Emerge: The Art of Conscious Choice
Creating conscious connection in a
Culture of confusion
Our entire lives, from the very beginning, we get conditioned by our families, society, the past, and even our genetics. We don’t have the cognitive awareness to understand this. We just grow up knowing what we know, and not knowing how to question what we don’t know. We deny our authentic wants and needs because we have no idea what they are or how to access them. We are taught that perfection is power, and that we have to sacrifice ourselves trying to attain it.
I was in my forties the first time I realized I could consciously choose my values. It was something my family of origin never discussed. What a shock! And what disappointment. It can be so disappointing, so frustrating to realize, at any stage of life, how much we don’t know about human-ing.
Is this you?
- You’ve tried and tried and tried, but never attained that “perfect” thing – perfect body, perfect life, perfect job, lots of money. Or maybe you did, but you find you’re still unsatisfied.
- You’ve got “the blahs,” or a general sense of, “Is this all there is?” You thought life was going to be different, even though you’re not exactly sure what that means.
- You prioritize taking care of and pleasing others, but have realized that, ultimately, a pattern of self-sacrifice comes at a high personal cost.
- You’ve noticed that your relationships don’t feel good, but you don’t know how to change that.
- You’re standing at a pivotal threshold in your life, sensing change is needed or is coming but are unsure of the next steps
- You’ve identified some of your suboptimal coping mechanisms (numbing, escapism, shopping, etc) but can’t figure out why you rely on them or how to rely on them less.
Whatever your story is – you aren’t broken and you never were. You don’t need to be fixed. What you need is to be uncovered, released and guided by your true, inner self. Not society “out there.”
There’s no wrong time to have more agency over our own lives. no wrong time to take the first step of responsibility for creating the life we want. No one else can do it for us.
Emerge: The Art of Conscious Choice
A six week group immersion of creative reflection to connect with your authentic self
Emerge uses the tools of mindfulness and meditation, writing, and simple collage to explore the topics of values, self-care, gratitude, and compassion in a conscious way. Each one of these components is explored individually, as well as how they work together symbiotically to foster healing, growth, and living in more grounded awareness. Emerge is designed to support you in:
- Cultivating self-love, acceptance, empathy, and compassion within a nurturing community environment
- Building resilience and finding peace through safe exploration of personal challenges and successes
- Gaining clarity on personal barriers and learning to take intentional, impactful actions
- Enjoying a fun, repeatable journey to self-discovery, in which you can embrace joy and freedom from restrictive beliefs
- Transforming negative thoughts and feelings into positive actions and self-forgiveness, leading to an empowered sense of direction and embodied understanding
Transform Challenges into Choices
Are you ready to explore, understand, and embrace your unique path? Learn how to navigate life’s complexities with confidence and emerge into your true potential.
Get announcements about upcoming program dates!
Six Weeks to Emerge
Once you enroll for Emerge, you’ll get a confirmation email with course specifics and the list of simple, necessary supplies. Each class will have meditation time, an instruction component, writing prompt, time for Q&A, collage, and, mostly importantly, conversation.
Why meditation? Why writing? Why creativity? Why making conscious choices? If we’re alive, aren’t we making conscious choices? Well. No. For most of us, probably not.
What are values, anyway? Why are they important? How do we decide? This week, we’re going to delve into how we can create and align with our true personal values, and why it matters.
We, as a society, have major misperceptions about what self-care is and why it’s so important. What gets in the way of us taking care of ourselves the way we really need to? Prioritizing ourselves is actually beneficial to the people we love.
This week we’ll focus on the benefits of gratitude, establishing a gratitude practice, and how it can connect us more deeply to ourselves.
We’ll delve into compassion and self-forgiveness, why these skillsets are key to awake, aware living. Two more misunderstood concepts that connect us more deeply to others in shared humanity.
Week Six is an overview of what was covered. We fill a toolkit with tools we’re interested in actually using, and commit to making one small conscious choice a practice.
From previous students
“[Emerge] sounded interesting and felt like a way to express myself. Doing mindfulness and art with others is easier than motivating myself to do it. Class taught me how to sit quietly and notice my emotions, which I have a hard time doing instead of just pushing them down like I used to. My therapist encourages me to sit with discomfort and hearing about this in class helped me realize how important it actually is and why. I really enjoyed this class. I think it offered a lot of insight. 10 out of 10.
– Jan P.
“There are so many nuggets I take away from these classes. I need a regular “injection” so I don’t forget the learning. The main takeaway this time has been the toolkit, putting it into practice and it’s working! Did this class meet my expectations? YES! yes, yes yes!”
– Shari S.
“[Before I joined Emerge] I was having a lot of anxiety. I was hoping the class would help me deal with it to some extent. I needed a “tune-up” for my self-care practice. Class helped me utilize tools I knew about and inspired me with new ideas and concepts for self-care. The class surpassed my expectations, because I already had tools in my self-care toolkit. But this class reinforced them and I feel I’m better able to care for myself. It’s a practice!”
– Sue S.
Emerge: The Specifics
What’s included
- 6 weeks @ 2 hours per class = 12 hours of live instruction
- Ongoing attention and support from me for the duration of the class
- Weekly reminder emails with attachments and instructions for the upcoming class
- Weekly follow up emails with more suggestions to move the class material from theory to practice
- A special gift, upon course completion.
- PLEASE NOTE: NO PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE IS NECESSARY! And you do NOT need any traditional artistic skills to enjoy the benefits of creative play.
Your Investment
$599.00*
*Please note that both scholarships and payment plans are available in order to accommodate a variety of financial situations.
Participation
There is a 3-student minimum requirement for class to begin.
Common Questions
Reliable internet for the Zoom calls, as well as a quiet area where you won’t be disturbed for the duration of each 2 hour class.
Each week, you’ll want to have handy the latest email attachments, your journal, pen, collaging supplies, and an open heart.
It’s completely normal to feel hesitant about certain practices like meditation, art, or journaling, especially if past experiences weren’t positive. The goal for Emerge is to leave the past outside the scope of the weekly sessions, in order to allow for new experiences with these tools. Breakthrough often comes when we approach the practice free of preconceived notions.
For instance, two participants in a recent session were initially reluctant to use writing as a tool. Their past experiences with journaling were unhelpful, even negative. But during the course, faced with real-life challenges, they chose to navigate the situations by writing letters. To their surprise, they found the approach profoundly helpful. It wasn’t the act of writing itself that had been the issue; it was how they’d used it.
In Emerge, we explore not just the ‘why’ behind the tools but also the ‘how.’ I always encourage experimentation and adaptation to suit your individual needs and preferences. So, if a particular practice doesn’t resonate with you, that’s perfectly fine. We’ll work together to find what does resonate. The key is being willing to try in new and personalized ways, so you can discover how to support yourself in self-exploration and personal growth.
Enroll here! Once you’re signed up, you’ll receive a welcome email from me with everything you need to know.
[Emerge] not only met my expectations, it did more than that. Thank you!
– Sandy E.
Emerge into your fullest expression
Life can be full of discomfort. One thing we don’t talk enough about is how even making healthier, more healing, grounded choices can still feel “bad” for a while. Breaking patterns that we’ve had since childhood, no longer doing what we’ve done, can be VERY, VERY hard. Even when the old ways don’t actually feel good, it can be a shock to realize that making different choices, healthier choices can be so damn hard, can still feel so damn uncomfortable. To us and those around us! Because it’s brand new! I get how confusing it can all be. I’ve been there.
Real, Down-to-Earth Road Map
There’s so much noise out there about personal growth, spirituality, healing etc. Get a roadmap, from someone who’s been there – me! Because of the suffering I experienced, hitting my personal emotional rock bottom and finding my way back, I’ve earned wisdom about living in more awareness. I’ve learned how to connect with myself and others more consciously, and how to work with what gets in the way. Along with this personal experience, I pull inspiration from some great, inspiring minds, including: Brené Brown, Eckhart Tolle, David Whyte, Mark Nepo, bell hooks, Liz Gilbert, Tara Brach, and Nicole LePera.
Practical, Adaptable Tools
The tools I offer in Emerge are designed to make the discomfort around change more conscious, so it can be used consciously, and thereby help to form new patterns, to make new choices. In tiny, manageable increments. You also have full permission to use them in any way you see fit. Through Emerge, you’ll feel prepared and hopefully optimistic about your ability to discern what tools work for you, while keeping an open mind to think outside the box with creativity when it comes to the toolkit and living more consciously.
Community & Connection
Along with these tools, we need rituals that support new habits and growth. Emerge allows you to supercharge your growth through knowledge in community, and have fun with like-minded folks in a safe and supportive environment. This is a community to share thoughts, feelings, fears, concerns, and inspiration. People who are on the same journey. On this path, we’re constantly learning from one another, being inspired by what others are doing that works. Learning in action.
And, when you “graduate,” you can continue in community with Emerge Ongoing sessions and/or dig deeper into art with the heArt journaling class.
This class was better than my therapy!
– E.M.
What happens when you Emerge?
With these new tools, imagine the possibilities that can unfold in your life. You can approach each day with a sense of wonder and engagement, trusting in your choices and celebrating your voice and space in the world. Decision-making becomes a pathway to self-expression rather than a source of anxiety. Interactions with others are defined by empathy and self-compassion, creating a ripple effect of positivity in your family and community. And through it all, you find that joy and peace become more steady companions as you learn to navigate life’s complexities with calm confidence and a heart that’s open to the full spectrum of human experience. This is the transformative power of Emerge: The Art of Conscious Choice – it’s a journey to flourish.
Transition from isolating and ruminative thinking to establish healthy boundaries, value self-care, and affirm your own worth, even when life throws challenges your way.
Find your way through pain, powerlessness or suffering with newfound understanding and strategies for providing care and support while honoring both your needs and the needs of others.
Instead of wrestling with vulnerability and confusion, emerge with more strength and support to face emotions head-on, finding clarity and courage to be your authentic self.
Overcome indecisiveness by understanding its roots, affirming that your feelings and thoughts are valid and worthy of attention, and silencing the inner critic that judges both self and others.
Transform fear and self-doubt into a deep-seated trust in yourself, wrapped in the warmth of unconditional self-love and a nurturing self-care practice that starts from within.
Grant yourself permission to be fully present, reconnecting mind and body to savor life’s experiences with joy, breaking free from patterns that no longer serve your well-being.
Interested in Emerge: the Art of Conscious Choice?
Get updates when the next program is open for enrollment!
Class is a transformative group experience, where little steps add up to create big shifts. It’s an opportunity to peel back the curtain to your own thoughts and discover new ways to heal and grow.
Join ‘Emerge’ to break old patterns and welcome a life of authenticity, self-care, and resilience. Together, let’s explore how to make our hearts and minds sing.
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