Online Groups, Classes, Workshops and Retreats
Online Awakening to Spirit Group (free)
3rd Saturday of each month, 10:30 am to noon, Pacific Time, 1:30-3, Eastern Time. A new group will begin Fall of 2024.
Do you feel stuck in your habits and harbor a strong desire for meaning, fulfillment, and connection?
- Do you long to feel more connected with your inner Light and with Spirit?
- Do you want to learn mindfulness meditation techniques and ways to be more mindful throughout your day?
- Would you like to have a personalized, ongoing spiritual practice that includes daily meditation and/or prayer, or other ways to transcend your ego?
- Would you enjoy having a local, soul-connected community where you can gather with others of like mind to nurture the practices of self- inquiry and meditation?
The Awakening to Spirit (ATS) Group is for adults who do not feel they fit in with an organized religion. This online spiritual community of soul-connected people desire to transcend their egos and wake up to their connection with Spirit/God/Consciousness. The focus of the group is on embodying nondual spiritual wisdom. Wikipedia states: “The idea of nondualism is typically contrasted with dualism, with dualism defined as the view that the universe and the nature of existence consists of two realities, such as the God and the world, or as God and Devil, or as mind and matter, and so on.[While the term “nondualism” is derived from Advaita Vedanta, descriptions of nondual consciousness can be found within Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam and western Christian and neo-Platonic traditions.
People attracted to this group are drawn to mystics and spiritual teachers such as: Eckhart Tolle, Byron Katie, Pema Chodron, Thich Nhat Hanh, Deepak Chopra, Gangaji, Adyashanti, Leslie Temple Thurston, Jack Kornfield, Jon Kabat Zinn, Ramana Marharshi, Jean Klein, the Dalai Lama, and many others.
The Awakening to Spirit (ATS) group met in Sacramento and Davis, CA for 18 years until Covid-19 hit. At that point,we began meeting monthly over Zoom. The group is national in scope and may become international at some point.
People are welcome to join with us as frequently or infrequently as they wish. The group is also a meetup group. https://www.meetup.com/meetup-group-DJkyBPhO/events/271574896/
Group gatherings always begin with a group meditation. Thereafter, there may be discussion of a nondual spiritual book or teaching/teacher, a guest presentation, an experiential practice to more deeply help participants connect with the essence of who they are, an I-Rest practice (see www.irest.us), or a group discussion about what is currently feeding group participants’ spiritual journeys and what is challenging their sense of meaning, greater life purpose, or sense of connection with self, others and Spirit. The group supports participants’ spiritual practices. Periodically we have guest presenters.
Experiential exercises may consist of a practice or technique aimed at helping group participants get to their deepest truths or shift destructive egoic patterns by learning to transcend their egos. Transcending means to transcend your ego, (or become “non-attached”), and to be able to witness the ego neutrally or without judgment. (Another way of saying this is to move beyond the limitations of your “life story.”) The experiential exercises or practices help participants inquire into who they are in their essence or essential self, and provide ways to connect with this nondual essential self. The essential self is distinct from the egoic self, which lives in dualistic thinking: mine-yours, good-bad, right-wrong, should-shouldn’t, etc.
ATS participants work with mindfulness practices that help them alleviate suffering and feel a sustained inner peace. Different types of meditations are taught, including Vipassana (mindfulness meditation), insight meditation, chakra meditation, breath meditations, I-Rest meditations, toning, and guided visualizations for deep exploration of one’s inner world or essence. An emphasis is placed on nondual meditations.
You can read more about this group and about upcoming gatherings at http://www.awakening2spirit.org
Testimonial:“The group has provided me with insight and support as I have deepened my spiritual connection. The people in the group are inspirational to me on all levels. The meditations, experiential exercises and group discussion allows me to feel more connected to our universal experience of oneness.” Diane P
Therapy Groups:
Online Self-Discovery Group: Transforming the Shadow Within
& Relating to Others Without Shame
New online group will begin in fall of 2024.
This group is for ideal for you when you’re ready to explore how to:
- Notice unconscious motivations and projections (the “shadow” self)
- Recognize the ego’s hold on you
- Authentically relate and communicate from your heart
- Deepen your capacity for trust and intimacy with yourself and others.
- Heal feelings of shame and be more free in your life
- Release negative judgments of self and others
In this group, you’ll not only deepen your relationships, you’ll also access your intuition and clear old behavioral patterns that no longer serve you. The group process combines psycho-education sessions, relationship practice, processing thoughts and feelings and skill-building sessions. With Byron Katie’s “The Work” and the Enneagram as references, we’ll look at the “downward spiral of negative emotions” and work through “shame stories” (past shameful events).
Group members give and receive support as they work together to deepen self-understanding and to connect with soul-wisdom and inner guidance. You’ll practice and work on deeper intimacy in relationship with each other and with others outside of the group.
Cost is $50 per session, with sliding scale fee if needed. The group will take [place over 12-14 weeks and then may renews again if participants are interested. Past groups met in person weekly and lasted for a full year. and I facilitated the group for eight full years, with a new group each year, and a few group members continuing into a second year.
Self-Discovery Group Testimonials:
“I had no idea what ‘shadow’ was when I started attending the class. I had been attending Deborah’s Saturday monthly meditation classes, and was being exposed to spiritual ideas which were both familiar and new to me. The meetings gave me tools to delve further into understanding myself and to understand how I hamper my own personal growth. It was a safe environment in which I could explore and share, and perhaps even help others. Deborah is a gifted teacher, and being in the group was very enlightening. Thank you!” Susan P
“1.Learned to value myself. 2. Learned ways to change the way I approach difficult or uncomfortable situations. 3. Experienced the extraordinary power of a group of women when they are joining in a spiritual setting. 4. Found new deeper levels of meditation. 5. Loved laughing with the other women about the ways we are so alike. 6. Helped me not be so serious about my perceived shortcomings, and probably a couple hundred other positive concepts, emotions and skills.” Kathy H
”I absolutely loved making the connection with the women who came each week. Having the support of those women, including Deborah as facilitator, was profound and incredibly supportive for me. Knowing one is loved by others despite our flaws was wonderful.” Kelly D
Online Soul-Discovery Group: Leading a Soul-Filled Life
Starting Summer of 2024
Learn to tap into your own Soul Wisdom to manifest the fulfilling life you dream of. You’ll learn techniques to help you clear the mental and emotional patterns that keep you from connecting with your intuition (where your soul-wisdom is often found). This experiential group includes:
- Dreamwork
- Working with your positive shadow to see your potential Soul-Self
- Energy psychology techniques
- Guided visualizations
- Forgiveness work with self and others
- Soul collage
- and more
Start Your Journey to Soul Wisdom Today—
Click here to schedule your complimentary exploratory phone consultation.
Text: 707-301-0252
Contact Me