2020 has been one heck of a year.
It’s hard to believe that it’s been almost 8 months since we turned our brick and mortar center into a digital gathering place. Though things look a little different now, our goal remains the same: to open new doors and support you on your journey.
And while we were certainly faced with many challenges, we are extremely proud of what we accomplished thanks to the support of our community and faculty and the hard work of our team.
Let’s take a look at some of our favorite memories of 2020.
The Open Center: 2020 in Review
- On March 12th, we shut down our physical location. Just four days later, on March 16th, we held our first online class. And now, for the first time in our 36 year history we are offering our entire catalogue digitally.
- We created New Yorkers for New York – a free, crisis response online toolkit designed to help first responders and frontline workers with anxiety and stress management. We’ve since reached over 12,000 frontline workers.
- We partnered with Operation Warrior Shield to bring Open Center offerings to first responders and veterans for free.
- Through our scholarship programs, we continue to provide our programs to underserved communities for individuals and groups in need. For example, this year, more than 300 veterans received full scholarships to attend Dr. Roger Jahnke’s Medical Qigong Certification course.
- We celebrated the 25th anniversaries of two of The Open Center’s signature programs: The Esoteric Quest and Art of Dying Institute with special virtual anniversary events and attracted more attendees than ever before.
- With our new digital platform, we’ve welcomed more people from around the world than ever before, tripling our audience beyond the NYC metro area with people joining us from Japan, Sweden, Brazil, Germany, Canada and more.
- We built a brand new website from the ground up, designed to help deliver a better digital experience to our audience.
- We launched two new web series: Open Center LIVE and Opening Doors with Ross Guttler. On Open Center LIVE, members of our staff sit down with different faculty members for lively and engaging conversations. Opening Doors with Ross Guttler is an experiential program with a range of inspiring expert guests who lead Ross on a journey of discovery as he experiences alongside our audience an array of practices and modalities.
- Our weekly free community meditation and sound healing sessions continue to see a record number of attendees, helping to alleviate the stress of this challenging year.
- We hosted a free Meditation series, “Meditations For Our Future,” leading up to the election.
Join us for 12 Days of Gratitude, our first-ever experiential virtual giving campaign featuring 12 days of free Open Center programs. Click HERE for details.
