Pre-Conference Events
6th Annual Mycelium Mysteries
A Women's Mushroom Conference
September 23, 24, & 25, 2022 | Almond, Wisconsin
Celebrating Flora, Fauna, and Funga
Pre-Conference Workshops are deep-dive, 3+ hour learning experiences with a more intimate group. Add one or more pre-conference events on to your Mycelium Mysteries weekend experience OR just join us for a pre-conference workshop or foray (you don't have to register for the Mycelium Mysteries weekend Conference to attend a Pre-Conference activity). View all pre-conference events below, then sign up on the main registration page.
FORAYS
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The Ups and Downs of Fall Mushroom Hunting with Barbara Ching
Thursday, September 22 | 9am-5pm
Fall is the best time to hunt for mushrooms. The cool weather and rain encourage them to carpet the ground and rustle around with the falling leaves. And the falling leaves reveal the fungi that grow on the forest's biggest fauna. So after the "groundwork" (and lunch), we'll be looking up for mushrooms in knotholes and bark. I'll be there with my longest apple picker! We'll spend some time identifying the mushrooms we find and preparing them for the display table, so bring a mushroom field guide if you have one. In addition to learning some new mushrooms, you'll learn some new trees.
A Fun and Fungal Mushroom Foray!
with Rose Tursi
Thursday, September 22 | 9am-5pm
Learn all kinds of fun and fungal factoids about whatever mushrooms we find on our walk. Just about every mushroom has an interesting story behind it, be it historical, folklore, or just a neat anecdote. We will find and identify mushrooms, talk about their tree and plant associations, and learn about whatever story that species has to tell. Lunch will be provided but please bring your own snacks and beverages for the day.
WORKSHOPS
The Mushroom of Immortality! All Day Reishi Extraction Workshop
with Gina Rivers Contla
Thursday, September 22 | 9am-5pm
Bottle the Mushroom of Immortality! If you have ever wanted to learn how to craft your own double-extractions, this workshop is for you! In this day-long immersion, I will cover some ethnomycology around Reishi, outline applications found in Traditional Chinese Medicine, and cover some of the science that validates Reishi’s traditional use. We will discuss herbal allies and ways that Reishi can be incorporated into a personal or clinical herbal practice. We will make two preparations, one using the traditional method, and one using more modern technologies. Every participant will leave with their own bottle of Imperial Tonic, and the knowledge of how to recreate a double-extraction! Come discover the many ways Reishi can nurture your body and soothe your soul!
Participants will gain:
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Knowledge of why a double-extraction is needed to capture all of the compounds found in mushrooms
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Knowledge of why Reishi is the most auspicious mushroom in history
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How to identify applications of this majestic mushroom
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Two methods of double-extraction
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·Their own bottle of Reishi Extract!
Transforming Relationships with Cornelia Cho
Thursday, September 23 | 6:30pm-9:30pm
How do I become more connected? How can I struggle less in my relationships-including the one I have with myself? The answers lie within our unconscious early personal history-and, using a bit of detective work and emotional elbow grease, we can access and heal them. Let's start by inventorying the dominating or "power-over" role models we observed growing up. Back then, our minds were set on absorb mode 24/7, voraciously taking in information on language, socialization, and how to 'be' in relationships. Specifically, we'll hunt for early role models that demonstrated "How do I respond when I feel backed into a corner?" Why? Because in the blink of an eye, we can switch from being our best self to fully channeling an early "power-over" role. Our nervous system detects a whiff of threat and recruits that role model to be in charge of our life at that moment. Invariably, we'll discover that when we are channeling, everyone suffers. Perhaps surprisingly, the biggest casualty turns out to be us.
This has further implications for our capacity to heal and how it affects things like the progression of auto-immune disorders and our ability to stabilize self-care.
Together, using the listening partnership platform, we can uncover those places where our lives and relationships get hijacked, explore their ramifications, and take charge of our behavior.
Lessons of Environmental Cooperation with Suzanne Simard
Friday, September 23 | 9am-12pm
Suzanne Simard posits that, “In ecosystems, there is no bigotry. There is only reciprocity, only mutual respect.” Through her experience studying trees and understanding their behaviors, she argues that we have much to learn from the ways natural life interacts and coexists. In this lecture, Simard draws powerful connections between the coordination and competition present in natural ecosystems and the ways we cooperate and compete at work, in our relationships, and in our communities. She helps organizations and coalitions come to a better understanding of what it means to foster a network of trust, collaboration, and engagement. Register here.
Mushrooms in the Kitchen and Apothecary: Hands-On Workshop with Linda Conroy
Friday, September 23 | 9am-12pm
Join herbalist and mushroom enthusiast Linda Conroy for this fun, hands-on workshop. In this session, we will learn to prepare mushrooms for optimal health and for medicine. From culinary delights, infused vinegar, to beverages and extracts, everyone will go home with remedies and preparations we make in class, with instructions on how to incorporate them into everyday life.
Medicinal Mushrooms for Women's Health with Gina Rivers Contla
Friday, September 23 | 9am-12pm
As women, our hormonal tides ebb and flow throughout our lifetimes, and change is a guaranteed constant as we navigate a healthy and whole existence at any age. Discover how select medicinal mushrooms and herbal allies can help to holistically balance challenged hormonal tides, nurture our bone structure, calm our “fight or flight” response, and boost our brain and neurological systems!