The greatest sign of respect we can offer to life—and to ourselves and one another—is to sit in silence and listen… with our whole being, through our eyes, ears, sense of smell, touch, taste, heart, and intuition. Being still and listening invites a profound presence and a timeless connection with life. Gathering with others in this gentle practice of witnessing helps restore light to the wounded ground of our human experience. As personal, ancestral, and collective traumas that alienate us are illuminated in the light of relation, inner and outer peace is restored.
Our current global crisis will pressurize our disconnected and unconscious shadow patterns; it can also serve as a catalyst for our soul’s awakening. By attuning to life as it is, we not only uncover trauma within our nervous system but also undergo a rebirth of our heart’s universal intelligence. Just as light encompasses shadow, we encounter a timeless, joyful trust that has been a refuge for mystics throughout human history.
Four Universal Heart Practice Groups
There are four different ways to engage with the Universal Heart at the centre of the Inner Constellation Mobile (ICM). The details for each option correspond with the number below.
1. Annual Universal Heart in Relational Series: an annual online series from October to March. (Enrollment is limited to 8 participants.)
2. Free Quarterly Universal Heart Gatherings: an online celebration of the season on the Wednesdays nearest the Solstice & Equinox.
3. Annual Universal Heart Alumni Group – online meetings 6 times a year (Enrolment is unlimited. See prerequisites & dates below)
4. Quarterly In-persona Nature-Informed Silent Retreats: 6-hour Saturday retreats hosted near Solstice & Equinox full moon. (Enrollment is limited to 6 participants.)
1. Annual Universal Heart in Relation Series
The Annual UH in Relation Series is a six-month online program designed to nurture the awakening of our hearts’ subtle relational nature. Each month features a practice theme that encourages a gentle connection with our soul. In this spaciousness, we can address our challenges and recognize that they are essential to our embodied spiritual journey. This perspective allows us to be more generous with our areas of pain and disconnection and to understand that our struggles are not merely personal but also generational and collective.
A palpable coherence exists within each of us as the UH. Every moment we choose to slow down, witness, and embrace our experience of life in this moment, we deepen and stabilize coherence within our personal and collective nervous systems. When we work as a group, we magnify both the potential and the challenges present in our individual, ancestral, and collective fields. Facing these energies together as one ecosystem liberates us from habits of “fixing the parts” into a relational flow between the separated parts. We begin to trust life as a hidden revelatory process and profound intelligence residing within our hearts.
October 2023: The Still Language of the Soul. What supports deep listening in your life (nature, ritual, ceremony, prayer, dance, yoga, meditation, breath, scripture, writing, sound, chanting, etc.)? In deep listening, the vertical resonance of our soul begins to inform our body, heart, and mind more coherently.
November 2023: Understanding Human Conditioning. Experiencing our human condition involves slowing down to be present with life as it is, rather than viewing life as something separate from us.
December 2023: Listening through Nature & the Nervous System. Our nervous system is the keeper of wisdom in our human journey—encompassing both light and shadow. Engaging with the timeless wisdom of the nervous system cultivates a profound sense of trust in life.
January 2024: Recognizing our bodies as a flow of Ancestors walking through time. When we heal, our ancestors heal, and so do future generations. What shifts when we perceive glimpses of this humbling reality?
February 2024: Spaciousness as the Elixir of Change. Inner spaciousness is the profound blessing of unconditional presence in relation to life. When we engage with life through fresh, timeless eyes, a deep sense of belonging begins to stir in our hearts.
March 2024: Global Social Witnessing (GSW) is the practice of acknowledging our relational habits with the world around us. Gaining insight into ourselves through deep inner stillness and authentic connection is vital for a world that is awakening and evolving. (*March has three meetings due to the Closing Ceremony.)
Cost: $625 (Cdn. $, includes $100 down payment)
Cost: $525 (previous UH participant discount)
Monthly Structure:
-
- Twice-monthly Saturday Meetings: Except for holidays, the Saturday meetings take place on the first and third Saturdays of the month.
- The 1st Saturday is 3 hours (10 AM to 1 PM Pacific), and the 3rd Saturday is 1.5 hours (10 to 11:30 AM Pacific).
- The first Saturday features a full or partial Inner Constellation Mobile (ICM), and the third Saturday features small and large group explorations of our monthly theme.
- Weekly meditations and sound healings: These emails are theme-related and designed to support the weekly dyad practices.
- Weekly Dyads: Dyads help ground our inner discoveries in relation to the intimate details of our lives. These can be made on Zoom or phone and are 20 – 30 minutes (partners change every 4 or 5 weeks).
- Weekly Journaling: Following each weekly dyad, reflective journaling is recommended to explore the flavour of our self-contact while sharing and listening.
Monthly Schedule for Group Zoom Meetings 2024/25:
October 5 & 19
November 2 & 16
December 7 & 21
January 4 & 18 (2025)
February 1 & 15 (please note that Feb. 15 falls on the Family Day long w/e)
March 1 & 15March 29: Closing Ceremony (10 AM to 12 PM Pacific)
Important Reminder: If this is your first series and you have not met me before, please phone (+1) 604-222-4111 prior to registering. This is a routine check-in to ensure that this program fits you well.
2. Free Quarterly 2025 Universal Heart Gatherings
Wednesdays: March 19, June 18, Sept. 17, & Dec. 17
(10 to 11:30 AM Pacific)
These free quarterly online events are intended to align our nervous system with the earth’s seasonal rhythm. Please text or call me at 604-222-4111 to add yourself to the email reminder list. Each gathering consists of a theme-related guided meditation, triad sharing, and large group sharing. If there is time, we close by creating a whiteboard drawing together to express our experience. The drawing is then sent to all the participants, along with recordings of the meditation and group sharing.
Spring Equinox Emergence as Becoming: Like sap rising, discovering the fresh energies of spring’s emergence awakens a thrilling promise within our hearts.
We have to discern the heart first, then bring in the mind. The heart doesn’t mean the emotions. Listening to our heart means to fall into silence, into quietness. The impulse of our heart arises from stillness. As it arises it becomes freedom, and carries great excitement with it, great certainty (Richard Rudd, The Gene Keys).
Summer Solstice Tending our Belonging: What has ripened within us that allows for more wisdom, depth, meaning, and relational flow?
As soul and body find increasing communion, we begin to understand that we have never been — and will never be —
separate from the evolution of life.
Fall Equinox Rooting through the Ancestors: Precise nervous system attunement to even one ancestor can deeply transform our life orientation.
Bowing to the Ancestors,
holding more intimately the disrupted ground I stand upon.
Honouring the wounded life in my heart
invites eternal belonging ...
Learning to bow becomes a stream of blessings.
A home for restoration
A place of peace
A walk in timeless grace ...
The secret to our greatest blessing lies within the sacred dance between darkness and light, the hidden and the visible, the unknown and the known.
By honouring the darkness, we also honour the unborn and concealed parts of ourselves and humanity.
We turn towards the light not to escape the darkness, but to honour life's mystery and our unconditional belonging in that process.
A Winter Solstice Prayer
- May I dwell gracefully in the darkness of the silent unknown.
- May my inner stillness provide a womb for the unborn light, which shines through eternity as the inexplicable mystery of our sacred belonging.
- May my heart dissolve into the light of the universal heart in these darkening days.
3. Universal Heart Alumni 2025
A Universal Heart Path involves slowing down and learning to walk with life through grounded mystical practices of inner stillness and listening. Even, and especially in its wounded state, life remains our best and most uncompromising teacher. In a committed group, we learn to trust life’s deep intelligence. This helps us co-create a more generous understanding of ourselves, our life challenges, and the eternal beauty of our souls. The annual UH Alumni group meets on Zoom and is designed to support those who have participated in (or are currently attending) a Universal Heart Series, ICM Workshops, in-person Nature-Informed Silent Retreats, or a Returning to Silence mini-series.*
- Alumni gatherings for 2025 will take place from 10 to 11:30 AM Pacific on the first Sunday of alternating months: February 2, April 6, June 1, August 3, October 5, and December 7.
- We will begin with meditation and group sharing, followed by an ICM exploration or triad sharing.
- All sessions are recorded and sent to participants via email after the session.
Cost: $150 (CAD) for one year — e-transfer, cheque, cash, or PayPal are all accepted!
* The Returning to Silence mini-series is a sporadic six-week online course that occurs in the spring or summer between the six-month Universal Heart Series.
4. Nature-Informed Silent Retreats at “Madsen Maples”
If you read the book of Nature, no scriptures are needed. Meister Eckhart
The greatest sign of respect we can give to life and ourselves is to sit in silence and listen with our whole being. Silence practice days are an opportunity to slow down and breathe nature’s timeless spirit into our bodies, hearts, and minds. In listening, we discover that we come alive as life blesses us with a sense of our timeless belonging. Gathering with others in this gentle focus helps deepen our sense of shared connection.
2025 Silent Retreat Schedule
March 22, June 14, September 20, and December 13
(Saturdays, 10 AM to 4 PM)
* Please note that retreats are limited to 6 participants.
Cost $75
Indoor seating is provided, and various outdoor seating areas are designed for solitude and nature reflection.
A firepit, hot tub, and pool are available for use.
Please bring appropriate clothing and blankets for outdoor meditations, along with snacks and tea for the day. If you plan to use the pool or hot tub, please bring a bathing suit and towel.
Filtered, naturally flavoured water is provided.
Retreat days begin and end by sharing what we are bringing into the Silence and what we are leaving with.
Illustration by Maurice Sendak from Open House for Butterflies by Ruth Krauss