Where: Zoom!
Meeting ID: 850 4599 5114
Passcode: 206980
This is a host session in which fellows will meet and greet the fellowship pod facilitators and have an opportunity to ask questions and have short conversations. The pod facilitators will have an opportunity to share about their pod foci and themselves, answer questions, and learn about the fellows.
You are welcome to join more than 1 pod. They meet 6x a year for 1.5 hours. Please note the times of the pod facilitators below
You can meet the pod facilitators for these two pods from 4:00-4:35:
Nature is Spirit: Consciously Communing with Earth Community
We are a part of the Earth Community. There are many members of the Earth Community that we don’t consciously commune with. This pod invites us to increase conscious communications with other Sentient Beings in the Earth Community. Participants in the pod will spend time communing with other Sentient Beings outside of the pod and use their time inside of the pod to explore integrating their encounters in the affective, cognitive, behavioral, and spiritual dimensions. Participation in the pod includes being part of an optional WhatsApp group so that the community experience thrives in between pod meetings.
Pod Facilitators: Judy Lewis and Nadjwa Norton:
Judy’s communing with nature is rooted in her biological and spiritual lineages: therefore, it is an intrinsic part of her identity. Nadjwa spends most of her time with her NYC Earth Community. She is committed to and designing opportunities to spend more time with her Earth Community in various geological locations.
Challenging Scarcity Mindsets by Cultivating Abundance Mindsets Through Ethical Reflection and Action
We’ll explore cultivating abundance mindsets by challenging scarcity mindsets. We will begin each session with a silent gratitude practice of abundance and end each session with an abundance offering (poem, song, quote). We will learn how striving to practice integrity and generosity can reveal and sustain abundance; whether sourced from faith in God or the abundance of nature. A central thread will be that ethical action ripples outward, contributing to a broader positive impact—an ongoing ripple effect that extends beyond us. We’ll discuss the behavioral and emotional shifts that come from adopting this mindset (e.g., balance, peace, empathy, nuanced living). We will engage some skit writing and discussions to unpack everyday ethical choices. This will support the practice of decision-making aligned with an abundance mindset, with attention to how these actions radiate outward.
Pod Facilitators: Habiba Rabiu and Nadjwa Norton
Habiba Rabiu recently graduated with a degree in International Affairs from the New School. She is passionate about exploring spirituality and her interest in the dynamics of abundance versus scarcity stems from her observations of everyday human behaviour, especially where these two high-tension concepts clash. She is also a big fan of Mullainathan & Shafir’s research on scarcity mindsets. Nadjwa Norton practices abundance living and is grateful to all the sentient life who teach her how to live in and generate abundance in ways she has yet to integrate into her practice. She works hard to revise her practice by analyzing and reducing scarcity lenses and actions.
You can meet the pod facilitators for this pod from 4:40-5:10.
Playing Games: Spirituality, Competition, and Cooperation
This pod will help us explore aspects of our spirituality through game play. There will be a variety of different types of games played including cooperative and competitive games. We will then reflect on what we have come to understand about ourselves and how we relate to other entities in these experiences.
Pod Facilitators: Nadjwa Norton and Vijay Varma
Vijay Varma ponders the similarities between sport and game. He is a willing participant in the Game of Life and plays the hands he is dealt. Playing games is one of Nadjwa Norton’s most frequent spiritual practices. She is excited to learn more about herself and practice her spirituality in the company of a new community.