By ALEXANDRIA

BOURNONVILLE

Journal Staff Writer

ISHPEMING — Apiary Life Studio of Ishpeming will hold the inaugural Empower Women’s Conference from March 8-10, focused on giving Upper Peninsula women an experience to talk authentically and learn from experts on wellness.

“This is a grassroots conference that is brand new for empowering women and community in the U.P.,” said Amy Turner, creator of Apiary Life Studio. “It is a transformative experience and it’s dedicated to highlighting topics that resonate with women today, fostering an environment of support and inspiration for all attendees.”

Highlights of the conference are set to include salon talks and mainstage presentations, interactive workshops, an art exhibit and ribbon cutting and social networking.

Salon talks will take place on the conference’s first day at 8 a.m. in the Gossard Building. These will be old-fashioned, interactive, salon-style discussions with knowledgeable people in the community.

Local authors will speak to attendees about making one’s voice heard through the power of authorship. Licensed professional counselor Jennifer Gordon will open a discussion on emotional and physical intimacy in all relationships. The final salon will be a conversation about changes within oneself and the world around them.

Perhaps the most unique salon talk is titled “Season’s Greetings — Introducing Wheel of the Year, An Ancient, Non-Commercial Way of Moving Through the Seasons in Alignment with the Earth” with Cindy Whitehouse.

At 3:30 p.m., a ribbon cutting and dedication ceremony will celebrate the beginning of the conference. Attendees can also visit the community art exhibit on the same floor and enjoy a casual social hour.

Note that a ticket is not needed to attend the ribbon cutting, social hour or art exhibit.

Turner said she hopes women can come together and “take a little organizational ownership” to fix what has been stopping them from feeling empowered and “create pockets of more integrated community.”

She encouraged women to take a leading role in small community projects like leading an art group, hosting a think tank or organizing a group of people who go on bicycle rides together.

Eight main stage presentations on a wide variety of topics — including “Generational Trauma + Somatics,” “Fail Forward, An Evolution of Legacy” and “Beauty Through the Ages, More Than Skin Deep” — will be held on the second day in the W.C. Peterson Auditorium.

Attendees can meet with presenters afterward in the Gossard Building for the 5 p.m. Holistic Happy Hour.

The final day of the conference will feature a guided relaxation experience with yoga nidra and a sound bath immersion. Workshops will follow with times to be determined.

“Yoga nidra translates to yoga sleep … which is a really deep relaxation, a deep guided relaxation process and it’s not an exercise practice,” Turner said. “You basically come and lay in your mat … and then you’re led through a guided relaxation process. … The goal is not necessarily to fall asleep, but let the whole body be at rest and for the mind to wander.”

The Conference Hub will be located inside of Doozers on the first floor of the Gossard Building. For a quieter space, attendees are welcome to go across the hall to Apiary Life Studio.

Turner also made sure tickets are flexible for those who want to mix and match their experience. An alternative to the all-conference pass is a ticket exclusively for the salon talks or only for main stage presentations. Tickets will also be available in the Conference Hub on the day of events.

The free art exhibit will be curated works of art in almost any medium based on the theme of the conference: empowerment. Turner’s suggested prompts to inspire artwork are: “What empowers you as a self, a woman, a dreamer?” and “What moves you? To the opposite: What creative juices flow about disempowerment?”

Application submissions are due Feb. 28 and completed art is due March 3.

Note that submissions must be between 5-by-5 inches and 24-by-24 inches that are light enough to be hung by a clothespin and string. More submission guidelines can be found on the Apiary Life Studio Facebook page.

For more information on the conference, visit apirarylifestudio.com/womens-conference-2024.

Alexandria Bournonville can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 506. Her email address is abournonville@miningjournal.net.