Exploring through the Universal Heart
The greatest sign of respect we can show to life (and to ourselves and each other) is to sit in silence and listen… with our entire 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 focus is a practice that helps us understand ourselves and life with greater clarity and compassion.
We are entering a time of profound global change, a process that encourages our soul’s awakening and that we are meant to navigate together. When we slow down to truly experience life as it is, we uncover a universal intelligence that illuminates this significant life reorientation with spaciousness and compassion. These innate mystical energies awaken within us as our trust in life’s evolution deepens.
Our desire for an authentic connection to life is priceless. It may be fueled by a blend of our conditioned pain or a timeless reminder of our divine essence. For many, finding our authentic place in life involves being present with the pain of our displacement. Through this practice, we experience a more embodied response to life and greater coherence between the world and ourselves. In computer terms, our life orientation undergoes a “reboot.”
Group practice nourishes encounters with the Universal Heart at the core of the Inner Constellation Mobile (ICM). Through expansive listening, we catalyze one another’s experiences of authentic relational flow. When body, heart, and mind align more coherently, we uncover deeper dimensions of who we are in relation to the emergent intelligence of life.
Four Universal Heart Practice Groups
*Details for each option correspond to the number below.
1. Annual Universal Heart in Relational Series: an annual on-line series from October to March. (Enrolment is limited to 8 participants.)
2. Free Quarterly Universal Heart Gatherings : an on-line celebration of the season on the Wednesdays nearest Solstice & Equinox.
3. Annual Universal Heart Alumni Group – on-line 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. (Enrolment is limited to 6 participants.)
1. Annual Universal Heart in Relation Series
A palpable coherence lives within each of us as the universal heart. Every moment we choose to slow down, witness, and receive our experience of life in this moment, we deepen and stabilize coherence within the personal and group nervous system.
Working as a group magnifies both the potential and the challenge of living in our individual, ancestral, and collective fields. Facing these energies together as one ecosystem liberates us from habits of separation and fixing to a relational flow between the separated parts. We begin to relate to life with a deep inner trust that lives 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 more coherently inform our body, heart, and mind.
November 2023: Understanding Human Conditioning. An experiential witnessing of our human condition means slowing down to be with life as it is, as opposed to externalizing life as something outside of us.
December 2023: Listening through Nature & the Nervous System. Our nervous system is the wisdom-keeper of our human journey—both light and shadow. Experiencing the nervous system’s timeless wisdom grounds a deep sense of trust in life.
January 2024: Recognizing our bodies as a flow of Ancestors walking through time. When we heal, the ancestors heal, as do future generations. What changes when we experience glimmers of this humbling reality?
February 2024: Spaciousness as the Elixir of Change. Inner-spaciousness is the profound blessing of unconditional presence in relationship to life. When we engage in life with fresh, timeless eyes, a sense of deep belonging begins to stir in our hearts.
March 2024: Global Social Witnessing (GSW) is the practice of identifying our relationship with the world around us. Whether conscious of it or not, we are an essential aspect of the evolving world. Experiencing the truth of this phenomenon through authentic relationships awakens the Universal Heart within. (*March has three meetings due to the Closing Ceremony.)
Cost: $625 (Cdn. $, includes $100 down payment)
Cost: $525 (previous UH participant discount)
Monthly Structure:
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- 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 is a good fit for you.
2. Free Quarterly 2024 Universal Heart Gatherings
March 20, June 19, Sept. 18, & Dec. 18.
(Wednesdays, 10 to 11:30 AM Pacific)
These free quarterly online events are designed to synchronize our nervous system with the seasonal rhythm of the earth.
Please text or call me at 604-222-4111 to add yourself to the email reminder list.
Each of these quarterly gatherings 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 inner communion, we begin to understand that we have never been — and will never be —
separate from 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 my body wears
invites eternal belonging ...
Learning to bow becomes a blessing stream.
A home for restoration
A place of peace
A walk in timeless grace ...
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 that 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.
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The secret of our greatest blessing lies within the sacred dance between the dark and the light, the hidden and the visible, the unknown and the known.
By honouring the darkness, we also honour the unborn and hidden parts of ourselves and humanity.
We turn towards the light, not to get away from the dark, but to honour life's mystery and our unconditional belonging in that process.
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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 takes place between the six-month Universal Heart Series in the spring or summer.
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 body, heart, and mind. In listening, we discover that we are life and that life constantly informs us of our unconditional belonging.
Being still and listening invites the timeless gifts of presence and grace into your heart.
Being still and listening invites the timeless gifts of presence and grace into our hearts. Gathering with others in this gentle focus helps deepen our sense of shared connection.
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, as well as various outdoor seating areas 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