Class description:

"Fill your paper with the breathings of your heart." — William Wordsworth

Every one of us will experience transitions in our lives, some that feel massive and others that are more subtle. Though going through times of flux can feel isolating, it is actually a portal to connection, because change is woven into the fabric of human life and the Earth itself.

Right now, we're also living through a time when change feels especially constant, collective, and destabilizing.

This 6-week course offers a compassionate, communal container for navigating life's thresholds through the combined practices of meditation and reflective writing—and through exploring important, relatable nuggets of research on the often messy human experience of finding our way through “the transitions, disruptions, and reinventions of our lives,” as writer Bruce Feiler puts it.

Who is this class for?

Whether you're navigating a personal shift (career change, relationship transition, loss, identity shift, health challenge, retirement, aging) and/or feeling the broader currents in our world, you may find yourself asking: Who am I now? What do I do with this uncertainty? How do I honor what was, meet what's here now, and orient towards the future with care and greater access to my innermost wisdom?

This course is open to anyone 18+ regardless of your level of meditation experience.

Why this offering?

During some of the most significant transition periods of her life, Alison has interwoven her meditation and journaling practices in ways that have buoyed her heart and supported access to intuition, healing, and clarity—and she is excited to offer these complementary practices for exploration in the context of an uplifting communal space.

This course builds on the overwhelmingly positive response to two courses offered over the past year: "The Gentle Pen: Meditation and Writing for Self-Compassion," followed by the first iteration of this course. Both of those courses were offered in the evenings and several Two Wings Mindfulness community members requested a mid-day option. Voila!

Here’s some feedback from these recent meditation & writing courses:

• Your teachings on transitions have been very supportive and helpful.

• I'm taking away the ability to journal on a regular basis, and do so without fear of emotions taking over. I can now give myself private time throughout the week to pause and check in to see how I'm really doing, and this helps me process what's unfolding with life.

• The way the material was taught prior to our writing time was really helpful. I had often struggled with knowing what/how to write when I tried in the past.

• I loved this class and would take it again!

What to Expect:

Each 75-minute session (12-1:15 pm ET) includes:

• Arriving together through a grounding practice and optional check-ins

• A meditation practice tailored to the week's theme—we'll explore body-based practices for presence and stability, equanimity practices for navigating change, and heart practices for self-compassion and opening

• Brief teachings that draw on mindfulness as well as psychological and spiritual perspectives on transitions

• Guided writing time with thoughtfully crafted prompts (you'll choose the approach that resonates—freewriting, structured reflection, or creative exploration)

• Optional sharing

As author Alice Walker encourages, "There should be…a period in every day when you're just free to sink into your own space, your internal space." This course creates that dedicated time each week.

If anyone has additional questions or comments, Alison will hang out in the Zoom room for another 15 minutes (1:15-1:30 pm ET) to continue the conversation.

Over six weeks, we'll explore:

• Grounding meditations for meeting uncertainty and living in the "in-between"

• Types of life transitions and stages of life transitions

• Ways to honor the emotions, thoughts, and beliefs that arise during periods of change

• Practices for accessing intuitive knowing amidst change

• The power of supportive community along the way

• Planning for sustainable navigation

• Integration: carrying your insights forward

1:1 session included, not required:

The course includes one optional 30-minute individual session with Alison, which you can schedule at any point during the course if it’s of interest to you. This 1:1 is an opportunity to explore what's arising for you or receive mindfulness-based support as your transition(s) unfold. All participants will receive a scheduling link.

The 1:1 will be structured similarly to “Your Life is Your Practice, Your Practice is Your Life” 1:1 sessions:

• 1-2 minutes of meditating together as a way of arriving and transitioning into our time together

• Check in: How are you in this moment?

• Touching base about what feels most important to discuss

• Discussing it! :) This period often also involves guided inquiry if it’s relevant and of interest to you, in which I lead you through a tailored reflective process.

• Closing: What are you taking away from this time together?

• Wishing each other well and parting ways

Logistics:

• Dates: Wednesdays — February 18, February 25, March 4, March 11, March 18, March 25. In the interest of building community, please plan to attend at least 4 of the 6 sessions live, if possible.

• Time: 12-1:15 pm ET + 15 minutes of optional small group time.

• Format: Live online sessions

• All sessions will be recorded and available within 24 hours

• You'll receive a reminder email the day before each session and a detailed follow-up email after each session with the recording, resources and reflection prompts.

• Cohort I members are welcome to participate in this round. While the structure, themes, and core content are similar, each Cohort creates its own unique container through group sharing and there will be some new material.