1 - Lead a Small Practice Group through the Awakening Joy Material and Bring Out the Best in Them

One of the main principles of being a good leader is learning how to draw out the wisdom of the group participants. Some people are introverted, others are extroverted. Some have low self-esteem, others think they know it all. Through the practical experience of leading a small group through the 2025 Awakening Joy course material , we’ll explore how to instill confidence, humility and create a connected feeling of group support.

2 - Principles of Presenting Material Effectively

We’ll explore pedagogical elements regarding skillful presentation of the 10 Steps to Awaken Joy, including:

• Creating a safe, supportive space that allows participants to get in touch with their own wisdom
• How to lead guided meditations
• Setting up engaging experiential exercises for each step and harvesting the information
• Salient information: The basic principles within each step / theme of the Awakening Joy course and the most important points to communicate.

 3 - Teaching Role – Issues of Identification and Projection

There are common challenges when in a leadership role. We’ll explore these common experiences and how to work skillfully with them as our own practice.

• Identification with the teacher role:
  Can be negative - “Who am I to be sharing this stuff? Am I good enough? Will they like me? What if they find out I’m not an expert?”
  Can be positive - “Wow, look at me, leading this group! I’m pretty good at this! They must really think I’m an expert! It feels really great to have everyone looking up to me!”
  
  
• Projection from others can be challenging too:
  Negative - “Who do you think you are?” Feelings of jealousy, resentment or subtle/overt undermining can occur.
  Positive - “I think I’ve found my teacher! Wow, you’re amazing!”

 4 - Mentorship by James

Trainees will participate in regular 90-minute video calls conducted throughout the course every other week. You will meet with James and other trainees discussing the art of teaching and presenting the material, discussing the process of leading a group and presenting the course material and questions as they come up.

Regular video calls with accepted trainees will take place from 13:00 to 14:30 (1:00 PM to 2:30 PM) California time (GMT/UTC-8) every other Monday, starting January 20, 2025 (about a week before the Awakening Joy course starts) and ending June 16, 2025.

You can find the full Teacher Training Conference Call Schedule on the left side menu.

Time Conversion Tool - Convert any time and geographic indicator to your location.

 5 - Small Group Peer Community of Trainees

As part of the training you will be encouraged to participate in a small peer group as you go through the training with others. Through mutual support you can learn from each other. More information on Peer Group formation will be presented during the initial phase of the training in February.

 6 -Sharing the Training with a Practice Partner

You’ll be encouraged to share your experience with another person in the training. That way you can support each other, learn from each other and give each other feedback as to what is working or not working in your sharing of the materials. You will be able to find a Practice Partner either through Peer Group formation or through the conference calls with James.

 7 - Supportive Material

We will provide other material such as pictures, quotes, poems and other information to support you in giving engaging presentations.

 8 - Authorization to Teach Awakening Joy

If, in the opinion of Awakening Joy, it appears that you have not met our requirements and standards you will not be guaranteed certification. In order to be certified by James and Awakening Joy to share this material you must complete the following:

• Demonstrate that you’ve successfully led a group through the Awakening Joy course and the materials. This is the practicum piece for the Teacher Training Program. (Detailed information on ways to form a group as a requirement for certification can be found below.)
   
• Submit a final paper on your experience in leading your practice group, including what you’ve learned, the highlights and challenges you’ve had and how you intend to apply the training.
  
  
• Along with your own evaluation of the teacher training, you will be asked to submit feedback from the group members at the end of the course. The group members' feedback survey will ask about their overall experience being in your group, what they’ve learned / benefited from, as well as the challenges they experienced being in the group. Group Members will be asked to evaluate you as a leader.

 9 - Cost of the Training

The fee for the training is $600. In addition to training support, as outlined above, this will entitle you to access all of the materials that Awakening Joy course participants can access. Your practice group will use these Awakening Joy course materials as you go through the course together. In other words, the $600 includes enrollment in 2 courses: the 2025 Awakening Joy course and the 2025 Awakening Joy Teacher Training course.

Guidelines for Practice Groups

Timing
Ideally, your group would be formed and ready to begin when the Awakening Joy course starts on January 28, which is about a week after the Introductory Teacher Training conference call with James on January 20.  However if having your group ready to start when the Awakening Joy course starts is not possible, your group should be formed by March 1 (unless otherwise given permission by James).

There may be exceptions to groups being formed by March 1 on a case by case basis if, for example, you want to form a prison group, but cannot start teaching because of restrictions by the institution. Those not able to have a group by March 1 can lead their groups at a later time not in sync with the course participants. In this case, you are still welcome to attend all training and mentor calls to benefit from hearing other trainees' experience.

Group Size
The recommended size for each group is 8 members.

Number of Parctice Group Sessions to Lead
The number of sessions with your small group should match the 10 themes of the Awakening Joy course. Ideally, there will be 2 weeks between each of your 10 sessions and you will meetin the off-weeks from James' Zoom events on each theme. (We recognize that schedules or outside forces may require shifts in this ideal.)

Duration of Practice Group Sessions
The recommended length of each practice group session is 1.5 to 2 hours.

What to Cover in the Small Group Sessions
The Joy Group Facilitator's Manual, found within the Teacher Training course, has multiple suggestions for the content of the Awakening Joy practice group sessions. James will also speak to the content of your sessions in his Teacher Training Conference calls.

Each Group Member Signs Up for Awakening Joy Course
Each member of every group must sign up to take the course and receive the materials online. We suggest your group members sign up for the group rate of $249. (This is a full $100 off the full fee of $349.) However, we don’t want finances to get in the way of participation. If someone who wants to be in your group has a budget consideration, they can check out the other financial options for the Awakening Joy course. If a person in your practice group cannot afford even the lowest posted, rate ($125), they can email admin@awakeningjoy.info and simply tell Gretchen what amount would work for them.

Three Possible Ways to Form a Group

1. Form a Group with Friends
   The simplest and, perhaps, the most fun method is to invite friends, relatives and/or colleagues from your circle to go through the material together. You already have a bond of friendship and trust. Supporting each other in more well-being can deepen that connection. You will likely be more able to be just yourself and not have thoughts of needing to prove anything to anybody. You will also be more easily able to ask for and hear feedback as to what works and what doesn’t in you leading the group. The best way to develop your skills is getting honest, constructive feedback.
   
   
2. Form a Group through an Organization You Know
   Many people have shared the material with a group they’re associated with. If you are a member of a church they might appreciate being part of your Awakening Joy group. This has been a common venue for many groups. Senior Centers or Retirement communities have also had leaders come in and share the material with great success.
   
   You might consider sharing the material with other groups that could benefit from and appreciate your generosity. As I mention in the Introduction to the paperback edition of Awakening Joy, a number of people have led groups for prison inmates with great success. If you choose to lead a group like that, the members will not have online access to the material and obviously won’t be able to sign up for the course, see the class recordings or receive the other online materials. But I would be delighted if you led such a group. If you share the materials with other underserved communities, that would be most welcome. These groups, of course, would have the Awakening Joy course fee waived.
   
   
3. Lead a Group of Current Course Participants
   Awakening Joy Course participants have the opportunity to join a group led by people who, like you, have signed up to get trained to share the material. If you do not wish to form your own group from the above options, you can post your group in the Trainee Led Groups list, a shared Google doc, that is found within the Getting Started section of the Awakening Joy course. You post the time and frequency of you group on this list as well as any relevant information about yourself, what motivates you and what your vision is for leading a group. People can get a sense of who you are and email you directly to be a member of your in-person or your cyberspace group, whichever format works best for you. (I’ve led small groups online and they can be very effective.) When your group is filled, you mark that on the Trainee Led Groups list.
   
   The sooner you post your coure participant-filled group on the Trainee Led Groups list, the better. ideally, your group is posted in December, due to the large number of Awakening Joy course enrollees who sign up then and in January. You'll want to be on the Trainee Led Group list when participants first encounter it, which they will do upon enrollment, as they make their way through the Getting Started section, where the list is found.
   
   ***Note that success forming a group via this last option can be iffy, as it depends on current course enrollees' willingness to participate.

 Policies and Expectations for the Group You Will Practice Teaching

1. Members of your group are all expected to be enrolled in the Awakening Joy course.
   
   
2. Members of your group will be expected to participate with a genuine commitment to do the program to the best of their ability. They will be asked to show up for the group meetings, unless some emergency prevents them from doing so. Mutual commitment makes for a strong group where people are really supporting each other.
   
   
3. Group members will be asked to give an evaluation of the group at the end of the course so you can learn and we can feel confident in your ability to skillfully lead groups.