In this program, we will:

• Explore a brief contextual, historical review of our current concept of ‘ethics’, including a review of the state of our ethics in Western society

• Using a cross-cultural framework we will deconstruct our often erroneous understanding of power – what it is, and what it’s not

• Introduce a new concept of ethics; what it is and what it’s not

• Re-contextualize ethics in an ecological framework (once we’ve established that being ethical is not about being good or following the rules)

• Examine the intersection of our power & responsibility and our experience of our belonging, reflecting on the different relationships we have with these essential aspects of our human experience

• dive deep into the intimate terrain of our ethical decision-making; here is where we will spend the majority of our time together, giving each participant the opportunity to both witness others and be witnessed, to identify and befriend the vulnerabilities that cause us to ignore the directives that come from the heart of our ecologically embedded ethical self

The structure of our sessions:

• Once we’ve established a shared vocabulary –– within fishbowl-style small-group councils, we will explore the landscape and weather conditions in which we each, uniquely, fall out of our seat of power and responsibility, and are more apt to misuse our power or mis-calculate the amount of power we hold

• Each small council group will be presented with a dilemma and will be supported and witnessed as they work through this dilemma, spending time first to identify the ways each council member is activated and inspired by the dilemma…

• Do we tend to identify with the victim in the dynamic? Or the perpetrator? Do we always see this dichotomy in every interaction, imagining a this or that, right or wrong structure? Are there particular scenarios that are more apt to toss us out of our seat of power, to activate a wounded one who never got heard or a warrior looking for a wrong to right? Where are we most likely to have equanimity and curiosity? In which situations do we lean in with an open adult mind, and in which do we ‘see red’, heart racing, blood pumping, certain we know the answer?

First and foremost this round of Embodied Ethics is an intimate seminar. It is for all those who hold positions of power including clergy, medical and legal professionals, teachers and professors, parents, therapist and coaches and those who employ and manage others, to name only a few. Having said that, it is for those who have enough resilience that you’re able to withstand generous and compassionate reflection, even if it doesn’t fit with your currently-held concept of yourself. This seminar is structured to challenge us in the ways we rarely, but desperately need to, get challenged. It is not therapy. It is likely we will each leave at least one session feeling tender and in need of some support from our trusted people. This is as it should be. When we are honored to sit in seats of power we must be able and willing to be challenged to occupy those seats with a fiercely attuned ethical compass. This doesn’t happen without the (likely frequent) experience of discomfort and courageous self-exploration.

Of course, there will be so much more that none of us will be able to predict because this is, first and foremost, an experiential program. Once we’ve pushed our little boat away from the shore, who knows where we will end up!?