Focusing Academy

Focusing Academy
May 1 - 5, 2024

Main Classes start Thursday
Optional Welcome and Orientation Wednesday

Our first-ever Focusing Academy is a chance to learn Focusing, or re-charge your Focusing practice!

This online Academy will allow you to immerse yourself in one introductory Focusing main class as well as experience other Focusing teachers through a variety of stand-alone workshops offered by teachers from around the world.  This event is oriented toward beginners as well as experienced Focusers who would enjoy a chance to begin freshly. The Academy is also a great opportunity for new Focusing teachers or those returning to teaching looking for a fresh perspective.

Coming from the work of Eugene Gendlin, Focusing is an experiential, embodied and evidence-based practice of self-reflection. During Focusing, your attention will open up to multiple layers and aspects of living. It’s called Focusing because it requires a special kind of “focus” to notice what is not yet clear, fuzzy and vague, implicit in how you interact with your situations and environment.  This fuzzy dimension of experience is called the “felt sense.”  Focusing on the “felt sense” allows an in-depth clarification process to happen.

You’ll choose one of the four "Main Class" teachers to study with.  Each main class is a 12-hour Introductory course in Focusing. You'll also have the chance to attend workshops with other teachers and we've built in some informal "Partnership & Processing" times.  The schedule is designed so that no matter where you are in the world, you should be able to attend one Main Class each day for four days, and at least one optional Workshop and/or Processing Time each day.  There is an optional Opening session on Wednesday, which will take place at the same time as your main class.

You’ll have recordings of everything available to you through October 5, 2024.

Please note that if you sign up, you are expected to attend your Main Class each day for all four days, Thursday through Sunday.   All else on the schedule is optional, although we especially encourage you to try to make the Opening on Wednesday, if possible. This is an extraordinary chance – don’t miss it!  Read details below.

The heart of the Focusing Academy will be your  “Main Class.” The Main Class is a 12-hour Introductory Course in Focusing. When you register, you will choose to work with one of the four Main Teachers (Amona, Annette, Peter or Karen). Note the time of their class, as not all might be doable for you in your time zone!

You will be with your teacher for four days of the Academy, 3 hours each day. Live attendance is required.

Attending Live
The Main Classes are intended as live experiences, so please block out the time for those in your schedule.  Classes will be recorded, and made available as soon as possible, however you are expected to be fully present. We ask that you have your camera on as much as possible.  If you know that it is impossible for you to attend any part of the 12 hours (3 hours a day for 4 days), please discuss this with your teacher in advance. If a last minute emergency comes up, then please be sure to watch the missed session before attending the next session.

Amona Buechler (Thursday - Sunday 3:00am - 6:00am  NY Time  Your time here- (good for Europe, Asia, Australia)

MAIN CLASS: Deepen Your Life through Focusing - Focusing has a tremendously gentle, often meditative quality. It is a process in which the heart and the intellect meet. With a kind of felt inner listening that is friendly, curious, and at times quite specific, an intelligence becomes available that reaches far beyond our known and familiar self. This happens by allowing what Eugene Gendlin called the felt sense to develop, and by deeply listening to this inner sense.

Immerse yourself in a safe, respectful, and transformative atmosphere where you will learn the basics of the partner practice called Focusing through presentations, demonstrations, and practices. You will also learn from each other through sharing and Q&A.

Perhaps most importantly, you will learn to remain in Self in Presence while being with what feels unknown, unclear, or stuck. With practice, you will develop this unique ability that will bring surprising changes and lead to unexpected openings and possibilities.

Ultimately, Focusing leads to insights that are vaster than any we could have ever thought.  Read Amona's bio

Annette Dubreuil (Thursday - Sunday  7:00pm - 10:00pm  NY Time - Your time here- (good for US, Asia, Australia)
MAIN CLASS: Gendlin’s Classic Six Steps of Focusing  + 4 Kinds of Listening

In this 4-class introduction to Focusing, we will cover Gendlin’s classic six steps or movements, as well as progressively learning four ways of listening.

We begin with the first and last steps, which create the necessary conditions of Focusing: calm in the body and the welcoming energy that enables the process. This is often called the Focusing Attitude. This class will include “holding space” listening.

In our second class, we dive into the second step, Finding a felt sense, and learn a bit about the nervous system using Jan Winhall’s Felt Sense Polyvagal Model. We explore mirroring listening, or saying back the words you hear, especially those from the felt sense.

In our third class, we cover two steps: Getting a handle and Resonating. And introduce active listening or using your own words.

Finally, in our last class, we’ll do Asking questions and experiential peer listening, or tracking the process.  Read Annette's bio

Peter Gill  (Thursday - Sunday 1:00pm to 4:00pm NY time -  Your time here - (good for US, Europe)
MAIN CLASS: From Curiosity to Wisdom and Self-Compassion

My approach to Focusing begins with curiosity. With this humble beginning we will journey into a rich and varied landscape - exploring and developing life long skills of self-compassion, radical acceptance and deep listening. We will learn to find our inner wisdom and also befriend all those parts of us that make hearing and acting from this wisdom so hard. We will learn to find fresh air and healing in the wounded and forgotten landscapes of our inner life. We will learn to bring our curiosity to support and connect with others, both in Focusing and in our broader life  Once learnt, these skills become much more than a practice and more a way of being, one we can touch in on in every moment of our lives.  Read Peter's bio

 

Karen Whalen  (Thursday - Sunday 9:00 am to 12:00pm NY time -  Your time here - (good for US, Europe and late evening Asia)
MAIN CLASS: Relational Wholebody Focusing for Everyday LIfe
Finding the Wholeness of MindBodyHeartSpirit of Self as an Everyday Possibility for Healing my Inner and Outer Relationships

Relational Wholebody Focusing is a stream of Focusing that developed out of Energy Body Focusing (Whalen)  and Wholebody Focusing (McEvenue).  This offering is suitable for the beginner Focuser as well as experienced Focusers curious to learn more about the Relational Wholebody approach.

Human beings are inherently relational beings endowed with a natural capacity to connect with our fellow human beings.  Given our complex and highly stressed societies and familial environments, our innate relational intelligence has developed sometimes troubling and incapacitating relational adaptations and behaviors (social coping mechanisms).  In this 4 day, 3 hour classroom setting, we will come to recognize the wisdom of our unique relational coping patterns and open up to new relational directions and possibilities that are wanted by each of us in very intricately unique ways.  

We will use our natural capacity for Relational Wholebody Felt Sensing to safely and naturally find our way forward inside of these experiential Wholebody Heartfelt explorations. Read full class description here                Read Karen's bio

We’ve arranged the schedule so that no matter what time zone you live in, there is at least one Main Class that is at a reasonable hour for you (be sure to check the "your time here" link!), and at least one Workshop that is at a reasonable hour for you. You are expected to attend your Main Class live. All sessions will be recorded, so you will not lose out on the sessions taking place at other hours. Read the Schedule

When you complete your registration you will indicate your first and second choice for your Main Class teachers. All participants can expect to receive their first choice teacher until further notice. Note that each Main Class is at a different time of day (morning or early afternoon New York time), and that your choice might be determined by your time zone.   Please remember that you will have access to videos of all 4 teachers’ classes through October 5, 2024, so you won't have to miss any of them.

We have a wonderful variety of additional workshops. These are optional, will also be recorded, and do not have to be selected in advance.

Neva Li - Domain Focusing
(this workshop will be translated from Chinese to English)

Domain Focusing (DF)  is a creative method which comes from Focusing. This workshop will be a general introduction to Domain Focusing and also the logic of Domain Focusing. Domain Focusing has the structure to work on, and is helpful for those who have difficulty in getting a felt sense. We will cover 1) the introduction of Domain focusing; 2) the history of the development of Domain Focusing; 3) a practice to define a theme; 4)Safety protocol for  difficult feelings. Read Neva's bio

Glenn Fleisch - Bringing to Life: the Animizing Process of Wholebody Focusing (WBF)
Wholebody Focusing always involves the dynamic process  of letting the body come alive  As we invite and allow the body to awaken, we will explore the process of animizing what stirs, i.e  imbuing life-like qualities to whatever emerges- and inviting this one to play itself out. As we help bring this one to life, its own natal energy, voice  and spirit can be more fully expressed and embodied restoring capacities and reclaiming aspects of our wholeness.  The animizing process in WBF is one of active relational engagement, in which the energy we exchange enables more life to emerge and come forth from each inner one, and be embodied as its own unique character. Read Glenn's bio

Chen Ein Habar - Carry Forward Our Being in the Unknown
In Focusing we follow the movement of life energy which emerges in the moment.  For doing that we need to learn how to stay at the edge of what we already know, and be curious about what is willing to come in the interaction with our attention.  In this workshop,  we will discuss and learn 12 characteristic qualities of the Focusing process, which will help us understand more deeply the way we allow life process to carry us forward into new possibilities and understanding. Read Chen's Bio

MacPherson Worobec - Befriending Yourself
You know that connecting with yourself is important, but sometimes what’s in there feels elusive, or the message the body brings isn’t fully clear. In Focusing, connecting within is often much easier in a friendly and welcoming environment, but sometimes being friendly towards ourselves is surprisingly difficult.  This workshop will be a gentle practice of creating rhythm, soothing your nervous system, and safely connecting with yourself through breathwork, awareness building, connecting mind and body, Focusing, journaling, reflecting, and integrating. This practice can be helpful if connecting within feels challenging or inconsistent, if you’re unsure how to “trust” the messages that arise, if you have a strong inner critic, or if you’d simply like to grow an already friendly relationship you have with yourself. You may find this practice to be soothing, grounding, tender, gentle, and clarifying.  Read MacPherson's bio
 

These are optional opportunities to hang out, ask questions, or see if someone will do a brief Focusing partnership with you so you can practice.  We are seeking participant-volunteers to help with the Zoom tech responsibilities (such as putting others into breakout rooms); if that interests you, you can receive a discount - look for the Work/Study option in the registration information. 

The Academy will be in English.  You will need to be proficient in English to participate fully in the Academy.  We will have a Spanish language Academía de Focusing August 14-18, 2024.  Please watch for that announcement soon.  (Por favor vea nuestros cursos y Eventos para una Academia de Focusing en español del 14 al 18 de agosto de 2024)

All classes will be recorded.  Recordings of all sessions will be made available within a few hours of the end of the session (except in the case of technical difficulty).  You will have access to recordings of all sessions through October 5, 2024.  As stated above, our expectation is that participants will attend their selected Main Class live.  Recordings are intended for reinforcement of what you learned, or a chance to experience the teachers whose Main Class you did not take.  See above for guidance if you know you must miss parts of the 12 hours of the Main Classes.  For Workshops (as opposed to Main Classes), attendance live is optional.

-Zoom host(s) for partnership and processing times (see schedule)   We are looking for a zoom saavy people who are comfortable creating and putting people in breakout rooms. $100 off tuition.
-Administrative computer work (after the conference with attendance lists) - $100 off tuition