Go Team Newsom!

I am so honored to stand with these two incredible Bright Stars! Aya is the teacher I have been looking for my entire life. Though he's my son I consider him also a fellow traveler in this place. His first two months here have guided me towards meditation upon and in some cases interaction with my own development and childhood. Every day, through Aya, I am reminded who we are and what we are doing here. We are aspects of an infinite being who have chosen to incarnate here to experience finite forms and emotions. Angela and I learn as Aya does. Thank you Aya! I love you!

Evolve Detroit: Aya Newsom is here, Detroit Abides Wed & Krishna Das

take it easy on your eyes and see this as it was intended to be seen.

March 16th, 2009 (The Moon Wanes Gibbous) Greetings Detroit and all those who grace us here, It seems like it was a lifetime ago that I sat in this chair to write an Evolve Detroit. We are getting back to business here as we prepare to reopen the Lab, but Angela and I are also slowly settling into our new lives as parents. I wanted to steal away for a brief moment and share with you all. Welcome Aya! I'm honored to announce that our son, Aya Eden Ouroboros Newsom, was born on Monday, February 23 here at our home, the Detroit Evolution Laboratory. Angela is in good health after a 20 hour labor that brought forth a healthy 7 lb 10 oz child. Aya was born to the sounds of drums, songs and chants on the auspicious Hindu holy day of Shivaratri. We were blessed by an incredible birthing team who helped us move between bed, pool and birthing stool many times over. We are also so thankful for Aya's patience and health during the rather extended labor. Aya's 3 weeks old today and he's plumped up to 8 lb 10 oz and even though he's going through some very typical bouts adapting to his new environment he's extremely healthy. Angela is incredible. She's been enjoying her prescribed downtime to connect with the baby, but she's also excited to get back into the kitchen. Everyone here at the Lab is excited for our reopening on April 1st. Angela, Aya and I are preparing for a temporary shift of our personal lives to Midtown, but are pleased to share that we'll be returning to the space adjacent to the Lab on June 1st.

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: 850! 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.

Detroit Abides, Funk Night & Krishna Das in Detroit!
I think that that brings you up to speed on our great joy. Like many of you, we're looking forward to Spring more than ever before. We look forward to seeing you all out and about in the city. Please consider joining us for our March Detroit Abides on the 18th. We're showing the vital documentary The Power of Community: How Cuba Survived Peak Oil and are going to have an impressive group for open discussion afterward. We'll also be offering a special Soul Food menu at this month's Funk Night. Bring a little extra cash so you can feed your Soul and fuel your Funk. We're excited to mention that Krishna Das will be leading a Detroit Kirtan Concert on April 9th at the Masonic Temple. Please see below for all the details.

Get Your Lab Notes
I also want to mention that we're doing very well with our Lab Notes. Happily, we've been focused upon Aya's arrival and not spreading the word about Lab Notes, but we're honored to have already raised $400. We developed Lab Notes as an opportunity for people to invest in the future of Detroit Evolution Laboratory. To gently expand, staff and create a secure financial foundation for the new Lab we need to raise $8,000. For each dollar invested we will present you with .50 in Lab Notes good for any of our offerings. (You can read the details below) 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.

The New Lab
Though it is April Fools Day, we are seriously on schedule to reopen the Lab on Wednesday April 1st. Our partner Alan Scheurman will be coming on full time to curate a great many new offerings. We'll have an extended yoga schedule, a diverse offering of workshops and we'll increase the number of our kitchen classes to meet high demand. We will also offer open hours so the Lab can become a place where our diverse community can gather to relax, meet or work on projects. If you would like to host a workshop or gathering at the Lab please let us know.

Our New & Expanded Yoga Schedule
We are in the process of creating our new yoga schedule and will be adding some exciting new classes and teachers to the Lab's Yoga Community. Remodeling the Lab gives us a great deal more space and we'll be able to host classes throughout the day and into the evening. If you have any special requests for our yoga schedule or classes please send me an email gregg@detroitevolution.com. We are also looking for a few yoga teachers to assist us in flushing our schedule out. We'll be sharing the schedule for April next week, so stay tuned!

In Health, Joy & Liberation,
Gregg on behalf of Angela & Aya, Alan and the entire Lab Crew

Please bring a rattle or drum if you have one. Journeying is often done lying down. Wear comfortable clothing, including clothing for possible work outside. Bring sleeping bags, blankets or whatever you need for comfort. The Detroit Evolution Lab will provide blankets if necessary. A scarf or eyecover is needed. A pen and notebook is recommended. Please bring a single item for the altar that will return home with you. Class size limited to 10. Cost $70. Time Offered: Sun. June 14th, 2009 from 9:30 AM-4:30 PM. Doors will open at 9:00 AM. Lunch will be 1 hour.

Announcing a New Lab Workshop! Introduction to Shamanic Journeying with Connie Eiland, Shamanic Practitioner Sunday, June 14th, 9:30 am - 4:30 pm - $70 The classic shamanic journey is a remarkable method for exploring the hidden universe, which is otherwise known mainly through myth and dream. Shamans use this method primarily for healing and learning where to find help. Journeying is also a way to connect with spiritual teachers and guides to aide on one's path. Establishing relationships with teachers and guides can help in everyday life. Students will journey to Lower, Middle, and Upper worlds. The state of non-ordinary reality, or the shamanic state of consciousness, is achieved through drumming or rattling. Drumming is the common denominator among indigenous shamans throughout the planet to help enter non-ordinary states of consciousness. During this six hour introduction, students will learn to journey to meet a power animal, find a power animal for a partner, & journey to meet a teacher. Participants will have the opportunity to do four to six journeys, depending on what participants are finding. Each journey will be followed by a discussion with time allotted for journaling. This class will prepare you to take other classes or simply to gain help on your spiritual path.

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, March 18th, 7 - 9 pm in Eastern Market's heated Shed 5 This months FREE movie is The Power of Community: How Cuba Survived Peak Oil Great Lakes Bioneers Detroit, Detroit Evolution Laboratory, and Eastern Market Corporation are pleased to present a free screening of The Power of Community, How Cuba Survived Peak Oil on Wednesday, March 18th from 7 - 9 pm. This fascinating and empowering film shows how communities pulled together, created solutions, and ultimately thrived in spite of their decreased dependence on imported energy. After the film we will open a discussion on the reality of Peak Oil and what it means to those of us living in an auto industry dependent region. 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. They share how they transitioned from highly mechanized agriculture to using organic farming and urban gardens. It is an unusual look into the Cuban culture during this economic crisis. The film opens with a short history of Peak Oil, a term for the time 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, is an example of options and hope.

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 currently closed we will continue to be active in events across the city, like 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!

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!

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Welcome Aya Eden Ouroboros Newsom!

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.

Aya's Baby Shower Insert

I want to share this "green" baby shower guide that Angela and I put together for Aya's shower. If you can use it to make your life easier please do! We included this on one side and the info from healthychild.org on the opposite. The insert was then quartered and sent in these beautiful shower invitations that were hand made by our very talented friend and co-conspirator Karen LePage. In Health - Gregg

Angela & Gregg’s Guide to a
Local, Humane, Healthy and Sustainable Baby Shower

Thank you so much for assisting us as we prepare for Aya's birth. 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. We are blessed by the opportunity to raise Aya in a healthy, humane and sustainable lifestyle though we admit to its challenges. With this in mind, we’ve put this guide together.

To be as sustainable as possible we’ve elected not to purchase items until we identify a need and explore any alternatives. To this end, gift cards and monetary support are appreciated and will assist us to purchase items as necessary in the months ahead.

We are registered under Angela Kasmala or Gregg Newsom at Target, in-store and at http://target.com, and http://myregistry.com. Our registry lists specific staple items that will be greatly appreciated. Of course, we welcome other more personal gifts, but ask that you be mindful of the information below.

Toys and Books: We request no plastic toys, rather positive and educational toys made from natural materials. Please read the included guide to healthy toys.

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.

Gift Wrapping: To reduce paper waste please consider wrapping gifts in recyclable or reusable materials like baby blankets, reusable bags or storage containers.

We also encourage your support of local businesses rather than large corporate chains. Here are a few close by:

Ladel's Children's Bookstore
1413 Brooklyn Street
Detroit, MI 48278

Little Seedling
3555 S. Zeeb Road, Suite C
Ann Arbor, MI 48103

Sweet Peas and Little Sprouts
580 Forest Ave.
Plymouth, MI 48170

Once Upon a Child
21323 Telegraph Road in Southfield
6029 Rochester Rd. in Troy

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.

Much Love,
Angela & Gregg