Empowered Elder Workshop

EAN’s Foundation Workshop

Tuesdays: April 5 – May 17, 2022
9:30 – 11:45 am PT / 12:30 – 2:45 pm ET

A Seven Week Journey of Exploration and Connection

Together we will grow a community of interconnected Elders during our seven interactive online sessions. The Empowered Elder Workshop provides a safe space for Elders to explore and share deeply what is on their hearts about the world, the future and their roles as elders. We investigate what it means to be an elder, why the world today especially calls us to step up as elders to address the social and environmental challenges humanity faces.

The Empowered Elder Workshop provides:

• a deeply connected learning community of awesome Elders;
• seven weekly live interactive webinars;
• resources, readings, videos, poetry and books to educate and inspire;
• guidance to discover our roles as elders and how we can take action for positive change on personal, community and global levels;
• experiences that allow us to move from our individual self to a sense of self that is one with the whole living Earth;
• a deeper understanding of the core environmental, social/economic, political and spiritual crises facing our world today;
• practice in the use of the transformational tools of mindfulness, deep listening, journaling, nature connection and dialogue.

Overview of the Workshop

Session 1 – Being an Elder 

• Introduction to EAN and to the values, roles, and tasks of elderhood
• What it means to be an Elder today. What roles are calling you?

Session 2 – Growing in Consciousness

• Introduction to the science of mindfulness and the Story of Oneness
• How growing in mindfulness/consciousness/awareness supports our understanding of ourselves as part of the larger living system of Earth

Session 3 – State of the World

• Introduction and exploration of environmental, socio-economic, and spiritual crises and divides in our world today
• How squarely facing our grief at the state of the world empowers us to act on behalf of Earth

Session 4 – The Great Turning: The Sustainability Revolution

• Introduction to the Ecological/ Social Revolutions of our time and some of the new sustainable models of environmental, social and economic systems
• How shifting from “there’s little-or-nothing I can do” to understanding what I CAN do and changing my behavior is part of the solution

Session 5 – Sacred Activism

• Exploring and connecting to what is “sacred” and important to you, as well as how to take action from love not hate, from unity not division
• Finding your calling – what is being asked of you now as an Elder?

Session 6 – Taking Action Together for the Earth

• Sharing our visions for engagement; Forming Elder Circles, Climate Action Chapters, self care, spiritual practice or other community groups;
• Shifting from “not knowing what I can do” to commitment with others to take action on behalf of Life

Session 7 – Closing Circles and Celebration of our Journey Together

• Hearing from the Elder Circles, Action Groups, and individual projects that have formed about their plans and next steps
• Celebrating our time together and reflecting on what we have learned

Foundational Resource Books 

The following books have provided key source material for this workshop. We highly recommend them but they are not required reading.

• From Age-ing to Sage-ing (2nd ed.) — Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi
• The Great Work — Thomas Berry
• Active Hope – How to Face the Mess we are in without Going Crazy — Joanna Macy and Chris Johnstone
• The Hope: A Guide to Sacred Activism — Andrew Harvey
• The Sage’s Tao Te Ching: Ancient Advice for a Modern Revolution — William Martin

Workshop Dates

Facilitated by Constance Washburn, Anne Adams, and Wende Love

Constance Washburn, M.A., activist, educator, director and facilitator, is a founding member of the Elders Action Network. She co-created and leads EAN’s foundation course, The Empowered Elder Workshop, using her background in education, theatre, ecology, mindfulness and the Work That Reconnects (WTR). She is a founding member of Work That Reconnects Network, an international community of facilitators as well as co-director of the Spiral Journey, a facilitator development program in WTR. Previous careers have included theatre teacher and director, environmental and local food systems educator, senior services coordinator, community organizer as well as community Dharma Leader. www.constancewashburn.com

Wende Love completed the Empowered Elder Workshop workshop last year. She found the program to be very informative and led her to pursue other programs with Elders Action Network. She attended the Listening Circles and completed the training and now co-facilitates the Listening Circles. She has also become a member of the Book Study Group, which led her to initiate with another member, a gathering members interested in taking a deeper dive into books that were being reviewed. She has also attended many other types of circle gatherings; some of which are called Wisdom Circles, Councils, Table Top discussions, Spiritual Circles. Wende has been on a spiritual journey for over 30 years; more intensely, since retiring. She has completed her Soul Purpose Guide Training with Purpose Guides Institute and feels very grateful to bring clients through this program to discover their Soul Purpose.

Wende believes strongly in community and feels that the Elders Action Network is just that. It is a place where Elders who are yearning to find their community or tribe of like-minded people can gather. They can learn through the many programs offered, such as the Empowered Elder Workshop, what it means to become an Elder and how to become a Sacred Activist willing to shape the change our world is calling for from a place of shared wisdom.