STUDENT TESTIMONIALS AND REFLECTIONS

At the conclusion of each year the students in the Awakened Heart School are invited to share their reflections on the experience of the past year.

Path Group Class 2015-2016

"Being a member of the Awakened Heart School this year and the many years prior have anchored me in a spiritual community in Albany. John and Mimi share profound love and long experience with all sorts of ancient wisdom. They are stewards of deep knowledge and transformative practices - it is a real honor to study with them as they share their spirits in a sweet circle of friendship. "

"The Awakened Heart School is my home for spiritual connection and personal development. John and Mimi are teachers and facilitators who help guide us on our spiritual paths and create a safe haven for us to open up about whatever is happening in our lives. I enjoy the combination of meditation and teachings, and the camaraderie between all of us in the group. It is a special place."

Path Group Class 2011-2012

"Awakened Heart School is the right place for all who want to enrich their lives by looking more deeply at their spiritual aspirations and struggles. The stage is set by Mimi and John, two extremely knowledgeable and caring teachers who have skillfully created a learning space that is creative, nurturing, informative, and challenging. I keep coming back to the well."

"As another year comes to a close I feel a tinge of sadness similar to what I feel every year at this time. I will miss the rich teachings and the accompanying practices that help me learn. I will miss the mystical moments when I experience an “a-ha” or connect with the divine. And I will miss the people with whom I share these experiences twice a month, when I can be who I am and say what I feel in a completely accepting environment. But with the sadness comes the good news that when September comes I will be able to do it all over again: to learn, to experience, to grow, to share.
For anyone who wants to develop spiritually, experience inner growth, and connect with people with similar aspirations, the Awakened Heart School awaits you."

p> "Awakened Heart School is the right place for all who want to enrich their lives by looking more deeply at their spiritual aspirations and struggles. The stage is set by Mimi and John, two extremely knowledgeable and caring teachers who have skillfully created a learning space that is creative, nurturing, informative, and challenging. I keep coming back to the well."

Path Group Class 2010-2011

"My time with AHS this year has brought a deeper sense of belonging and adventure with other 'seekers' engaged together in a spiritual learning community. Our shared practices and dialogue invite deep cultivation of an artful and contemplative life style that is so useful during these tumultuous times. Further, the AHS community serves as a loving and sacred container for the creative integration of many aspects of who I am and who I am becoming."

"The Awakened Heart School is more than a school. It’s a refuge where I can focus on me and feel the trust and guidance of John, Mimi, and others on their path. It’s a place where I am away from the everyday world yet am forced to confront the issues that make living life a challenge. It’s a home for spirituality, where I can discover who I am and who I’m really not. As someone who needs spirituality but never found organized religion satisfying enough, I am grateful to have found this school and the people associated with it."

Foundations I Class 2010-2011

"Prior to joining the Awakened Heart School, I felt that I was a person divided---that while hurrying through the day, I was not fully present much of the time and was operating on “automatic pilot.” While I had been aware of this disconnection for many years, my efforts alone did not bring about permanent change. Since joining the group, I now feel that body and mind are more integrated and that I am more authentic in relationships. My feelings are more accessible and I have a sense of aliveness that comes only from being in the present moment.

"In the Awakened Heart School, there is a didactic component and interactive exercises in which defensive patterns are explored in a relational context. There is a sharing of what is real for each individual. I have made meditation a daily practice. Very importantly, there is the support of a community of men and women who honor the individuality and path of each person. I have gained more than I had ever imagined and greatly anticipate the year to come."

Reflections on Course I from 2009-2010

Reflections on Course I from 2007-2008

"I have cherished the intimate sense of community that was created by our group this year. When we gathered and were all driven toward psychological and spiritual growth within ourselves, a certain purity arose in the sharing and discourse that was very moving and uplifting. It is quite beautiful to watch one another's process. It is also comforting to journey with others on this path."

"I thirsted each month for the teachings of Mimi and John's lessons. As I have studied
many years with them, in addition to carving out my own experiential path, I found the information reaffirming. I enjoy the words and message in both Mimi and John's presentations. They impart not only knowledge and wisdom, but also nurturing love and humility. It was evident at every turn that their joy is derived from the experience with their pupils who they view more as equal companions, each having something indelible and unique to contribute."

"The information presented is always new because there are always new situations to which to apply it and new levels of awareness by which to understand it. The journey never ends and that's the excitement of it. Subjects such as basic trust, presence, object relations, the inner critic, personal nature and the Divine charge us with energy and arm us with tools to comprehend the inner workings of the heart and mind, sometimes helping us to overcome obstructions to fruition within."

"Nothing has had more of an impact on me than the combination of learning and applying these principles to my life. Each class has a variation of movement, meditation, sharing, teaching, experiential dyads and closing poetry. This is complemented by art projects, take-home readings and mind/heart opening exercises. One need not be particularly skilled at any of these to derive the benefits."

"Perfection is not the goal. Understanding and awareness is."

"I have been particularly affected by Mimi and John's emphasis on each person's individual path, personal nature, and unique God. I need not fit into any particular . dogma, but may expand into my own Truth."

"The "New Story" breaks down the barriers between people and their beliefs and sews us back together into the varied and beautiful fabric of life."

"Thank Goodness. At last. Amen."

.......................

"In reflecting on the last 10 months, there is much to be thankful for. I am grateful to John and Mimi for leading the course and providing knowledge, inspiration, and guidance. I am grateful to the others in the group who have provided a community for powerful meditations and the exchange of experiences and insights. And I am grateful for what I am taking away from the course. I've heard about presence for a long time, but I am practicing being present now more than in the past. Presence comes in many forms: trying to hear my heart's desire, practicing inquiry when something is weighing on me, understanding how the inner critic and super ego can derail me, and understanding the concept of object relations and how my responses to others are often not authentic but reactionary. I still think too much with my head and don't feel enough with my heart, but this awareness has helped me to tune more into my heart. I now know better that many of my responses to others are out of habit and have been programmed into me for years. When in a relationship, I need to act more authentically rather than provide a response that will satisfy someone else. I've learned that I've allowed my inner critic and super ego to have too much control over me, and that I need to value myself for who and what I am rather than try to compare myself to others. I know that I agree with the overall concept that "what we seek is the maximum unfoldment of our personal nature". I'm a spiritual person, and I am a believer in the idea of a personal god - even though I am still sorting out the relationship between a formless god and a god of form. How I represent this eternal spirit in my life is something I will continue to work on even though I don't feel uneasy about that lack of reconciliation. What's important to me is that I get in touch with that spirit, hear my heart's desire, feel the will to move forward, and work to unfold my personal nature to get to the place of the big Yes. I look forward to continuing the journey."

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