovers how race resides not in nature but in politics, economics and culture. It reveals how our social institutions "make" race by disproportionately channeling resources, power, status and wealth to white people Purposeful (Not Random) Acts of Kindness Garie Thomas-Bass, Kertia Thomas-Black and Kirtis Thomas III Please check out Garie's new website for more Purposeful Acts of Kindness! We have copies of Garie's book in stock at the Lab for $16 or if you're out of town you can order a copy through her new web page. "Even though our book may not be considered politically correct, it is written with the hope that some ideas that used to be called “common sense” will again become the behavior of choice. There is one rule presented for each week of the year. The fifty-two “suggestions” Our hope is that each person will use in his/her life some of these straightforward and easily applied ideas after it is understood why they are important. Truthfully, these rediscovered actions will allow us to live together in society with as little confrontational stress as possible." Please help keep the Lab Up and Running! Detroit Evolution proudly uses Get your "Lab" Materials

Laboratory Sweet Laboratory, pt. 1

Yesterday, the nesting instinct finally took hold of me. Though I love my students and our work here I'll gladly share that it was a phenomenal feeling to close the doors after our last yoga class this Saturday and establish, for the first time in two years, a private and personal space. The live/work aspect of our business is one of the many incredible inventions of necessity that we've discovered. It has been a great blessing and also a challenge. So I breathed a sigh of relief Saturday and then yesterday, with intense vigour, the father aspects of nesting rose up within me. In a day, with the help of some incredible brothers, I recreated the Lab as a sacred space for Aya's birth and as a Home.

Angela spent the majority of the day with girlfriends to avoid the dust of our work. She returned to find the Lab reordered and 'the cave', as we called our hidden bedroom, transformed into a veiled chamber. Upon pulling the veil, she wept to see our bed and birthing pool comfortably nestled in walls draped with lights and the same fabric that wrapped the columns of the Temple we were married under. I draped Aya's bassinet in the same fabric and placed in in the corner under a collection of photos, with a picture of her father Stan at the forefront. The unpainted drywall underneath was hidden by deep greens and blues, gold, and a rich burgundy. I was concerned that she would find it kitch or high school, but she loves it and I have to say that I'm actually pleased with it. My old decorative goth-punk skills and burning man inspired reliance merged and came to great use here yesterday! Great thanks to everyone who has assisted and supported us along the way!

As we move into this new phase of life at the Lab, I thought it would be advantageous to document the story of the space thus far, a bit of it's history and our intentions for it's future. Over the next few days, since I have to keep nesting, I'll post this as a serial.

In Health Joy and Liberation,
Gregg

Laboratory Sweet Laboratory, pt. 1

We moved into the Lab in June of 2007. We we're drawn to the space by a photograph of an old kitchen sink hung on the back of brick building on Craigslist. The sink, now a planter, was filled with vibrant flowers that set off the turquoise green/blue rustic door next to it. The ad was for an Eastern Market Loft and we knew the Market was perfect for our new venture.

I called and was saddened to discover that there wasn't a dishwasher. No dishwasher meant that, with all the cooking Angela does, we'd be knee deep in dishes. I let the landlord know that we really had to have a dishwasher but asked if we could come by and see the place anyways. We just wanted to check out the area a bit more and when you're a Detroit fanatic you rarely turn down an opportunity to explore local buildings.

We did the exact same thing that the majority of our students and friends did when looking for the Lab for the first time. We walked up and down Gratiot looking desperately for 1434. All the entrances to the building were gated up. I called the landlord and he lead us around the back.

We turned the corner from Russell onto Service Street and knew instantly that we had found something special. I frequented 'underground' parties in the Market in the late 80's and early 90's, and I had a flood of memories return to my awareness. This important connection would deepen and assist in the development of the Lab. We found the door and we're greeted by a man who would become one of our greatest allies and supporters, Ara Howrani.

February's Detroit Abides - Race the Power of an Illusion

ABIDE: to endure, sustain, or withstand without yielding or submitting: to abide a vigorous onslaught.

If you would like to be a Detroit Abides resource or to 'table' at this important event please contact Lisa

On the third Wednesday of every month DETROIT ABIDES screens a movie on a sustainable topic, explores the topic at the local level through discussion and support from regional groups and businesses, and creates a space to meet like-minded people from all walks of life & grow an active, healthy community. For more information or to get involved call “the Lab” 313.316.1411

Wednesday, Februdary 18th, 7 - 9 pm in Eastern Market's heated Shed 5 This Month's Topic: Dismantling Racism in Detroit This months FREE movie is Race: the Power of an Illusion This month please join Great Lakes Bioneers Detroit, Detroit Evolution Laboratory, and Eastern Market Corporation for a powerful DETROIT ABIDES. On Wednesday February 18th from 7 - 9 pm we'll gather and screen 2 of the 3 part series Race: The Power of an Illusion. We will view the episodes The Story We Tell and The House We Live In. This informative documentary will assist us to establish an open dialog on Racism requisite to Social Justice and meaningful change in Detroit. The division of the world's peoples into distinct groups - "red," "black," "white" or "yellow" peoples - has become so deeply embedded in our psyches, so widely accepted, many would promptly dismiss as crazy any suggestion of its falsity. Yet, that's exactly what this provocative, new three-hour series by California Newsreel claims. Race - The Power of an Illusion questions the very idea of race as biology, suggesting that a belief in race is no more sound than believing that the sun revolves around the earth. The Story We Tell uncovers the roots of the race concept in North America, the 19th century science that legitimated it, and how it came to be held so fiercely in the western imagination. The episode is an eye-opening tale of how race served to rationalize, even justify, American social inequalities as "natural." The House We Live In asks, If race is not biology, what is it? This episode uncovers how race resides not in nature but in politics, economics and culture. It reveals how our social institutions "make" race by disproportionately channeling resources, power, status and wealth to white people For this casual event, please bring a comfortable seat. Though Shed 5 is enclosed and heated, it’s a large space so bringing sweaters, blankets and friends is advised. Shed 5 is located at the corner of Russell and Alfred St. Parking is available in the lot adjacent to the Shed.

Please support and promote our partners:

ABIDE: to endure, sustain, or withstand without yielding or submitting: to abide a vigorous onslaught.

New Classes, A Baby Update & the Rise of Transition Detroit!

January 28th, 2008 (The Moon Waxes Crescent) The world in which you were born is just one model of reality. Other cultures are not failed attempts at being you: they are unique manifestations of the human spirit. -Wade Davis We need more light about each other. Light creates understanding, understanding creates love, love creates patience, and patience creates unity. -Malcom X Inherent within the challenges of peak oil and climate change is an extraordinary opportunity to reinvent, rethink and rebuild the world around us. -Rob Hopkins Greetings Detroit and all those who grace us here! Welcome to another edition of Evolve Detroit. It has been some time since we've been able to put together a full edition. The buzz around the Lab is even more palpable than usual and we're pleased to have a moment to sit down and share with you here. There's a great deal of info to impart, so we'll dive right in. To the great many of you reading this for the first time, thank you so much for joining us! At the Lab, and in our newsletter, we do things a bit differently. When we 'press return' on the first edition of Evolve Detroit on 07.07.07, we decided to do something simple that turned out to be rather revolutionary. We elected to actively ask our readers to take a moment and mindfully interact with us. We put our hearts into our work and invite you to meet us at that same level. We appreciate heartfelt communication and interaction with others and that's what we strive to share here and in all aspects of our business and our lives. Rather than simply blast you with information (with apologies to our Facebook friends) about this event or that happening, all involved with the Lab have elected to engage and share with you all at a deep and meaningful level. We've been blessed by a great deal of media attention and the Lab's been defined as a socially and environmentally conscious business, but for us it is so much more than a business model. It is the way we live and, without dogma or judgment, we posit the return of heartfelt meaningful interaction to our culture. We belive this to be a vital aspect of the change requisite to weather the multiple crises at hand. There exists multiple grassroots communities of entrepreneurs, artists and activists in Detroit who interact within their own ranks at this level, but now is the time expand this type of interaction beyond ourselves. It is time to bring heartfelt sharing into all aspects of our lives and into life on our block, in our neighborhood, into the City Council and the Mayors Office, to our entire region, Lansing and beyond. We know these are tall words, but based upon our findings in what is admittedly an experiment, we think we're onto something.

Evolve Detroit is a weekly, or as needed, publication produced by the Detroit Evolution Laboratory and dedicated to Health, Joy and Liberation. Subscribers this week: 808! Please share Evolve Detroit and encourage your friends and family to subscribe. Evolve Detroit is evolving into an online Urban Transition Fieldbook that will help facilitate the development of our community and support the Transition Movement in Detroit. If you are interested in taking an active role in Evolve Detroit we're looking for like-minded organizations, bloggers and artists to get involved. Please contact Gregg Detroit Evolution Laboratory 1434 Gratiot Ave #1 Detroit, Michigan 48207 313.316.1411 The Detroit Evolution Laboratory promotes Active, Aware, Healthy and Sustainable Vegan and Raw Food Lifestyles in the city. The husband and wife team of Angela Kasmala and Gregg Newsom created "the Lab" in 2007 with the intention to share their talents and raise social, environmental and spiritual awareness. With an invaluable Development Team, a large Volunteer Corps, and the recent addition of partner Alan Scheurman the Lab is growing to meet the needs of our city. The Lab shares classes on Vegan and Raw Food, Yoga, Meditation, Shamanism, and Body Awareness. We also offer Bodywork, Nutritional Counseling and Sustainable Lifestyle Training. We also provide Sustainable Vegan and Raw Food Catering for any sized event. Featured in Hour Detroit Magazine, Model D, The Metrotimes, Fox 2 Sunday Morning, Real Detroit Weekly, and WDIV's 2008 4 the Best, Detroit Evolution Laboratory has been recognized as a community-based, healthy and incredibly tasty alternative for the people of Detroit.

So, with that verbose explanation we're honored to ask our new readers and seasoned veterans alike to take the arrival this Evolve Detroit as an opportunity to look at things from a slightly different perspective. Step away from the computer for a moment to fill up a cup or glass of your favorite beverage and as you do so shift your awareness from what you were working on to the present moment. When you return, sit back in your chair and take a few deep breaths and allow yourself to relax into this. If you are not already, consider reading Evolve Detroit in your browser. The intended design and flow of text on the page will make it easier on the eyes. This time around we also invite you to take Evolve Detroit's arrival not only as a break but also as an opportunity to suspend disbelief and step into a space of great potential. As you read below, breathe in all the wonderful things happening in and around the Lab and our incredible city and give yourself permission to mentally explore simple local solutions that can alter massive global threats that many of us are now beginning to know as personal threats. Allow yourself to consider that it is possible to weather the storm at hand and at the same time deepen the meaning of our lives by reaching out to our neighbors and taking care of one another without recourse to class or creed. Most importantly here, we invite you to bring to mind a world where we can do more than simply weather this storm, but by learning to shift our focus and intention, we can empower ourselves as we assist in the empowerment of others. And if that's too heavy handed, that's OK, inclusion is easy when we all take personal responsibility for the level at which we interact with the world around us. So, you can, without judgment, give yourself permission to simply check out how we're all getting ready for our son Aya's arrival and scroll through the awesome events and groups we're involved with and promoting in the city. It's all good, and more than that, we thank you for taking on that personal responsibility because it swings the other way as well, it allows us to sincerely ask those who see the value in engaging with depth to lend a hand and help take these concepts from theory to practice. The Lab has survived thus far because others have asked us if we need help and we have said yes. We have actively sought assistance from our own growing community and our brother and sister communities with whom we are interwoven. Gratitude Another important aspect of Evolve Detroit and the Lab in general is our constant quest to express our Gratitude for all of the wonderful people and groups that help us to stay afloat. We've found that active gratitude helps to lay the foundation for more meaningful and heartfelt interaction with the world around us. We hope reading these expressions of gratitude will inspire and assist in lightening any weight you may carry. This week, as usual, we have many people to thank. First, we again want to thank all of our new subscribers and everyone who recently discovered what we affectionately call the Lab. We've been blessed by an great deal of attention by the media, Fox2 News in particular, and we want to thank all of you who have taken the time to look us up and joined us here. Over and over again we state that we would not be here if it were not for each of you. We understand the value and importance of your even minimal attention to the continuation of our work and for this we are extremely grateful. For this we also thank those of you who recently joined us and those who've been around since day one. We thank you for continuing to be present with us and our work. We are honored to share all the changes that we have already been through and the awesome changes on the horizon. We also must thank too many of you to mention by name for having the courage to get involved with the Lab and share a little bit of yourselves and your talents with the community we're growing together. We think that it takes great courage to try new things and reach out to others these days. Thank you all so much! We also must heap great amounts of gratitude on our dear friends Carla and Ward for gifting us their van! Carla's been coming round the Lab since we first opened up and has supported and inspired us since we met. Sadly, our blessings come due to Carla and Ward's decision to head to what appears to be the current Green Mecca of Portland. Of course, in Green Mecca a family doesn't really need a vehicle, let alone two! Their gracious decision to gift us their second vehicle is almost too incredible for us to process. Though we are part of a large community working to change this, Detroit without a car is challenging and when you add business needs and a winter pregnancy into the mix it becomes even more intense. We want to wish Carla and Ward all the best in their new home. Our love and deep gratitude to you and yours! In the same breath and with the same emphasis we must thank our co-conspirator Danielle for the use of her Jeep on and off again for the past 4 or 5 months! Many of you know Danielle from our booth in Eastern Market's Shed 2 in the Fall and our other events. She's easy to spot because she is the one who is always helping someone or taking up the most challenging aspects of a project. The Lab wouldn't have made it through to 2009 without this generous and nearly unheard of level of compassion and concern for Angela, Aya and Gregg and our work here. Thank you so much Danielle, you're cut from rare stuff to be sure! There are also a host of others who has helped us by taking Angela on supply runs, picking things up for us, or making deliveries and we thank you all as well. The effect of your kindness have made all the difference to us here. Finally, though we could go on and on, we want to thank everyone who has visited the Lab in the past few weeks. We're a bit off the beaten path because that's where we thrive and, whether it be for yoga, bodywork or kitchen classes, we thank you for taking the time to find our little sacred space in Eastern Market. It really does mean the world to us! Please check out all our new offerings below and the great classes we just added! Have a wonderful week and know that we all look forward to seeing you soon! In Health, Joy and Liberation Gregg, Angela & Aya, Alan & the entire Lab Crew

Angela & Gregg's Baby Product Guidelines Toys and Books: Stay away from plastic toys, rather consider positive and educational toys made from natural materials. Please read the guide included below from healthytoys.org Clothing: Conventional cotton crops alone account for $2.6 billion in pesticides used each year. Even though cotton only uses 2.4% of all cultivated land, 25% of the world’s pesticides and 10% of the world’s insecticides are used on it yearly. The problems with clothing production do not stop in the field. During the conversion of conventional cotton into clothing, numerous toxic chemicals are added at each stage – such as harsh petroleum scours, softeners, brighteners, heavy metals, flame and soil retardants, ammonia and formaldehyde. With this in mind please consider items made of organic cotton, hemp, wool (second-hand), or bamboo. We would appreciate gently used clothing as well. We are asking for clothing size 0-12 months. Baby Personal Care Products: Recent studies have shown that traditional baby personal care products include unhealthy ingredients such as parabens and pthalates. We have included products we trust on our registry. A good rule of thumb is to stick with products made with only natural, organic ingredients. For more fun urban vegan baby info check out Angela & Gregg's baby blog Aya Rising

Aya Rising! A Baby Update from Gregg We're pleased to share with our new readers that Angela and I are 9 months pregnant and are joyfully preparing for our son Aya's arrival at the end of February. It has been a while since we have given an update and we are very pleased to share that Angela and Aya are doing very well. The challenges and opportunities pregnancy and child rearing have brought to our pursuit of a healthy, humane, and sustainable lifestyle are utterly monumental. We're blessed to know so many mindful mothers and fathers and want to thanks them for their suggestions and support. For the past few months we have been working closely with our wonderful midwife and are preparing for a water birth here at the Lab. (This of course, brings up logistics that we will get to in an upcoming special Evolve Detroit) Due to our lifestyle and Angela's overall health we have chosen the path of natural childbirth and have sought the most minimal engagement with western medicine possible. We have been very blessed by following this path as it has been very smooth and Angela's nutrition levels have satisfied not only our midwife, which is most important, but also many of our friends in western medicine. Aya's extremely active and seems to be into dancing quite a bit. We've already begun working on spatial development by using vibration and directional chanting, reiki and the like. Thanks to our blurring of the line of work and life, we've already been able to shift our sleep schedule to meet Aya's in utero patterns to ease the transition. We could, like all new parents, go on and on about the incredible rite of passage that is pregnancy so we created Aya Rising, our urban baby blog, to share more and we invite you to check it out. We also want to sincerely thank all of you who have inquired about our baby registry and for your offers of assistance as we prepare for Aya's birth. We're registered at http://www.myregistry.com/ and http://www.target.com under Angela Kasmala or Gregg Newsom. As you all know we have dedicated our lives and work towards social and environmental justice and strive to share this with others through example and education. A few friends have graciously gifted many of the larger requisite items to us so we have focused these registries on specific staple items that we feel are important. We've also put together a few guidelines for purchasing baby items. We highly recommend you share this with others you know who have little ones. We thank you for the extra time and effort that these considerations require. We’ve found the benefits of this path worth the extra effort and we appreciate your care, support and love as we welcome Aya and move into this new illuminating phase of our life together.

Vegan and Raw Food Classes with Angela & Gregg Our classes are about much more than just food preparation - learn how to reduce waste through composting and recycling, explore sustainability, meet like minded people, and share great food, information and resources. We will prepare a four-course meal from start to finish, and then sit down together to enjoy the fruits and veggies of our labor! We offer our students a unique experience and an opportunity not only learn, but also to connect with others and realize the importance of food in our lives and the world. The food you choose to eat can change the world! Space in these intimate classes is limited and full payment is required to register. Please call 313.316.1411 or email to arrange payment. Winter Restoration - This is Angela's last official class before Aya's arrival! Saturday, January 31st, 4 - 7 pm - $45 We just added this class, but there are only 4 seats left! Winter is the hardest season in which to cleanse, especially in a colder climate like Michigan where more fuel is needed to keep the body warm. It is possible though, and cleansing in the proper way can be extremely beneficial in keeping the body healthy through the winter months. In this class Angela will share information and recipes designed to support the body nutritionally so it can cleanse in a gentle, safe way. Announcing Gregg's first class for Men! The Hearty Vegan Saturday, Feb 7th, 4 - 7 pm - $45 Though veganism is accessible to and, we feel, beneficial for everyone, in our culture men are confronted with unique challenges. We'll break through the protein myth, discuss proper male nutrition, the importance of body awareness, and have a great time doing so! In this class Gregg will share hearty yet healthy recipes that will assist in the transition to a vegan diet or help current vegans to expand their repertoire. Think homemade Brats grilled in peppers, onions and Red Stripe. Register soon as these classes sell out quickly!

These secrets of yoga are within the hearts of everyone. ~Yoga Rahasya III.29 Yoga sessions at the Lab are always dedicated to the health, joy and liberation of all beings. Special attention is paid to the act of doing yoga in Detroit and sharing the personal change achieved with change in the community. Our classes are taught specifically for the students in attendance. Yoga is first and foremost about the breath and does not refer to our experience or physical flexibility. In the Lab we find common ground daily and practice from that point. Market Saturdays are particularly energetic and our practice reflects and contributes to that energy. What could be better than visiting the market, doing yoga and picking up all your fresh fruits and vegetables? Yoga Schedule: Please NOTE: We will be closing the Lab on February 14th and will transfer our yoga sessions to an exciting close temporary location TBA. Stay Tuned! Mon Tues Wed Thurs Fri Sat 10 a.m. Gregg 5:30 p.m. Gregg 5:30 p.m. Gregg Noon Gregg Doors open a half an hour prior to class and are locked promptly at the start of class! All classes begin with Sun Salutations or a similar breath and body warming flow (vinyasa). All classes are an hour and fifteen minutes long. We also make time for individual assistance and discussion after every class. Class Fees: Walk-ins: $10.00 Your Yoga Instructors: Gregg Newsom Gregg connected to yoga at a young age but began his focused study and practice in 1994. In addition to asana, he pursued pranayama, meditation, tantra and more esoteric studies. In 2004, he began to teach at yoga studios and medical centers across the Metro Detroit area. Though teaching many styles of yoga, his personal practice is Ashtanga. In 2006, Gregg traveled to Mysore, India to study with Ashtanga guru Sri K. Pattabhi Jois. His time in India enhanced his connection to the traditional practice of yoga and he strives to share this with all of his students. He's been blessed to practice and study with Matthew Darling, Manju Jois, David Life, Sharon Gannon, Tim Miller and R. Sharath Rangaswamy. Gregg writes on yoga and other topics in his Detroit As A Portal blog.

What Is The Transition Movement? An evening with Michael Brownlee and Lynette Hanthorn of Transition Boulder This Thursday, Jan 29th 7:30 - 9:30 pm Please join us in Eastern Market's heated Shed 5 on Thursday, January 29th from 7:30 - 9:30 pm, for a very special and important talk with Michael Brownlee of Transition Boulder County. The Transition Movement is proving to be the most inspiring and fastest growing social movement in human history. The Detroit Evolution Laboratory shares its vision whole-heartedly and has already been working to reach many of the same goals, long before we even knew such an organized movement existed. So, what is Transition? Now in all 50 states, Transition empowers communities to squarely face the challenges of peak oil and climate change, and to unleash the collective genius of their own people to find the answers to this momentous question: For all those aspects of life that this community needs to sustain itself and thrive, how are we going to drastically reduce carbon emissions (in response to climate change), significantly rebuild resilience (in response to peak oil), and greatly strengthen our local economy (in response to economic instability that we are so familiar with in Detroit)? Transition Initiatives, designed to achieve relocalization at the community level, represent one of the most promising ways of engaging people and communities in strengthening themselves against the effects of these monumental challenges, resulting in a life that is more fulfilling, socially connected, and resilient. Hundreds of communities around the world are joining together in the fastest-growing social change movement in history, unleashing their collective genius to meet the greatest challenges of our time. Michael Brownlee is co-founder of Transition Boulder County, a non-profit organization whose mission is to catalyze, inspire, encourage, network, support and train communities as the consider, adopt, adapt and implement Transition Initiatives. Transition Boulder County recently became the first Transition Initiative in North America. A catalyst for relocalization - developing community resilience and self-reliance in food, energy, and economy - Michael spearheads the organization's campaign to rebuild community and strengthen economies. This is an awesome opportunity for Detroit's Activist Community to come together and talk Transition. Please join us! Read More About TRANSITION!

The Power of Community How Cuba Survived Peak Oil Transition Ann Arbor Screening & Talk Please consider joining the Lab as we 'road trip' to Ann Arbor to support Transition Ann Arbor who have assisted us greatly in bringing Michael and Lynette to Detroit. If you're interested in Vanpooling with us in the new Lab Van please get in touch asap! Details: We will be showing The Power of Community: How Cuba Survived Peak Oil at Detroit Abides in March! Time: Friday, Jan 30 at 7:00pm Location: Ann Arbor Friends Meeting Street: 1420 Hill Street City/Town: Ann Arbor MI 48104 Come see an inspiring example of how an entire country pulled together in response to the cutoff of their energy supply. Discussion follows, led by Michael Brownlee and Lynette Hanthorn of Transition Boulder County. About the film: When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1990, Cuba's economy went into a tailspin. With imports of oil cut by more than half - and food by 80 percent - people were desperate. This film tells of the hardships and struggles as well as the community and creativity of the Cuban people during this difficult time. Cubans share how they transitioned from a highly mechanized, industrial agricultural system to one using organic methods of farming and local, urban gardens. It is an unusual look into the Cuban culture during this economic crisis, which they call "The Special Period." The film opens with a short history of Peak Oil, a term for the time in our history when world oil production will reach its all-time peak and begin to decline forever. Cuba, the only country that has faced such a crisis - the massive reduction of fossil fuels - is an example of options and hope.

On the third Wednesday of every month DETROIT ABIDES screens a movie on a sustainable topic, explores the topic at the local level through discussion and support from regional groups and businesses, and creates a space to meet like-minded people from all walks of life & grow an active, healthy community.

Detroit Abides - A FREE Monthly Sustainability Gathering in Eastern Market Wednesday, February 18th, 7 - 9 pm Eastern Market's Heated Shed 5 Please join Detroit Evolution Laboratory, Great Lakes Bioneers Detroit, and Eastern Market Corporation on the 3rd Wednesday of every month for our FREE sustainability gathering, Detroit Abides. This month to focus our celebration of Black History Month we will screen two parts of the three part documentary, Race the Power of An Illusion. After this powerful film, we will lead an open discussion on Race as a construct and explore the opportunities and challenges offered by Detroit's wonderfully diverse population. For this casual event, please bring a comfortable seat. Though Shed 5 is enclosed and heated, it’s a large space so bringing sweaters, blankets and friends is advised. Shed 5 is located at the corner of Russell and Alfred St. Parking is available in the lot adjacent to the Shed. If your non-profit group or socially conscious business would like to table at this event please contact us. For more information or to get involved call “the Lab” 313.316.1411

Purposeful (Not Random) Acts of Kindness Garie Thomas-Bass, Kertia Thomas-Black and Kirtis Thomas III Please check out Garie's new website for more Purposeful Acts of Kindness! We have copies of Garie's book in stock at the Lab for $16 or if you're out of town you can order a copy through her new web page. "Even though our book may not be considered politically correct, it is written with the hope that some ideas that used to be called “common sense” will again become the behavior of choice. There is one rule presented for each week of the year. The fifty-two “suggestions” Our hope is that each person will use in his/her life some of these straightforward and easily applied ideas after it is understood why they are important. Truthfully, these rediscovered actions will allow us to live together in society with as little confrontational stress as possible."

1434 Gratiot Avenue #1, Detroit MI 48207 Our entrance is behind our building NOT on Gratiot! Directions We use google maps for directions, they're much better at it than we are. If you need assistance please email or call 313.316.1411. Parking The Lab entrance is well marked and located off the cobble stone service drive behind our building on Gratiot. Please pay attention to parking signs and meters if you elect to park on Gratiot or behind the building.

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