Stay tuned for next round of Waking Up to Your Life
You know that having a contemplative practice is vitally important
to support the long-term transformation you seek in your life.
And…
you’ve struggled to stick to a regular meditation schedule,
or you can’t seem to find a practice that feels right for you.
Waking Up to Your Life is an online program and learning community
that supports you to establish or deepen a contemplative practice.
This practice can provide you with a solid foundation for healthier relationships,
more fulfilling work, and deeper engagement with our world.
“‘Waking Up’ provided me with the structure to start and, most importantly, continue a meditation practice. I believe the program has enabled me to move through a difficult transition in my life with calmness and openness.”- exploring different kinds of contemplative practices (such as meditation, yoga, creativity, and more) and understanding how they can support you
- support in discovering a practice that resonates with you
- learning how to create the conditions that will support consistency in your practice
- encouragement when you reach those inevitable ‘stuck’ points
- guidance in creating a personal retreat day for yourself
- mentoring in how to harvest the insights of your practice and integrate them into your life
If you’ve been seeking more guidance and accountability for your spiritual journey,
Waking Up to Your Life may be just what you’ve been looking for.
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How the Program Works
You can be part of the journey no matter where you live in the world!
For 12 weeks, we will create a supportive community that will help you to establish or deepen your practice.
Program material is delivered through a combination of e-books and online videos, group conference calls, weekly email messages, a private Facebook group, and for those who choose the Core PLUS option, individual phone calls and emails.
What We’ll Cover:
Module I: Preparing the Ground (two weeks)
This module will help you to create the conditions that support a consistent contemplative practice in your life. During these two weeks we’ll focus on: 1) clarifying your intention and 2) creating physical space and time for your practice.
Module II: Planting Seeds of Stability (two weeks)
This module will help you explore ways of slowing down, pausing, and settling. During these two weeks we’ll focus on: 1) how to begin a sitting meditation practice, 2) how to maintain a sitting meditation practice, and 3) how to work with your monkey mind.
Module III: Branching Out (four weeks)
In this module you will be exploring the many possibilities of contemplative practice; a tapas of practices! Our hope is that through this exploration you will discover your own path and what works for you. We’ll use the “Tree of Contemplative Practices” (created by Maia) as a key tool for this exploration.
Module IV: Nurturing and Cultivating (four weeks)
Meditation is not just about sitting on the cushion each day for a few minutes. It’s important to continuously engage in your practice, especially when facing difficult circumstances in your life. This module focuses on the integration of practice into daily life. During this last month of the program, we’ll explore how to take your practice “off the cushion,” how to apply insights that are emerging from your practice to your relationships, work, creativity, and more.
“‘Waking Up to Your Life’ is a life-changer, in the most gentle way!”~Martha Bouchier, Toronto, Canada
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Interested in joining the next round of Waking Up to Your Life?
If you’d like us to let you know when we’re offering the program again, please sign up for this list:
What’s Included?
There are two versions of the program:
Core:
All program materials and group conference calls (see chart below for full details)
Registration fee: $149
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Core PLUS Individual Support:
All program materials and group conference calls PLUS
3 individual support calls
and private email access (see chart below for full details)
Registration fee: $279
| What You’ll Receive… | Core | Core PLUS |
| Waking Up to Your Life Study and Practice Guide (e-book) |  |
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| Welcome and orientation conference call | |
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| Monthly group calls to check in and receive support from Maia (calls are recorded so you can access them at a time that’s convenient for you if you’re not able to attend live) | |
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| Weekly email prompts from us with encouragement and ‘homework’ (of the best kind!) | |
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| Video lessons on meditation and other kinds of contemplative practices | |
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| Access to a private Facebook page where you can check in with our community for encouragement and support | |
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| Access to a password-protected webpage with program materials | |
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| 3 individual 45-minute phone or Zoom check-in calls (one for each month of the program)
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| Private email access to Maia so you can ask questions about your practice and receive extra support during the program
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| One-time option to repeat the program so you can continue to deepen your practice
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| Registration fee | $149 |
$279 |
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Raves from Past Participants
“Our time together has opened so many things: a new relationship with my practice where it is less an obligation and more a gift to myself; a wonderful new way to look at contemplation; permission to bring art to practice without judgment or perfection. Deep bows to you all, beloved community and beloved teachers.”
~Stefanie Harvey
“Having a virtual sangha helped me become more accountable and structured in my practice. It was very helpful to have Maia for questions and discussion of different approaches. I am again being very regular in my practice, which is helping me with maintaining a positive life outlook as well as improving my sleep pattern.”
~John Eden
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“Maia, thank you for all the encouragement. I really appreciated the readings and the activities. I now have a solid morning meditation practice (four months and counting) and the support this course gave me was wonderful.”
~Jill Kelly
“Because of ‘Waking Up to Your Life,’ I have established a rhythm in my home practice and have been able to tune in more acutely to my heart’s desires. The program encourages connectivity, allows space for the participant to move along at their own pace, and nurtures what practice really is and can become.”
~Sam Snidal
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Your Guide
Maia Duerr
Maia is a longtime meditation practitioner, writer, and teacher. From her work with the Center for Contemplative Mind in Society, she created the “Tree of Contemplative Practices,” a tool that has helped thousands of people find the practice that works best for them. Maia was the director of the Chaplaincy Training Program at Upaya Zen Center from 2008 to 2014, and received ordination as a lay chaplain from Roshi Joan Halifax in 2012. She is currently preparing to receive entrustment as a lay dharma teacher from her teacher, Victoria Shosan Austin. Maia takes great joy in supporting people in their spiritual journeys, as well as creating transformative learning experiences.
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Frequently Asked Questions
How much time should I plan on spending on “Waking Up”?
It can really be as much or as little time as you want to spend! At minimum, we would suggest that you set aside one hour each week to read the weekly emails and complete the “experiences” included in them, and to participate at least once a week in the private Facebook group. The heart of the program is your own meditation practice. We emphasize consistency, so we recommend that you commit to your meditation practice at least 10 minutes a day through the duration of the program.
I’m not sure if an online course would work for me. Can you tell me more?
Great question. The beauty of online programs is that they allow you to participate without any constraints in the realm of time or geographical location. You can work on the modules in “Waking Up” in the middle of the night in your pajamas in Auckland, New Zealand, if that works for you.
We have designed this program so that there are multiple ways for you to connect with us and other participants: the program e-book which you can download and print for reference, weekly emails, social media (a private Facebook group), live and recorded group conference calls, and individual phone or video calls for those who enroll in the Core PLUS version of the program.
From our past experiences, these diverse modalities create many ways to engage and give you freedom to choose the pace that feel best for you. As one of our past participants said, “I appreciated the blend of asynchronous and synchronous formats… it seemed to provide freedom while also providing structure.” Another called it “structure that breathes!”
However, online programs are not everyone’s cup of tea. If you don’t like to spend time on a computer, if you find any kind of technology very frustrating, if you connect best in person and only in person – these are indicators that this may not be the right choice for you. It also helps if you are fairly self-motivated and feel ready to prioritize this program in your life for three months. We do provide a lot of structure but it’s up to you how you integrate the program content into your life.
I would love to do this but I can’t afford it. Do you offer any scholarships?
We are committed to making this program accessible to everyone who has a sincere desire to start or deepen a contemplative practice. The registration fee we have set allows us to cover the expenses involved in offering this program, which include several internet services, and also supports both of our livelihoods in a very modest way. We have reserved a limited number of partial scholarship spots for the Core version of the program. If you are not able to afford the full fee, please apply for the program and let us know that you are interested in learning more about scholarship options.
Do you have other questions that would help you decide if “Waking Up” is right for you? Please contact maia [at] maiaduerr [dot] com … I’m happy to explore this with you.