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Our Mission:


Fostering practices that awaken connection with self, others and the natural world.

Council, the practice of listening and speaking from the heart, is our core offering.

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Upcoming Events

Spotlight

Our Educational Sanctuary

Simple Compost Toilet Workshop

Jun 2 2012 - 9:00am - 5:00pm

with Permaculture Designer & Educator LOREN LUYENDYK

Learn the skills to build your own!

Click here to reserve your space.

Day of Mindfulness & Community Council (Monthly!)

Jun 3 2012 - 11:00am - 4:00pm

Contemplation, Connection and Community Council

Council Training 1

Jun 8 2012 - 4:00pm - Jun 10 2012 - 4:00pm

Facilitated by Lise Ransdell and Jared Seide.

Experience the age-old practice of Council and learn ways to use it to enrich all your relationships: couples, families, schools, businesses, communities ...
 


Living Council Immersion

Jun 26 2012 - Jul 6 2012

Deepening relationships with self, each other and the natural world. 

with Shay Sloan, Ilarion Merculieff, & TOF Guest Teachers

Council Training 3

Jun 29 2012 - 5:00pm - Jul 1 2012 - 4:00pm

Facilitated by Lori Austein and Leon Berg  

Council Training 3 is an advanced workshop, intended for experienced council practitioners who are discovering that they want to live the way of council rather than limiting their involvement to facilitating a useful approach to group interaction. 

Gathering of Council Carriers

Jul 7 2012 - 9:30am - Jul 10 2012 - 3:00pm

The circle is calling you!!

Rites of Passage for Youth

Jul 17 2012 - 10:00am - Jul 19 2012 - 9:00pm
Jul 24 2012 - 10:00am - Jul 26 2012 - 9:00pm

Marking the Transition From Childhood to Adolescence

Council 1 Training at Crossroads

Jul 21 2012 - 9:00am - 6:00pm
Jul 22 2012 - 9:00am - 6:00pm

and July 22 2012 - 9:00am - 6:00pm 

Facilitated by Tom Nolan and Kelly Kagan Law.

SUMMER WORK RETREAT

Jul 27 2012 - Aug 8 2012

Two Week Immersion in Mindful Service, Permaculture Principles, and Ceremonial Practices

with Leif Skogberg and Guest Facilitators

Deepen your relationship to self, others, and the natural world.

Nature of Council Leadership Training

Aug 13 2012 - 9:00am - Aug 20 2012 - 5:00pm

LEADERSHIP TRAINING: THE NATURE OF COUNCIL
Gigi Coyle with visiting Council Leader Doug Adrianson
In Big Pine, California
August 13 - 20, 2012
 
How do we remember all our relations, embrace differences, and find our own voices, while opening to others? It seems more than ever an essential time in our nation and around the world, to awaken this deep relational heart/mind.
 

Council for Couples

Sep 30 2012 - 10:00am - 5:00pm

Facilitators: Glori Zeltzer, M.A. and Leon Berg

Give your love and attention to the most precious resource you have.  

Council Training 1

Oct 5 2012 - 4:00pm - Oct 7 2012 - 4:00pm

Facilitated by Sheila Bloch and David Listenberger.  

Experience the age-old practice of Council and learn ways to use it to enrich all your relationships: couples, families, schools, businesses, communities ...
 


Council Training 2

Oct 26 2012 - 4:00pm - Oct 28 2012 - 4:00pm
Facilitated by Andrea Brown and Deborah Raoult.  

Council 2 is about deepening our practice, embracing shadow and "turning into the skid" ...  

Center for Council Practice Announces 2012 Training Schedule!

 

Interested in learning about the Way of Council?  Looking to deepen your council practice in your work setting or in your personal life?  The Ojai Foundation's Center for Council Practice has announced a full slate of council trainings for 2012.  Sign up today!

Introduction to Council (Council 1):

February 17-19

June 8-10

October 5-7

and 

July 21 & 22 at Crossroads School (Santa Monica)

 

Deepening the Practice (Council 2):

March 2-4

October 26-28    

 

Council 3:

June 29-July 1

 

Nature of Council:

August 13-20 (Big Pine, CA)  

Article Posted: 
11/25/2011

Council in Europe

Visit the new European Council Network (ECN) website to learn about the growing number of individuals and organizations entering the practice of council in Europe. After five years of introductory and now advanced trainings in Scotland, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Austria and the UK, there is now an Annual Gathering of Council Carriers to build this emerging community.  This year, a number of the European Trainers will be acknowledged and encouraged to continue thier work. A focus on council in schools is just taking shape,  with a first Council for Educators training this past summer in Germany. Click here for more information.
Article Posted: 
10/15/2011

TOF's Council in Schools Initiative featured in the LA Times!

The Los Angeles Times ran a feature story on Saturday, November 27th profiling TOF's groundbreaking work bringing council to schools throughout the region.  Our Council in Schools programs have evolved over 25 years and now serve over 12,000 students! 

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Article Posted: 
11/27/2010

Council in LAUSD featured in Educational Leadership

CCT Council Trainer and Wonderland Avenue School faculty member, Julia Mason Wasson, has an article featured in ASCD's publication Educational Leadership discussing how she integrated council into the mentoring of teachers new to the profession.  Click here to read the article!

ASCD logo

 

Article Posted: 
11/23/2010

A Co-Mentoring Program in L.A. Builds a New Kind of Community

An innovative collaboration between The Ojai Foundation, Southern California Foster Families and Adoption Agency and the congregation of Kehillat Israel Synagogue works to build community across cultural barriers, recognizing that we all have much to learn from one another.

 

Youth Mentors

 

Article Posted: 
03/14/2010
Our center in Ojai is a semi-wilderness, sustainable-model educational sanctuary for living in right relationship with each other and the earth. We host council trainings, rites of passage retreats, a ropes course challenge, permaculture workshops and more for youth and adults.


A Visual Tour

Our Initiatives

Council in Schools

For more than 25 years, The Ojai Foundation's award-winning Council in Schools Initiative has been providing school communities with training and support in the practice and integration of council into the life of school.  See our new Council in Schools website by clicking here!!

Youth Retreats

Charisma Ceremonies, like birthdays and graduations, help youth and young adults to mark certain times in their lives and to realize their individual importance in the world. The Youth Programs at The Ojai Foundation allow youth to mark such times of significance while also providing a rich background that helps to frame these experiences.

Ropes and Adventure Courses

girl on ropesOur Ropes Course offers groups of all ages, corporate teams, and families the opportunity to overcome personal limitations through exciting and rewarding mental, emotional, and physical challenges. With the assistance of our trained staff, such experiences can become doorways into greater self-confidence, improved ability to relate to others, and opportunities to make empowering choices.

Council In Israel

For the past nine years the Foundation has been supporting a variety of council-based programs in Israel. These include councils in schools, women's empowerment groups, municipalities, intimate relationships and inter-cultural councils directed at the creation of a truly Shared Society in the Holy Land. These initiatives resulted in the creation of an Israeli non-profit organization, Ma'agal Hakshava" (Listening Circles), that continues to work closely with Ojai. For current information and links, please click here.

Mali HIV/AIDS Program

In 2007 the Foundation became the Fiscal Sponsor for a medical research program in Mali, Africa.  The clinical part of the Program involves the evaluation of an immune system enhancer called Low Dose Naltroxone as a way of preventing HIV positive individuals from subsequently developing AIDS symptoms. Participants in the clinical trials can also participate in monthly councils involving men and women discussing issues of intimate relationship, health and cultural mores that directly impact the spread of HIV. For current reports and links, please click here.
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