Workshops

The Embodying Core Essence Workshop is a highly participatory six-hour experience for small groups of 10 to 20 participants. The goal of the workshop is to increase both participants’ and facilitators’ embodiment of and surrender to our core essence or Self—to foster Wakeful Living. The workshop also aims to provide an opportunity for joyful communion among like-hearted people who are attracted to Wakeful Living. These goals are attained primarily through the creation of a safe environment for engaging in experiential individual, pair, and group exercises. These exercises foster both direct experiences of the Self, and appreciation and compassion for the parts of us that appear to obscure the Self. These parts include: vulnerable parts, or “exiles,” that carry painful burdens; and protective parts, or “managers” and “firefighters,” that work hard to avoid the pain of the exiles. Giving parts the understanding and compassion they long for frees them to relax and allow the Self to shine through. Workshop participants report on their experiences:

"Loved it! You have brilliantly brought many things together."

[During the “Befriending a Manager” pair exercise:] "When I was ‘teaching’ my partner about my Striver manager (I call it my ‘doer’), I could visually see its impact on her body, and all of the stress and energy it was taking in her. I had a major insight then that my Striver was not only pushing me to ‘do’ to get approval and love (something I have recognized before), but also trying to shield me from other suffering by keeping me too busy to engage with other feelings and the ‘messiness of life’ (my partners words—very helpful). This all helped me identify more where my striver resides in my body and its ‘helpful’ intention in my life. It feels significantly easier for me to recognize, have compassion for and invite my Striver into my open space. This is all a major breakthrough for me. Gratitude, gratitude, gratitude."

[What was the most useful or valuable part of the workshop?] "For me, it was identifying a huge manager part in my life—the Command Duty Officer—and allowing myself to go fully into that part… I could REALLY feel it! Then, by a stroke of luck or grace—seeing the child who learned to survive with this part as a coping mechanism. Later on [in the “Heart of Compassion” guided contemplati on], I saw my exiled part, “powerless” as directly related to the same issue. I see how, even with the coping mechanism, I often revert to “powerlessness” in my relationships. The meditation helped me see that I have a choice and can reclaim my own power."

"[The facilitators] were outstanding, both individually and the way they paired up. Their demeanor and commitment to the value of the workshop created an open, supporting space for me… The length of the workshop and its wonderfully supported environment, coupled with the variety of exercises and the introduction of new ways to approach Core Essence and its relationship to the rest of me, were all tremendously helpful to me. I had a variety of direct experiences that reinforced how my Core Essence is untouched by anything. I also had many ‘ahas’ that I know have shifted the relationship between my Core Essence and my Exiles, Managers and Firefighters. My gratitude is forever."