4-days after the 2010 earthquake struck Haiti, Chicagoans of this Meetup started spreading the message that HAITI needs help for a long, long time. One of the inspiration to start this group was an e-mail received 1-day after the earthquake, from Meetup co-founder Scott Helferman. He suggested to think about how to help Haiti by means of using a Meetup. Obviously if you’ve donated your share already, kindly pass this information to someone who likes to further help. Honestly your word-of-mouth p …

This Meetup Group affirms our shift from lower brain to higher brain, higher Self living! Transforming our lives, relationships, bodies, careers, homes, communities etc. is exciting -- it's very helpful to have a place to gather with others who are in the same process.  This is that place.

FOR MORE INFORMATION GO TO WWW.GATCHICAGO.COM Push your training to a new level! Learn a system that teaches you not only how to defend yourself, but how to avoid attacks and to dominate your opponent. Learn an art proven in modern warfare! Special force operatives from all branches of the military extensively use techniques from Filipino Martial Arts in Close Quarter Combat. Test yourself while learning new skills! FMA integrates easily with all styles of martial arts. Further, unlike othe …

SMART Recovery® - Self Help for Substance Abuse & Addiction "Discover the Power of Choice!" SMART Recovery® is the leading self-empowering addiction recovery support group. Our participants learn tools for addiction recovery based on the latest scientific research and participate in a world-wide community which includes free, self-empowering, science-based mutual help groups. The SMART Recovery 4-Point Program® helps people recover from all types of addiction and addictive behaviors, including: …

Join us on our journey to our BEST SELF. NOT just a meetup, this is a MOVEMENT. A movement towards a new generation of "whole black women who are EMPOWERED in every area of their lives. Whole women make SMART decisions and know their value. We refer to ourselves as Diamonds and we are priceless! We bring out the BEST in each other! We plan events that cater to EVERY aspect of your life. We workout together, travel together, save and invest together, pray together, solve problems together. We enc …

This group is to be a resource for events, training, and meetings that help you GROW YOUR BUSINESS. Our mission to provide you with the contacts, information, and support that you need to meet more prospects, convert more sales, improve your organization, and grow your business. We have a wide variety of events. When you join this group, you're committing towards building your own reputable and ethical business and helping promote the success of the other members by actively sharing referrals an …

We are a community of people assisting the personal and spiritual growth of ourselves, our families, our communities, and our world. We are part of a global oneness community whose passionate vision is to raise humanity's consciousness and awareness for personal and collective growth. The Oneness Blessing is a transference of conscious energy which helps bring our attention and awareness to not only the things in our lives that bring us joy and gratitude, but to the parts of us that resist accep …

Do you ever desire to become a more elegant communicator? Do you seek to be the #1 champion in your professional field? Or do you finally want to hone your SOFT skills (people skills) and ultimately communicate your hard skills at their best? Have you ever wondered when people say: "Your hard skills will get you the interview and your soft skills will get you the job?" Fortunately we've heart that NLP* has already helped millions of people achieve greater success, increase confidence, enrich rel …

A hip, real and deep spiritual community dedicated to revealing love, honoring all paths and celebrating life! We are a very welcoming, diverse community focused on helping people discover the Infinite Source of Love and Life within.

Work on your social and dating skills with us. Our meetups include presentations from world-reknowned dating coaches. At the tailend we have optional field trips, in which we go to public venues, meet people, interact and get useful feedback that helps us all improve our social skills -- especially with women. We have members who are as old as the most senior of senior citizens, but you must be at least 18 years old to join. We are also lucky enough to have contributing female members.

Do you love making people laugh? Would your life suck without comedy? Funny people, rejoice! Chicago Funny People is aimed at offering members lots of free and discounted comedy shows,workshops, and events to give you the quick fix and help you foster your funny bone. Please, leave your ego at the door! We aren't looking for 'social elites' or singles dead-set on finding a mate today; we want real people ready to take on the world in a fresh and human way! We all have a unique point of view and …

“I just looked at the pattern of my life, decided I didn’t like it, and changed.” — David Sedaris It’s not that simple for everyone. But it could be. You may have a job you love. A family you wouldn’t trade for the world. A killer wardrobe, flat stomach, car with seat-warmers and a Bose sound system, plans every night of the week, a ring, a mortgage, and a passport filled with stamps. You may have some of that. Or you may have none of that. What you do have is a desire for something more. For a …

Breathe Meditate Live Chicago! Breathe Meditate Live, Chicago offers free 1 hr Meditation from the Art 'of Living that help combat stress arising in everyday life. The session aims at bringing a smile to every face. By emphasizing the power of breath in creating a stable mind, body and spirit; the free session (as part of the meet up) is open to people of all ages, faiths, ethnicity and background who wish to inculcate a healthy lifestyle and be more productive. Inspired by the self awareness wo …

SPOT On The Magnificent Mile helps career minded professionals polish their public speaking skills through the toastmasters program. Whether you have a fear of public speaking or just seeking to become a better speaker, toastmasters can help.  We meet every Tuesday at 6pm at the Intercontinental Hotel at 505 North Michigan Avenue, Chicago, IL. 60611.

How do you want your life to be different? Discover the Woman Within experience. This is a group for women interested in connection and empowerment. Experience the strength and compassion of women coming together to support each other on their paths of healing and self discovery. Woman Within Woman Within International is a not-for-profit organization that offers opportunities for women to discover the power of who they are.  http://www.womanwithin.org/ The Woman Within Training Weekend Since …

BroClub was created to solve a common problem we experience in our late 20's.  You may be new in town or your buddies may have relocated, married, or vanished off the face of the earth.  Guys tend to stick together much closer than women who rotate friends every six months, so this is your opportunity to form some good buddies in Chicago. The goal is to form a core group of like-minded bro's that are looking to build new friendships in Chicago.   We aim to do at least one event per week.  This g …

For a limited time, join this group for free!  The Chicago Presentation Prep Meetup Group was formed to create a collaborative community aimed at helping each other create, prepare and execute awesome presentations. We'll cover topics such as: Public speaking Speech writing Audience engagement Presentation preparation Heavy focus on creating great visual aids such as PowerPoint, Keynote and Prezi Hear tips and tricks from the pros Ideas for post-presentation follow up All with the idea to help …

This is a Men ONLY meetup group in downtown Chicago, that focuses on the book and activities in the book No More Mr. Nice Guy, by Robert Glover. All guys are welcome to join... single, married, straight, gay, etc. IMPORTANT!!! To help keep the RSVP from being meaningless in this group, please ONLY RSVP if you're going to be responsible enough to actually attend, not just if you hope to come. If you can't make it for whatever reason, please change your RSVP to not coming by at least the day befor …

The Goal: A community of people dedicated to consciousness elevation in all aspects of life, individual, communal, social, political, scientific, and beyond. We each have the potential to each a unique level of "Human Optimization".  Attention, communication, intelligence, thoughtfulness, balanced emotion and speech and action, empathetic, beautiful, kind. To achieve this peak potential and manifest it into "life as we know it" including the status quo, we effectively change the whole system in …

Happiness is a state of mind or feeling characterized by contentment, satisfaction, pleasure, or joy. Happiness comes from deep within, and not from people, situations, or circumstances. According to Researchers from Harvard Medical School and the University of California, San Diego: “When an individual becomes happy, the network effect can be measured up to three degrees. One person’s happiness triggers a chain reaction that benefits not only his friends, but his friends’ friends, and his frien …

Under Construction (but join!) (Note that this page as well as some outgoing links are NSFW.) This group is for people who have an intuition of something better, and who are pursuing it in every direction simultaneously. You have a sense of rightness and wrongness that cuts to the bone, and it doesn't line up with traditional religion or the zeitgeist. You're an information sponge, but you hold it all provisionally and pragmatically. You know that all truths are partial perspectives, i.e. wrong …

Discover a new path to spiritual awakening with spiritual teacher Ustad Mazhabi. About Us: Mawlana Faizani International is a nonprofit educational organization that was established in 1997 by spiritual teacher and visionary Ustad Mazhabi. As our name indicates, Mawlana Faizani International was established to represent the spiritual teachings and enlightenment of the authoritative spiritual leader, Mawlana Faizani. Mawlana Faizani is a Sufi master of the Qadri, Naqshbandi, Chishti and Suhrawar …

Everything starts with connecting.. Be open to the possibility of success.. Every day we can make new face to face connections and with each connection the possibilities for success in whatever that may be increases, not linearly, not even exponentially but with infinite possibility. Networking here is for making connections with others. Connections lead to more connections and if approached with open minds and open hearts in what I call quantum connections, new business relationships may happen …

This meetup group is here to help us find more Real Love in our lives by learning what Real Love is and meeting others who want to give and receive the same. What is Real Love? There’s only one kind of love that can fill us up, make us whole, and give us the happiness we all want: Unconditional Love. It is Unconditional Love that we all seek, and somehow we intuitively realize that anything other than that kind of love isn’t really love at all—it’s an imitation of the real thing. Real Love is ca …

The Career Advancement Network Meetup group is a business-network and career-enhancement group dedicated to helping business owners, entrepreneurs, and job seekers in enhancing the skills they need to gain more business and make a prosperous living. The Career Advancement Network Meetup group will provide members with educational and informative programs, events, seminars, and workshops that will develop skills, enhance talents, spark interest, and elevate lives.

My name is Chrissy Gonzalez and I am a yoga teacher/nutritionist/animal advocate. This group was inspired from my absolute love and devotion for yoga and animals. I want to create a community of yogi's and animal lovers who are passionate about rescuing animals as well as educating the public about responsible ownership of pets (neutering,spaying,training, etc.). I plan on teaching donation based classes throughout Chicago. All the proceeds from these classes will go toward local shelters and re …

“What Dennis Genpo Roshi has done is not only the most original discovery in Buddhism in the last two centuries, it is unbelievably simple, quick, and effective. In Zen, this realization of one’s True Nature, or Ultimate Reality, is called kensho or satori (“seeing into one’s True Nature,” or discovering Big Mind and Big Heart). It often takes five years or more of extremely difficult practice (I know, I’ve done it) in order for a profound satori to occur. With the Big Mind Process, a genuine ke …

Chicago Backpackers is a club for those who share an enthusiasm for backpacking. We provide opportunities for backpacking education, trip organization, and backpacker networking. Backpacking education: The club helps teach new backpackers about backpacking: hiking self-sustained for consecutive days in a wilderness area carrying all necessary supplies in a backpack. We do this through trips and clinics that provide opportunities for all members, old and new, to continually improve their skills …