4-week live online course
with Ann Weiser Cornell & Peter Gill to explore some of the biggest questions of all with Focusing
Life, Death,
and The Mystery
Dwelling at the edge of the rich unknown
Dwelling at the edge of the rich unknown
Life, Death,
and The Mystery
4-week live online course with Ann Weiser Cornell & Peter Gill
Explore some of the biggest questions of all with Focusing
“Awaken to the mystery of being here and enter the quiet immensity of your own presence.”
― John O’Donahue
Have you ever paused to contemplate the mystery of being alive?
What is the quality that enlivens us whether we are young or old, whether we are sick or well? This quality we share with trees, birds, animals, insects…the whole living world?
Perhaps we can’t define what it is to be alive – but we can feel it.
We can feel aliveness as a process that we are “living forward” at every moment. We can experience how life itself knows its way forward.
“The force that through the green fuse drives the flower drives my green age…” ― Dylan Thomas
What is this life force that knows its way forward even in times of discord and confusion? How does our sense of being alive connect us to what’s larger than ourselves?
It’s tempting to avoid questions which have no easy answers, but there is also something fulfilling in facing those questions, especially with others on a similar journey.
“Death is not the opposite of life but a part of it.”
― Haruku Murakami
What about death? Many of us don’t talk or think about death unless we have to.
If you’ve ever felt hesitant to touch the whole topic of death, you are not alone. We’ve always known that people die, and that someday we will too. But many of us tend to push away thoughts about death as “too depressing” or “pointless.”
Yet perhaps… as is often true with parts of ourselves that we push away… there is actually something rich, precious, and valuable to be discovered in the whole question of life and death.
It is said that exploring the question of death enables us to experience life more fully. What can contemplating death show us about being alive?
Dwelling at the edge of mystery and the unknown
Doing Focusing leads to an understanding that there is richness when we come to the edge of what is known, and feel into the unknown. We know there are no simple answers, and perhaps no answers at all – but there is value, depth, perhaps even peace.
“The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious.”
― Einstein
In Life, Death & The Mystery we will:
This course is right for you if:
What You’ll Get:
About Your Teachers
Ann Weiser Cornell is the co-developer (with Barbara McGavin) of Inner Relationship Focusing. Ann learned Focusing in 1972 from its developer, Eugene Gendlin, and was his close friend and colleague to the end of his life.
Ann has written several definitive books on
Focusing, including The Power of Focusing: A Practical Guide to Emotional Self-Healing, and Focusing in Clinical Practice: The Essence of Change
She has taught Inner Relationship Focusing around the world since 1980, and is a past president of the Association for Humanistic Psychology.
Peter Gill is one of the UK’s foremost Focusing Teachers, and has been teaching Focusing for over 20 years. Prior to this, he spent a decade practising and teaching meditation. Also trained in trauma healing, grief work and nature connection. Peter brings an embodied, accessible and honest approach to his writings and teaching.
Peter is qualified with the International Focusing Institute and the British Focusing Association. His first Book “The Way of Curiosity” was published in May 2024. He lives in South West England with his family and dog, and loves being in the woods and wild landscapes.
“When death comes…. I want to step through the door full of curiosity.”
― Mary Oliver
Join us and explore the mystery of being here…
Enroll for Your Course Here
Life, Death & The Mystery
January 14 to February 11, 2026 (skip Jan 28)
4 Wednesdays; 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM Pacific
Taught by Ann Weiser Cornell and Peter Gill. Live Online Course
Last Day to Register: January 14
Can’t make this time? You can register and participate by listening to recordings of the course each week at a time that works with your schedule. But you won’t be eligible for CE Credits.
Additional Information
How Online Courses Work
We use Zoom, an online video conference platform, to connect you to other students and the teacher. Before the class starts you will receive a Zoom link to use each time the class meets. You can join us via your camera-equipped computer, tablet, or smart phone. Prefer not to be on video? You can turn off your camera. Don’t want to call via computer? You can call in by phone. Zoom is free and easy to use. You will be able to sign on in advance to make sure you can access it, but we’ve had very few problems with it. Students also receive access to a private webpage where course materials can be found.
Prerequisite
There is no prerequisite for participation in this group. All students are welcome.
Continuing Education Credit& Record of Completion
Course meets the qualifications for 8 hours of continuing education credit for LMFTs, LCSWs, LPCCs, and/or LEPs as required by the California Board of Behavioral Sciences. Focusing Resources, CAMFT Approved CE Provider #62524.
Focusing Resources is approved by the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists to sponsor continuing education for LMFTs, LCSWs, LPCCs, and/or LEPs. Focusing Resources maintains responsibility for this course and its content.
There is a $25 administrative fee for CE Credits. Records of Completion are awarded at the end of the course upon completion of all requirements and the course evaluation. (If you don’t want CE Credits but would like a Record of Completion, the $25 fee does still apply.)
Eligibility for CE Credits requires at least 80% live attendance. Missed classes must be made up.
Program Cancellation Policy
Up to 14 days before the first day of class: Just let us know and we’ll refund your course fee. Or you can choose to apply the entire course fee towards a future class with us.
Cancellations received 13 days or fewer before class begins: No refund, sorry.
When Something Doesn’t Go As You’d Hoped…
We are always open to discussing experiences with our courses that didn’t work for you or didn’t go the way you expected. Depending on the circumstances, you may want to email your course instructor, the staff member in charge of your course, or Ann Weiser Cornell. Email addresses for all these people will be supplied on registration. We will work with you to find a way to meet your needs.
