School of Self-Study is for anyone who desires to explore their relationship to self and others through the mediums of mindfulness-based contemplative practices. You belong here if…
You desire to create shifts in how you relate to yourself
You’re interested in exploring your relationship to yourself via mindfulness-based contemplative practices
You understand that change requires consistent effort and are not looking for quick fixes
Great question! My favorite visualization of the scope of contemplative practice is this graphic from The Center for Contemplative Mind in Society (see below).
Contemplative practice encompasses a great variety of techniques and tools. Practices can be still or active, solo or interpersonal. No doubt many of them are familiar to you, such as meditation, gratitude lists, journaling and yoga.
What I love about this illustration is that at the roots of the tree are Connection and Awareness, which are the anchor and unifying focus of all these disparate disciplines. If a practice helps to refine awareness and expand a sense of connection to self and others, it can be counted as contemplative.
At the School, we get in right relationship to self by utilizing mindfulness-based contemplative techniques (reflective writing, somatic movement and meditation). The heart of our practices is the heart of all contemplative practice: we are here to meaningfully reconnect with our whole selves, and to operate our human bodies with ever deepening awareness.
CMind. (2021). The Tree of Contemplative Practices [Illustration]. The Center for Contemplative Mind in Society.
When I say “self” I mean the singular energetic presence that existence would long for if you were not here, and the power and gifts that you are uniquely positioned to offer this world.
The purpose of studying the self is not to put you apart from or above anyone else. We’re not here to further ideas of separation or supremacy.
The purpose of our work together is two fold;
to uncover who and what you are beyond outside conditioning, identity and personality
to locate yourself in the large, unbreakable web of connection
Studying the self is not selfish. It’s not navel gazing. To really understand yourself is to understand that you are small in the grand scheme of things, yet not unimportant.
You belong here, you have a vital role to play, but you won’t be able to step into that without first discovering what you were meant for before outside forces defined and confined your purpose.
This is not therapy and I am not a licensed mental healthcare provider.
Licensed psychologists, therapists and professional clinical counselors can provide assessment of mental health, as well as diagnosis, treatment planning and treatment via applied psychotherapeutic techniques. This framework often orients us to the past and invites us to excavate our old wounding.
As this is not within my legal or ethical scope of practice, I do not assess mental health, nor provide diagnosis, treatment planning or treatment for any mental health condition.
Folks with acute mental health concerns are warmly welcome at the School, and are encouraged to be under the care of a licensed mental healthcare provider during their participation.
Working with me is not therapy, nor is it conventional life coaching, which often orients us to the future and helps us to set and achieve goals.
I’m a mindfulness-based Contemplative Educator; I teach contemplative skills and tools, specifically focusing on meditation, somatic movement and reflective writing. You’ll leverage the power of these practices to explore your relationship to yourself, and how that relationship affects other areas of your life.
We will orient on the here and now, focusing on how to move into the future in a way that feels easeful and balanced for you. This will look totally different for everyone, as there is no One Way that addresses the needs of everyone.