Life in Balance: The Seven Keys
Join Nando Raynolds and Maria Connolly at this special program
combining the best of their personal growth workshops!

“Happiness is not a matter of intensity but of balance, order, rhythm and harmony."
  ~ Thomas Merton ~

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The program is based on the understanding that an effective life is created through the consistent application of specific skills applied in specific areas.  We have found that the suffering that most people experience in life is due to skill deficits.  By identifying and systematically strengthening your areas of deficit, your life will naturally improve.  This process is deeply empowering: you will gain an expanding understanding of how your thoughts, feelings and behaviors are impacting your own experience of life.  This gives you greater and greater choice.

This comprehensive program provides the building blocks to cultivate balance and satisfaction in everyday life. It draws on solid research and specific knowledge of human behavior, and the impact of mindfulness and consistent practice on neuro-physiological well-being.  This is a powerfully inspiring, yet practical training program. In the company of others, you will develop core competencies, and quickly become skillful with advanced strategies to take personal excellence to a new level!  Programs are largely experiential, giving you plenty of time to practice and apply new skills.


Cultivate SKILL POWER not WILL POWER to achieve greater balance!
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Our programs are offered as weekend workshops throughout the year in Ashland, Oregon.  We recommend that participants attend the entire program and you are welcome to start at any time. 

The 7 Key areas:

1) Cultivating balanced self-care
2) Cultivating self-understanding and mindfulness
3) Cultivating freedom from your past
4) Cultivating self-empathy
5) Cultivating nourishing relationships with others
6) Cultivating an inspiring personal vision and concrete goals
7) Cultivating a meaningful spiritual life

_April  21 & 22 – Overview of the 7 Keys

May 12 & 13 – Cultivating Self-understanding and Mindfulness and

June 2 & 3 - Cultivating freedom from your past

Sept  8 & 9– Cultivating self-empathy

Oct 6 & 7 – Overview of the 7 Keys

Nov  3 - Cultivating a meaningful spiritual life
Testimonial:
"Maria and Nando conveyed an accessible warmth that eased me into being curious about my inner critic and to truly befriend every part of myself making it possible to transform my inner voices from pain and loss into voices of strength and encouragement. I use the skills that I learned from their group on a daily basis." ~ Ashland

A little more on the 7 Key areas:

1) Cultivating balanced self-care
In order to function at peak performance, you naturally need to follow a self-care program that attends to diet, exercise, sleep, social contact, stress management, avoiding addictive behavior and taking any necessary medications.  Identifying your body's needs in these areas and building habits to support yourself is a significant work in progress.

2) Cultivating self-understanding and mindfulness
Humans are complex organisms and, from a scientific perspective, we are still learning the basics of brain function.  It is very helpful to have a basic understanding of what to expect from your human organism!  It is essential, also, to be able to pay attention without judgment to your present tense experience (mindfulness).

3) Cultivating freedom from your past
We have all learned from our experiences what to expect from ourselves, others and life.  Some of what you have learned continues to be helpful, while some of it is an ongoing source of pain.  Choosing what to retain and where to retrain is essential for staying current in your life.

4) Cultivating self-empathy
Most people have never learned to treat themselves with the kindness and patience they have learned to bring to others.  The skill of self-empathy is deeply related to issues of self-motivation.

5) Cultivating nourishing relationships with others
There are concrete skills for creating more nourishing relationships, being able to explore difficult topics with others and to resolve conflict.  Gaining these skills leads to emotionally cleaner and more effective relationships of all kinds.

6) Cultivating an inspiring personal vision and concrete goals
If you do not know where you want to go, you are unlikely to get there.  An effective life includes an inspiring vision and detailed plans for how to manifest that vision.

7) Cultivating a meaningful spiritual life
A meaningful life is lived in relationship to something larger than yourself.  You have your own personal experience of spirituality and it is deeply nourishing to give that appropriate time and attention.