A WeSpace group in the Integral Christian Network (and now in Unity) is a small group of people who want to move from “me” to “we” and practice mystical Christianity together. They meet locally or online, every other week for an hour and a half to two hours.
After the initial orientation and introduction sessions, the rotating facilitator(s) from the group for each meeting are responsible for guiding the group through the process. All members are active participants. Everyone in the group takes ownership and considers themselves responsible for how the group goes.
A WESPACE GROUP MEETING HAS FOUR MAIN SEGMENTS:
1
CONNECTION
All groups start with a time to connect with one another.
We begin by sharing authentically with one another about our lives and spiritual journey, which is a practice of community. We share from both the external and internal aspects of our lives.
Some common ways we do this include:
I. CHECKING-IN
II. SHARING OUR SPIRITUAL LEARNING
III. ASKING A QUESTION
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This is the opportunity to share what significant things have been going on in your life lately. It’s important to engage in the everyday details—this is the relational field we most commonly operate in with others, and we should not discount it even in the pursuit of deeper connections.
It’s essential to see the connection time as the beginning of our practice together, not a precursor. Like the rest of the time, we want to approach this from our heart space and whole-being.
This segment can go anywhere from fifteen minutes to an hour. Though please be mindful to respect the time so everyone is able to share somewhat equally. The facilitator then transitions the group (perhaps after a short break) to the next part.
2
WHOLE-BODY MYSTICAL AWAKENING
Heart. Feet. Gut. Mind.
While many are familiar with mind practices of meditation, or scanning their body from the mind, in WBMA we enter into awareness from the four centers of spiritual knowing in our bodies. Including our heart moves us into the relational, energetic space of love. Including our feet and legs embodies us as we are grounded and rooted to Christ energy in the earth. Including our gut or spiritual womb allows us to be centered in our core, divine identity and fertilely intuitive and creative. We then find that our mind is cleared and ready to receive from the visionary realm of spiritual knowing.
Including the “We” in the practice brings us into a shared experience of a loving energy field, deep connection, and mystical interbeing.
For the first few group practices, Paul Smith and Luke Healy lead a guided meditation to introduce and familiarize everyone with the practice. After which, groups are facilitated by WeSpace guides and participants, using either recorded guided meditations available on our website or their own version. WeSpace Whole-Body Mystical Awakening is the core meditative practice of our groups.
3
RESONATING PRAYER
Toward the end of the meditation, the group begins to shift into what we call Resonating Prayer. This is a movement into praying for one another from a whole-body awakened knowing state of consciousness, which looks quite different than traditional prayer.
Resonating Prayer is a practice of learning to pray from a deeper, more integrated consciousness in our embodied being. We’re not praying to God out there, but rather from our awakened, divine consciousness with God’s presence and one another in our shared field of loving connection.
As this is usually a new experience for most people, it can take a little getting used to—with practice, experimentation, and plenty of grace.
When we pray for one another in this way, we are welcome to silently engage in the flow of love and healing from our hearts toward one another. As we are ready and feel comfortable, we can begin to grow in “speaking forth,” giving voice to the impressions and arisings for each other as we learn how to sense from this state of emergent awareness.
These can arise in our head as images, pictures, words, smells, and more. We can experience the energy of love and bliss in our hearts, sometimes also felt in our arms and hands. From our womb we might sense intuitions or deep knowing. Our feet connect us to the energy of material reality, moving us into a somatic, felt sense of physical sensations.
We may also see and hear from our spiritual guides, which we might experience as God’s motherly/fatherly presence, Jesus, Mary, and others.
This is being in spirit, participating in awakened mystical consciousness much like the early church did. This time in our WeSpace groups is for practicing and learning, offering to one another humbly and within loving space for the purpose of “comforting, encouraging, and strengthening” (1 Cor. 14:3).
We are listening not for what we already know, but for what we are about to know.
I. FOR THE INDIVIDUAL
II. FOR THE GROUP
III. FOR THE WORLD
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We begin by going around the group to focus on each person. Everyone first attunes love, spiritual energy, and healing to them. We call this “engaging in the flow” and it is a powerful expression of transmission and loving prayer in silence.
Then, as impressions arise from awakened spirit consciousness, we can share what is emerging, giving voice to our spiritual knowing. The person being focused on can take a posture of receiving and at the end might offer feedback about what is shared, reflecting back what resonates and what they might need to sit with longer. Anything that doesn’t fit can be released and freely let go of.
4
REFLECTION
Reflection
If there is time afterwards, participants can share more about their experience, give feedback, ask questions, or reflect further on words or images shared. Sometimes people feel more comfortable sharing something in this time that they weren’t sure about in the practice.
When those that want to share have done so, the group confirms the date of the next meeting and who is scheduled to facilitate—or someone volunteers to do so if needed.
Come join together in an empowering community of mystical practice.
This is not praying to God to touch another, this is praying from god to touch one another and the world. It is the divine center in you that is doing the touching!