Shakio institute
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.
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.
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.
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.
This course will offer you these new possibilities:
To awaken to a layer of wondrous, living consciousness that is vast and comes before any of a person's self-conceptions.
A pathway of knowing your life as the mystery that precedes all content.
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 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 starts on January 11th
10 consecutive sessions on Sundays
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
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."
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.
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).
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).
