meet your most tender self

summon your deepest courage

change your bones 

True Life Begins Here

This course is for you if:

• You are new to poetry and are curious to learn more;

• You’ve begun hearing poetry emerge while in the shower and would like a chance to write in down;

• You want to learn more about cultivating deep internal connection and self-awareness;

• You love being nourished by a supportive group and are willing to hold space for and listen to others;

• You have a deep desire to explore your inner world with writing and sharing;

• You are a seasoned poet who would like some generative inspiration and community.

Whether you consider poetry joyful, healing, as emergent gifts or puzzles to solve, you and your writing are welcome in this circle.

What You’ll Receive
During each 8-week live course, you will:

• Be heard, seen, and celebrated for who you are;

• Be guided into your heart to help bypass your mind before exploratory writing that enables you to go deeper than your conscious thoughts;

• Develop deep listening skills and learn how to give feedback in an uplifting way to yourself and to others;

• Explore where your inner muse comes from and how to access it more consistently and deeply;

• Investigate how writing poetry and participating in a generative writing circle can be healing, informative, and a gift from your heart;

• Cultivate fresh inspiration for evocative and heart-felt writing while investigating what poetry means to you;

• Learn what you can look and listen for when revisiting poetry you’ve written and when helping others; and

• Develop a personal writing process.

Why is the option of sharing your writing an integral part of this course?

Sharing and receiving feedback can help strengthen your writing but it can also facilitate growth in other ways. Let’s look at that in more detail:

• Being held in loving presence and being witnessed can bring new layers of healing and insight. Depending on past experiences, being seen and heard as you are may also empower a sense of self.

• Receiving reflection from others may add layers of new meaning and bring up new information and questions within the reader for further growth.

• Hearing someone else’s insights, experiences, and learning can crystalise or accelerate your own.

• Reading aloud is powerful. It brings out authentic voice, cuts through patterns of fear, and allows the reader to hear themselves in a new way.

• Connecting with like-hearted others can inspire and encourage us to delve more deeply into ourselves than we have ever dared before.

• Being together and building a field of trust and openness can move us into our hearts creating opportunities for realisation and wisdom to arise naturally.

• It can be a catalyst for self-discovery helping you feel more grounded, clear, and joyful.

• As your joy and internal calm increase, they radiate out to others around you creating a mutually beneficial cycle.

• Remember, you’ll always having the option to pass – no one will ever be forced to share their writing, thoughts, or feelings.

Your Commitment

• You become an integral part of a supportive circle when you join a class. Your presence - physically, mentally, and emotionally - are important for both your learning and the development of the group. Please arrive on time and be in a place that allows you to have undisturbed focus.

• Focused and respectful listening encourages, inspires, and connects. It suspends judgement, provides space to hear what wasn’t spoken aloud, and enables learning. Be willing to listen with your heart.

• Your words and insights are valuable to others. Come with a willingness to share your writing.

• Humour and lightness are welcome here. Come with a sense of adventure and an openness to try something new.

Your Facilitator (she/her)

Stephanie Ross is a Ren Xue Yuan Qigong teacher and Vancouver Island poet. She has spent over a decade helping people grow from within and learn what it means to walk along an inner path towards True Self. She’s studied storytelling, writing, expressive arts and poetry. She was a contributing writer for Ren Xue America’s Qiblog and her work has appeared in global journals and forthcoming anthologies. Stephanie’s poetry began with practicing Yuan Qigong and her life cultivation process is her inspiration.

Stephanie is deeply committed to supporting women on their path to awareness. She is guided by these foundational pillars:

• We each have a unique voice deserving healthy expression;

• Everyone can create a healthy, joyful, and peaceful life when using sound and trustworthy knowledge and skills;

• Through deep introspection and questioning, we can fundamentally change our life;

• Awareness of ourselves opens pathways to creating a more loving and harmonious world.

Creating a new world starts with reshaping ourselves.

Would you like to embark on an internal journey but don’t see a date and time that suit you? Contact Stephanie to discuss a private course for your group of 5-12 participants.

What this class is not:

• This class is not passive. Participants should come with the understanding that they are part of a supportive circle in which deep listening and sharing form an integral part of the experience for everyone. You will always have the option to pass, however, for the benefit of everyone, you’ll be encouraged to read and speak as and when you are able.

• This class is not intended to replace medical support. This class will provide opportunities to examine topics which may bring up past experiences and/or uncomfortable sensations. The facilitator does not provide counselling or medical advice. Neither the facilitator nor the class contents are intended to replace professional therapeutic support or medical advice.