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CONTENTS
1. Updates: Holistic Healing
Certification Course
2. Uniting Spirituality and Education
3. Events and Resources
By Phillip and Jane
Mountrose, authors, teachers, counselors and
Ministers
of Holistic Healing
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1. UPDATES
Holistic Healing
Certification Course starts in San Luis
Obispo/Santa Maria/Nipomo
area, CA in
October. One-of-a-kind 160-210 hour holistic healing program
Includes in-depth study
of holistic hypnotherapy, NLP,
EFT and Spiritual Kinesiology and more.
Course offered
once a year and seating is limited. For more information,
visit click here or call 805-929-1584
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2.
UNITING SPIRITUALITY AND EDUCATION
How does
education relate to spiritual growth? How can we combine
life lessons enriched by the soul with learning through an
educational system?
Each
of us is in possession of higher wisdom, which we associate with the
soul or true self. When we are connected with the soul, a deep
understanding of life’s universal truths emerges. This often
brings instant resolution to challenges we face in our daily lives
and a higher level of awareness. The soul’s presence creates
balance and resourcefulness, so we can be more objective, learn
more easily, and make better decisions.
From the soul’s
perspective, learning is an interactive experience. Soul-based
understanding merges all of
the things we have learned in school, in business, in the home,
and everywhere we have been with a higher awareness of our purpose
and mission in life. Learning is personalized. It helps us to
understand ourselves more as we integrate new ideas and skills.
TRADITIONAL
EDUCATION
Our educational
system operates quite differently. It tends to impose what to
learn on the student. Rather than being interactive, such
education is a largely passive experience, taking in information
presented by knowledgeable instructors and completing required
reading.
An educational program is composed of a collection of
classes, many of which may be of little or no interest to the
student, or it provides knowledge that will be of value to the
student in the future. This set approach works well for learning
logical concepts like reading and arithmetic, but it is severely
lacking in many others. It lacks the flexibility to reach a deeper
level of the self that yearns to learn and evolve in its own
unique way.
The traditional
approach generally doesn't provide the education required to realize the
soul’s deeper purpose. It lacks recognition that many of our
most valuable learning experiences occur outside of traditional
classrooms.
As an example,
society values the education of a person who has book learning
about the psychology of dying above one who has devoted ten or
fifteen years to hospice care in situations with real life and
death challenges, who has integrated the knowledge in ten books she
read on the subject along the way.
TEACHING WITH SPIRIT
We met in 1976
and in 1981 married with a common interest in spirituality and
holistic healing. After exploring the subject for many years, we
began to teach classes in the early 1990’s. The subjects of our
teachings are not generally available in traditional educational
settings. And though Phillip was a special education teacher by profession, we had
to learn new ways of teaching to meet the needs of our students
and to align our teachings with the spiritual truths we were
teaching. We were being drawn to participate in the creation of a
new educational form.
The most
fundamental part of our teachings is learning to access the soul
as one’s source of light and truth. The soul, then,
provides the wisdom needed to heal the parts of oneself that have
become disconnected from its truth, and to realize the one’s
true divine purpose. Emphasis is placed on merging the lofty
realms of spirit with the earthly realms of daily life. With this
merging
in mind, the soul has a place in all of the activities, including
learning.
LEARNING IN A
UNIVERSITY WITHOUT WALLS
In 1996, we had
the good fortune to come into contact with the Association for the
Integration of the Whole Person (AIWP), a nonprofit religious
organization that is devoted to the integrated development of the
body, emotions, mind, and spirit. AIWP also has an educational arm
called UIL, the University for Integrated Learning, which offers
non-traditional bachelor’s, master’s and doctorate degrees
based on recognizing the most valued learning experiences an
individual has had throughout life.
Coming into contact with UIL
helped us to put more pieces of the puzzle of merging education
and spirituality. UIL recognizes all learning as a spiritual
experience. UIL is a university without walls: it allows the
learner to take courses from any location, uses a wide variety
of resources for education, and flexibly integrates life
learning the student feels applies to his or her degree.
Whatever the subject of learning,
the student finds the program as an opportunity to reach deeper, to learn more about ourselves
and even the nature of our reality. UIL recognizes that each
person learns differently. Through individualized programs, this
kind of university
brings out the best in each individual.
UIL also recognizes
learning as a process, so its programs are process oriented,
rather than a collection of classes. The learners then come to a deeper understanding of
themselves as an integral aspect of their programs.
EVOLUTION OF OUR EDUCATIONAL
APPROACH
Since we first
started teaching classes in the early nineties, we have developed
comprehensive Holistic Healing, Spiritual Counseling, and Reiki
Certification Programs providing nearly 400 hours of learning. We
have written manuals and books describing the subjects of our
teachings, and learned interactive methods of teaching that
maximize the potential of our students. Now we are introducing
university degree programs based on UIL’s approach.
In the process,
we have learned some important things about educating, some of
which we have detailed in our book The Heart and Soul
of Teaching. As we continue to explore how to unite
education and spirituality, we have come to recognize the
following:
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Each person’s perspective is honored. We are
all teachers and we are all students. Teachers cannot and do
not need to know everything about everything. They need to
recognize that they are learning along with their students.
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Rather than teaching students to be submissive
recipients of the teacher’s wisdom, empowering the learners
is an important part of the teacher’s role. This way each
person learns to value his or her contribution and individual
perspective.
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Synchronously, all of our life experiences have
contributed to creating the unique people we are today. We
draw on these experiences in unexpected ways as we realize our
true purposes. Teachers have an opportunity to help learners
to integrate the deeper meaning behind the events of our
lives.
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· It is the connection with the soul that allows
us to grasp the larger picture of why we are here and how we
can best use the unique gifts we have come to share in this
life. Teachers can help students learn with the assistance of
the soul's vast perspective.
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Only the student can determine what educational
experience has value to him or her. Setting aside all personal
agendas, the teacher can encourage each student to discover
the path to self-discovery and the creation of a positive,
fulfilling future.
AWAKENINGS
INSTITUTE DEGREE PROGRAMS
All of the
above understanding has led us to offer degree program. Awakenings
Institute now offers divinity degrees at the Bachelor, Masters and
Doctorate levels.
Our degree
programs can be taken from wherever you are located. You can
specialize in holistic healing, energy healing, spiritual
counseling or other holistic/spiritual modalities. For more
information click here.
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