Focusing.Art.Prayer

Learning Focusing As A Holy Commitment to the Unknown

Exploring The Mystery of Implicit Knowing

“Most of the world thinks and acts in terms of formed things, patterns, units, entities. What is not formed is considered disorder…We claim, instead, that what is not already formed is a greater order, more finely differentiated than any forms and concepts, and yet also unfinished. But “more ordered and yet unfinished” is a very new concept, hard to grasp and credit.” Eugene Gendlin

The philosopher and psychologist Eugene Gendlin perceived that there are experiences that only mystics and artists could access in the past, but that in this day can be learned by anyone. He dedicated his life to developing steps and practices which enable every person to carry forward their life. Focusing, the practice Gendlin explicated, was mainly implemented through a therapeutic perspective, yet we propose that he is actually inviting us to something much more radical – a restoration of what it means to be human.

In mystical writings, such as Kabbalah, a profound distinction is made between two kinds of human beings each embodying a fundamentally different way of living and being. One type lives by the Tree of Knowledge of good and evil, existing “under the sun” in the world of creation, where creation itself is already grasped and apprehended. The second type is an active “image of God,” who embodies the life-movement of all worlds, and who lives through the Tree of Life.

How do we restore our full humanity, not as an idea, but as an actual life process?

How can we live our lives as a process unfolding from the mystery of the Unknown into the world?

Mystical writings abound with guidance on this path, yet surprisingly, it was Eugene Gendlin who created and articulated practices that teach us how to embody this way of living.

Through many years of exploring and teaching what we call “Gendlin’s Project”, a journey based on his major work, “A Process Model”, we derived a new approach to Focusing, one also influenced by the world of Kabbalah. We have found that teaching Focusing through the lens of this mystical tradition allows the practice to access profound depths and creates life transformations beyond anything we could have imagined.

Gendlin tirelessly sought to teach us how we may actualize our human potential, a quest that echoes the Kabbalistic image of the human being. This course invites you into the living dialogue between Focusing and Kabbalah, where the two illuminate each other and open a path for Focusing that meets the radical direction intended by Gendlin.

The course is intended for people who are new to Focusing, as well as for those who wish to learn it again from a new perspective.

New to focusing? Here’s how this course can help you:

Are you feeling stuck, unclear, or in a fog and not sure how to move forward?

You’ll learn a unique kind of attention into your “body” that allows you to stay with your felt sensations and discover that within the stuckness, the confusion, or the discomfort, a new movement is asking to emerge.

Are you feeling disconnected from yourself or from life? Aware there's a living source inside, but don't know how to access it?

We’ll explore a unique mode of consciousness called first-person awareness that brings you back to the center of your life - not as a passive observer, but as a participant in a living process of creation, receptive to emerging revelation.

Are you struggling to express what you’re truly experiencing?

You’ll learn how language can arise directly from felt experience. You’ll discover how to have your own words and how to use a personal language that carries life forward.

Are you feeling a split between head and body? Between inside and outside? Between thought and sensation?

We’ll practice how to weave the parts of your experience into one whole movement—connecting body, language, and meaning.

Are you searching for inspiration or creative flow, but can’t seem to find it?

You’ll meet practical tools for awakening a fresh relationship with your inner sources of inspiration - tools that bypass the already-known, and which open a gateway to what wants to emerge.

Already familiar with Focusing? This course will offer you these new possibilities:

A pathway of knowing your life as the mystery that precedes all content. To awaken to a layer of wondrous, living consciousness that is vast and comes before any of a person's self-conceptions.

Discover how to notice that whatever I bring my awareness to - any thing, any topic, any concept, even the very idea of “I” - reveals layers of meaning that can be sensed beyond conceptual thought.

A process for transforming the experience of the self: from a person conditioned by life processes to one who can participate in their creation out of freedom.

A way that allows for a shift in our conceptualization of life, from the Tree of Knowledge to the Tree of Life. From the stance of the observer to the first person. From merely recognizing life to entering a revelatory process.

A way to create new meaning -a process that allows for a shift in the implying of life itself.

This course is for anyone who:

Experiences an inner restlessness or heaviness that doesn’t go away, even when “everything seems fine.”

Has already tried to understand, fix, or change aspects of their life - and still remains with the feeling that something within hasn’t opened or changed.

Feels that the usual solutions no longer work and wants to meet themselves in a different way - not through analysis or judgment, but through a unique kind of embodied listening.

And for those familiar with Focusing, this course is for those who:

still sense a gap between “the promise” and what actually unfolds in practice.

wish to understand how it fits within a broader worldview.

wish to deepen their understanding through a "crossing" with an ancient wisdom that understands the human being and as a constant living process.

course details:

10 consecutive sessions on Sundays

course starts on January 11th

Dates: 1/11, 1/18, 1/25, 2/1, 2/8, 2/15, 2/22, 3/1, 3/8, 3/15

time: 19:30-21:30 (Israel), 17:30-19:30 (London), 9:30-11:30 (LA, California), 12:30-14:30 (New york)

Join the course

Price: 480$

10% discount until October 20th

Please write to us if in need of financial assistance to info@shakio.org.

Recordings of the sessions will be available for viewing only, for up to three months from the end of the course

for registration & payment click here

to learn more about the shakio institute, workshops and theachers: shakio-in.com

For more information:

The More…

“We think more than we can say.

We feel more than we can think.

We live more than we can feel.

And there is so much more still.”

(Eugene Gendlin)

We first learn that there is always more in everything – and, more importantly, that there is a way to carry life forward from within that “more”. The depths from which we live and sense things can be carried forward through the body and its interaction with language.

There’s no need to go “deeper” to reach this profound unfolding; rather, one must simply go differently. This process is called Focusing.

A person can transform themselves and become the very process of life itself, thereby carrying forward the “more” from their depths.They can even transform and become a co-creator with the Creator in this process.

Life is real; it’s not built upon understandings, not upon society, not upon thoughts about life. We invite you to make a holy commitment to the Unknown, rooted in the deep faith inherent in the living process of life itself.

Meet the Teachers

Shakio is a space for collaborative exploration founded by Dana Ganihar, an experienced Focusing instructor and a teacher of the philosophy of Eugene Gendlin, and Baruch Brenner a multidisciplinary artist, rabbi and certified Focusing instructor who investigates and teaches performance art and Jewish mysticism.

An interdisciplinary artist and an ordained Orthodox Rabbi. Baruch has been a leading innovator in integrating Jewish and spiritual practices with experiential work in Art. Over the course of thirty years, he has dedicated himself to researching the world of the body as a vehicle, the realm of consciousness, the language of imagination, and transformational practices through working with ancient songs. Brenner is the author of ‘A Diary of a Worshiper’ (Idra Publishing, 2022) – a book based on a personal initiation journey into the world of Kabbalah and the mystery of prayer. He is also a co-author of ‘The Art of Prayer’ (2025).

A pioneer of the Focusing movement in Israel. She studied directly with the father of Focusing, Eugene Gendlin, A close friend and colleague of Rab Zalman. Dana served on the global board of the International Focusing Institute and is dedicated to advancing Gendlin’s teachings. Dana has initiated cooperative research exploring the potential impact of Focusing practices on diverse fields such as biology, architecture, creative writing and religion. She is a co-author of ‘The Art of Prayer’ (2025).

testimonials

As someone who has had a basic understanding of Focusing, I have deeply appreciated the unique approach which Dana and Baruch teach in their basic course. They go beyond technique to a process of transforming the way we perceive life, ourselves and the rest of creation. As with their Art of Prayer courses, I have found their teaching in the Basic Focusing course invaluable for my personal journey, my work as a spiritual companion and teacher in spiritual formation programmes, and as a Feldenkrais and embodied living teacher. Dana and Baruch are excellent teachers, highly skilled in working together to provide a rich experience for their students, gradually building on aspects of the process with each lesson so that our practice gradually becomes more intricate and rich. I highly recommend this both as an introductory course for those new to Focusing, as well as enriching and expanding the understanding and skill of those already experienced with it. I look forward to continuing my study of Focusing with Dana and Baruch in further courses.

Jennifer Guild, Melbourne Australia

The Art of Focusing course with Dana and Baruch has changed my life. Through the Focusing process they teach I have discovered a relationship with the Divine, which I have been seeking for so many years. This process has taught me there is so much more to draw on when navigating life’s challenges. Focusing is taught artfully and prayerfully by Dana and Baruch and is now becoming a way of life for me. It is a very special course.

Felicity Johns

The Focusing course opened a gateway for me into a vast field that stretches far and deep—into infinity—until I discovered within it a clear, wild presence… Through an accessible, magical, and direct language, it connects participants straight to the source, to the spring that flows within each of us. And they do all of this on Zoom! Without losing any of the raw and complete quality of the language they have developed. I warmly recommend this course to anyone who wishes to live life with full presence.

Mirit Katzir

Through the Focusing course, I was introduced to a new language—an entire rich world that holds real magic, quite literally. This language is filled with fascinating nuances—it’s full of exciting and surprising discoveries, yet it feels completely natural. It is abstract and elusive, yet full of presence and power. It is gentle but challenging, so simple and yet so complex… Dana and Baruch facilitated the course on Zoom in a smooth and engaging way, and the dynamic between them always felt natural and precise, with each of them bringing their own unique color into the learning space.

Nimrod Bar