Hi Dear ATS Friends.
My husband and I will be moving across country in another 4-5 months, and we are now busy with preparing to sell our current home and move. Therefore, there will be no monthly ATS Zoom meetings until we are settled in our new home. Please stay tuned.
For our December Zoom gathering we will be sharing the spiritual and practical learnings we have each acquired from this challenging year. To prepare for the meeting, I would suggest you consider the following:
1. How have the challenges you faced in 2020 opened your heart?
2. What gifts have you received?
3. What was the hardest aspect of the year for you and how have you overcome it? (Assuming that you have.)
4. What spiritual lessons or practices have you developed or acquired?
5. What are you taking from what you learned this year and how will you apply it looking forward?
Have a glass of champaign, apple cider, tea, or your favorite drink nearby so we can toast each other at the end of the meeting and look forward together to more gatherings in 2021, albeit online!
If you are new to the group, please join with us. We love having new people trying us out!
I will email attendees the Zoom link a few days prior to the event.
Are you nervous about the upcoming elections and how to cope with the results–whatever they are? On Saturday, Nov. 21, from 10:30 to noon I will lead you through a grounding meditation followed by support and discussion for how you are doing with self-care and with any anger, uncertainty, disillusionment, fear and anxiety you feel that might relate to the election aftermath. We may possibly not even know by that date who our next president will be. I will incorporate nondual spiritual teachings into our discussion and will welcome others to do the same. Please understand that this will NOT be a political discussion! It will be about processing your thoughts and feelings without going into polarized thinking and discussion about the political issues at hand. Therefore, please–no statements about which candidate(s) you want/prefer– but instead we’ll explore incorporating nondual spiritual wisdom into however you may be emotionally triggered.
Throughout the now 18 or so years that our group has met, we have looked at experiential practices to incorporate nondual spiritual teachings into our bodies and psyches. But until now, we have not really discussed how we might bring these teachings into our daily lives and live them more actively and effectively.
If you are new to the group, you can jump right in! We often have new people showing up at our gatherings. You do not need to be real familiar with nondual spiritual teachings.
Note that we are not meeting in September.
For those of you who are interested in this group, I will be offering an introduction to the group, beginning with a 20-25 minute meditation, followed by a discussion about nondual spiritual wisdom teachings and how our group works with these teachings. Then there will be time for you to bring up your questions about the group.
Please join with us if you are a newcomer and want to learn more.
Hello there.
The ATS group now meets over Zoom, to keep everyone local safe.
I will be offering a Zoom orientation to this group on Saturday August 15 from 10 am -noon. It is an opportunity to learn all about the group, about nondual spiritual wisdom teachings, to check me out, and to ask questions. You will also hear about whatis in store for the group beginning in September. I will start us off with offering a 20 minutes meditation.
We will not be meeting in July.
I hope you will come and check me/us out! It is a wonderful group of people who are dedicated to their spiritual growth and wellbeing, and for some–to awakening.
We will begin with my leading you through a 20-25 min. inner resourcing meditation. Then we will be discussing spiritual and wellbeing resources we are using to make the most of life and to feel spiritually connected with s/Self, loved ones, Consciousness. I will offer up a few I have used.
Please join in if you are new to our group/. We’ve had very rich discussions since we began zooming in April. We’d love to have you with us.
We had a wonderful first Zoom gathering in April. There were about 15 of us on the call, and it went very well. It wasn’t the same as being in person with each other, but I think those of you who participated would agree that it was very worthwhile, since you told me you are interested in more Zoom gatherings.
I hope more of you can join with us next time. And next time will be Saturday May 16. I am adjusting the time period a bit–a 105-minute session instead of a 2 hour or 120 minute session, or, from 10:15 am to noon, because 2 hours over Zoom feels a bit long for a few people and for me.
The focus of the gathering will be “spiritual shadow.” We will look at and discuss how most spiritual communities have had shadow showing up in their midst, as well as how we each have our own personal spiritual shadow elements. Spiritual shadow encompasses many aspects: from a spiritual teacher who has taken advantage of his/her followers –such as inappropriately using money, power and sex– to an “inner circle” of followers who feel superior to other followers/community members, to a personal “spiritual bypassing” that just about everyone engages in at times.
After the initial guided meditation, I will ask for brief check-ins from group participants only if they feel pertinent to the whole group, where it feels the group would benefit from the check in. The check-ins will be limited to 1-2 minutes, depending on how many people participate.
I have been finishing up a nine-month mentorship involving studying spiritual communities with shadow elements. I will share with you what I have learned from the mentorship as well as what I witnessed within a spiritual community of which I was a participant for many years. There will also be an exercise for you to explore your personal spiritual shadow. Any of you who have experienced spiritual shadow within a spiritual community of which you were a member/participant will have the opportunity to share your own experiences.
To start us off, I want to recommend “Wild Wild Country”, streamed on Amazon Prime, if you happen to be a member. The documentary is a six-part series about the rise and fall of “Osho” –as he is best known–and his community of followers. The movie is not required viewing for the ATS gathering, and is approximately 6-7 hours long. Even if you are only able to watch one or two episodes, you will find it helpful. It is a wonderful documentary series.
Please let me know if you plan to attend the Zoom gathering or not. These gatherings are free, since I don’t need to pay a room rental fee for when we meet in person.
We may stay with the topic of spiritual shadow for the next few months, depending on your interest.
These are the times that test our spiritual connection. As someone stated, “if you can’t go outside, go inside.”
The focus will be a 20 minute guided meditation followed by short check ins about how you are coping spiritually. We are living in the times of our dark collective shadow now, and we will also focus on this as the theme for this gathering. The lighthearted movie “Bernie,” and its message about collective shadow, will be discussed for part of our session together so please watch it if you are able. It is available through Netflix and Amazon. If you don’t have the chance to see the movie, join with us anyway. It isn’t necessary to see the movie.
I am glad to offer a brief introduciton to using Zoom for anyone who needs it. Just let me know.
I welcome those of you who haven’t attended a group session. This gathering will be free and a chance to try out our group and my meditations and tecahings, and right from your own home!
On Saturday, February 22 from 10 am to noon, we will continue to work with individual shadow. I will offer writing and dyad exercises where you will be further discovering elements of inner shadow. This is the first important step in bringing your shadow to light in order to have acceptance of it and possible transformation. Note that you do not have to have attended last month’s introduction to shadow work. Fee will be the usual $5. New folks are welcome!
On Saturday, March 21, from 11 am to 1 pm (not our usual time frame), we will have the honor and privelege of having Joan Tollifson join with us for a live Zoom (video) session. Joan lives in the Ashland, OR area and is not travelling these days, but is able to join with us on the Zoom platform. (We have a large mounted TV screen in the library room on which to see her–one of the big advantages to our new gathering venue.) Joan will be discussing her latest book: Death: The End of Self-Improvement. She has written a number of wonderful books on nondual spiritual wisdom. I recommend you read at least a portion of this book if you plan to join with us. And the focus of Joan’s book fits right in with our shadow work, as I think you will appreciate when you read it. The book also contains useful information on spiritual awakening. The cost for this gathering will be $5 for the usual room rental fee plus a donation for Joan. It is recommended that the donation be at least $20 but up to you. (Flyer attached.)