To be alive means constant change. There are good times and bad. Highs and lows. Backs and forths. Problems and possibilities. Life is never a straight line.

This on-site Wholebeing Weekend is all about busting out of a small story, and living into a bigger picture—learning to live in expectant openness to what’s happening now and holding hope for what’s to come.

This event is open to all those interested in:

• Understanding the stress response and navigating it with skill and compassion
• Nourishing hope and creating space for possibilities
• Engaging tools that strengthen resilience, to be more nimble and fluid as you ride the waves of life

The Experience

The flow follows the Wholebeing learning experience—learning from experts, embodying the lessons for yourself, and connecting within a community.

Day 1: Thursday evening
You are not alone. This is a shared journey. On opening night, Megan McDonough will create a context for connecting with your fellow travelers, getting a sense of togetherness as we embark on the weekend experience.

Day 2: Friday
Your best life is not necessarily stress-free, drinking piña coladas poolside. Growth happens when you stretch, and that can be stressful. In the morning, you’ll learn from Megan about the science of stress—the natural endocrine, nervous, and immune system responses to a challenge. You’ll be introduced to the R3SET stress framework for holding awareness of the felt sense of the stress response, your potential to navigate it, and the ability to make better choices in the moment.

In the afternoon, we move to the science and application of learned hopefulness, taught by Dan Tomasulo, author of the new book Learned Hopefulness. Hope gives you something to hold onto and look forward to as you live with the difficulties of today. You’ll learn and explore experientially how hope interventions are used in different timelines, mentally moving between the past, present, and future.

In the evening, you’ll take everything you learned and connect in community through exercises, dialogue, and good old-fashioned play—integrating, deepening, and celebrating lessons learned today about stress and hope.

Day 3: Saturday
Life gives you many opportunities to pick yourself up … again and again. Life calls for perseverance. In today’s session, Maria Sirois will introduce you to the paradox of resilience—a new and slightly different take on resilience that integrates with hope.

In the evening, we’ll have a campfire (weather permitting) and savor our learnings and time together.

Day 4: Sunday
In our closing session, we will reflect on the journey, integrate key learnings, and tap into an openness to meet the unknown that is inherent in this human experience.

Who This Is For

This weekend is open to all those interested in navigating challenges while “moving towards better” — both experienced positive psychology practitioners and those new to the practice.