Daily intimacy with the world we inhabit
Registration for the summer 2024 cohort is:
OPEN
The summer cohort begins on:
June 2nd, 2024
Deadline to complete registration:
May 31st, 2024
Connection is a fundamental need of human beings, and a gateway to thriving as one. For many of us, a sustaining sense of connection with the world around us is not something we are used to consistently experiencing, nor is it what we've come to expect. Our days are packed and stressful, our interactions rushed or shallow, and we may hardly know the people we interact with. Moments of deep connection can be few and far between -- maybe outsourced to brief periods of time through often-inaccessible retreats, or vacations from work if we can make them happen -- but they are certainly not the norm.
Everyday Aliveness is a deep dive into how connection and disconnection influence our daily lives, and a curated pathway of experimenting with ways to grow our sense of connection over time.
Over the course of three months, participants receive play prompts (sent through audio recordings & visual text) to run in their regular interactions throughout their day. The prompts invite creative ways to deepen connection with the world around us, as well as to excavate potential places of disconnection operating in our lives. Each week kicks off with an overarching connection experiment, and then each day of the week has a new play prompt to try out.
From past participants...
"This experience has been a transformational journey for me, one that I am incredibly grateful for. Through the thoughtful weekly prompts and engaging group exercises, I have discovered layers of connection that I previously wandered past, oblivious to the depth they could add to my life. I've learned that connection is not just between us as humans but extends to the intimate dialogue with every aspect of our environment—from a whisper of wind to the stories embedded in inanimate objects that occupy our spaces. The program has not just expanded the breadth of interaction in my day-to-day existence; it has deeply enriched it."
"It helped me explore the unexplorable, see what is typically unseeable, and develop a relationship with my awareness that helps guide me toward the beyond. I learned a ton of useful tools, language, exercises, and methods for thinking, feeling, and being...This course is for anyone interested in getting underneath the fabric of their aliveness."
How does it work?
Connection Experiments
These come in the form of recorded prompts and slides that get sent directly to your phone and email multiple times throughout the week. The prompts invite you to explore how you connect and what you can be connected to.
Weekly Live Calls
Tuesdays at 4 pm ET
Where you can bring questions, share thoughts on the theme, hear stories from other participants, and do a live practice together. Guest hosts often join these.
The Collective Journal
At the start of each week, a conversation starter gets sent out to the group. Participants are invited to respond to it and to each other, to keep the conversation alive in real-time between calls.
Connection Experiments
The kinds of things we explore connecting with changes each week, and includes things like: developing intimacy with the objects you share your home with, exploring the land and non-human neighbors you are surrounded by, and finding the secret places in our awareness where our connection hits a learned edge. You will be prompted to expand your sense of who you can be connected to, and what it feels like to be living in a felt sense of ever-increasing interconnection. As the weeks go by, the experiments get broader and less and less ordinary, pushing the limits of what we have been taught it is possible to be connected to. Here's an example of the connection experiment and a play prompt from week 1:
Weekly Group Meetings
The weekly meetings are where the magic comes home and the community forms. They are a place where you can go deep with others and learn how people experience and explore connection in their lives. They provide a space to share about things rarely spoken about in typical gatherings, and to learn from a group of curious humans brought together by the shared journey. Inspiring guest hosts often join the group calls to share their perspectives and enrich the conversation. This program is in the reverse order of traditional online programs: The majority of the experimenting and learning happens in solo exercises, and when we come together for group time we are sharing and learning from what each person tried. It is a container that centers the inherent wisdom in your own awareness and the richness that occurs when people can share openly with each other.
"The group calls were the heartbeat of this experience, giving us a chance to share our unique personal narratives and engage in practices that strip away the layers of conditioning and societal constructs which often hinder true connection. Every week, I looked forward to this communal learning space, where vulnerability was met with acceptance and curiosity."
What It's Not
Everyday Aliveness is a self-driven journey that explores themes of connection and disconnection in our everyday lives. While there is supportive time held for answering questions, practicing, and group celebration every week, it is not a replacement for therapy or a program that offers in-depth processing space for connection-related trauma and wounding. For this level of support, and to go deeper into whatever may arise for you related to your participation in the program, I recommend working with a therapist. For those who cannot afford one but want that kind of individualized support, Open Path Collective exists to offer discounted mental health services to folks with low income.
Get Your Questions Answered
Schedule a one-on-one call
To talk more about the program and see if it feels like a fit for you. Click here to schedule >>
Join an upcoming info call
To hear more about the program and ask questions in real time. Click here to RSVP >>