The Center to Thrive

01/25/2026

January 30 (Ipswich Town Hall Gym, 25 Green Street), at 6-7 PM
Authentic Movement: Meditation and moving meditation
With Lakshmi Sirois, from The Center to Thrive
A free introduction

01/25/2026

Friday, Ravi Sirois shared a lot of wisdom and several techniques at Winter Wellness Sampler at GEM: Gong Enhanced Meditation. Here is a sample of the Sampler. For more attend his class on Thursdays at Acupuncture Health & Wellness, 130 County Rd., Suite L, Ipswich, MA

01/23/2026

For peace: write and say, "Today I am going to have a peaceful day."

These monks are literally walking their talk, or praying with their feet. It is a gift to hear their teachings.

Buddhist Monks from Fort Worth, TX to Washington DC.

01/21/2026

❄️✨ Winter Wellness Starts This Friday! ✨❄️

We’re so excited to kick off our Winter Wellness Sampler with Gong Enhanced Meditation (GEM) this Friday, Jan 23!

🌀 GEM: Gong Enhanced Meditation, Breathwork & Sound Bath
with Ravi Sirois from The Center to Thrive

📍 Important Location Update (for this Friday only!)
Due to an unexpected double booking, our Jan 23 session will be held at a different location:

The Gym at Ascension Church
31 County Street

All remaining sessions will take place as planned at the Town Hall Gym. Thank you so much for your understanding!

Stay cozy & comfy—please bring:
✔️ A yoga mat, meditation pillow if you have one
✔️ Blankets (yes, more than one if you like!)
✔️ Warm layers—winter temps can make the space feel cool

We can’t wait to gather with you this Friday and begin this winter wellness journey together!

01/21/2026

Update: Winter Wellness Sampler, January 23 – March 20, 2026 💚 Free and open to the public

LOCATION UPDATE: Jan. 23 will be held at Boone Hall, Ascension Episcopal Church, on County Street.
GEM: Gong Enhanced Meditation, Breathwork, and sound bath
With Ravi Sirois, from The Center to Thrive

The following sessions will be at the Ipswich Town Hall gymnasium, 25 Green Street, Ipswich

January 30 Authentic Movement: Meditation and moving meditation with Lakshmi Sirois, from The Center to Thrive

Winter Wellness Sampler is back for its 4th year! Join us for a seasonal series designed to help you move through the darkest, coldest months with care, curiosity, and connection. The January 23 se…

01/06/2026

"Today is my peaceful day."
Listen how this phrase can bring you and our world more peace:

Buddhist Monks from Fort Worth, TX to Washington DC.

01/01/2026

A wonderful way to start off the year by sampling 8 healing offerings! Ipswich Winter Wellness starts off with Ravi on January 23rd offering GEM: Gong Enhanced Meditation, and the next Friday, January 30th, Lakshmi Sirois will offer Authentic Movement: Meditation and Moving Meditation. Each week is free and will be in the new Ipswich Community House. I hope to see you there!

✨ Winter Wellness Sampler is back for Year 4! ✨

On this New Year’s Day, we’re reminded that winter isn’t just something to get through — it’s a season for rest, reflection, and renewal. In nature, this is the quiet time: composting, restoring, and getting ready for spring. We need that fallow space, too.

That spirit is at the heart of our Winter Wellness Sampler 2026 — eight Friday evenings of gentle movement, meditation, and restorative practices to help you slow down and reconnect during the darkest months of the year.

🆕 New this year:
• A beautiful new home at the renovated Ipswich Community House
• An earlier start — January 23 through March 20

🕯️ Fridays | 6–7 PM
📍 Ipswich Town Hall, 25 Green St., Ipswich
💛 Free & open to all

Whether you join us for one night or the whole season, we hope you’ll come rest with us. Bring a friend, come as you are, and let winter do what it does best. ❄️🌱

👉 Full schedule in the image.

10/11/2025

Today is World Mental Health Day. Often the struggles of people with mental health challenges are hidden or invisible. Some people choose to wear a sunflower 🌻 to show that they may need extra support.

"The Sunflower symbol doesn’t focus on the invisible, it triggers a simple question ‘How can I help you?’ to focus on the support or understanding you need. Simply by wearing the Sunflower, you’re letting everyone, or those who are aware, know that you might need extra help, understanding, or just more time." In facts - the Sunflower https://share.google/17sJ7O1vqLNHbnQrR

If you are feeling invisible, struggling to be seen and heard, and you identify as a woman, inquire via DM or WhatsApp, about our Creating Safety to Be Seen & Heard weekly group on Zoom. Everyone deserves safety to be seen, heard, and understood.

We all need extra support sometimes. A symbol, like the Sunflower, 🌻 can make it easier for people to offer assistance, rather than you needing to ask for what you need all the time.💞

10/04/2025

Today is Mary Starks Whitehouse's birthday (1911 -1979). She was the founder of movement in-depth, also called "Authentic Movement," and one of the founders of Dance/Movement therapy.

She described authentic movement as: "When the movement was simple and inevitable, not to be changed no matter how limited or partial, it became what I called ‘authentic’- it could be recognized as genuine, belonging to that person…[a] truth of a kind unlearned, but there to be seen."

Mary Starks Whitehouse also said, "We no longer know it, but there was a time when movement was our language. We were undivided."

Lakshmi is grateful for Mary's teachings and her students' teachings, some of whom were Lakshmi's teachers, mentors, and colleagues.

09/07/2025

Ravi and Lakshmi attended the Ipswich Aware and Essex County Outreach memorial ceremony for the 1,596 people who died of overdose in Massachusetts last year. It was a sobering sight to see the 1,596 purple flags representing all those who died. Our hearts go out to their family members. Some who have lost loved ones to overdose attended this event, were shown in other photos in this article, and the group photo included Lakshmi and a rainbow which appeared during this ceromony. 💜🌈

https://thelocalnews.news/2025/09/04/ipswich-aware-honors-lives-lost-to-overdose-with-first-ever-flag-planting-ceremony/?fbclid=IwY2xjawMq7YFleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHiyNE2fcXev9BPboWjkrsAi9x3oZ1UfuCsB-33O9XJzO-p5y

More than a dozen community members met outside Immanuel Baptist Church to plant hundreds of flags for overdose awareness.

08/20/2025

"What the world needs now is love sweet love, no not just for some, but for everyone!"

08/19/2025

The first Mobile Market will be held on Tuesday, Aug. 19, at the Ipswich Family YMCA at 100 County Road, from 4 to 6 p.m.

The second Mobile Market will be held on Wednesday, Aug. 20, at the Cape Ann YMCA at 7 Gloucester Crossing Road in Gloucester, from 4 to 6 p.m.

Each Mobile Market will offer a variety of fresh produce, including fresh romaine lettuce, corn, eggplant, bell peppers, tomatoes, zucchini, yellow squash, bananas, apples, and more.

https://thelocalnews.news/2025/08/18/the-open-door-partners-with-cape-ann-ipswich-family-ymca-for-mobile-markets-this-week/?fbclid=IwQ0xDSwMQ1HRjbGNrAxDUB2V4dG4DYWVtAjExAAEeEVRuBIX-MJ355bwxFa_Yfjgjt4Gjs1ObxZnU2Pkqf_aW2qgODCGlkJZCifM_aem_XDe7Oj4ifswcr5Qvxzchwg

The Open Door partners with Cape Ann and Ipswich Family YMCA for mobile markets, providing fresh produce to the community.