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Understanding Emotions: 8-Week Course

Developing emotional resilience

Our emotions carry vital information, yet many of us have learned to avoid or become overwhelmed by our feelings. This course offers a compassionate, practical approach to developing emotional literacy and resilience. We will strengthen our capacity to feel, accept and communicate our feelings in ways that support wellbeing and connection.

The wisdom of your emotions

This eight-week course offers clear, compassionate education about the biological and psychological reality of emotions, and practical tools to transform your relationship with your inner experience.

Whether you're struggling with anxiety, depression, or simply want to navigate life's challenges with more ease and authenticity, this course provides the foundational knowledge and embodied skills to befriend rather than fear your emotional world.

This education package is not therapy, but it can be healing. It will supports lifelong emotional well-being—the basic information we all deserve to live with greater freedom and compassion.

About this course

Emotions are not problems to be solved. They are signals — ancient, intelligent, and deeply purposeful. Yet most of us have inherited patterns around feelings that don't serve us well. We learned to push certain emotions away, to stay busy so we don't have to feel them, or conversely to be swept away by their intensity with little sense of steadiness or choice.

This course draws on the framework of Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy (AEDP), developed by Diana Fosha, which understands emotions as fundamentally relational and healing in nature. When we can turn toward our feelings with curiosity rather than dread - when we learn to be with rather than manage or suppress - something opens. Clarity emerges. Vitality returns. And our relationships, with ourselves and others, become more honest and more nourishing.

Over the course of our time together, we'll develop what might be called emotional literacy -the capacity to recognise, name, tolerate and work wisely with the full range of human feeling.

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"The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched – they must be felt with the heart."

Helen Keller

You'll come away with:

A clearer map of your own emotional patterns and what underlies them
Greater capacity to stay present with difficult or unfamiliar feelings
Skills for moving through emotional experience rather than getting stuck in it
More confidence in naming and communicating your feelings to others
A kinder, less defended relationship with your own inner life

Each session includes:

Short guided awareness practice
Didactic teaching around particular themes and topics
Individual reflection and journalling time
Inquiry to bring the material into lived experience
Whole group discussion
Reflection on practice — noticing what arose, what was difficult, what surprised you

Who this course is for

Anyone who senses that their relationship with their own emotional life could be more open, more fluid, or more compassionate. Whether you tend toward suppression or overwhelm — or move between the two — this course offers a path toward greater ease, resilience and authentic connection.

"When we become able to hear and respond to our emotions effectively, we become able to understand the deepest language of our souls."

Karla McClaren

What you'll learn over 8 weeks

Session 1: Starting the Journey

We introduce the Emotions Triangle — a simple map for understanding emotions. You'll learn that emotions just are, and practice basic grounding and breathing to make space for difficult feelings.

Session 2: Understanding Our Defences

We explore protective patterns like overthinking, numbing, or staying busy. With compassion, you'll practice noticing these defences and exploring what they might be costing you.

Session 3: Working with Anxiety

You'll learn to distinguish anxiety (the static) from fear (the signal), and practice settling anxiety enough to discover the emotions, conflicts, or needs underneath.

Session 4: Navigating Shame and Guilt

We untangle shame from healthy guilt, exploring shame's roots. You'll practice self-compassion as an antidote, learning when guilt serves you and when it's become unhelpful.

Session 5: Being with Sadness

Rather than avoiding sadness, you'll practice leaning in and feeling it physically. We explore how sadness sometimes blocks positive emotions and what you need when grief arises.

Session 6: The Gift of Anger

You'll learn to recognise anger's purpose in setting boundaries and protecting what matters. We practice healthy ways to process it and explore what gets in the way of acknowledging it.

Session 7: Opening to Joy

We practice staying present with joy, pride, gratitude, and excitement. You'll explore the difference between genuine pride and arrogance, learning to let yourself feel good.

Session 8: Integration and the Openhearted State

You'll practice using the Change Triangle as a living tool and explore the openhearted state — being present, authentic, and emotionally available

When this course may not be right for you…

✗ ‎ Acute Crisis
If you get very reactive to others in groups, are currently in acute crisis, active suicidal feelings, or severe dissociative episodes, this probably isn't the right starting point. Getting stabilised with acute care first, often works better.
✗ ‎ Unable to Commit to Course Requirements
If you genuinely can't attend most of the eight sessions, or if practicing at home even 10-15 minutes most days isn't possible in your life right now, the timing may not be right.

That said, if you're worried about perfection or worried that life interruptions will happen - those worries are normal and shouldn't stop you. We're talking about sustained inability to participate, not occasional missed sessions.
✗ ‎ Seeking Only Relaxation
If you're not interested in deeper self-exploration, this may be more than you need. The course invites you to examine your relationship with thoughts, emotions and patterns. That examination can be uncomfortable even as it's ultimately freeing – leading to long-term resilience and steadiness.

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Home practice expectations

How much practice is required:

During the course: 15–20 minutes daily
Post-course: Whatever is sustainable for you (even 10-15 minutes helps)

Why home practice matters:

The weekly sessions provide the knowledge and explore the landscape; home practice is where the integration into your life happens.

What if I can't practice that much?

A bit of practice is infinitely better than no practice. Teachers will help you find sustainable amounts.

What your investment covers

When you register for this course, you receive:

8 weekly 2 -hour sessions with your teacher and small group (20 hours)
Pre-course individual interview with your teacher (20 minutes)
Access to the OpenGround meditation app with all guided practices (3-months access included)
Ongoing teacher support via email between sessions
Connection to OpenGround's ongoing practice community

Total: 20 hours of direct teaching, plus extensive materials and ongoing support.

Choose what you pay

We've designed our pricing to make this training accessible while sustaining the quality teaching and support that makes it effective. Here's how it works.

Standard Rate: $625
Our foundation rate. The true cost of delivering this program with experienced teachers.

Supported Rate: $425
Partially subsidised. Made possible by generous donors.

Scholarship Rate: $195
Significantly subsidised rate for those facing substantial financial barriers.

No one is turned away for lack of funds.
If you need further assistance, contact us today.

Accepted payment methods

Credit/debit card (Visa, Mastercard, Amex)
Bank transfer
PayPal

Payment Plans Available
If you would like a payment plan, please select PayPal at the checkout. PayPal has the option Pay in 4, which will split your purchase into 4 interest-free instalments over 6 weeks.

Cancellation & refunds

OpenGround's programs are built around genuine commitment - yours to the program and the practice, and ours to you. When you register, your place is held and costs are committed: teacher preparation, materials, catering, and in the case of retreats, venue fees that are locked in well in advance. Our cancellation terms reflect that reality, while leaving room for the unexpected turns that life sometimes takes. We understand that circumstances change.

Refunds & cancellation policy

Our refund policy for multi-week courses (2-8 weeks):

If you cancel before the first session, you'll receive a full refund less a $50 administration fee (plus a $50 fee if you have already had your pre-course interview with your teacher).
If you cancel within 5 days after the first session (before session 2) you can transfer to a future course or you can opt for a 50% refund.
After Session 2 there is no automatic refund, though you may transfer to a future course date at a 50% discounted rate for the next course.

Medical emergencies or significant life crises considered individually.

Frequently asked questions

What is included?

Pre-course meeting with your teacher to hear about what you are wanting from the course and to answer any questions
Eight weekly 2 hour sessions with weekly emails
Week-by-week guidance exploration of theory and practice to support emotional resilience
Daily practice suggestions on the Hello Now Meditation App (3-months access)
Post-course guidance for continuing practice

Do I need previous meditation experience?

No. This course has no pre-requisites. It will introduce a little practice to support you in understanding and exploring your emotions and thoughts. Talk to us if you want to clarify this.

Is this online or in-person?

This course is offered live-online.

Have questions?

Call us: 0401 904 995 (Mon-Fri, 9am-5pm AEDT)
Email: info@openground.com.au

Response time: within 1-2 business days

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