An 8-week online journey towards
presence, courage & trust
in uncertain times.
How do we meet the reality of climate breakdown and the wider crises of our time without becoming overwhelmed, disconnected or burnt out? How do we find the courage and freedom to face what is happening and to discover how we want to respond?
This eight-week online journey invites us to slow down and explore these questions together. Through meditation, somatic practices, guided enquiry and ecological perspectives, we’ll explore our relationship with uncertainty, fear, grief and change. We’ll reconnect with the body, the living world and the deeper ground of awareness beneath our ever-changing experience.
Along the way, we’ll make space for the difficult emotions these times evoke, explore our fears around loss and collapse, and discover how breakdown can sometimes open possibilities for renewal. Rather than rushing towards solutions, we’ll practise listening more deeply; to ourselves, to one another and to the world around us.
The course is not about pretending everything will be okay. It is about cultivating the presence, trust and courage to meet life as it unfolds and allowing meaningful, inner-led action to emerge from that place.
Our journey together
Over eight weeks, we’ll move gently from grounding ourselves in the reality of these times towards a deeper relationship with uncertainty, change and the possibilities for meaningful engagement with the world. Each session combines reflection, embodied practice, guided enquiry and time to connect with ourselves, one another and the living world.
Each session is on a Thursday night from 7 - 9 pm UK time (GMT) via Zoom. The sessions will be recorded, so you can catch up in your own time if you miss one.
Week 1 — Arriving in These Times
Acknowledging where we are
We begin by making space for the reality of the world we find ourselves in and for how it affects us personally. Rather than rushing towards solutions, we’ll slow down, listen and explore what is present for us right now.
Week 2 — The Body as Ground
Finding support in the midst of uncertainty
When the world feels overwhelming, we can easily become caught in our thoughts or lose touch with ourselves. Through gentle somatic practices and meditation, we’ll explore how the body can offer a place of grounding, support and presence, even when life feels uncertain.
Week 3 — We Are Nature
Rediscovering our sense of belonging
What changes when we experience ourselves not as separate observers of a world in crisis, but as part of the living world itself? Through nature connection, reflection and embodied practice, we’ll explore our relationships with the more-than-human world and the sense of belonging that can emerge.
Week 4 — The Nature of Change
Making space for impermanence
Change, disturbance and uncertainty are woven into the fabric of life. Drawing on ecological perspectives and our own experience, we’ll explore the cycles of endings, renewal and regeneration and what nature might teach us about living through times of profound transformation.
Week 5 — Endings, Death and Collapse
Meeting what we fear to lose
Climate breakdown can bring us face to face with fears of loss, death and the collapse of what we know. In a grounded and supportive space, we’ll explore these fears with care and curiosity and consider how acknowledging endings might also open space for a different relationship with life.
Week 6 — Meeting Difficulty
Making room for grief, fear and anger
How can we stay present with the difficult emotions these times evoke without becoming overwhelmed, shutting down or turning away? We’ll explore ways of listening to our emotions and meeting them with compassion, allowing them to be part of our experience without letting them define the whole of it.
Week 7 — From Collapse to Possibility
Discovering our own way forward
When we loosen our grip on how things should be, new possibilities can sometimes begin to emerge. We’ll explore the relationship between letting go, trust and renewal, asking what becomes possible when we stop needing to know the whole path ahead and begin listening for the next meaningful step.
Week 8 — Living in Urgent Times
Cultivating trust, courage and inner-led action
We bring our journey together, reflecting on what has shifted and what we want to carry forward. Rather than looking for certainty or a final answer, we’ll explore how to cultivate trust in our capacity to meet what arises, stay connected to what matters and respond to the world from a place of greater presence and care.
The facilitators
Ariyanandā from Open Ground
… investigator of humanness, educator of the heart, CM practitioner, forest therapist, researcher, creative, grower, cook, walker, tea maker...