Ongoing Weekly Online Programs: Guided/Group Companioning
Mondays 9:30 – 10:30 PST ( contact annmcglone@me.com )
Tuesdays 12:00 – 1:00 pm PST www.stillpointca.org
Wednesdays 9:30 – 10:30 PST ( contact annmcglone@me.com)
BSF Connect (Monthly – Open to those with Level I experience) Online – Third Monday of each Month – 10AM – 12PM Central Time – This informal offering provides a time for deepening understanding of biospiritual focusing with others through embodied practice, sharing, questions, and discussion.
Zoom link available through the monthly newsletter/email. Email bsfconnect20@gmail.com to be placed on the mailing list
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Online Program: Partnering for Focusing ( Level II )
Dates: Tuesdays – October 3, 2023, January 9, 2024, April 30, 2024, and August 13, 2024
Time: 1pm-3pm CST
Offered by: St. Benedict Center, 1126 Road I, PO Box 528, Schuyler, NE 68661-0528
Appreciation for the gift of Biospiritual focusing comes with the experience of regular practice —- and that happens most surely with a regular partner. If you are looking for a partner or have one but would like to learn more about how to companion one another, consider joining us for Partnering for Focusing. This Level II program is for those who have had a basic introduction to focusing and seek to grow in this practice with a partner.
Session One will offer the opportunity to find a partner as well as to learn more about companioning. The remaining sessions will include further companioning tips and sharing. Those who already have a partner are most welcome as a way of deepening their companioning practice. Partners will be invited to arrange 4-6 focusing sessions between quarterly meetings.
Prerequsite: Basic understanding of BioSpiritual Focusing through Level I program or other study.
Cost: $ 100.00
To register click here
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Online: Rediscovering the Lost Body Connection within Christian Spirituality – An Experiential Book Study– ( Level II )
Offered by: St. Benedict Center, 1123 Road I, Schuyler, NE 68661 402.352.2177
Dates: 8 Zoom sessions (on Sunday afternoons Aug, 4, Aug 20, Sep 10, Sep 24, Oct 8, Oct 22, Nov 5, Nov 17 – 2PM-4PM CST)
BioSpiritual Focusing enables us to find doorways into transformation in our relationship with God, self, and others – a growing sense of connectedness within the Whole Christ where we know ourselves gifted. While the practice begins simply with developing the gentle habit of noticing and nurturing important feelings, this experiential book study will offer an ever-deepening engagement and bring new understanding. Basic familiarity with BioSpiritual Focusing is expected. This is a Level II Program best suited for those with a basic familiarity with BioSpiritual Focusing who seek to deepen their understanding and practice.
Instructors: Debbie Sheehan & Sally Carlson
Cost: $ 240.00
Registration
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Online: A BioSpiritual Focusing Approach to Supervision for Spiritual Direction
Offered by: The Spiritual Life Center, 76 Sherman St. Hartford, CT 413-330-7878
Dates: 2nd Tuesday of each month, 6:30pm to 8:00pm, beginning September 10, 2024.
Using BioSpiritual Focusing during spiritual companionship can open the door to new insights and deep noticings of the movement of the Spirit. Using it in the context of peer supervision can be equally powerful. If you are familiar with BioSpiritual Focus and would like to hone your skills within the supportive peer supervision circle, please join facilitators Nancy Benben and Mike Smoolca
Donation: $ 30.00
Registration: Spiritual Life Center
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Online: Beyond the Myth of Dominance Book Study
Offered by: Center for Spiritual Development
Dates: Wednesdays: October 23-December 11, 2024
Join us for an energizing discussion about this powerful book by Edwin M. McMahon, one of the founders of BioSpiritual Focusing. The topic of this book seems especially relevant in the times we are currently experiencing. This program will focus on discussing two chapters a week beginning on October 23, 2024 and continuing every Wednesday through December11, 2024. This will be a peer gathering and will not involve any presentations – it is about cultivating and sharing your own experience of this wonderful text. Deacon Joe Marino will organize participants into groups for sharing.
Cost: $20.00
Register: CALL (714) 744-3172 or visit THECSD.ORG
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2025
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Online: Praying With the Whole Self Level I
Date: January 10, 2025 – 7-9PM & January 11, 9AM-12PM
“God looked at everything he had made and found it very good” (Gen 1:31). BioSpiritual Focusing is a way of opening the whole of ourselves—mind, body, and spirit—to a deeper connectedness with God, others, and self. Join us to learn more about how gently being with what is present within your embodied self can open the door to a deeper story—and to a greater sense of wholeness. This practice is simple yet profound. It can be helpful for anyone—young child to senior. It requires no more than showing up and a willingness to engage contemplatively with what is going on within. And the potential for transformation and growth unfolds in the process.
Presenters: Jane King & Debbie Sheehan
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OnSite and Online: The Body’s Bridge to the experience of Living in God – Exploring BioSpiritual Focusing in Context of BioSpirituality
Where: Holy Family Monastery, 300 Tunxis Rd., W. Hartford, CT
Date: January 25, 2025 8:30 am-4:30 pm
Two Jesuits, Fr. Edwin McMahon and Fr. Peter Campbell, incorporated the embodied practice of Focusing into the larger context of BioSpirituality. Their work opens us to know ourselves as living within the greater Whole, the Body of Christ. During this day, we’ll experience BioSpiritual Focusing and explore, among other things, the embodied experience of grace and becoming a living expression of love. We’ll learn to reconnect to ourselves, one another, and to God, the Reality in whom we live and move and have our being. This program will be offered both in-person and online via Zoom. Information on how to access the program on Zoom will be sent to participants in advance.
This program will include a morning and an afternoon session of Centering Prayer.
Offering: $75, includes lunch
Register: Holy Family Monastery
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Online: BioSpiritual Focusing Book Study Program
When: February 6,13,20,27, and March 6,13,20,27, 2025.
This book study will help participants rediscover their own body within the Body of the Whole Christ — a way of deepening our connectedness with God, others and self. We will cover the basics of BioSpiritual Focusing dynamics and provide participants with experiences in BioSpiritual Focusing. Rediscovering the Lost Body-Connection Within Christian Spirituality by Rev. Edwin McMahon, Ph.D. and Rev. Peter Campbell, Ph.D. will be our guide for the exploration.
Presenters: Joe Marino and Margit Dornisch
Cost: $125
Register here
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On-Line: BioSpiritual Focusing Book Study and Practicum
Where: Genesis Spiritual Life Center, 53 Mill Street, Westfield, MA 01085
Dates: This program will meet weekly via zoom from 6:30pm-8:30pm beginning on Wednesday, February 19, 2025 and concluding on Wednesday, April 23, 2025. The sessions will be recorded and distributed after each meeting.
In this ten-week in-depth study and practicum, we will explore the practice of BioSpiritual Focusing, based on the book written by Fr. Peter A. Campbell, Ph.D. and Fr. Edwin M. McMahon, Ph.D, entitled, Rediscovering the Lost Body-Connection Within Christian Spirituality, available at the Genesis Book Store. Each evening will entail group discussion on the topics of specific chapters, followed by actual focusing sessions led by experienced facilitators. Over the course of this study, you will become more aware of the sacred story you carry in your own body and the movement of grace in your life.
Prerequisite: Basic familiarity with BioSpiritual Focusing is necessary and prior participation in a BioSpiritual Focusing: Day of Presence or multi-day BioSpiritual Focusing Retreat is recommended. You will also need to have a copy of Rediscovering the Lost Body-Connection within Christian Spirituality.
This program will be facilitated by Donna O’Connor and Mike Smoolca.
Cost: $200.00
Register: Genesis
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OnSite: Praying With the Whole Self (Level I)
Offered by: St. Benedict Center, 1123 Road I, Schuyler, NE 68661 402.352.2177
Date: March 1, 2025 – 10AM-4 PM
“God looked at everything he had made and found it very good” (Gen 1:31). BioSpiritual Focusing is a way of opening the whole of ourselves—mind, body, and spirit—to a deeper connectedness with God, others, and self. Join us to learn more about how gently being with what is present within your embodied self can open the door to a deeper story—and to a greater sense of wholeness. This practice is simple yet profound. It can be helpful for anyone—young child to senior. It requires no more than showing up and a willingness to engage contemplatively with what is going on within. And the potential for transformation and growth unfolds in the process.
On-Site: Journeying Further (St. Benedict Center) Level II
When: March 22-23, 2025
This weekend retreat is for those who have already had a basic introduction to BioSpiritual Focusing and seek to better understand how to be open to a more profound connection with God, self, and others. Deepening this gentle, embodied practice holds the potential for greater awareness and transformation. If you have experienced this practice, you are aware that, while it is simple, it is grace-filled. Join us to learn more. Our time will include presentations, partnered focusing as well as prayer and reflection.
Cost: TBD
Register Here
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Hybrid: BioSpiritual Companioning Course
When: This 9-week program will be focused on training BioSpiritual Focusing companions who wish to learn the dynamics of effectively companioning another.
This will be a hybrid course, with some meetings in person and some on Zoom. The first meeting will be in person Saturday, April 26, 10am -1pm. Subsequent meetings will be on Zoom Thursdays May 8 and 22, and June 5, 6:30-8 pm Pacific; the final session will be in person Saturday, June 21, 10am -1pm.
In addition to these bi-weekly (once every two weeks) sessions, there will be partnering experiences in between sessions to practice what has been learned in the session modules. This program has a prerequisite of completion of a BSF Book Study program (you may register for the 2025 Book Study here).
Participants will need a copy of The Focusing Student’s And Companion’s Manual, Part One by Ann Weiser Cornell & Barbara McGavin. You can obtain a print or PDF copy here.
Cost: $ 175.00
Register here.
On-Site: A Day of Presence: An Introduction to BioSpiritual Focusing
When: Aug 23, 2025, 1:00 PM – 5:00 PM
Where: Center for Christian Spirituality, 434 S Batavia St, Orange, CA 92868, USA
This afternoon of inner reflection will offer an introduction to the practices and fruits of BioSpiritual Focusing. We shall uncover ways to discover the wisdom that is held within our bodies as we attend to the inner feelings that contain holistic knowledge of ourselves and our lives, which is not readily available to the rational workings of the brain’s use of language, concepts and analysis. Through caring presence to what emerges, we unveil a rich harvest of knowing that brings us into the deeper way of understanding abiding in the human soul. The afternoon will be presented by Deacon Joe Marino and Margit Dornisch.
Cost: $45.00
Register Here.
