Join us in-person for our Summer's End Focusing Splash!

When: September 10-13, 2026 

Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday - drop in for an event, a day or come for a long weekend.

Where: Floyd County Virginia

Event Information and Registration Forms at the bottom of this page. 

It’s a gift to spend time in person with others who are open to exploring the impact of shared relational spaces in these unique times.

We are thrilled to share this opportunity with you. 

Our inspiration is to gather in person to explore shared relational spaces. How we are in every moment affected by our environment and having an effect on it. 

We value the wisdom of each person who attends.

The mountain plateau of Floyd County is on the continental divide, a sacred meeting space of connecting waters. We invite you to hold and sense freshly the water in you and your environment as we prepare for this gathering. You are welcome to join us for an event, a day, several days or the entire time.

From September 10–13, we will offer a series of daily opportunities to intentionally explore how to bring Focusing into shared relational spaces and groups.

Some areas we hope to explore are:

What happens when we Focus on our interactive space, and relate to it as we do with 'internal' felt senses?
Are there ways to deepen and encourage relationships with these kinds of spaces?

Let's explore bringing Focusing into relational spaces with sentient life forms (animal, plant, Nature) that do not have the kinds of verbal capacities that humans do.

How can we adapt Focusing to settings such as larger groups and spaces of shared content or potential conflict?

Let's look at assumptions implicitly built into dyadic turn-taking Focusing that can lead to difficulties in bringing Focusing into other kinds of situations that are set up differently.

What do we need to be aware of in terms of process design, sensing relational fields, and dynamics of mutual triggering?

Are there adaptations we can make that support both reasonable safety AND reasonable effectiveness in group sharing, group processing, or group problem-solving?

Our intention is simple and sincere: to come together in person to hold and honor each other’s inner processes and to create a shared field where something meaningful can unfold. For us, a shared field is always present when two or more are gathered. An activated quality of presence can form in the space between us. This space holds an aliveness from which something new, something implicit, can emerge between us. We will explore this together utilizing numerous relational practices and processes, in line with Gendlin's Philosophy of the Implicit. Processes already on the agenda include Constellations, NVC, Interactive Focusing, possibly Dynamic Facilitation, along with whatever else folks are bringing.

If you practice felt sensing in your daily life and especially, if you have maintained a partnership practice, we'd love to have you join us. We'll have spaces for experienced Focusers to dive deep and spaces for beginners to enjoy splashing in shallow water. We will develop our schedule with an Open Space agenda. Here, participants co-create workshop experiences. Have something you'd like to try out with a group of Focusers? Bring it here!

If you are curious about relational spaces and shared fields, then please join us! We will tap into some of the magical environments that Floyd offers with potential field trips around the area on Saturday. Of course, you are free to choose your schedule from the variety of options that develop. 

You might find yourself “splashing” into a new awareness, or gently allowing something within you to come forward that has been waiting for just this kind of space. We would love for you to join us in Floyd for this unfolding experience. 

We hope it works out for you to join us!

Focusing Event Itinerary

Thursday, Sept. 10th at Anahata Education Center
4-6pm Arrive at Anahata and settle in
6pm Catered dinner in Celebration Hall
7:30-9:00pm Bruce Nayowith "Shared Fields" 

Friday, Sept. 11th at Anahata Education Center
7am - 9pm Catered meals, onsite open space Facilitation 

You are invited to offer a presentation, a workshop or hold space for a discussion topic that feels like an edge for you.  Workshops could happen anywhere in our schedule - at Anahata or during one of our Saturday excursions. Our schedule will be created a week before we meet utilizing Open Space principles listed below. If there are open spaces in our schedule when we arrive, these may fill in Thursday evening. 

Saturday, Sept. 12th, 

8am: Breakfast at Anahata Education Center

9am - 12pm Open Space Workshops

12pm: Pick up your own lunch in town. Possibly eat somewhere or pick up a sandwich to enjoy during our Parkway excursion. 

1-3pm: We will organize a drive along the Blue Ridge Parkway to take in a few key views, possibly a short hike or time to find a shady spot to rest. 

3-10pm Gather at the "Love Connection" Creek Spot. Address 979 Roberson Mill Road

The sign above is on the front end of the Art Studio (brown building) shown here. Michele, the owner, will guide us in Sacred Geometry of the Body from 3-5 pm. Part of the activity involves collecting organic materials from nature. You are invited to bring any special pieces with you that call to come along as you are packing. 

Sunday, Sept. 13th at Anahata Education Center

8-10am Breakfast Buffet

8am Meditation and Qi Gong with Elisha

9am Focusing with Inge (mindful nature walk and focusing partner sessions)

10am Water time with Elisha at the river

11:00am-12:30pm Online Learning Community Class - Open to all – Link in or attend in person at Living Light Studio

12:30-1:00pm Circle Time – Official ending of Focusing Splash Weekend

Open Space Principles 

These principles will help us form our Friday agenda at Anahata's Celebration Space.

Open Space: For those unfamiliar with OPEN SPACE – it’s exactly what the words imply. We will have open space and time both before the retreat and our first evening together for the group to gather to build our Ripples of Resonance community and to learn about and sense into program offerings.

Open Space starts with the understanding that everything is completely voluntary; people lead topics or attend/participate because they want to. Our planning session might open with requests or interests. You may come with a few ideas you'd be open to offering or plan not to lead a program. Our agenda is created by those passionate about leading an Enneagram or Focusing-related topic and taking responsibility for facilitating discussion and/or sharing an application. The co-creative magic comes in listening to each other. Two people who have never met may even decide to co-lead something.

At the time of the session, people attend what they feel drawn to and stay if it fits. We our encouraged to follow our process in the moment. Focusing, or some other personal recreational activity, is always a welcome option to attending a session.