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The Wonder Years
Timeless Guidelines for Conscious Aging
A Six-Week Writing to Awaken Class
Sorry, This Class Is Closed

“The greatest potential for growth and self-realisation exists in the second half of life.”

~ Carl Jung
The purpose of aging is to gain wisdom. This ancient truth is largely overlooked in our youth-obsessed culture, yet life after 50 is intended to be our ripening season, the time for insight and increasing self-knowledge, healing old stories and wounds, and cultivating unconditional gratitude for our existence.
In this new online course, we’ll explore six essential steps on the road to conscious aging. Each week, Mark sends you a lesson on the topic along with several writing prompts to choose from. He will respond personally to your weekly submissions and offer insights into your writing, as well as offering a tailored prompt for your continuing practice. There will also be three live Zoom sessions to discuss the lessons, share questions, and talk about the Writing to Awaken practice.
No longer focused on what you’re missing, or what is lost, you recognize the gifts that aging offers — freedom from attachment to outer success, benefits of a seasoned perspective, increased generosity and gratitude, spiritual insight, and a more discerning attitude toward time. “It is not that we have a short time to live,” warned Seneca, “but that we waste a lot of it.” Philosophers have insisted for millennia that aging well is a path to happiness, provided we focus on what truly matters. This class will help you learn to optimize this rich time of life by opening your ‘wisdom eye’ to fresh, unexpected possibilities.

“As a scientist and clinician, I find Mark Matousek’s reflections and life-changing insights in this marvelous book to be filled with timeless wisdom and practical advice. Empowering you to integrate new understandings of the past into a liberating awareness of the present, the suggestions in this helpful volume enable you to free yourself to live the life you deserve. Let Mark be your guide in this transformative book as you journey to the depths of your mind to nurture a new way of being with yourself and with others.”

~ Daniel Siegel, M.D., Bestselling author and Executive Director of the Mindsight Institute
No longer focused on what you’re missing, or what is lost, you recognize the gifts that aging offers — freedom from attachment to outer success, benefits of a seasoned perspective, increased generosity and gratitude, spiritual insight, and a more discerning attitude toward time. “It is not that we have a short time to live,” warned Seneca, “but that we waste a lot of it.” Philosophers have insisted for millennia that aging well is a path to happiness, provided we focus on what truly matters. This course will help you learn to optimize this rich time of life by opening your ‘wisdom eye’ to fresh, unexpected possibilities.
In The Wonder Years you will learn:
~ Reorient your values and expectations to suit this new stage of life
~ Release outdated narratives that keep you stuck in the past
~ Heal wounds, regrets, and grievances that prevent you from thriving
~ Accept your aging body and mind with grace and humor
~ Tolerate uncertainty, loss, and change, and practice ‘negative capability’
~ Remember the sacred dimension of life, what it means to be a wise elder
~ Focus on awakening and purpose in your wonder years

“The online class and live retreat I took with Mark are two of the most profound experiences I ever had. Mark’s strong leadership and sensitivity provide a safe environment for one to write and share life stories. Writing exercises, along with intuitive questions and personal feedback, have revealed my inner sense of wholeness. I am deeply grateful for this gift.”

~ Emma, Canada
This interactive online format provides an excellent opportunity for self-inquiry, and honing your life-writing skills, in a safe, supportive atmosphere of investigation and learning. Known for his insightful questions, Mark brings decades of experience to the topic of conscious aging, as the co-editor of Still Here: Embracing Aging, Changing, and Dying (with Ram Dass) and the author of When You’re Falling, Dive: Lessons in the Art of Living.
Who will benefit from this course:
~ Individuals struggling with the fear of getting older
~ Seekers interested in questioning the nature of their changing identity
~ People confronting physical or psychological illness
~ Writers exploring topics of vulnerability and loss
~ Memoirists seeking insight into the story of their aging

LESSON OVERVIEW

 

WEEK ONE: Letting Go of What You Can’t Control
In this first lesson, we focus on Stoic teachings concerning the wise use of energy, and respecting the Dichotomy of Control: understanding the limits of our power, and utilizing the influence we do have.
WEEK TWO: Making Peace with Your Aging Body
Attempts to reverse the aging process are ultimately futile, of course, no matter how carefully we tend the body. In this lesson, we investigate resistance, judgment, and shame regarding the aging body, and how to overcome these obstacles.
WEEK THREE: Limitations of the Aging Mind
In this lesson, we explore the attachment to mental acuity that often causes anxiety as the brain ages. Forgetfulness is a natural part of getting older (it may even have evolutionary advantages); memory becomes ever more selective, which need not be a problem.
WEEK FOUR: Uncertainty, Loss, and Wonder
Aging is an opportunity to practice Negative Capability, as John Keats called it, learning to live with mystery and not-knowing. In this lesson, we look at Buddhist and Christian teachings on impermanence, and the gifts of leaning into “the problem of change.”
WEEK FIVE: Embracing the Life You Have
The Stoic practice of blessing your life as it is, known as Amor Fati, is the subject of this penultimate lesson. When you’re able to accept the conditions of your existence, with all of its imperfections, and drop the need to fix, improve, or deny the facts of your life, you learn a new kind of happiness.
WEEK SIX: Wisdom Alone Remains
In this final lesson, we turn to wisdom as the highest value of life as we age. When all else falls away, Mark explains, “wisdom alone remains.” Such wisdom arises from true self-knowledge and opening to a spiritual perspective that is larger (and more powerful) than ourselves. This changes the wonder years into a time of awakening, discovery, and creative living.

HOW THE ONLINE CLASS WORKS

In the week prior to the start of the class, you will receive an invitation to join the Google Group for this online class where Mark’s weekly lessons, students’ written responses, and Mark’s weekly feedback will be posted. Using Google Groups allows the class to read, comment and support each other’s work in a positive and nurturing environment.
Each Monday, for the duration of the class, a new lesson will be posted to the Google Group. Students post their work to the Group by the following Saturday evening. Assignments should be no more than 1,000 words.
On Sunday and Monday, Mark responds to each submission in writing. His comments are focused on insight, authenticity of voice, and emotional honesty not writing technique, prose style, or grammar. His responses offer additional prompts for deeper exploration of the subject. Students who wish not to share with the group can send their work privately to Mark.
Three group Zoom sessions will be held to provide an opportunity for students to ask questions and talk together about their work. These sessions will be recorded and sent to the class the following day for those unable to attend.
Zoom Session 1: Monday, September 15 at 6:00 p.m. Eastern
Zoom Session 2: Monday, September 29 at 6:00 p.m. Eastern
Zoom Session 2: Monday, October 13 at 6:00 p.m. Eastern
 

When increasing wisdom becomes your north star, your relationship to getting older is radically changed.

Mark’s teaching is informed by his study and deep love of Stoic and Buddhist philosophies, sharing in their strong belief that a good life requires that we accept loss, impermanence, uncertainty, and not-knowing as the foundation stones for insight and wisdom. If the purpose of aging is to gain wisdom, then exploring these timeless themes in writing is a step in the right direction.

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Sorry, this class is closed.

TESTIMONIALS

“Mark is one of the most skilled, experienced, and knowledgeable teachers I’ve ever known. He creates a thoroughly safe environment and is one hundred percent  present with every participant. I left this workshop feeling transformed. Remarkable!”
~ David USA
“I cannot commend Mark Matousek enough to anyone who is serious about their healing and transformation. He is profoundly wise and insightful and you feel at once confident that you have finally found a path that will lead you home to the fullness of who you really are.”
~ Sheryl, New Zealand
“Simply put –- if you’re looking to make a change, reach beyond your comfort zone and see the world and your life through fresh eyes – take a seminar with Mark Matousek who is a truly great teacher as well as a great writer.”
~ Mary Jo, USA
“Brace yourself if you work with Mark! You might have to leave your comfort zone and learn more about yourself than you had expected. The assignments are like roadmaps leading you to where you need to go. And then, when you have worked through them and you think you have come up with all the wisdom you were able to find deep within yourself, Mark will come up with more questions for you in his response and you will get to dig even deeper. I think this is the greatest gift Mark offers. He LISTENS. I mean, he really listens. And he gets is. He knows just when and how to ask the questions that will crack you open!”
~ Saskia, Germany

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