Summer 2024 Cohort
Hi everyone, Carlos here!
I'm happy to announce that our meditation program will resume. I'll be facilitating a special cohort this summer, both inside the prison and extending the invitation to all of you on the outside. Our journey begins on Tuesday, June 11, and will wrap up on August 6.
Focus of the Cohort
This cohort is designed to create community and enrich our understanding and practice of meditation in a non-dogmatic, aware, and deeply compassionate way. The heart of our sessions will be exploring No Bad Parts by Richard Schwartz. The book is an introduction to Internal Family Systems, an approach to working with ourselves that enhances and deepens the meditation practices of mindfulness and loving-kindness
Who's It For?
Who Can Join: Anyone interested in deepening their practice of meditation and engaged spirituality. No prior meditation or IFS experience is required—we are a community of beginners.
How We'll Connect: Apart from our main sessions, we'll keep the conversation going in a dedicated WhatsApp group, allowing us to share insights and support one another continuously.
Commitments and Expectations
Meditation Practice: As part of our journey together, I encourage you to commit to meditating for at least 8-12 minutes, five times per week. This practice is foundational and will help deepen your personal growth and understanding of the material.
Three Zoom Sessions: This summer, based on the valuable lessons learned last semester, I'm offering three Zoom sessions to help keep us connected and deepen our engagement. Our past experience showed that even a single meeting was incredibly beneficial, so I'm hopeful that three will foster even greater connection and growth among us. If you're unable to attend these, they will be recorded and posted to the group.
Reading Commitment: To ensure a rich and engaging discussion, you are expected to keep up with the weekly readings from No Bad Parts: Healing Trauma and Restoring Wholeness with the Internal Family Systems Model just as your partners in the prison are doing. This will help synchronize our learning and discussion.
Writing Letters: An key part of our cohort will involve writing a weekly letter to a partner in the prison under a pen name to ensure anonymity. This allows for a meaningful exchange while maintaining privacy and safety.
Course Funding: Donation Basis
This course is offered on a donation basis, aligning with the spirit of generosity and support. At the end of our journey together, I'll remind everyone about the opportunity to contribute. All donations will be made to Exchange for Change, the non-profit organization I work with that facilitates my access to and engagement with the students at the prison. Your contributions will help continue and expand the reach of this valuable program.
Your Next Steps
Let Me Know: Are you interested in joining? Just drop me a note! Ask any questions. I will need your telephone number and email.
Zoom Planning: We’ll finalize our Zoom session dates based on what works best for the group as we get closer to the start.
Closing Thoughts
I am excited to explore what we can discover and develop together through meditation practice, our conversations with the book, the IFS concepts, and each other. This may be the best journey you take this summer!
Wishing you well,
Carlos