Focusing as a Holy Commitment to the Unknown
Full Certification Program: Vision, Structure, and Courses
“And after the fire a still small voice.” (Kings 1 19:12)
“Focusing may be what has always been meant in religious terms by "listening to the still small voice."... All but a few people have been puzzled as to where inside to "listen" and "hear" this "voice." The above indicates that to "listen" really means to keep quiet…and to sense just what is there, bodily felt, meaningful…it will unfold; the sense of its meaning, and then the words, will come ...” Eugene Gendlin
“[What will happen if] you sense creation not as something completed, but as constantly becoming, evolving, ascending. This transports you from a place where there is nothing new to a place where there is nothing old, where everything renews itself, where heaven and earth rejoice as at the moment of Creation.”Rabbi Abraham Isaac kook
Focusing and ancient wisdom:
You are warmly invited to join a ‘process group’ exploring how lucid life-movements can restore our humanity and carry life forward through the model of ‘creation-ing’.
This is not about learning yet another practice, but about a life journey. As you enter it, step by step, you become a partner is the journey of your own life as well as in the process of creation.
This is an invitation to an unfamiliar journey in which the depths of an ancient wisdom path are explored as a way of transforming how we live and reshaping our understanding of being.
This unique path is based on a model whose development in recent generations is deeply advanced by the philosopher and psychologist Eugene Gendlin. Gendlin saw the necessity of developing terms, a coherent model, and life practices through which human beings could move in ways that, in the past, only mystics and exceptional artists knew how to embody – yet which today every person is called to discover.
Whoever studies Kabbalistic texts can see that the ancient tradition contains rich and deeply relevant knowledge. They viewed the ordinary perception of life as only the first stage in the formation of the human being, whose deeper purpose is to become a process of partnership in the making of life itself. Remarkably, Eugene Gendlin gave this ancient wisdom a language and a practice, thereby opening new possibilities for human life that did not previously exist. Through these possibilities the modern human being can walk, carrying life forward from a depth of greater richness and intricacy. In this way, they begin to sense the meaning of their existence, and their existence as meaning.
At the Institute, we teach Focusing as a sacred commitment. What does this mean?
Focusing begins as a practice of beneficial experiences; it continues as a model of life that gives rise to new self understandings, and then it grows us and transforms us. It creates within us a different capacity and a different evolution of a new kind of human sensitivity- the knowing how to carry life forward. It is truly an evolution…
And then, alongside my own growth, it becomes a sacred commitment to enact it in every situation, and to become ourselves the carrying forward of life from the unknown. Excerpt from the book Focusing as a Holy Commitment.
Gendlin’s project:
This Full Certification Program – is a first-of-its-kind training program in Focusing. It teaches the practice as a way of life, grounded in the broad vision of Gendlin’s project – a project aimed at creating an alternative to the prevailing cultural model that ignores the “human.” To this end, he dedicated his life. In his writing you can find a rich wisdom- mainly in the wonder book A Process Model- There he developed modes of observation and process-terms that allow consciousness to untangle itself from living under the separation state – the observer perception which he calls the “Unit Model”, and instead, teaching people to live from a process model in a first person consciousness that “carries forward” life. This transition allows one to live life as a process of steps that “carry forward” the emerging new, rather than as one who engineers their life through the conditional public understanding or the “higher self” built upon “correct” ideas.
One could say that the emphasis of these meetings is not merely to learn the movements of Focusing, but to learn movements through which, in any situation, you can carry yourself, your life, or Life itself-forward. This is the way that you acknowledge that you are the carrying forward of the unknown. and that it is your holy commitment to do so.These movements allow occurrences to emerge from the Infinite; they are tools of the Infinite, of primary interaction, of non-engineering, and of carrying forward.
“The felt sense, which I also call ‘the edge of awareness’ is the center of the personality. It comes between the usual conscious person and the deep, universal reaches of human nature, where we are no longer ourselves…. but it feels like "really me." Eugene Gendlin
If you have already traveled a path in your life, this is where you belong.
The program is intended for people who have already traveled a meaningful path of inner work, creators, therapists, and focusers.
Participation in the full program grants certification from The International Focusing Institute, as well as certification from the Shakio Institute in the pathway of Focusing as a Holy Commitment to the Unknown.
Focusing is a practice that must be learned through direct experience. Learning the first steps may take only a single weekend. But learning the movements deeply – “rewiring” oneself, and beginning to live and move through the world in this way – can take years, or even a lifetime. It is a rewiring through subtle movements. It asks for skills, for inner commitment, and it gradually transforms one’s perception of self and world.
In our two-year program. We will study the ‘process of steps’ named as ‘Focusing’ , in light of the work that was developed by Gendlin in A Process Model – over the course of many decades after he published the Focusing book. In order to deepen our understanding, we will cross it with the wisdom of Kabbalah – with all the richness and depth it offers
“Inward listening lets go of self-engineering, … It is a dialogue with a sensed "edge" that comes physically in us, which we cannot direct or construct. In that dialogue I do not become less than in my usual ways of living. I become more than I was.” Eugene Gendlin
The certification program
is composed of six modules:
Foundational Course - Introductions to evolutionary movements of partnership in creation.
10 weekly two-hour sessions + 2 practice sessions
Life is an intricate movement that unfolds through meaning. This is a primary and profound dimension of being human. Here, a person is not merely breathing, perceiving, or moving toward goals. Rather, it is a depth of being and meaning that opens through unique movements, as we learn how to carry life forward
Throughout the sessions, we will learn ‘consciousness-untying’ movements that enable a person to shift perception and participate in the creation of new meaning, and consequently, a new world.
Deepening Course -Gateways to Emergent Order.
10 weekly two-hour sessions + 2 practice sessions
Focusing is not only a generator of healing; it also possesses the power to transform our perception of life: moving from an “Imposed Order” to an “Emergent Order.”
To facilitate depth-processes in Focusing, we have developed over the years “Keys” that help that profound shift to happen. These “Keys” are invitations that enable the focuser to break free from the “Observer’s Stance”- which inadvertently interferes with and constricts the emergence of the new – thereby allowing the truly new to take shape. This process requires sharp proficiency for those moments when a creative process “collapses” into pre-known interpretation (however deep or wonderful it may be), limiting Focusing into a ‘beneficial experience’ but one that does not catalyze fundamental change.
One-to-One: Focusing with the Unknown - Accompanying a person through metaphysical development.
10 weekly two-hour sessions
How do we accompany another human being from fixed perception into process? From an engineering observer-position to a first-person, processual, revelatory change? From seeking solutions to a readiness for process that emerges from the infinite, and is therefore truly new.
The goal of the course is to establish professional knowledge and confidence in guiding newcomers to Focusing through the “shakio” approach.
Opening the Focusing consciousness - How to carry the movement of creation forward through A Process Model terms and insights.
10 weekly two-hour sessions + mentoring sessions
In Gendlin’s philosophical writings and numerous articles, one can find a rich mine of as-yet ‘untapped’ distinctions and practices that can carry the Focusing process to depths that often remain merely a desired destination without a way to reach them. These distinctions and practices have significant implications for the field of therapy, creative processes, academic thinking, and beyond.
In each session, we will read selected excerpts from Gendlin’s writings together and devote time to allowing these insights to enter and deepen the Focusing process.
TAE - Thinking at the Edge - What is the unique knowledge I possess, and what is my contribution to the world?
10 two-hour sessions and three extended four-hour sessions
This is a process that will accompany you step by step toward the possibility of thinking your life from the edge of consciousness… beyond what is already known and already formulated… from the depth of your unique “soul imprint.” From the personal toward a sacred commitment to transforming interactions and the world.
The process is built upon the TAE (Thinking At the Edge) steps developed by Gendlin, as well as additional steps developed at our Institute, based on extensive research of Gendlin’s writings and practical work with hundreds of students in Israel and abroad
Foundational Scaffolding of Mystical Language
8 weekly two-hour sessions
A Focusing-oriented reading of sacred texts (Sod), opening new premises in our perception of life.
Our recommendation is to participate in the full program. However, for those who, for various reasons, prefer not to commit to the entire program, it is possible to enroll in selected modules and attend only those modules, provided they have prior experience in Focusing and have a conversation with us beforehand.
Gendlin: This is a question that I ask, "Why would you want to impoverish "being" to that extent that you want it to finish?" It doesn't finish. It creates and creates and creates. It createa us, and through us it creates, and it doesn't finish. Each new person is a whole new ballgame of creation. So why do you want it to be less than that? But even if you do, and you know why you want it to be less than that, it won't be. It's gonna go right on…”. Eugene Gendlin
Shakio's Founders
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, along with other leading teachers in the field around the world. 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).
To conclude, a few personal words
Why previous generations devoted themselves to these matters…
Why Gendlin dedicated his entire life to creating a language and tools for this…
Why we founded the Shakio Institute, and why we see this as a holy commitment…
It is a holy process because it does not begin from what is already formed, but turns toward the source from which all form is continuously created into being, a process that asks for humility and reverence.
It is a holy commitment because it is a model worthy of the human being – one that carries life forward rather than engineering life from the detached observer-position through conditioned or partial structures.
Fixed routines no longer carry our life forward and the gap between the human and the technological is growing, and there is a real concern for our Humanity
“I …use the term "hard structure" for the usual carrying forward which continues to be the only way extant, despite increasingly failing to carry forward all of what we sense, and sometimes failing to carry forward at all. Much of our culture is currently in this condition.” Eugene Gendlin
It suggests life movements that heals cultural splits and fragmentation. Movements that carry creation toward a more blessed unfolding.
This process can occur only when a person listens to life from the source of life itself. To the extent that one sets aside the already-known and self-interested, one allows the infinite source of life to continue its creation.
Focusing offers a real and grounded way to participate in it according to one’s actual realization, rather than through fantasy.
“Direct Referent-formation is culture-formation--we must examine this further since it sounds so odd. This individual and private process is culture formation?” Eugene Gendlin
This is a question that I ask, "Why would you want to impoverish "being" to that extent that you want it to finish?" It doesn't finish. It creates and creates and creates. It creates us, and through us it creates, and it doesn't finish. Each new person is a whole new ballgame of creation. So why do you want it to be less than that? But even if you do, and you know why you want it to be less than that, it won't be. It's gonna go right on…”. Eugene Gendlin
