Dear Friends of the Relational Dojo,
Justin, Carol, James, and Ola here! We are inviting you to join us for a new “Hike”, September to December, at the Relational Dojo. Please forward this to your friends, family, and colleagues who are interested in growing their ability to communicate & relate with one another. We are a community of practice which grows purely through your word of mouth.
Want to Vibe Check us?
We will host an introduction session before the new Hike starts, all are welcome. This could be especially helpful for those who are new to either relational practices or the Dojo. We’ll have all the practice hosts share about their practice, and make space for any questions. It is at 12pm-1pm Pacific Time on Thursday August 27th. Zoom link!
About Relational Dojo
Dojo translates as “place of the way/path.” “Relational Dojo” is a hall or place for immersive, experiential learning of relational frameworks and skills.
Vision (the future we dream of)
We cultivate a world where people can effectively use relational skills to raise healthy families, strengthen friendships, build regenerative workplaces, advance democratic systems, and contribute to planetary thriving.
Mission (what we do to get there)
The Relational Dojo is a place to practice relating. We invite hosts to hold experiential learning containers for a wide range of relational skills and frameworks. We cultivate communities of practice to offer peer support and companionship for life-long growth.
What is a Hike?
Relational Dojo is deliberately developmental, both for our members and for how we co-evolve. We organize our yearly schedule into three “Hikes”: 4-month-long learning containers to practice together, explore, and see new terrain. Each Hike has a rhythm, a cycle, a beginning and an end. Then we begin again, changed by what we practiced. We are continuously iterating on our practices to make them more robust, generative, and inclusive.
This new Hike goes from the beginning of September to the end of December. Each relational practice has its own cadence. For details, see below.
How to Sign up for Practices
While some practices are on a drop-in basis at the convenience of the participants ( like a drop-in soccer game), other practices may require commitment. Please see the practice descriptions below for details. To sign up for Dojo practice groups, please fill out a simple form here. We will send you calendar invites, Zoom links, and our newsletter after you sign up.
Practices for this Hike
For this Hike, we have five recurring practices: Being With It All, Bohm Dialogue, Communal Reverie, Helping Studio and T-Group. Details below.
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Being With It All
Life is a lot sometimes, isn’t it? Everything happens so much. Sacredness weaves its way through the suffering and joy, yet we often find numbing and distraction to be easier than facing the extremes.
There’s a secret to peace in the midst of everything: to let it be. To be with it all, we welcome the reality of what is, the is-ness of what is true — and we welcome our own experience, without pushing away or clinging. When we practice being, together, we find our capacity expanding. Fear recedes. Turbulence settles. Our hearts beat on, grounding our connection to life.
Being With It All is a simple but radical practice of acceptance kindled in the shared space between our open hearts. We practice in trios and all sessions are open to newcomers. Sign up here
Being With It All (Hosted by James):
Every three weeks on Saturday, 1:00-2:30pm Pacific Time
Dates: September 12, October 3, October 24, November 14, December 5
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Bohm Dialogue
Bohm Dialogue practice may be the hardest to describe or define, compared to other relational practices. In some ways, Bohm Dialogue practice inherently defies structure, script, or definition. It invites us to pay attention to how our mind (broadly defined) moves within ourselves and with others in the dialogue. Thus, we not only pay attention to the “content” of our thinking, but also “how” we think and communicate. The main purpose of Bohm Dialogue is to surface in-coherence within and between us, explore wholeness, and practice cohering across divides, i.e., real and perceived differences that separate individuals and divide humanity. For those who are new to the practice, here’s a more in-depth introduction of the practice.
Bohm Dialogue Practice Dates (Hosted by Carol and friends): Sign up here
10:30am - 12:00pm PT (Pacific Time) on Fridays (September 11, September 25, October 9, October 23, November 6, November 20, December 4)
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Communal Reverie
Communal Reverie is a practice designed to support the cultivation of a capacity that I’ve called collective imaginal attunement. Together, we practice tuning in to the felt sense of the intersubjective field while assuming a posture of hospitality toward the deep imagination, welcoming the autonomous expression of its archetypal intelligence. What typically unfolds is a mutually disclosed collective imaginal experience.
These cooperative forays into collective imaginal attunement can evoke a wide array of experiences: mystery, beauty, wonder, and sometimes weirdness.
While prior experience with mindfulness, energy body attunement, imaginal practices, and we-space practices like Collective Presencing are a major asset to this practice, the only requirements for participation in these sessions are a stance of curiosity, open receptivity, and readiness to adhere to the basic guidelines of practice, which will be discussed at the outset.
See website and introductory practice primer for more details. Sign up here
Communal Reverie (Hosted by Sam):
Bi-weekly on Thursdays, 10am -11:30am Pacific Time
Dates: September 9, September 24, October 8, October 22, November 5, November 19
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Helping Studio
The Helping Studio is a place to practice your helping skills. You will receive real-time help attempts from fellow practitioners! That help could get you wildly liberated, or it might not do anything. The outcome is intended to practice our helping skills, both giving and receiving, the possibility of getting unstuck is just a bonus.
Bring something sincere. It could be serious like a disagreement with friends, or lighthearted like finding what movie to watch. But bring something that is true; something that would be impacted by help given. You will receive help and give help in a session. We have protocols drawn up for you to experiment with, and flex your helping skills inside.
It is an hour-long session, done in breakout rooms of 2-3 (unless it needs to be more people). Before attending, consider 1-3 helping protocols you’d like to participate in.
Helping Studio (Hosted by Justin)
Every other Monday, 1:00pm-2:00pm Pacific Time
Dates: September 21st, October 5th, October 19th, November 2nd, November 16th, November 30th
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T-Group
T-Group is a learning group. Your task is to learn about yourself and others through interaction.
Leverage the group to learn about your impact. Try on new behaviors that you’d like to cultivate. Learn by doing. Keep your focus on what is happening now, and with those you are with. There will be facilitators present to support your practice.
If you are unfamiliar with T-Group, come to the first few sessions in the Hike, there will be more emphasis on beginnings. If you are familiar with T-Group, you’ve found your people!! We ask new participants to the Dojo to please watch our demo, and read our Quicksheet.
T-Group (hosted by Justin and friends): Sign up here
Bi-weekly on Tuesdays, 12:00pm - 1:30pm Pacific Time
Dates: September 8, September 22, October 6, October 20, November 3, November 17, December 1
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T-Group Seminar
A space to discuss all things T-Group. It gives us time to explore questions like: What’s this T-Group thing all about? How do I know if I’m practicing T-Group “right?” What’s the potential I’m sensing here? How do I realistically apply this in my work or in my family? How do I get unstuck?
T-Group Seminar (hosted by Justin, you will automatically be signed up if you sign up for T-Group)
Monthly on a Wednesday, 10:00am-11:00am Pacific Time
Dates: September 9, October 7, November 4, December 2
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Relational Dojo’s Gifting Culture
We intentionally practice more inclusive livelihood models. We do not exclude others based on economic status. All our sessions are free to participate in. We operate on a model of gifting. You are invited to give gifts in all forms of value: be it financial donation, feedback, community building efforts, co-creation, or other creative ways you can contribute to the sustainability and vitality of the platform. We invite you to give from a place of joy and solidarity. Our intention is to🍓cultivate a gifting culture 🍓 in this community, a culture that helps us to see value and abundance in all forms and shapes.
See our calendar for all upcoming sessions
In Gratitude,
Justin, Ola, James, and Carol