Shakio Institute
Two Streams,
One Path
A meeting of Gendlin’s philosophy and the depth teachings of Kabbalah, woven into a living home for radical inquiry.
"What began as a personal meeting soon revealed itself as a shared path."
Dana Ganihar
Dana Ganihar, M.Sc., is a Focusing teacher and Coordinator, and a former board member of the International Focusing Institute. She has dedicated many years to exploring applications of Focusing and Gendlin’s philosophy in the fields of science and research.
Dana has taught Focusing at the Technion — Israel Institute of Technology as well as in the Innovation and Entrepreneurship program at Tel-Hai College. For ten years, she worked at the Branco Weiss Institute for the Development of Thinking, training and leading teams of educators and supervisors within the education system.
She is a co-author of The Art of Prayer (2025) and the co-founder, together with Baruch Brenner, of the Shakio Institute.
Baruch Brenner
Baruch Brenner is an interdisciplinary artist and an ordained Orthodox Rabbi. He 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 exploring the body as a vehicle, the realm of consciousness, the language of imagination, and transformational practices through ancient songs.
Brenner is the author of A Diary of a Man of Prayer (Idra Publishing, 2022), a book based on his 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).
The Birth of Shakio
When we, Dana and Baruch, first met, our encounter was also the meeting of two streams of wisdom: Eugene Gendlin’s A Process Model and the depth teachings of Kabbalah. What began as a personal meeting soon revealed itself as a shared path.
As we continued to explore and live these teachings together, a profoundly generative journey unfolded, one that called for a living home. From this unfolding, we founded the Shakio Institute as a space dedicated to exploring the depth of the human being through radically gentle learning, creative inquiry, and embodied practice.
What Guides Us
Radically Gentle Learning
A space where depth is met with tenderness, and growth unfolds at the pace of life itself.
Embodied Practice
Knowledge that lives in the body, shaped through practice and grounded in direct experience.
Creative Inquiry
Where ancient wisdom meets living exploration always moving, always forming anew.
A Shared Path
Two streams of wisdom Gendlin's Process Model and Kabbalistic depth woven into one living journey.
Explore our offerings.
Discover the courses and programs born from this shared path, each one an invitation to explore the depth of what it means to be human.