Chrysalis

A course from Halloween through the Winter Solstice
Oct 26 – Dec 21, 2023

From Halloween through the Winter Solstice, the season of gathering and of hunkering down, this course aims to be easeful and nourishing, like a pocket universe filled with refreshment for your heart: refuge, community, holding, clarity, hopefulness.

A while ago, I asked, “What are you most interested in studying with me now?” and Tara Samiy’s response nestled into the soil of my being like a seed:

What comes to me now is support around trusting in oneself, grounding practices (as I write this, I'm aware that I'm fully versed in “grounding practices”, so it's more about the community, the holding, the support). Listening to my heart, my truth, expanding my capacity to experience joy, clarity, hopefulness.

Then, during a private session, Kate Flynn said that what she wanted from ongoing work from me was to fill a certain niche in her life; that she had lots of support generally and what she hoped for from me now was “witchy godmother energy.”

That rung me like a bell. YES.

These are the intentions I bring to the resumption of the Home Meditation Course.

In the life of the earth, this course will sprawl through the cooling and darkening days of the year for folks in the Northern Hemisphere. In human culture, this season holds both spells of quiet at home and bustling interludes of celebration. I aim for this course to be easeful and nourishing, like a pocket universe filled with refreshment for your heart: community, holding, clarity, hopefulness. Ahhhh.

When

From Halloween through the Winter Solstice. Thursday October 26 -  Thursday December 21. From the full Hunter’s Moon through the first quarter of the Cold Moon. During the darkening days, the lingering-at-the-hearth nights. The season of gathering and of hunkering down.

What

It’s often hard to imagine what the experience of a course will be like; I’m going to offer you two descriptions here, first in a narrative format, and then a list, in hopes of best results. Drop me a line with questions! I’ll be delighted to discuss with you.

To honor the season, the core experience is sweet and simple, focused on resourcing you. Additional possibilities for enrichment and delight nestle throughout, entirely optional. The three main threads of this course will be my teaching, your own inner practice, and the sweetness of being enmeshed in community. I will offer guidance for your inner practice through both guided meditation recordings and written teaching.

Each week, a 20 minute guided practice, shared by recording and yours to keep, will create a sense of delicious refuge; a chrysalis for the heart. I’m really bringing the witchy godmother vibes for this: breathwork, spiritual allies, and energetic healing for lush inner resourcing and powerful clarification. The recordings will be a connected set of experiences which build slowly through our time together, so that what you work with is both consistent and also growing as the weeks pass.

Inspiration for simple, powerful ritual actions to nurture a sense of the sacred will come weekly, available for you to read or listen to as you prefer. There are so many doorways to expanded reality in this season of holy days, but access to the meaningful and mystical can be lost in bustle and hurry. Let’s hold dear together  the glory and mystery of living.

Sharing Circles create community, so this is the one component I will encourage you strongly to participate in! Showing up is how we build relationships, learning and yearning and growing together. We do this in writing so that you can participate at whatever time suits you best. For those who have participated in prior courses: we’ll be moving from email to Google docs for this in order to streamline the process and flow of attention. Each week I’ll open a doc for your pod with an invitation-suggestion about sharing on Thursday. You’ll have until Monday to add your share, and you can read them all there when it feels right for you!We’ll be sharing in pods of probably 6-8 people; precise numbers will depend on the number of us there are. If you are joining the course with folks you know and wish to share or not share a pod, please let me know when you register. Sometimes a pair of besties want to share a pod. Sometimes you invite your mom to share the experience, but not your pod. I’m here for you; just reach out.There are also several different ways that you can connect through the wonders of satellites if that calls to you! Zoom offerings, all optional, include a pair of live Full Moon Circles for conversation, Soft Animal yoga sessions on Saturdays, a ritual and meditation on the morning of the Winter Solstice, and Reading Circle.

Chrysalis course components

Core

• Grounding: a fresh recorded meditative invitation each week. Through guided meditation-visualization-relaxation we slowly build an inner refuge of breath, imagination, and energetic healing; a chrysalis for the heart. Recordings are yours to keep. 
• Community:  a 6-8ish person pod with weekly Sharing Circle. This is the part of the course in which I will warmly encourage your participation: showing up is how we create connection.
• Holding: Personal coaching and support in the form of written replies to two of your Sharing Circle posts with support or coaching as you may wish. These replies are shared to the pod, and people say that they cherish and return to these love letters over the years. Honestly, this is often among the best writing of my life, and it is for you. 
• Inspiration: I will offer suggestions around heartfelt, simple, feasible personal rituals for observing the seasonal shifts, phases of the moon, and holy days: simple doorways to the experience of the sacredness of life. 
• Connection: Participants in Chrysalis will be certain of a place in the next course, which begins after the turning of the year. My offerings frequently sell out, so I offer registration first to continuing students.

More

• Free attendance for The Soft Animal, 10-11:30am PT. A luscious mixture of yoga, self-massage, and deep relaxation. (Usual cost: sliding scale $25-10) 
• A live Meditation and Ritual Gathering on Winter Solstice Morn, December 21st, 8-8:55am PT
• Two live Full Moon Circles via Zoom: 8:45-9:45am Saturdays PT 10/28 & 11/25
• An invitation to join me in stargazing when Venus meets the crescent moon in the dark before dawn on 11/9 and 12/9. The precise time will vary based on location, so this is not synchronized. I’ll share information and interested folks can share plans and egg each other on to set an early alarm. 
• My winter Reading Circle is Katherine May’s “Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times”. The reading was chosen to coordinate well with this course. No preparation is required; we simply gather, read aloud to each other, and discuss. We will begin on 10/3 and read until the book is completed; likely close to the year’s end. If you are reading this after we’ve begun, that’s fine! The book is a series of eight vignettes and I believe it will feel fine to drop in on. You can also check in with me to see what page we’re at any time. We meet on Tuesdays 7-8:30pm PT. The Reading Circle is always a freely given; donations warmly accepted format. 
• Meditation Gatherings happen on Thursday mornings from 8-8:55am Pacific Time. These are ongoing and a lovely addition to your course experience! I begin to hold the space by opening the room 10 minutes before we begin, and you are always welcome to arrive early to grab some 1:1 time live. 

Cost

Sliding Scale of $375-525. Some scholarships are available; please reach out to discuss.Payment over the span of the course is possible.Payment by Paypal to dahlia@beloved.org or Venmo to @kristiedahlia

Encouragement

"I go to Dahlia when I need my priorities aligned correctly. Her work is deeply cosmic, mind blowingly kind, and profoundly loving. She will love you so deeply that it makes you love yourself more.” - Lizzy Wilmarth

"The kindness and love you put out so consistently, and the acceptance of where we all might be - it is consistently remarkable and I feel it deeply and it gives me something beautiful to strive towards." - Jessie Raeder

“The classes have really changed how I think about my relationship with myself. I feel more capable of treating myself kindly and that has transformed my relationship with other people.”

"Years ago, I had the experience of trying yoga for the first time. I couldn't believe at the time that it was possible to feel so good. I just started meditating with Kristie and had that experience again. It's like entering a room you know well, and discovering that there has been a window behind one of the walls this whole time. A window with a meadow outside."

"Dahlia is like an usher in a vast darkened theater, with a bright shining torch helping us each find our own way. I know I am still very much at the beginning – of something, not sure what to call it in words – but it doesn't feel as daunting or unreachable anymore."