Shh…Spirituality HEALTH Haven
Spirituality Classes
For those attending church, those tired of church, those not happy with church,we invite you to come and be refreshed and nurtured.
What are they?
A Spirituality Class concentrates on presenting the skills necessary to optimize our own abilities to be aware of God present in our lives. The studies bring to light the ways people perceive God and the impediments to this perception.
What to expect…
Benefit to those studying Yoga, Tai Chi, Qigong of stress relief--these classes re spa time for the body.
Our Fall Saturday and Tuesday Night classes add the missing dimension. They will highlight the Discipline of Mindfulness. Think of this a spa time for your mind (mind = all of your perception and processing capabilities).
What do I get and what does it cost?
The Studies offered do not fix people but rather help each of us to appreciate ourselves and others. Where there is understanding, tension melts away, tolerance is born, we become creative and rejoice in our Creator. Good for us! Good for our church! You may also want to keep in mind that these classes provide tools for leaders, committee members, teachers, and are suitable for a ‘special’ one time class or even an overnight or weekend retreat. For our regular Tuesday evening class there is no charge. At the Saturday Morning Seminars we put out a plate for donations. To have your own special class or retreat, we also ask for a donation.
9:30 Breakfast
10:00 Lesson
RSVP required
469-585-1252
Please browse and sign up for classes. Or to have your questions answered, visit:
Saturday, October 8...
Myers Briggs Indicators
This workshop is for 13 years old or older. It will present various graphs of how the test measured your preferences and how this influences choices (most of them unconscious). It also suggests growth patterns and various ways to nurture your self. You will grow in your ability to understand others and how to best work with them.
Saturday, October 22...
Attention and Intention
This class will use Myers Briggs, Mindfulness and Kabbalah to investigate Attention and Intention by applying Discipline. Attention and Intention do not attain their full potential until you study and practice (sort of like driving a car, riding a bicycle, even learning to walk). If left to do the best we can whenever ... we get into trouble ... awareness is crucial. If you have never been to a spirituality Class before and even if you have studied all three Systems, you will be gaining information for nourishment by just watching how they complement each other in most helpful ways in our daily activities.
Myers Briggs Indicators
Unite with Mindfulness Discipline to equip the student with a fresh way to evaluate their perceptions and use them in ordinary situations and issues to develop a heightened sense of what’s happening in your life.
Spiritual Discipline of ‘Journey’
Two part class will study the meaning of the Hebrew Letters (from their hieroglyphs) to prepare for understanding the life path on the Kabbalah Tree. We will look at some special Hebrew words that hold a lesson for our journey (something to ponder: Jesus at His age surely new this and used it).
Kabbalah
It is time now to use the letters in our interior journey. First thing we explore is a similarity to Myers Briggs indicators and Mindfulness. Then into Kabbalah. There is a new direction to perceive and purpose…how interesting! Unique? Leads to insights, appreciation, and compassion in our lives.
Struggle for Freedom
Using Classical Spirituality, Mindfulness and Kabbalah we will look at the issues around the struggle for freedom and ways to alleviate the suffering that the loss of freedom causes.
The Business of Spirituality
Looking to develop your professional business or just the business of your self, then this will be a helpful and fun seminar. You won’t believe how helpful spirituality can be to ordinary life!
Mindfulness
A Mindfulness Class designed to open an awareness to how what we think influences our 'brain' and what we might do to make informed choices to improve our health, clarity, learning, peace and general well-being.
Kabbalah Classes Tuesdays
October
Everyone is welcome!
6:30-7:30 pm
Emphasis on using the Tree of Life to understand self.
Classes will include a study of the Hebrew Alphabet and useful ways to enhance your ability to perceive what's happening, make informed decisions and have fun while you are doing it. We will also discuss how Mindfulness and Kabbalah enrich each other. Come join us!
If you would like to be in a class not scheduled, please call Annette (469-585-1252). When 6-8 people are waiting for a class, we will call and arrange time.
Our teacher is Annette Meehan B.A. Temple Univ., Psychology; M.Div. Perkins Seminary, S.M.U.; Certificate Spiritual Direction Catholic and Episcopal Dioceses, Virginia (John Westerh of, dir. Duke Univ.); Celtic Spirituality Durham University, England. As Spiritual Director conducted seminars/classes in various ‘Personality/Spirituality Dev.’, ‘The Spirituality Side of History’, ‘Dev. Church Leadership through Spirituality’, ‘Spirituality for Educators’, ‘Kabbalah’, ‘Classical Side of Spirituality’ (relationship to philosophy) and ‘Study on the ‘Axial Age’- emphasis Eastern Spirituality - the Mindfulness Tradition.
Annette is the pastor of 1st Christian Church in DeSoto.
Classes are designed to accommodate needs and interests of those attending.
Call Annette for information 469-585-1252
To talk to someone who has attended several of the classes, please call:
Rochanne or Paul Dunkin (Disciples) 469-672-4946
Laura Mahaley (Episcopal) 972-533-7912
Lenard Marsaw (non denominational) 469-401-7421
Laurence Stephenson (Disciples) 972-863-3379
There are 4 categories of study…
I. Personality and Spirituality
Remember ‘Spirituality is the awareness of God’. This group of studies seeks to aid the self in knowing the self and all that went into making that self. The self you have is your tool for knowing God. It is important to know how to use this tool.
Classes in Personality Aids leaders and builds conflict management
These classes use the Myers Briggs indicators as a tool in understanding our Spiritual needs and development, with emphasis on how we learn, which is valuable for those who wish to study, teach, lead, or parent.
Study in Prayer Becoming aware of the prayers we engage in personally and corporately throughout our day… and the way we label our life.
II. The Spiritual Side of History
The Threads of Theology (beginning with Neanderthal to us)
This class highlights the beginning of theology (issues of power and authority, symbols, rituals and language, and issues forming in Christian history) and its effect on Spirituality.
The Dark Side of Spirituality Similar to the Study above but concentrating on the ‘Dark Side’ of Christian history to understand history’s effect on Spirituality
Understanding the Language of Worship What makes a religious service religious and what makes a religious service spiritual. Understanding our personal and corporate needs and responsibilities in worship.
III. Kabbalah Studies
Kabbalah is a Jewish Spirituality. It is a way of understanding our consciousness. Spirituality is the awareness of God and the activities that help that awareness. Kabbalah can offer another exercise in that discovery. Kabbalah uses ourselves as ‘our personal tool’ for all we know/experience and illustrates our ministry in this world.
In Kabbalah we are able to use tools to stimulate our growth, to develop energy, and to validate ourselves. The best way to grasp some ideas of Kabbalah is the Tree of Life (the map of consciousness). It is a tool to know our territories… what they are like and how we might best use and interpret them in our spiritual journey (similar to Myers Briggs and Classical Spirituality Patterns).
Kabbalah helps verbalize purpose to our existence and relates us to the whole creation. It is not opposed to Christianity, the Bible, or any other religion. Kabbalah may be a ‘one time class’ or various groups of classes that allow study of more difficult concepts.
The Hebrew Alphabet
An additional seminar class overview or a longer series of classes gives those with an interest in the symbols used in Kabbalah a chance to see the alphabet develop from hieroglyphics to letters that retain all or portions of their meanings. This is an interesting addition to our skill in interpreting both Old and New Testaments. It also leads into a historical discussion of how Tarot Cards developed, their place in Spirituality, and of course seeing a demonstration of Tarot set in the pattern of the Tree of Life.
IV. Mindfulness Studies
This is a study of spiritual exercise that consists of Meditation (not a detachment exercise) used to train the mind to be more mindful (AWARE) and lessons in developing our spiritual selves to be more satisfied. Christians add this spiritual exercise to enrich their religious experience. The Big bonus is it improves self-control, lowers blood pressure, enriches your very existence while enhancing awareness of God. One of our big problems is we do not like to be told what to do. In this class of Spirituality awareness you will acquire the skill to tell yourself what to do.
After the beginning classes other specific topics to improve your ‘Mindfulness’ may be studied. A partial list:
1. ‘Belonging’ Belonging is more than a family, a shelter, ethnic attachment, title, or group. Belonging is essential to us. It is important to understand the pushes and pulls of this part of our living experience, especially in our Spirituality.
2. Healing from the Inside Out Our abilities to heal our self are waiting to be encouraged and nurtured. This class helps you identify them.
3. Emotions and Their Place in Spirituality A discussion of emotion and how to read its information. In this way you can greatly improve your understanding of yourself to make better decisions and responses. The Spiritual skills of right understanding and right intention become part of your Spiritual life and what you have to offer.
4. Right Speech For most people speaking, looking well, and acting correctly in public comes naturally. Unfortunately, we do not extend this courtesy to ourselves. This class discusses what this does to our Spiritual life and suggests learning tools in thinking about our selves. Truth matters in this realm and is our tool in this world of knowing God and our ministry.
5. Morality and the Issues of Justice and Loving Kindness Take a second look at these issues using Right Understanding and Right Thinking (Intention).