Annual Expo Brings Together People Who Are Searching For Answers

By Kaaren Valenta

Cindy Miller had a life-changing experience when she volunteered for seven weeks at a children’s orphanage in Zelenogorsk, Russia, several years ago.

“I was always seeking, searching, wanting answers,” she said. “This experience of extending a hand, of making the world a better place, was like nothing I had ever done before.”

As a result, the Sandy Hook resident founded Trinity Productions, a nonprofit interfaith organization designed to inspire and promote personal growth of mind, body, and spirit through creative and interactive educational program.

Last Sunday several hundred people converged on the Danbury Sheraton Hotel where Trinity held its second annual Mind-Body-Spirit Expo. More than 30 participants, including holistic practitioners, businesses, and artists, provided exhibits and demonstrations. There were free lectures on such topics as feng shui, ancient healing secrets, hypnotherapy, and angelic healing. Two-hour workshops offered topics ranging from practical intuition to finding your spirituality.

“There was a need for something like this in this area,” explained Eileen Sheehan, Trinity vice president. “The first expo was so successful that we decided to make it an annual event.”

Trinity started with Kismet, a gathering of people from various backgrounds who met biweekly in the student center of Western Connecticut State University to hear speakers, have discussions, listen to inspiring music and share area happenings. The group now meets the first and third Tuesday at the Bethel Arts Junction (the old train station) from 7:30 to 9:30 pm.

“Kismet was designed to provide people an opportunity to learn more about the mind, body, metaphysical, spiritual, and alternative healing,” Ms Sheehan said. “There have been programs on Reiki, feng shui, dream analysis, past life regression, healing outside of the box, crop circles –– by [Newtown resident] Doug Rogers. We take these topics and transition them into workshops for more in-depth study.”

According to Cindy Miller, life is a balancing act of the physical, emotional, and spiritual self and in today’s hectic world it is easy for spirituality to get lost in the shuffle.

“There is more to life than what we see right here, right now,” she said.

Woodbury resident Nancy Lawrence is the director of education and programming for Trinity. By day, she is a quality engineer in defense electronics –– “a very left-brained person,” as she describes herself. But a life-changing healing about six years ago turned her interests toward spirituality, and she became an interfaith minister. She has been holding weekly prayer and healing services known as Touched By Angels on Fridays at 7:30 pm in the Brookfield Commons on Federal Road.

“This is such a cold world; people need this,” Ms Lawrence said. “Each week we invoke the healing angels and ask them for healing of mind, body, and spirit for ourselves, our loved ones, our community, and our planet. Many miracles have occurred through the power of prayer.”

A grassroots organization, Kismet draws its membership mostly from throughout the Connecticut and New York areas. Dr Paul Murphy of Newtown, the organization’s treasurer, has had a career in the physical and informational sciences and completed training at the Omega Institute in Rhinebeck, N.Y., on developing a holistic learning center.

Dr Al Joyell, a humanistic psychotherapist and vice president of Camp Jonathan, a bereavement program for children and adults, is Trinity’s director of wellness activities, while the Rev Cheri Scheinin is the director of information technology.

Rev Scheinin, a clairvoyant and medium, travels from Long Island twice a month on Sundays to present “Conversations With the Other Side” workshops for Trinity at the Bethel Arts Junction. She recently completed a book, Angel’s Horizon’s Inspirational Words From Heaven (Iuniverse Inc) and is working with Cindy Miller to complete a book about how the angels communicate and channel important information to help people for the new world.

“Trinity honors all belief systems,” Eileen Sheehan said. “It is a place where everyone is accepted and not judged. We feel we all learn from each other. We bring the community together for fellowship, friendship, learning, and listening for overall wellness.”

“Many people are asking themselves ‘Why am I here? What should I do next with my life,” she said. “They are looking for more self esteem, where to serve. Our goal is to work with people from young to old so we plan to start programs for children on values, communication, self-esteem, and respecting the environment.

“Our programs are focused on showing people how to open doors for themselves. It is a unique, self-empowering concept,” she added.

One of the group’s goals is to find a property where they can house all of their activities under one roof.

“We are looking for space for a multipurpose center –– a place for programs, for a library, where people could stop in and have coffee, and where we could have a retail store that would represent artists of different cultures,” Cindy Miller said. “It would provide a sense of community, and a physical home so people can find us. We would offer programs to facilitate health, happiness and longevity for all age groups. We are also looking for people to get involved with us. The center will teach the holistic qualities of consciousness, outdoor education, inner wisdom, wellness, meditation, yoga, and the arts. Skeptics are great, too, because diversity challenges us to learn.”

Trinity is a 501C-3 charitable organization so donations are tax deductible. The organization is a member of the Connecticut Holistic Health Association and has a website at www.trinityproduction.org. For more information, email trinity@trinityproduction.org or call 426-9448.