Photo: AP/David Zentz

If you are new to the area or considering relocation, and you are looking for like-minded people in the greater Virginia Beach area, you are in luck.

Anchored with Edgar Cayce’s Association for Research and Enlightenment (A.R.E), the area offers a number of venues for new thought and metaphysical gatherings.  The A.R.E. holds numerous conferences  throughout the year which is a great way to connect to others and expand your consciousness.  The A.R.E. also has a wonderful metaphysical book store, daily lectures on interesting topics, a massive library focusing on the Cayce material, a spa and holistic massage school and a labyrinth and meditation areas to find your own inner guidance.

The Heritage Center and Shops carry a lot of the products recommended by Cayce.  They have a large book store and metaphysical shop, an extensive health food grocery, a yummy natural foods café with vegan and vegetarian offerings.  Often you can score a short psychic reading or chair massage.  They do have practitioner appointments if you plan ahead.  The Heritage Center also runs a wide range of metaphysical classes and special events.  Check the hallway downstairs for flyers and brochures of local providers and teachers.  You will likely find something to pique your interest.

For a new thought spiritual community, try The Fellowship of the Inner Light .  They are an interfaith spiritual center with Sunday services and workshops/classes and gatherings throughout the month.  The two local Unity churches are also options:  Unity Church of Tidewater and  Unity Renaissance Spiritual Life Center   Find more class and group opportunities at both churches.  You might also prefer the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of the Peninsula,  or the Unitarian Church of Norfolk . See more listings here.

As far as holistic health and complementary medicine, there are numerous massage therapists, chiropractors, acupuncturists, Reiki and Healing Touch practitioners and various other body-mind-sprit therapists.  There are holistic therapists, dentists, doctors and a few Naturopaths.  An online local business search should help you find the specifics you might be seeking.  I am aware of a few healing centers in the area which host a variety of practitioners and programs:  The Healing Fountain,  The Center,  the A.R.E. Health Center and Spa, The Heritage Center, The Studio for the Healing Arts. Please comment if you recommend others.

Yoga classes are popping up all over the area.  The options are constantly changing.  For Tai Chi, I recommend Bending Tree Tai Chi Kung, which carefully teaches the Longevity Tree form for beginners and has other offerings and community events for graduates.  This is a fun program, supportive of people with some physical challenges, and can also stretch the athlete’s abilities.

As an interest in healthy foods is often a side effect of a spiritual path, I’ll list a few local and health food options.  First of course is the Heritage Store.   They have a large organic produce selection, carrying some local sourced foods.  The Virginia Garden, which is part of the Virginia Beach Farmers Market complex, carries local organics and grass-pastured meat products.  The Organic Food Depot  has several locations in Hampton Roads.  You can order wholesale through their online store, even sharing a carton with other shoppers, and pick up on delivery day.  Virginia Beach is thrilled that Trader Joe’s  recently opened a store near the oceanfront --previously we trekked over to Newport News to shop there.  There a number of local farmer’s markets throughout the area, well worth the poking and sniffing and squeezing foreplay with your whole foods.  Local restaurants are jumping on the local bandwagon, notably The Boot in Norfolk  is all about local and seasonal fare, and supports local arts (cinema, paintings, readings from writing students from The Muse.)  More and more restaurants are advertising local foods, so come on down and check it out.  The area also has a wide range of cultures, so you will find international cuisine as well as local.   There are lots of great places to eat and shop

A cautionary note to complete this listing – the Hampton Roads area is also home to a large community of conservative religious folk.  The Christian Broadcasting Network, home of “The 700 Club” and Regent University and a number of fundamentalist and evangelical groups are also enjoying the gentle climate here.  You may come to work here and not know that the person in the next cubicle is also a Lightworker.  We tend to keep a low profile when out in public, although more and more are coming out as tolerance is expanding globally.

Please comment with more suggestions for ways to connect with metaphysical friends.