Spiritual mentorship and living community with Dahlia
9 sessions over 11 weeks
Autumn Equinox to just before Thanksgiving/National Day of Mourning
September 12 to November 21, 2026
$775-250, sliding scale and varying levels of participation, below
New to me or my Workshops for Living?
Welcome, beloved!
My Workshops for Living center around 9 weekly Gatherings. The Gatherings take place over Zoom, and you can join live or watch later. I offer teaching, lead gentle guided meditation, and we share conversation. During the workshop you also get to spend an hour with me in private conversation once or twice, depending upon which of the three levels of participation you choose. You could keep it simple or lean in for more connection with participation in a weekly Sharing Circle where I offer intimate support and mentorship to each person in turn. You get to read them all and choose whether to post once or twice. If you join us, you'll also have the option of joining a 3-4 person Touchstone Pod for everyday conversations about how what we share is weaving into your living.
I call these Workshops for Living because at heart we are simply considering that: How can I make the juicy best of this time in human form? What do I want that to look like, to feel like, and how might I bring that about? We wonder, we grow, we walk the path of life together. You'll find here people who have studied with me consistently over years and decades beside people who have just dropped in. We are an interfaith community with members who identify as agnostics, atheists, witches, Muslims, Jews, and Christians. Diversity is the nature of existence, and it is cherished here. All are welcome in love.
I believe that spiritual practice is a human endeavor, and this is intimate practice: my workshops consist of 10-30 people. Zoom automatically makes AI summaries and transcripts of our Gatherings which are available if you wish. I do not use AI myself; I write and create for you with my own heart and mind, the result of over 30 years of study and teaching in varied arts of spirit and healing. I once attended a small concert at which Will Oldham/Bonnie Prince Billy, one of my favorite musicians, stood at the door of a restaurant in Big Sur and collected tickets himself before taking the stage to sing for us. This is more like that than most things on the internet. I'm not a distant figure parachuting in to teach. I am the whole staff, with some technical assistance from my husband. This is a modern Home-made endeavor; this is the Little Temple of my practice.
This is an invitation to the journey of knowing yourself and everything else as the life of the universe, dancing, to the exploration of your own heart and dreams, and to living in ways that feel true to you.
We'd love to have you along.
The Story of Belonging
In each Workshop for Living we weave a central theme. Autumn 2026 will explore The Story of Belonging – belonging to the life of the Earth. We are the life of the Earth. We will explore our interbeing with the Earth in guided meditation, art, and science. I will share from the vast body of scientific research elucidating how engaging with the wild life of the Earth in just about any way is beneficial for our being in an incredible number of measurable ways: lowering blood pressure, reducing of stress hormones, improving creative thinking and problem solving skills. We are the life of the Earth, and when we feel into that, our wellness expands.
There will be a reading of Mary Oliver's magnum opus, a book length poem entitled The Leaf and the Cloud. We will contemplate the work of beloved local-to-me artist Jeanne K. Simmons, whose images are shared here with her generous permission, and the series Eyes as Big as Plates, on exhibition at the American Swedish Institute (whose president and CEO is community Molly Steenson) through October 28.
A lush variety of resources and possibilities lie ahead for autumn! When we remember that we are inseparable from the body of the Earth, the body of the cosmos, we deepen our access to the knowledge of our inherent worth. Knowing in our hearts, bones, and breath that we are life itself deepens our relation to freedom, agency, and creativity. This is a powerful antidote to the false stories of hopelessness and powerlessness afoot in the world right now.
Come, precious friend! Explore. Expand. Be nourished. The door of my temple is open.
From Mary Oliver's The Leaf and the Cloud
The poem is not the world.
It isn't even the first page of the world.
But the poem wants to flower, like a flower.
It knows that much.
It wants to open itself,
like the door of a little temple
so that you might step inside and be cooled and refreshed,
and less yourself than part of everything.
If you participated in Cosmic Grounding, you know what comes next and can move on to registration from here. If you are new to my work or did not join Cosmic Grounding, you'll want to read on to learn our current form.
Teaching & Community: Weekly Gatherings
Teaching will be shared in 9 sessions of meditation and conversation from 8-9:30 Pacific on Saturday mornings. You can join live or watch the recording later, as suits you best. Zoom recordings will be available until the opening of the next workshop in January 2027. The teaching and meditation portions of these Gatherings are also shared as MP3 audio files which you may download and keep. Folks with Zoom fatigue have said the audio files are a sweet way to sop up the teaching, and they allow you to weave our work into your living and create daily practices as your heart and living call for. The trust and understanding we build in our conversations create a loving, thoughtful community.
SCHEDULE: We will meet weekly from September 12 through November 21 with the exception of a mid-workshop integration breather October 10 and 17. This is a space to digest, catch up, and savor.
Folks say:
"Meditations were so easy to drop into, and gave me more value than any other meditations I've done. I've never had actual insight from meditation before."
"The meditation group helps me grieve as I know you are all there if I need you. And I know there is a start and a stop. So I have a container for everything so I don’t worry about getting 'lost' in it all."
Private Sessions for 1:1 Support
Connecting with me in private conversation brings greater intimacy and immediacy to your experience. Most people choose to engage in conversation about how the seeds of practice are taking root in their personal lives; we share personal counsel and coaching. You might also use this time for guidance in yoga, self-massage, to work with energetic healing, or to have me create a personal meditation recording. All of my skills are available for you during these sessions. Depending upon the Weave you choose, you get one or two 1-hour private sessions.
"The gifts Dahlia brings in the form of intuition, empathic listening, resourcing and encouragement are a testament to her deep knowledge of spirituality, meditation, mind/body medicine and relationships. Our work together reminds me of who I am and how I want my life to be."
Sharing Circles
This portion is opt-in: each week there is a written conversation. We take turns sharing to keep the volume of reading enjoyable and feasible. Folks might speak about their experience of our practice, how the work is blossoming in their living, or what's going on in their personal lives right now. They may pose questions or ask for advice. I reply to each person's share with a personal letter full of encouragement, support, teaching, and advice. New people almost always express astonishment and delight about how connective and enriching it is to bear witness to the lives of others in this way. So often what we know of people is superficial; here we swim together in the depths, which deepens our compassion and connection.
Everyone who joins the Deep or Core Weave gets to read all of the Sharing Circle posts and my replies to them. Folks who join the Deep Weave share twice, Core Weave once. The Light Weave does not participate in the Sharing Circle.
"I am still blown away by Dahlia's response to my questions. I feel that each of her responses to my posts are like little love letters to me as I practice, which motivates me even more."
Touchstone Pods
Quick, often love-drenched, daily conversations by text are optional in small peer groups; we aim for pods of 3-4. It's astonishing how transformational a few quick minutes of daily connection can be! This reminder of the values and practices we are working with, along with loving witness and social support, threads into our living like honey, like stardust. Folks often choose to continue these relationships beyond the workshop. It's also totally fine to pass on this and have a more private experience. It is part of my practice of unconditional love and support to offer options to make our practice accessible to you as you know yourself.
Participation Options & Pricing
Please feel welcome to reach out to discuss which option might best suit your needs. Partial scholarships are often available from our generous community.
- Deep Weave: All Gatherings, two Sharing Circle posts & responses, reading access to all Sharing Circles, two 1 hour private sessions with Dahlia, optional Touchstone Pod.
$575 – 775 - Core Weave: All Gatherings, one Sharing Circle post & response, reading access to all Sharing Circles, one 1 hour private session with Dahlia, optional Touchstone Pod.
$450 – 650 - Light Weave: All Gatherings, no Sharing Circle, one 1 hour private session with Dahlia, optional Touchstone Pod.
$250 – 450
Your spot is reserved when you register with your $250 deposit. Balance is due by September 10, but longer payment arrangements are welcome with people I know. Contributions toward scholarship are warmly received and will be granted to someone in the current workshop.
Need to discuss cost or payment? Not sure which weave is right for you? Wondering if this can work with your schedule? Tried meditation before and had an iffy or unpleasant experience? Let's talk! I'd love to hear from you. Drop me a line: dahlia@beloved.org, or schedule a free 15 minute Zoom meeting.
Want to hear more? Check out the FAQ.
And here's more about Dahlia.