Lektion 1
Contemporary Rites Of Passage - Starting From Right Where We Are
This session is an introduction to the rites of passage process and the various stages that we will move through. We will explore this ancient archetypal map and how it fits with our contemporary lives.
Many of us yearn to mindfully mark moments of change lives, to honor what is shape-shifting. Yet for most of us, time alone in the wilderness for a multi-day rite of passage alone in nature not easy/realistic to achieve amidst our day to day tasks; so in this course we will deeply honour a personal rite of passage, right from whatever we are listening from, in the midst of our day to day lives.
In this session we will begin with severance – looking at what we are letting go of, seeing what is being shed and starting to honour what is happening in our hearts and lives.
Lektion 2
Threshold - Marking This Time Of Transition
In the Rites of Passage map there is a threshold moment- a time when we step away from our lives as they have been and head out on our journey into the unknown, without knowing how it will unfold form here. This was traditionally marked by “leaving the village” – a time when individuals would go alone into the wilderness to find their way forwards, to seek their own path and to come to trust in the ground under their feet again. In contemporary times we will need to find skillful ways of marking the threshold amidst the day to day duties that we are tied to, to take time to claim that we have crossed a threshold amidst all of our daily roles and responsibilities. In this session we will take time to honor that we are in a threshold moment in our own lives. We will name and claim the personal threshold that we are walking through; acknowledging that things are not what they once were, and yet not yet what they will be – and that we are heading into unknown territories in between.
Lektion 3
Holding Our Center- Learning To Self-Regulate Amidst The Uncertainty Of The Unknown
Rites of Passage are notorious for asking something from us, for challenging us and working us internally in some in way that we may not yet know how to do. We will normalize that these times of major life transition can feel like they are stretching and testing us. New ways of being are needed and we may feel that we are having to rethink everything that we thought that we once knew, as our lives rapidly shape-shift. Today we will learn a simple “ABC” centering practice so that we can self-regulate when fear and anxiety arises. We will deepen our relationship with our inner world by staying with our bodily sensations; and find new ways that we can witness and show up for ourselves as we go through this time of change.
Lektion 4
Moving Through The Wild Terrains Of The Heart - Grief And Unlocking Our Fullness Of Feeling
Grief is a natural and inevitable part of change. Sometime the grief is upfront and obvious to us- following a death, an illness or the loss of a beloved person, place, role. At other times the grief is subtler in the way that it shows up in our life; or perhaps we may have been so busy moving towards something we may not notice what it is we have moved way from and the grief may hit us long afterwards. However it is showing up, grief will likely take its toll on us. Knowing what to expect can be a key part of the healing process.
In this session we will look at different models of grief and the pathways through grief that we are moving through. We will befriend our personal grief and learn to be kind to ourselves when we are full of feeling. We will honor that these terrains are tricky and even though at times it may feel like we are losing our mind, maybe we are actually finding our hearts.
Lektion 5
Times Of Transition- Letting Ourselves Be Lost And Trusting In The Mysterious Unfolding Of Things
In this session we will explore the role of liminal space in the Rites of Passage process- and honor that it may feel like we are spending time “betwixt and between”- unsure of what shape the future will take.
In this session we will learn a technique to resource us through a long journey, so we can find a regular place of refuge within us. We will practice using our bodily senses to bring us present and to develop trust in this “pause place”. We will learn how we can better be with what is, whether that is beautiful or brutal; and we will tap into the strength and care that we each contain within us.
Lektion 6
Good Guidance And Helpers On The Way - Coming Into Community And Finding Support Structures
In traditional rites of passage there is often a “wise one in the woods” who gives us good guidance for our specific personal quest. So many folks are yearning for mentors, elders and those who have walked the path before us to offer us some good guidance. The online and offline world is full of possible teachers – some with great wisdom- and- some offering things that won’t be a great fit for us personally! We must develop our inner discernment! In this session we will practice self-responsibility by identifying what our new needs are and by daring to take steps to get those needs met. We will focus on the importance of finding a supportive community who knows what you are going through at this time and can share wisdom from the road ahead.
Lektion 7
Forgiveness As The Key To Finding Our Way Forwards
In today’s session we look at anything that we might need to let go of before we can move into the next section of our life as we move through our personal Rite of Passage. We look at forgiveness as a powerful way of shedding what has been holding us back and creating space for the new to come into our lives. We will come into right relationship with ourselves and others, as best we can; clearing the way for bright new beginnings.
Lektion 8
Harvesting What We Have Gained - Noticing The Gifts We Have Been Given
This time of transition is likely working us on ways we wouldn’t necessarily have wished for. The challenge of change is real and can be hard to handle; sometimes we may even feel like life is being mean to us or this struggle is meaningless. We may need to give up seeing ourselves as victims within the process of change. In this session we take our power back by choosing to turn towards what is hard and to step fully toward the lessons we are being given to learn. We will name and claim the lessons that we are learning and how we are growing.
Lektion 9
The Return Threshold- Honouring What Needs To Be Honoured
We crossed a threshold out at the start and as we prepare to finish this series we will need to cross back across a threshold- to "belong ourselves" back to the day to day world. We will look at self generated ceremony to mark the moments of change before we return, as we also acknowledge how much we have grown and gained on this journey.
Lektion 10
Incorporation - A Life Long Learning Journey
When we return from a Rite of Passage period in our lives we may need to navigate our day to day lives in new ways -and that this is a key part of the process of assimilating the change. Part of a Rite of Passage is claiming who we are and what is true for us. In this session we will claim the life that is ours to live and we will keep turning towards what is true for us as we find our way forwards.
