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Dear Friends committed to living and aging consciously:
Welcome to the Autumn 2023 edition of Conscious Eldering Inspiration and Resources; The Journal of the Center for Conscious Eldering. It is our hope that the four featured articles, written for this journal, and the poetry and other resources you will find here, will serve to remind you of the spirit within you that seeks to brightly shine forth its (your! ) elder gifts into a world urgently in need of conscious elders committed to living intentionally each day, with commitment to gratitude, trust, growth and service. There are so many ways to grow and serve. These articles and poems passionately illustrate some of these ways, but more importantly remind us of the joy and fulfillment that we experience
when we brightly shine our elder light in whatever ways are the most authentic
expression of who we are.
May this journal support your growth into the conscious elderhood that is your birth rite, but requires your willingness to accept it as both gift and responsibility.
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Conscious Eldering:
A Nature- Supported Approach to Ripening Into Wholeness
by Ron Pevny
Some of the primary catalysts for my understanding of conscious eldering have been questions that began to be very significant for me as I did oral history work with older adults in my community nearly twenty years ago: Why do some people age with joy and serenity, always seeming to be curious, engaged, savoring each moment although they have experienced many losses, looking optimistically toward the future and the opportunities of each new day, while others become cynical and/or self-centered, with their sense of purpose being in the past and with with no apparent goals except to hang on as long as possible to who they have been? Why do some people become the kind of elders we all aspire to be, alive and full of inner light, while others’ inner light fades and they just become old?
Most of us pay attention to the states of our finances as we look to our senior years; many of us give thought to what we want to do during those years, and there are an increasingly large number of books and approaches that can help us with these needs. Far fewer of us reflect upon who we want to be as we age, apart from what we want to (and hope we are able to) do. The old adage is true: Wherever you go and whatever you do, there you are.
Conscious Eldering provides both an understanding of the kind of person it is possible for us to be as we age and practices that can help us grow into elders who, in whatever life circumstances we are in, are peaceful, resilient, and passionate about life, continually growing, serving and shining our light. Conscious Eldering is a way of life that requires choice, intention and willingness to step out of our comfort zones in service to being truly alive throughout the later chapters of our one, precious life. This way of life is grounded in both inner work and outer expression.
The inner work focuses on both our future and our past. A primary goal of this work is gaining a clear vision of what feels most important for us to be and do as elders that comes from our authenticity—from what is most natural and true in ourselves—rather than from the images and prescriptions of the culture around us. And then acting with focus and intention to make that vision reality is critical to true fulfillment as we age.
However, no matter how lofty our goals, achieving these requires that we bring to them strong, clear energy, with healthy mind, emotions and spirit. If our energy is stuck in the past, fueling regrets, resentments, unhealed grief, and negative stories about our worth, then all this old emotional baggage will dull our inner light, sap our energy and sabotage our best laid plans for the future. It may well turn us into the cynical stuck-in-the past people none of us aspire to be. The inner work of conscious eldering very much focuses on transforming regret, forgiving ourselves and others, healing grief, and letting go of attitudes, beliefs and ways of defining ourselves that will not serve us if we are to move forward emotionally. It gives us the tools and opportunity to transform the negative stories many of us carry about ourselves and our life's experiences into stories of a life where all our experiences contributed to our learning, growth and elder wisdom.
While conscious eldering work certainly involves examining and transforming our beliefs about ourselves and our aging, and working to align our emotions with our highest values, at its core this is deeply spiritual work, which may or may not be supported by our religious affiliation. It requires us to honor that call from within that comes naturally as we leave mid-life adulthood to deepen our contact with the spiritual dimension in ourselves, in whatever ways are most effective for us. It is the spiritual dimension (whatever we call it) that is the source of our most true vision and guidance for who we can become. It is this dimension that offers the courage, strength and compassion that enable us to heal what needs to be healed, let go of what needs to be shed, and embrace what needs to be carried into our future so we can move gracefully from who we have been to who we can become.
A great many people, whatever their religious preferences, say that their deepest experiences of feeling in touch with the sacred, or spiritual, dimension of life have happened when they have been in nature, away from human-created structures and ideas about what is important. Because the natural world opens the human heart and mind to what is most true and natural in the world around us and within us, the work of conscious eldering draws much of its power from time spent in nature. Humans have long been drawn to nature to find healing, inspiration, strength and spiritual connection. Most of the world’s rite of passage traditions have involved those in transition spending time alone in nature. Jesus and Buddha retreated to wilderness places for extended periods before embarking on their teaching missions.
The journey from mid-life adulthood into the elder chapters is one of the most significant transitions in life, one which we can support through our commitment to conscious eldering, or choose to ignore. The results very much depend on the choice we make. If we choose to support this passage in our lives, I know of no more powerful means than to spend time regularly in nature, focusing inwardly. While there, write in your journal about your vision for your elderhood. Spend time daydreaming about what stirs your passions and holds meaning for you. Reflect on what needs to be healed or let go as you move forward. And do your best to connect with that bigger-picture understanding that the spirit within you can most easily provide when you are quiet and carefully listening to that subtle voice of guidance from your own wise inner nature.
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Gratitude for My Lifetime of Spiritual Deepening
by Bob Calhoun
On my 74th birthday, I received a card and package from a life-long friend. The card read, “Dear Bob, Once upon a time we were fostered and enriched by books by Tillich, Bonhoeffer, Maslow, John O'Donohue, Phillip Newell, Frederick Buechner, David Whyte, Frost, and Richard Schwartz. They were tools of knowledge that we used when we were young. But those times have passed. We need new literature to help us deal with the new challenges we face as we age. I hereby gift to you the tools you will need going forward. Happy birthday.”
Opening the package, to my surprise, I found more than a half dozen children's books including the titles Frog and Toad are Friends, The Rabbit Listened, Blueberries for Sal and Nobody Hugs a Cactus. I am sure my friend was clearing out books his grandchildren had 'outgrown', and they will be great additions to my grandchildren's bookshelf. But the message that jumped out to me became quite clear: On this elder journey, having been blessed to still be alive, we are being called to let go, to return to the deepest parts of our true self, to what many call the great not-knowing.
Many of the great spiritual paths speak of developing the beginners mind or seeing like children see, where the miracle and mystery of life can be fully experienced. In this latter stage of life, we are drawn spiritually downward toward the True Self where a lifetime of gained wisdom and perspective merge with the simplicity and awe of the uncluttered child mind—where each moment, each new day is a new adventure to be cherished, waiting in anticipation of the next miracle to emerge before us. It is a path of letting go (of ego, striving, fear, self-protection) and living more in the present, aware of our connection with all things living and not living, and staying open to the gift that each moment offers...and the first words spoken each day are words of gratitude.
My spiritual work over a lifetime not only brings me 'back home' to a calm center, but comes as well to my aid as I enter and embrace this elder time in my life and face the many challenges of aging and embrace more fully my mortality. A deep spiritual center offers me a space in which to step back. At a cancer support group I recently attended, a line from a John Bell hymn ('We Cannot Measure How You Heal') was shared by a fellow group member and caught my attention: “Lord, let your Spirit meet us here...to disentangle peace from pain, and make Your broken people whole.”
Disentangle peace from pain...the pain from loss of loved ones, of abilities, of opportunities and anticipated losses to come. Disentangle peace from fear of the unknown, depression, anxiety, physical discomfort from illness My spiritual space offers a perspective of the larger view and the impermanence of my life journey. The various 'pains' are never eliminated but my spiritual center, my soul, is the place within where solace can be found, wisdom and loving presence can be felt and shared with others, as I continue to engage in the gift of life.
Another birthday gift I received was from my wife, a gray t-shirt with the following phrase printed on the front in large, bold, black letters: “Do The Work”. Our spiritual nature and knowing are gifts with which we were born. They have always been a deep part within me. Even though there are times over my lifetime when I have been surprised by insights and truths, moved by coincidences, taken to new places by a Something I cannot explain, I still need to “do the work' to nurture my spiritual center, my soul, my True Self. The work is varied, from silent reflection, meditation, and writing, to long walks in the forest, sharing honestly with others...and staying open to the wisdom that comes out of my 'dark nights of the soul'. But it is work well worth my efforts on this Elder Journey.
I end with a poem I wrote during a Conscious Eldering retreat in the desert at Ghost Ranch.
Receiver of Doubt
Spirit of the East
for the transforming power
of your presence,
I am forever thankful
I entrust in you,
the doubts that block
my eldering journey
into your care
they are lifted by gusts
of evening wind
beyond the towering red walls
I now embrace my truth
and doubt myself no more:
free to live and walk
the Elder Journey
Bob Calhoun is a retired counseling psychologist and passionate writer of poetry about the human spirit, who lives in Fort Collins, Colorado. He can be contacted at calhounfc@aol.com.
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A Feather on Your Wings
by Katia Petersen
“Grandma, do you believe in Angels?” “Of course I do, she replied” “How do you know they exist and how do I become an Angel I ask?” “Well, I know they exist in my heart, and by looking at the miracles around us, like the sun rising every day giving us a new beginning, plants and trees coming back to life after the winter, the rain that nurtures our earth, a butterfly coming out of a cocoon in all its beauty, and so much more. All you have to do is pay attention. As for earning your angel wings, it happens one feather at a time, by doing things that touch people’s lives in special ways, and help you be a better person.” At that moment I declared that I would start earning my angel wings, and she gently reminded me that it takes a lifetime to do that. From that day on, she guided me to keep my heart and mind open, to listen deeply, to pay attention to what goes on around me, to listen without judgment, to love fully, and look for goodness in every human being. She explained that there will be challenging times, but also joy, and it will take courage to keep moving forward. All I had to do was trust my intuition and ask for help along the way.”
Thinking back, I believe, that special moment in time, was a big, impactful snapshot in my life as an 8-year-old, who was curious about everything and asked a lot of questions, simply because I wanted to find answers. My grandma along with my parents, taught me about life through stories and by example. I was exposed to something I could not quite understand other than that it all felt right with my world when I was given the opportunity to learn and grow. It was years later that I realized the significance of that particular conversation with my grandmother as the beginning of my spiritual journey.
Early on in my childhood I begun to have sensory experiences, and premonitions through repetitive dreams, especially during challenging times. My grandmother and mother nurtured my intuitive side and taught me to respect it and use it as a guide for unexpected events. As I grew older and went deeper in my exploration of the divine, those sensory experiences increased, and my dreams became stronger and more active. I was no longer afraid or questioning any of it because I knew it was all a part of me and as natural as breathing.
As a teacher of Sage-ing (another name for conscious eldering) I have learned that if we wish to deepen our spirituality, it’s essential to pay attention to both our inner and outer work. Spirituality is one of the dimensions seeking to encourage the idea that goodness, kindness and a sense of hope can prevail in each of us regardless of where we happen to be on our journey. When we choose to show up energetically with the intention that we can generate a new way of being, we can actually shine our inner light, radiating a sense of wellness and positive outcomes. As we evolve into conscious elderhood, although we cannot predict the future or understand what’s yet to come, we can choose to be open to new possibilities and the belief that we have the capacity to live life fully, making a difference in the world. As Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, whose work introduced Sage-ing to the world said, “Elders serve as conduits between the divine realm and the mundane world, making the abstract truths of spirituality accessible to the community by embodying them in their everyday behavior.”
Entering the threshold of my personal Sage-ing journey, I find myself needing space for things that matter to me right now. I am learning to pause and ground myself in the present moment. I look forward to quiet time to nurture my soul. I have a strong need for connection to a community, and I treasure time with my family and close friends. To help me stay present and aware, I deliberately use rituals that support my spiritual growth. I begin each day with an intention for the kind of day I want to live into and I meditate in order to quiet my mind so I can connect with my inner self. I attune to the energy around me and access my intuition as my guide as I navigate through the unexpected twists and turns, of life. And I end each day with a sense of gratitude for given the gift of life.
At the end of each day, I have a practice of asking questions such as What am I not hearing or seeing? What have I learned from these particular experiences of today? What inspired me today? What shook up my world? What am I willing to do differently? How do I choose to embrace the unexpected? Such questions help mark both an ending of a day and the beginning of something new and priceless. I know that I am the author of my own story and have the power to choose my own narrative; the people in it, and all my dreams and wishes as I continue to live my life with purpose. I have so often seen that once I and others have clarity and believe in our story, the Universe has such an elegant way of aligning with us, by providing a sequence of events to support our deepest desires and hopes,
My desire is to be an active participant in all that I experience throughout my life. I am grateful to be on this spiritual journey, as I continue to earn my angel wings …….one feather at a time.
Katia Petersen Ph.D. is the co-chair of Sage-ing International and President of Petersen Argo Inc., an organization focusing on Transformational Leadership. She can be reached at katia.petersen57@gmail.com.
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Living My Elderhood Intentionally
by Steve Heaviland
In September, 2023 the associate pastor of my church and I started a “Sages and Souls” class, meeting every other week in small groups. We share our lives and reflect on questions from several books on a variety of topics related to aging and eldering. There is a hunger for people, including myself, to connect with and support one another on the aging journey. Then, after reading Conscious Living, Conscious Aging I knew I was ripe to attend a Choosing Conscious Elderhood retreat at Ghost Ranch in New Mexico in May, 2023.
My overriding intention for the retreat was to let go of the midlife stage of my life, including a career as a teaching tennis pro, to embrace wholeheartedly the life of becoming a conscious elder. Near the end of the retreat, we were given the opportunity to begin envisioning our ideal elderhood and identify intentions that support that vision.
Some of what emerged during that guided meditation and the subsequent period of reflection while on the land, were several intentions I was already living out as part of the rhythm of my life. These include a centering prayer practice, reading sacred literature, journaling, recording and reflecting on my night time dreams, wandering in nature, painting watercolors, and cultivating deeper relationships with my family, including two young grandchildren, and my friends. And central to my life has been my lifelong commitment to pursuing racial reconciliation and anti-racism work in partnership with an interfaith coalition in Illinois, where I live.
Other intentions which I realized were stirring in me and now seeking expression fell into the category of exploring within the next 12 months future possibilities that had been on my inner radar screen. These include a spiritual direction/companioning business, facilitating a weekend conscious eldering retreat in the Chicago-land area, and offering a conscious eldering class at the local senior center.
Following the retreat, I have had the opportunity to reflect more deeply on my intentions and why they are so important to me. What resonates deep within me is the need to build an intentional life as a conscious elder that flows from my core values. In my early 30s, I was drawn to a nine-month program to live the Benedictine rule, with an emphasis on living and learning in community, silence, solitude, prayer, learning, growth, and compassionate service. This transformative, life-giving rhythm helped shape a spiritual foundation that continues to nourish and enliven me today, and is central to the intentions that help ground me, nurture me toward wholeness, and are a catalyst for my soulful engagement in the world.
The words of Howard Thurman, the theologian and mystic, have been important to me. He wrote, “There is something in every one of you that waits for the sound of the genuine in yourself, and if you cannot hear it, you will never find what you have been searching for.” From that soulful place of listening to the sound to what is genuine in my life, my intention is to glean wisdom from my past experiences, pay attention to what is unfolding in my life, and seek to intentionally live my soul’s mission. I have trust that I am being guided by the Holy Spirit as I move toward my life/s completion.
This trust was greatly strengthened several years ago, when I had an epic dream, perhaps symbolic of a shift in energy into my emerging elderhood. I am standing on the shore of a river and invited by an old man (who seemed to be an inner wisdom figure or sage) to come onto his boat. I sit behind him as he steers the boat down the calm river. I notice on the hillsides homes that are framed but not finished. The boat now comes to an opening into a large body of water, and I notice a stirring in the water at the mouth of the river. I experience a feeling of spaciousness and curious expectation.
I am learning to trust the inner sage of myself to guide me down the gently flowing river…a deepening surrender to my soul’s slow ripening. I feel an invitation to simply enjoy and delight in the journey. I think the unframed houses may represent unlived or unhealed parts of myself beckoning me to grow into my true elder self. I am compelled to pay radical attention to the stirrings of my soul as I courageously face my fears and vulnerabilities and venture out on uncharted waters.
I brought to the Conscious Eldering retreat a small weaving I created in sixth grade. I placed it on the altar we created at the beginning of our time together. I did not realize at the time the powerful symbolic impact the weaving’s expanded meaning would have: The intentions I embrace represent a tapestry woven into a harmonious whole in concert with other conscious elders seeking to use their gifts to bring hope, healing and love to the world.
Steve Heaviland, whose background includes being a teaching tennis pro and following a lifelong commitment to pursuing racial reconciliation, can be reached at sheaviland1@gmail.com.
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To Live In the Present Moment
Lao Tzu
To live in the present moment is the miracle.
The miracle is not to walk on water
The miracle is to walk on this green earth
in the present moment,
to appreciate the peace and beauty
that are available now.
Rumi On Old Age
Why does a date-palm lose its leaves in autumn?
Why does every beautiful face grow in old age
Wrinkled like the back of a Libyan lizard?
Why does a full head of hair get bald?
Why is it that the Lion's strength weakens to nothing?
The wrestler who could hold anyone down
Is led out with two people supporting him,
Their shoulders under his arms?
God answers,
“They put on borrowed robes
And pretended they were theirs.
I take the beautiful clothes back,
So that you will learn the robe
Of appearance is only a loan.”
Your lamp was lit from another lamp.
All God wants is your gratitude for that.
The Pleasure of Serving
by Gabriela Mistral
All of nature is a yearning for service:
The cloud serves, and the wind, and the furrow.
Where there is a tree to plant, you be the one.
Where there is a mistake to undo, let it be you.
You be the one to remove the rock from the field,
The hate from human hearts,
And the difficulties from the problem.
There is joy in being wise and just,
But above all there is the beautiful,
The immense happiness of serving.
How sad the world would be if all was already done.
If there was no rosebush to plant,
No enterprise to undertake.
Do not limit yourself to easy tasks.
It's so beautiful to do what others dodge.
But don't fall prey to the error that only
Great tasks done can be counted as accomplishments.
There are small acts of service that are good ones:
Decoratively setting a table,
Putting some books in order,
Combing a little girl's hair.
That one over there is the one that criticizes,
This other one is the one that destroys.
You be the one that serves.
Serving is not a labor just for inferior beings.
God, who gives fruit and light, serves.
His name could be rendered thus: He Who Serves.
And he has his eyes on our hands,
And he asks us at the close of day:
"Did you render service today? To whom?
To a tree, to your friend, to your mother?"
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Reaching Back From Here
by Nancy Wood
in Many Winters
Reaching back from here
All that I remember of my life
Are the great round rocks and not
The unimportant stones.
I know that I experienced pain and yet
The scars have healed so that
I am like the tree covering itself
With new growth every year.
I know that I walked in sadness and yet
All that I remember now
Is the soothing autumn light.
I know that there was much to make my life unhappy
If I had stopped to notice how
The world sings a broken song.
But I preferred to dwell within
A universe of fields and streams
Which echoed the wholeness of my song.
GRATITUDE
(Gary Snyder – after a Mohawk prayer)
Gratitude to Mother Earth, sailing through night and day
and to her soil, rich, rare, and sweet
in our minds so be it
Gratitude to Plants, the sun-facing light-changing leaf
and fine root hairs, standing still through wind and rain,
their dance is in the flowing spiral grain
in our minds so be it
Gratitude to Air, bearing the soaring Swift and the silent Owl at dawn,
breath of our song
clear spirit breeze
in our minds so be it
Gratitude to Wild Beings, our brothers and sisters
teaching secrets, freedoms, and ways
self-complete, brave, and aware
in our minds so be it
Gratitude to Water, clouds, lake, rivers, glaciers
holding or releasing ,
streaming through all
our bodies salty seas
in our minds so be it
Gratitude to the Sun, blinding pulsing light through trunks of trees,
through mists,
warming caves where
bears and snakes sleep
he who wakes us—
In our minds so be it
Gratitude to the Great Sky
who holds billions of stars
and goes yet beyond that—
beyond all powers and thoughts
and yet is within us—
Grandfather space
The Mind is his Wife
so be it
The Present Is The Only Place
by Steve Taylor
When the future is full of dread
And the past full of regret
Where can you take refuge
except the present?
When maelstroms of tormenting thoughts
push back the barricades of your sanity
The present is the calm centre
where you can rest.
And slowly, as you rest there
The niggling thoughts and fears
dissolve away like shadows,
shrinking under the midday sun
until you don’t need refuge any more.
The present is the only place
where there is no thought-created pain.
The present is the only place.
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Upcoming Conscious Eldering Programs
Turning Points
online, monthly
The Center for Conscious Eldering, in partnership with Sage-ing International, is presenting a unique monthly recorded interview program in which Ron Pevny, and Sage-ing International Co-Chair Katia Petersen interview leaders in the conscious eldering/ personal transformation field, with the focus being on what they have learned through those times of darkness and challenge, as well as inner breakthroughs and new beginnings, that have shaped their lives and work, and are key to the support they provide to people committed to conscious eldering. Our guests include include Richard Leider, Joan Borysenko, Connie Zweig, Richard Rohr, Anita Sanchez, Jamal Rahman, Emanuel Kuntzelman, Mac McCartney, Amikaela Gaston, John Sorenson, Stephan Rechtschaffen, and Raghu Ananthanarayanan.
While the recordings of these interviews are released on the fourth Tuesday of each month beginning last March, you can register at any time until late Feburary and receive access to all the interviews. For details and registration information, https://conta.cc/3XU60LP
Retreats
Our 2024 schedule of retreats is not yet finalized. It will likely include our two customary Choosing Conscious Elderhood retreats at Ghost Ranch, New Mexico (one in May and one in late September), a Next Step retreat in Ohio in July for graduates of Choosing Conscious Elderhood, a return to Ireland in the Fall for our second retreat on the Emerald Isle, and a couple weekend introductions to conscious eldering. Details will be available on our website in late November and in our Winter Journal.
Please consider joining us if you seek an empowering vision for your elder chapters, tools for helping make that vision reality, and the warmth of a supportive community of kindred spirits. Our programs provide a powerful opportunity to have your idealism acknowledged, your hope rekindled and your dreams for a vital, passionate elderhood supported? They offer you the wisdom of skilled guides and the heart-and-mind-opening energy of the natural world, to open you to the rich possibiities of your later-life chapters--for growth, purpose, spiritual deepening, and giving your elder gifts to support a healthy society and planet.
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For Organizations, Faith Communities, etc:
We are available to present our weekend workshops or custom designed programs for groups who would like to sponsor one in their area. Contact us to explore possibilities.
for details on our programs and registration information, please visit
www.centerforconsciouseldering.com/events
And please support our scholarship fund. In 2022 our dear friend in conscious eldering, Randy Crutcher, made a generous donation to the Center for Conscious Eldering to help us establish a scholarship fund to help make our retreats accessible to people who can only participate with financial support. Randy's donation was followed by several smaller, but important, contributions from others who have participated in our retreats. Here's what Randy wrote about his donation:
"The great benefits I’ve derived from this remarkable work and the support it has given me for choosing the most meaningful path for me to conscious elderhood is something I’d like to see made available to everyone in these later stages of life. At least those who recognize the value, and are ready and poised to reveal more about their life journey to themselves and others. I want to help remove external barriers to attending the program by inspiring others to contribute anything they can to help those needing a little extra help and support in joining our growing community of conscious elders."
If you would like to contribute any amount, please contact Ron Pevny.
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"A beautifully written and important book about aging and elderhood. Pevny reminds us that consciously moving into our greater years is a major rite of passage, and he offers skilled guidance through the many questions and challenges, endings and new beginnings, that arise."
Meredith Little, Co-founder of the School of Lost Borders
The expanded, updated 10th Anniversary Edition of Ron's book will be released in early July!
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A friend recently introduced me to this powerful autobiographical account written in 1990 by Sue Monk Kidd, author of the best-selling “The Secret Life of Bees” and several other heart-and-mind-opening books. This book uses the compelling power of her personal story to speak insightfully about that central dynamic in major life transitions known as liminal time or the neutral zone. In this book she relates the passionate and moving story of a crisis in her midlife when her life seemed to have lost meaning and direction and she was thrust into a very dark night of the soul. She tells of how her longing for a hasty escape from the pain yielded to a discipline of “active waiting.” As I read her deeply moving story of the transformation that led to her career as a distinguished inspirational author, I realized that nothing I or anyone else I know of has written, communicates as powerfully the transformative potential of crisis and the importance of allowing ourselves to wait with trust and presence while our soul works its transformative magic on us. I now recommend “When the Heart Waits” to anyone preparing to experience a conscious eldering retreat, and to anyone seeking to understand the essential inner work that we must do if we are to allow this transformative magic to bring forth the elder in us in our later years.
Ron Pevny
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Online course taught by Center for Conscious Eldering guide emeritus Anne Wennhold
Aging Into the 80s
Beginning in late January
This is an eight-week Zoom seminar focused on the continuing transitions of growth and development beyond the active 70s. The focus off this seminar is to identify and develop ways of managing the unexpected turns taken by the transitions of later elderhood and to provide windows into topics and fears often hidden by cultural denial: such as Balancing One's Life Style, Continued Growth Practice, Letting Go and Facing Mortality. Now in her late 80’s and no longer co-guiding conscious eldering retreats, Anne will be bringing her own aging experience to this unique class.
For more information or to register, Contact Anne annewennhold@gmail.com.
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The Human Values in Aging Newsletter
The newsletter you are reading is not intended to provide a comprehensive listing of workshops and other resources available these days to help support people in aging consciously. That job is well done by Rick Moody in his monthly Human Values in Aging newsletter. To receive it on the first day of each month, send an email to hrmoody@yahoo.com
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One of our partner organizations, the Elders Action Network is an educational non-profit organization fostering a budding movement of vital elders dedicated to growing in consciousness while actively addressing the demanding social and environmental challenges facing our country and planet. They work inter-generationally for social and economic justice,environmental stewardship, and sound governance. They offer their multiple talents and resources in service to the goal of preserving and protecting life for all generations to come. Anyone committed to living and serving as a conscious elder in invited to join them in this critically important endeavor. EAN offerings include, among others,
* Bi-weekly Elder Activists for Social Justice Community Conversations
*The growing and influential "Elders Climate Action" initiative
* The Empowered Elder--EAN's foundational program
*The new Sunrise Movement - an intergenerational collaborative effort between EAN and Sage-ing International
*The Elders for Regenerative Living initiative
To learn about EAN and its initiatives and programs, visit www.eldersaction.org
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Another of our partner organizations is Sage-ing International, the pioneering organization in promoting the principles of "Sage-ing/conscious aging, Their greatly expanded offerings of online workshops and seminars, Elder Wisdom Circles, and their training program for Certified Sage-ing Leaders is grounded in the work of the late Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, who introduced conscious aging to the world with his workshops at Omega Institute with Ram Dass and others, and via his seminal book, From Age-ing to Sage-ing.
The Center for Conscious Eldering is partnering with Sage-ing International to present a unique interview series, Turning Points." Learn more at this link: https://conta.cc/3XU60LP
To view their website, visit www.sage-ing.org
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The Pathways to Elderhood Alliance (PEAL) is a newly forming alliance of organizations, including the Center for Conscious Eldering, who offer programs that support the journey into elderhood. To learn about this promising collaboration, click here: Passageways to Elderhood Alliance
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Ron Pevny, Founder and Director
970-223-0857
3707 Coronado Ave, Fort Collins, Colorado 80526
ron@centerforconsciouseldering.com
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When we walk to the edge of all the light we have and take the step into the darkness of the unknown, we must believe that one of two things will happen: There will be something solid for us to stand on, or we will be taught to fly.
Patrick Overton
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