Embodying the Divine Animal

A Body Based Journey into Transforming Your Instinctual Drives

October 12-13 | November 2-3 | December 7-8

Body, Instincts, and Essence

Whether we feel it directly or not, our bodies are being impacted by and responding to the chaos of the modern world. Information overload, ceaseless global conflict, living life at breakneck speed—every day our nervous systems and instincts are struggling to help us survive and thrive. It’s not surprising that our biologically wired animal instincts are often expressed in habitual, distorted ways.

Given the stress we feel and attempt to manage through our bodies, we often lose touch with the fact that our bodies, the very location out of which we live our lives—walking, eating, relating, creating—is not only a location of stress. Our bodies can be a powerful resource of support and place of integration of our inner nature and our outer life.

What does it mean for this life in a human body to be all that it can be—for the truth of our inner nature to come forward and be how we live?

Many of us sense that to gain access to our full potential, all of us must be included—our animal instincts, our bodies, and our spiritual nature.

To cultivate this capacity to live an undivided life, we must deal with the instincts that compel the animal nature of our body. Learning to directly sense and work with the way our instincts manifest in our bodies opens the door for our drives for connection, pleasure, and survival to support our realization.

Join Diamond Approach teachers Linda Krier and Jessica Britt for the opportunity to explore how each of the primal instincts—social, sexual, and survival—live in your body now and can be portals to fulfilling your potential. Together, we will listen to the stories of our bodies, discover the true nature of our instincts, and learn to embody the rich inner resources that lie dormant within us so we can touch the world from the wisdom of our full-bodied, spiritual nature.

This groundbreaking program will help you...

Partner with your body to liberate the wise, loving power of your most primal energies to fuel your spiritual journey
Unravel the discord that obscures your ability to live each moment as an embodiment of your divine essence
Learn how to recognize and work with the instincts in your body to harmonize your animal and spiritual nature
Unwrap the history of your instincts in your somatic experience in a safe, nurturing environment
Experience the body’s potential to fulfill our lives as individual souls and serve as conduit for presence in the world

“Without working with the body, spiritual states tend to appear ephemeral as light, transparent, empty, clear, or even sweet, flowing, and blissful.

Integrated into the body, this clarity and bliss become more substantial, palpably full, dynamically sensual, more richly textured, with a sense of sturdy groundedness
and powerful rootedness.”

- Linda Krier and Jessica Britt, Diamond Approach teachers

Here’s What You’ll Explore in the Course

The Social Instinct

October 12-13, 2024

Throughout our lives, our bodies are shaped by our social relationships. Not only are we biologically driven to connect, form, and sustain relationships, but these relationships in turn shape our nervous systems and behaviors. The social instinct in the body shows us our ingrained understanding of relationships, how we move towards and away from others, ourselves, and the divine. In this session, we will invite our bodies to show us how this instinct patterns our life as a social animal—and to reveal the new, liberated forms of connection beyond our conditioning.

The Sexual Instinct

November 2-3, 2024

Whether due to cultural or religious forces, life experiences, or the adolescent challenge of developing into a sexual being, sexual energy in the body is a mysterious and complex arena for many of us. Most of us have not experienced attuned guidance to support the natural opening of the sexual instinct in the body—let alone the full embodiment and authentic expression of our erotic nature. This weekend’s respectful, curious exploration will help us become aware of the patterning, discomforts, shyness, and tensions in the body that limit our intimacy with this soft, wild, and dynamic energy.

The Survival Instinct

December 7-8, 2024

In many modern cultures, distorted, painful expressions of the survival instinct are running our lives and taxing our bodies. This can look like runaway ambition, greed, aggression or, conversely, shut down, withdrawal from life, or denial of practical reality. Unfortunately, these orientations do not bring satisfaction and reveal a fundamental misunderstanding of the sacred potential of this ancient drive. This weekend, we will explore this instinct in our bodies, making room for the ways we don’t trust life and allowing us to engage the benevolent force that propels our survival and, when freed, can be the very power and juice that moves us towards enlightenment.

What You’ll Receive When You Enroll...

Guided practices, teachings, experiential exercises, and the opportunity for questions and comments with the course teachers and a group of fellow spiritual explorers.

An invitation to all three live, online weekends led by Diamond Approach teachers Linda Krier with Jessica Britt. Weekends happen October 12-13, November 2-3, and December 7-8 from 9:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. Pacific.

Recordings of each weekend so you can review the material if you are unable to attend live.

Meet Your Teachers

Jessica Britt

Jessica Britt has been a student of Hameed Ali’s since 1977 and a Diamond Approach teacher since 1985. She is a training director, leading on-going groups in Europe, Canada, and the US. In the ’80s she was on the Gestalt staff of Esalen Institute creating an integration of Reichian and Gestalt work. While at Esalen, she was a student within the Native American Traditions, leading wilderness journeys. In addition, she studied Continuum Movement with Emilie Conrad. A nurse in the ’70s, she specialized in the field of childhood sexual & physical abuse. Jessica continues to practice from a view that includes the whole of the miracle of conscious life.

Linda Krier

Linda Krier has followed her passion for understanding the body as a form of spiritual consciousness as a teacher of the Diamond Approach since 1983, and as an Aston-Patterning bodywork practitioner since 1976.  She created the Diamond Body Practice, a movement practice that arises from the logos of the Diamond Approach and supports students in engaging the sacred wisdom of their body. As a Diamond Approach teacher Linda works with individuals and groups in the US and internationally, and is on the training staff of the Ridhwan Foundation.   She is a former faculty member of the Aston Training Center and adjunct faculty of Somatic Psychology at Naropa University.

FAQ

What is the Ridhwan School?

“Ridhwan” is a Sufi word. It means “satisfied and satisfying.” Our school, home to more than 4,000 students across the globe, has the potential to both help you to be fulfilled and to help others be fulfilled. Students learn to ground, sensitize, recognize, and trust the inherent guidance of Being.

What is the Diamond Approach?

The Diamond Approach is the core teaching of the Ridhwan School, a spiritual path that approaches our ordinary experiences, emotions, and sensations in a friendly way of understanding. This radical acceptance of our situation allows something to come through that puts us in touch with our spirituality.

In the Diamond Approach, everything we experience is utilized as a doorway to our spiritual nature. Rather than negating or seeking to transcend parts of our humanness that are considered barriers to realization, we learn to approach each aspect of our physical, emotional, and mental experience with acceptance and open curiosity to discover its truth. We do meditation and other exercises, but the main method is Diamond Inquiry™: non-judgment of what we’re experiencing, which brings crisp clarity into one’s own truth.

What’s included in the program?

When you register for the program, you’ll receive admission to all three live, weekend events in the course that happen October 12-13, November 2-3, and December 7-8 from 9:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. Pacific. You’ll participate in teachings, guided practices, experiential exercises, and have the opportunity to interact with the teachers and learn from other participants during the questions and comments time.

How late can I sign up for the course?

Registration will remain open until the second course weekend that happens November 2-3, 2024.

Are the sessions live or pre-recorded? What happens if I miss one?

This is a series of three live, online workshops and you are welcome to attend as many as you like. You will receive access to recordings of each workshop if you are unable to attend live.

I am a Diamond Approach student and these course dates conflict with my group teaching dates. What do I do?

With a global student body and teachings taking place all over the world, it is, unfortunately, not possible to work around all of the potential date conflicts. If this topic is of interest to you, you are welcome to enroll and you will receive recordings of each teaching in case you need to miss one.

Will you be mailing anything to me or is everything digital?

Once payment is received you will receive an email with your login details, then you are officially in! You will receive everything in your email inbox, including instructions on how to access the course.

Do you offer financial assistance such as scholarships for online courses?

Yes! To apply for financial assistance for any of our courses, click here to complete a scholarship application. Scholarship applications for this series need to be received by Monday, October 7, 2024, and scholarship awards will be sent via email by Friday, October 11, 2024.

What if I have questions?

We’re here to support you on your journey and help with any questions you may have about enrolling and accessing the course. For support please email daosupport@ridhwan.org. Be sure to add this address to your contact list so we don’t end up in your Junk/Spam/Promotions folder. But please check there just in case!

Is there a refund policy?

Yes. If you are dissatisfied with the course—for any reason—simply contact us for a refund within 30 days of purchase.

Are You Ready to Explore Embodying the Divine Animal?

Choose a Payment Option That is Right for You

Standard Tuition

Standard tuition is $270.

Reduced Tuition

In order to make online spiritual support more accessible to our global community, we also offer a reduced tuition option of $180 for anyone who needs it.

"Pay It Forward" Tuition

For those who are able to help, you can “Pay It Forward” by selecting the $360 tuition option and those additional funds go directly to provide scholarship opportunities for others.