Any 12 Step Program
one hour a day
Although this doesn’t qualify as a workshop, it’s the best transformational program I have ever experienced. If you have issues with alcohol or drugs or food or codependency google your local 12 Step Program for a meeting list with times and locations. Skip the expensive outpatient program or rehab and show up at the meeting location 10mins early with a few dollars. Every meeting is self-supporting, so they pass a basket for donations mid-way through. If you don’t like it, just don’t drink and keep coming back. A beautiful life awaits you if you follow suggestions and do the step work. Enjoying the process isn’t a requirement, and you can even share what you dislike about AA in meetings. I did. Bottom line, you must take care of any addictions before you can begin to grow.
Landmark
The Forum- 3 days
The Advanced Course- 3 days
The Self-Expression and Leadership Program- 4-month period: one evening a week and one full day a month
The Communications Course: Access to Power- 2 days
Landmark is the gold standard of transformational programs. It originated as EST in the 1960s, the work of Werner Erhard. As the oldest child from a dysfunctional New York family, I spent a lot of time in shrink offices. Save your money and ten years of your life because Landmark will resolve your issues in three days. You certainly don’t need problems to go either; Landmark will bring you face to face with whatever area is holding you back in life. With long hours and intense work, I did not enjoy all aspects of my courses, and they changed my thinking permanently. Scientifically designed for ultimate results, no one leaves a Landmark workshop not blown away. Landmark doesn’t only want to make you feel good; their ultimate goal is to get you into action in the world. All Landmark graduates are extraordinary people.
The Growth Story, “Change Your Thinking in 3 Days” is a detailed account of my time at Landmark. Under Your Stories, my friend Anthony wrote “Boxing with Ghosts,” based on his Landmark experience. All ages attend.
Tony Robbins
Unleash the Power Within- 4 days
Date with Destiny- 6 days
Tony Robbin’s workshops are transformational sober raves. There is a lot of dancing, bouncing and power moves involved that turned me off during my first day at UPW. Stick with it, and by the second day, I promise that you will love every minute of it. My heart opened, and I felt like a child again. Joy and freedom are readily available in this environment, and the energy will carry you for six months afterward. I also walked away with full control over my mental state. Tony gives you so many simple tools to use, and I still implement them regularly in my day. You don’t even realize the scope of what you are integrating until weeks later. The events are packed, days are long and run late but listening to Tony talk is a charge in itself. He is superhuman, and I couldn’t get enough. I also walked away from these events with new friends. I haven’t written yet about the event specifics, but I reference the work in many of my blog posts. All ages attend.
Institute for Integrative Nutrition
year-long course
IIN is a sophisticated online course that changed my relationship with food. The program is designed for people who are interested in health and wellness, and people take the course for different reasons. There is a health coach certification awarded at the end, and many IIN graduates go on to create business models from the program. Others are looking to take control of their health. I wasn’t interested in becoming a health coach and was looking for a flexible learning environment while my plate was full raising young children. IIN inspired me to start cooking and also has a more profound transformational aspect woven into the curriculum.
The course is broken down into weekly modules filled with reading materials and audio and video clips. I dedicated a couple of hours a week to it. There is a support group component as well, and you are work with an instructor and group on bi-monthly calls. You get back what you put in, and I had a friend who took the course and attended gatherings in the NYC area with fellow students. It’s an excellent program. All ages participate in this course.
Transcendental Meditation
4 sessions on consecutive days
I didn’t even attempt to meditate until the age of 40. Many people in AA spoke to me about it over the years, and I nodded and smiled never planning to do it. After experiencing severe PTSD symptoms brought on by a traumatic event in my adult life, I followed a suggestion from a friend and signed up for TM training. I did my training in New York at the Madison Avenue location. The office there is attractive and the teacher’s friendly. TM helped my PTSD symptoms and sleep drastically. You are told to meditate daily in two twenty-minute blocks. I do this most days, and if I miss a session, it’s no big deal. The longer I practice TM, the more I enjoy meditation. There is scientific data to back up the long-term results of TM. Once you pay the initial fee, you can return to any TM Center around the country for free refresher courses and group meditations.
Jeff Carreira
Coaching and Retreats
Jeff has been my spiritual advisor for the past six years. I used to call him a coach and that word doesn’t do his work justice. Jeff has an extensive history as a meditation teacher. He is a rare human being and talking to him weekly over the past six years has shifted my thinking and the course of my life. Jeff isn’t a shrink, and his way of working together is unique and exhilarating. Jeff has become family to me, and I trust him forever. Jeff also runs meditation retreats around the world. He surrounds himself with wonderful people and loves making introductions. The demo trends above age 40.
The Evolutionary Collective
year-long course
Th EC was the first transformational workshop I ever attended, so it has a special place in my heart. A powerhouse of a woman named Patricia Albere runs the EC. Her background is EST where she was a teacher trainer. She is a natural facilitator and a gifted teacher. The EC is an exploration of the “We” space which is the energy always passing between us. Once I tuned into this space, the interactions in my life came alive in a new way. Aside from partner and group practices that resemble a more communicative form of meditation, Patricia shares other work from her past with the group. I learned many essential distinctions from the EC that I still use in my life today. The format of the EC is regular group calls and a few weekends retreats a year either in NYC or CA. The demo of the group trends above age 40 and is mostly female.