Program Information: Strengthening the Heart

6-Week Program

Growing together in the face of suffering

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Upcoming dates for programs can be found within the application form at the ‘I am applying for the following program:’ page.

How can we expand our capacity to show up for this world wholeheartedly, even in the face of difficulty, cruelty, suffering and pain?

How might we challenge ourselves to include everyone within our circle of compassion? Even the most difficult and seemingly undeserving people? Even ourselves?

What would life feel if we had a genuinely loving and caring internal dialogue with ourselves? If it was not imbued with shame, guilt or fear?


Join Turning Ground and the Centre for a Compassionate Society in deep inquiry and growth.

Many of us have internalised patterns of relating with ourselves that keep us looping in cycles of unnecessary suffering - whether it is shame, or guilt, or fear. How might we heal and rewire these patterns? And how do such patterns spill out into the the ways we relate with others?

As we open into a life so full of injustice, unfairness and difficulty, we may find ourselves reacting in ways that perpetuate cycles of suffering - both for ourselves and for others. This could express itself in the various strategies for protecting ourselves from pain such as overwhelm, collapse, despair, or numbness. And it could also show up in more subtle forms that can sometimes even seem virtuous such as empathic distress, righteous anger, pity, or even categorising another as 'evil'.

Strengthening the Heart attends the complex ways that we react to suffering - within ourselves and in the outside world. Together, we explore and practice Compassion as a quality of being that challenges us to expand in facing this life: To not turn away and to not close our hearts.

PROGRAM DETAILS:

This is a hybrid program with both in person and online components. It is held with a small closed group and consists of 5 in-person sessions, each 2.5 hours long - held on a weeknight. Participants are given access to an online portal which offers resources to support the integration of the material into everyday life. These resources include guided meditation tracks, videos, articles, talks, and scientific papers.

For individuals to experience significant positive change in the ways they relate with themselves and the world, we encourage a daily practice throughout the duration of the program.

Strengthening the Heart centres around four pillars of compassion: Mindfulness, Reverence, LovingKindness, and Common Humanity. You can read more about the pillars by clicking here.

Each in-person session focuses on one pillar and includes various experiential learning processes to deepen insight and understanding of these pillars.

The sessions include:

  • Tibetan Buddhist practices and philosophies of compassion including various forms of meditation and insight practice. This includes self-compassion practices.

  • The cognitive science and psychology of compassion - exploring the nuances and subtleties of our psychology as we encounter suffering and cruelty.

  • Drawing on the wisdom and experience of every participant in engaging group discussions.

  • Processes of deep connection, sharing, and listening with others. This includes structured experiences in small groups of 2 or 3.

  • Integration into daily life with the support of resources and guided meditations through an online portal, as well as invitations into ‘informal practices’ that can be experimented with and woven into your day-to-day life.

You will come away with:

  • Inner tools and resources for cultivating deeper self-compassion and compassion for others in your daily life.

  • Deeper insight and understanding of the counterproductive ways we respond to suffering and sometimes perpetuate it - within ourselves and towards others.

  • Deeply connective and potentially healing experiences with our group.

  • Greater strength and courage to face your own life challenges.

Below is a guided practice of compassion for oneself with Petrina. If you’re curious, try it out. The program will offer many other guided practices you can take home and integrate into your daily life:

TESTIMONIALS FROM PREVIOUS PARTICIPANTS:

"Instantly I felt at ease by the welcoming and warm space that had been created. The facilitators complemented each other’s extensive skill set beautifully. They enabled the participants to derive at helpful insights  in an empowering yet gentle manner. The course content was well balanced between short guided meditations, theory, small group work and sharings. No one person dominated, and a genuine heart-warming group cohesion was formed. I felt we all left having grown, learnt and with a more open heart. I was not the only person who didn’t want the course to end ( now that’s saying something)!" - Meryl

"Strengthening the Heart feels like a balm for the calcified, prickly barnacles that have gathered over the collective heart. Petrina and Vadim hold a space of incomparable tenderness and compassion whilst striving to still yet give attention to the tense, sticky and chunkier aspects that inevitably arise in compassion practice." - Aeon

"This is an ambitious and bold course, but it is handled with such grace that it becomes easy for people to open up. The group sharing is quite phenomenal. The experience that Petrina and Vadim bring and the way they bring out the experience of others is very valuable. Compassion is something everyone knows something about, but this course brings out the fullness of the idea, the challenges of it, the boldness, the fierceness of being compassionate. They guided a whole group of people with all sorts of different experiences in life through an exploration of what compassion might be without being didactic or rigid of ideological. It was truly a journey, and I recommend it!" - Ben

"This program was such a wonderful regular group to drop into. Each week, it felt like coming home to myself and also home to a way of compassionate relating that I long for. Vadim and Petrina are inspiring in their understanding of the practice of compassion and they created an environment that felt very comfortable and supportive to learn in. I would definitely do this again myself and would enthusiastically bring friends and family too as a way to deepen my relationship with them." - Chris

PRICE:

The 6-week program is priced between at $395. However, we do not wish price to be a barrier for you. In the application form, you will have an opportunity to request a different price if you are not in a financial position to afford the full price.

Group Discount for three or more people: If there are a number of people from your workplace or community that might also benefit from this program, bulk discounts are available. Simply email programs@turningground.com.au.

YOUR FACILITATORS:

Dr. Petrina Barson is the director of the Centre for a Compassionate Society. She is a teacher of Compassion Cultivation Training, a mother, a doctor, a poet and an activist on issues of climate change and refugee rights. The thread that runs through all these domains is her passion for compassion, and her deep conviction that we have more in common than divides us.

Vadim Ragozin is one of the directors and founders of Turning Ground, and Lead of Community and Programs. He is an educational designer, group facilitator, and artist. He is continually striving to integrate our inner and outer worlds, reweaving what often gets lost in the cracks; a sense of meaning, wisdom, connection, and belonging in our lives. 

TURNING GROUND:

In addressing the entangled crises of our times, Turning Ground’s offerings are guided by the question: ‘What kinds of humans do we need to become in this moment of history?’
They offer psychotherapy, events and programs; all motivated to reweave a fragmented world.

CENTRE FOR A COMPASSIONATE SOCIETY: 

 The Centre for a Compassionate Society organises and supports activities that lead to a more compassionate way of being with ourselves, with one another and with our planet

ALL ARE WELCOME:

All ages, cultures, orientations.

Our offerings seek to create spaces for all, as we seek to build bridges, and weave trust. We hope to co-create open, connective, and generative dialogues; even in all of our differences. 

  • For us to hold truly generative spaces, Turning Ground operates with clear boundaries and agreements so that everyone feels safe and welcome to share themselves as fully and authentically as possible. Below is our code of conduct, which we invite all participants to read before attending our programs:

    Authenticity: Being ourselves, speaking what is true for us. Sharing from our own experience and knowledge. Not being here to impress anyone. 

    Emotions: Being natural with our rich and complex emotions. Letting them flow if they arise, and allowing others to be in their emotions without needing to ‘fix’ anyone. 

    Difference: Creating room for a deeper conversation that includes all our diverse perspectives. Opposition, disagreement and even conflict are part of life, let’s learn to be with it all in a generative way.

    Fumbling: Courageously exploring what is good and true. Sometimes this involves stumbling through what might be considered taboo or even offensive to some. As long as we hold respectful intentions, fumbling is okay. 

    Everyone's Voice Matters: Being self-aware of how much we are contributing to the group. Am I taking up too much space? Maybe I need to give others a chance to share. Am I holding back and avoiding sharing? Maybe I do have something valuable to contribute. 

    Self-Responsibility: Understanding our own boundaries and limits when it comes to delving into vulnerable personal content or emotions. Not participating in something if it doesn’t feel right. Taking care of ourselves. Asking for support if we need it. 

    Confidentiality: Any personal content that another chooses to share with us is to remain confidential unless we have permission to share it. This includes sharing to others in the group, and to the outside world. 

    Unacceptable Behaviours:

    • Intentionally harmful verbal comments towards another including as related to gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, race, ethnicity, age, political affiliation, or religion. 

    • Crossing physical boundaries or touching another without consent. 

    • Intimidating, harassing, abusive, discriminatory, derogatory, or demeaning conduct. 

    • We’re all responsible, all of the time, to take positive action in response to unacceptable behaviours.

If you have any questions, queries, concerns or curiosities, please reach out to us at: programs@turningground.com.au

To see upcoming programs and to apply, see the form below:

Upcoming dates for programs can be found inside the form at the ‘I am applying for the following program:’ page within the form.