THE LENS OF LOVE COMMUNITY
Would you like to view yourself with more compassion?
Do you think that sounds like a good idea?!
If so, I am creating The Lens of Love Community – an online membership with weekly meetings – to support you.
WATCH VIDEO ABOUT THE COMMUNITY
CLICK HERE ➡️ Watch this in-depth video about The Lens of Love Community
My intention is that this Community will be one in which there will be less 'teaching' and hierarchy than is often the case with this kind of thing. Although I will stand ready to share my experience of what's helped me heal in my own life, it's really important to me that this will be a Community of equals where there will be plenty of room for each of us to find our own way.
I've been on the receiving end of unsolicited advice in so many groups, and I've always felt shut down. I want my Community to be different. So, although I will be offering coaching during coaching hours, there will also be meetings which will be unequivocally coaching-free zones! (See below for details about the three types of meeting I plan to offer.) In summary, you can ask for coaching, but I'm going to do my best to avoid shoving it down your throat! 😆
And I'd like to create a culture where the default is to respect other people's journeys without acting on a compulsion to try to 'fix' or advise, or 'make someone see' something. Instead, I want the Community to be one in which each one of us keeps the focus on our own learning and trusts that that is what will benefit other people the most anyway.
It's that kind of spacious, respectful environment that has been most conducive to my own healing, so that's why I want to offer it to other people now.
WHO IS THE COMMUNITY FOR?
This Community is for anyone who wants to see themselves with more love, and less judgement.
That includes people who struggle with a negative preoccupation with their appearance or who have a painful relationship with eating and/or exercise.
But it’s not just for people who suffer in those particular ways. It’s for everyone who could use some help in keeping love front and centre in their lives.
WHY THE FOCUS ON LOVE?
We all know that love that can be a hugely powerful and positive force for change…
💜 It can help us break unhealthy habits and form new, more helpful ones.
💜 It forms the basis of our most meaningful relationships.
💜 It gives us the energy to go after what we want in life.
💜 It can give us the courage to do things we’re afraid of, and learn and grow, as a result.
💜 It drives societal change – people set up charities, form political parties and start social movements to make the world a kinder, fairer place.
💜 And it can inspire us to create beautiful things in our own unique way in service to our fellow human beings.
In short, it’s what makes life worth living!
And yet, so often we get distracted by other priorities, and weighed down by myriad daily concerns, that we forget about love. Or it takes a backseat. And we fall back into the habit of being unkind to ourselves because it’s what we’re most used to.
Furthermore, there is a lot of hate, cruelty and violence in the world. The online sphere is full of trolls and harshness. Most societies still struggle with racism, homophobia, sexism, and other forms of prejudice and discrimination. It can be hard to feel hopeful against this backdrop of hostility and suffering. The world can sometimes be a devastating, terrifying and lonely place. That’s why we need to support one another.
WHAT WILL BE THE FOCUS/PURPOSE OF THE COMMUNITY?
The aim of The Lens of Love Community will be to create regular opportunities for you to come together with likeminded souls to explore what living more from love, and less from judgement, could look like in practice in your life.
Together we can explore questions, like…
❓How can we be the medicine we seek? First for ourselves, and then for one another.
❓How can we keep focussed on what’s most important in life?
❓How can we navigate life’s challenges without falling prey to overwhelm and hopelessness?
❓What attitudes, insights, practices and habits can support us to live productive, joyful lives?
❓And how can we remember to include ourselves when it comes to the love we bring to the world? Since so often this seems to be the hardest task of all.
Because we’ve all heard things like, “You need to love yourself more.”, but a lot of the time we just don’t know what that means in practice. So, it gets forgotten or dismissed as impractical.
Perhaps your critical inner voice focuses on the appearance of your body, and you feel inadequate, unattractive and undesirable because of your perceived 'flaws'.
If so, I can relate. I felt that way for much of my life too.
Or perhaps your critical voice focuses on other aspects of your life. Perhaps it criticises you for your apparent ‘deficiencies’ in other areas. Perhaps you don’t feel clever, capable, successful or likeable enough.
Or perhaps it’s a combination. We are often hard on ourselves in many different ways!
If so, please know that you are not alone.
We live in a culture where many of us feel inadequate. We tend to view our bodies through the filter of harsh judgements. And we often extend this critical attitude to all aspects of our lives.
We simply don’t feel deserving of love just as we are. We think we need to improve ourselves, often in many ways, before we become worthy of love.
Or we just don’t know how to be kind to ourselves because we’re in the habit of doing the opposite.
I think most of us have a lot to learn when it comes to how we see ourselves. We have become so habituated to viewing ourselves excessively harshly that we don’t even realise that’s what we’re doing. We don’t realise that we’re seeing ourselves through a filter at all. We just think we look ‘flawed’ or our personalities and achievements are ‘lacking’.
That’s why I’m creating The Lens of Love Community. Because I think most of us need help in learning to see ourselves with love. And we need the presence and care of other people on the same path.
We don’t heal alone.
When we’re feeling low and down about ourselves, it can be really hard to break the habit by ourselves. We need the energy and wisdom of other people. We need to pool our emotional and spiritual resources.
A COMMUNITY FOR HEARTFELT SHARING
I want The Lens of Love Community to be a place where we can come to look in the direction of love, and heal, together.
🤗 A place where you feel free to show up, even if you’re struggling. Where you don't have to 'look your best'. Or always be in a good mood. Where it's ok to feel angry, or cry.
🤗 A place where a sense of humour is welcome! Is there any other way to get through life?!
🤗 A place where you can be yourself and know that nothing else is required.
🤗 A place to explore new ideas, and different parts of yourself.
🤗 A place to find healthier perspectives.
🤗 A place for authentic sharing and meaningful connection.
🤗 A place to share some of both the ups and downs of this mysterious and rocky road of life.
A PRESENCE-BASED COMMUNITY
I want this Community to be one where presence and togetherness is at the heart of everything. That’s why it will consist predominantly of live meetings.
To start off, I would like to offer three kinds of meetings, as follows:
1) Whispers From The Heart: A coaching-free, advice-free, teaching-free zone(!) where you get to share, uninterrupted, about whatever you want without having to worry about getting unsolicited feedback/commentary.
⭐️ At these meetings we will divide the time equally between those present, and each person will be allocated a set amount of time to share. We will therefore take it in turns to speak and share from our hearts.
⭐️ The invitation will be to explore whatever feels helpful to you in the interests of your own freedom, growth and happiness.
⭐️ You can spend some, or all, of your allocated time in silence as well. And you’re welcome to sing, play music or read things you’ve written or have found helpful. It will be up to you. It will be your time to spend as you see fit.
⭐️ I hope you will come to look forward to these meetings and the space they offer to explore and share from the depths of your being, as well as having the opportunity to listen to others, and get to know them more intimately, in a way that we often don’t get the chance to in our everyday lives.
⭐️ These meetings will be a chance to slow down, explore more of who you are, and connect heart-to-heart with other souls.
⭐️ We will not comment on what one another share. It’s my experience that this approach helps people feel safe to share more vulnerably, knowing that other people won’t rush in to try to ‘fix’ them. It may take some getting used to, especially if you’re in the habit of taking on a helping role, but I believe it will be worth it! And there will be other meetings where you can seek advice if you wish or have fun chatting!
2) Coaching Hours: A space to seek support and feedback on struggles you’re facing. Here you can bring issues related to body image, eating and exercise, as well as any other challenges you’re dealing with.
It will also be a place to celebrate progress and share the insights you’re having.
3) Discussion Meetings
At these meetings we’ll discuss a variety of topics/resources related to healing, and living well.
I propose starting off with a book study of a text that’s supportive of healing.
I want these meetings to be lively, informal and fun!
There are so many wonderful books and resources out there. Let’s dive into the abundance together and see what jewels we can find!
Please note that you won’t need to purchase or read books in advance of meetings unless you want to. We can read and discuss extracts during the meeting, and you’ll be welcome to participate in the discussion regardless of whether you've bought a book or not.
Key points about meetings
- I plan to rotate these three types of meetings week to week.
- I want there to be a meeting every week that you could attend if you wish.
- I’m also keen to accommodate people in different time zones, so I will be happy to hold more than one meeting per week if needed.
- I'm sure things will evolve over time, and I'll be open to suggestions from members.
COST
There will be a monthly subscription charge of £30. You can leave anytime.
WHAT NEXT?
- If this sounds good to you and you’d be interested in joining me in The Lens of Love Community, please complete this short, straightforward «Availability Questionnaire» to let me know when you’d be free to attend meetings by Friday 21 February 2025.
- I will then announce the initial meeting schedule (based on responses to the Availability Questionnaire) and publish joining instructions on Monday 24 February.
- And I'll launch the Community with the first meeting week commencing Monday 3 March 2025! 🥳
PLEASE SHARE!
Please feel free to share this information with anyone who you think might be interested. 😊
ANY QUESTIONS?
And if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to email me at maria@mariamorgan.info and let me know. I’d love to hear from you!