Today is an exclusive live video interview with Robert “Skip” Backus, for the interview series “Interviews with the Leading Edge.”
In this series of interviews, I engage with people who are on the leading edge of transformational change, doing work to further the consciousness revolution and how it is manifesting in culture, politics and spirituality, in order to help bring along a more enlightened society.
Skip Backus is one such person.
Skip is the CEO of the Omega Institute for Holistic Studies in Rhinebeck, NY, the world’s leader in holistic education. Omega Institute, founded by Stefan Rechtschaffen and Elizabeth Lesser in 1977, is a global community that awakens the best in the human spirit and cultivates the extraordinary potential in us all.
Omega was founded on the holistic worldview that the well-being of each person is deeply connected to the well-being of all living things. Since its inception, Omega has offered diverse and innovative educational experiences that inspire an integrated approach to personal and social change. Omega, a nonprofit organization, continues to be at the forefront of human development and nurtures dialogues on the integration of modern medicine and natural healing; design programs that connect science, spirituality, and creativity; and lay the groundwork for new traditions and lifestyles.
Each year, more than 23,000 people attend workshops and educational programs delivered by hundreds of teachers, artists, healers, and thinkers on the leading edge of their disciplines. With special attention to key initiatives in sustainability, women’s leadership, veterans care, and service, Omega brings awareness to issues that must be addressed in order for our society to heal and flourish.
I met with with Skip at the Omega Center for Sustainable Living on the Omega campus, a building that was Skip’s vision and brainchild, and a building that has done a remarkable job at working with an issue that very few of us think about, but that is something that is crucial to our lives: water, and specifically the sustainable treatment of wastewater. At the end of the interview, you will see Skip give me a tour of the building and explain how the recycling of wastewater works and the importance of it. During the course of the interview, Skip talks about his own background, his 35 year relationship with the Omega Institute, and how he came to become the CEO of the Omega Institute.
In addition he talks about the mission and importance of Omega; the evolution of the transformation movement from one that was about personal evolution to one that is about collective evolution and the evolution of society and the world; his own healing crisis and journey; and how Omega, on the eve of their 40th anniversary, continues to be at the forefront of the revolution towards a more holistic, sustainable and enlightened world. This is a conversation with a man who has a strong understanding of where we are going as a society and world, and is a true leader in the movement towards the world our hearts know is possible.
To see all the offerings that Omega has, go to www.eOmega.org.