The Compass Way
Regular Events
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Introducing the Compass of Grace
In the beginning, there was a garden where all creation communed in harmony and peace. Remembering this, most of us long to inhabit identifiable states of grace such as peace, joy, and love. But, we may find them difficult to attain or maintain in daily life. Our human operating systems are in a bind and need an upgrade!
Are you feeling a little split between your higher potential and your personality limitations? The Compass Way helps people create successful relationships by navigating them through the often confusing world of advice and by giving them a proven framework that simply works.
We have learned through observation, practice, and theological reflection that the fall from grace into a world of struggle and duality is a choice. Therefore, it is possible to choose again.
The Compass of Grace is a practice that the Christ the Healer UCC Community has developed and refined which offers a human map to locate where we are standing in our life and relationships, and a means to reorient ourselves to a state of grace here and now, whatever we are involved in.
Jesus called these states of being heaven, this world, and hell. We call them the Triple Compass – at any moment of our life, we can notice whether we are standing in one of three places:
- Grace
- Getting Along
- Self-Protection
We teach self-observation to become aware of one’s habitual stances and demonstrate how they are reflected in physiological ways such as posture, muscle tension, and breathing. Distortions lead to physical limitation and illness, as over time, our bodies out-picture our emotional states. Yet our bodies also respond with feelings of well being, expansion, relief, and joy when we remember these states of grace.
In order to re-access these graceful body memories, we have named eight (8) states of grace as points on the Compass of Grace:
- Acceptance
- Gratitude
- Joy
- Inspiration
- Awe
- Peace
- Presence
- Love
We utilize small workshops so participants are treated to a vivid group experience of how these states feel when physically present. Our more in-depth workshops employ music, visual art, writing, Reiki, and other spiritual exercises to enter and experience embodied states of grace for extended periods of time. We also teach strategies for shifting to a state of grace from a state of self-protection or dysfunctional getting along.
Multi-day retreats allow time to discover and explore one’s personality dynamics in terms of the Compass of Getting Along and Compass of Self Protection—each also with eight (8) named compass points. We show how an understanding of these two compasses illuminates the struggles of culture, family, politics, and religion, and why the vision of Shalom, Oneness, Grace, or the kin-dom (kingdom) of heaven is “the only way that works.”
For more information, or to schedule a Compass of Grace lecture or workshop for your group, contact Thomas C. Chavez
What participants are saying:
“The first 5 minutes of meeting Thomas and Gabrielle Chavez, my thoughts were: man, these two are so far ahead of me. I thought that I was about to just save 35 years of my life of trial and error by absorbing the wisdom that these two already completely understood. And that’s just what happened—my relationships, clarity, and success in life has never been better than after my education in their work: The Compass Way”.
“I had no idea why sometimes I would be completely ONE and sometimes not. . . Truly this has been an amazing revelation. I’d heard of the term kingdom all my life but never has it been more relevant!”
“The Triple Compass Map has illuminated our group dynamics and we are practicing the new skills of choosing grace.”
“I use the Compass of Grace every day. It’s quite simple, but my whole life has changed. I feel empowered in difficult relationships with others (and myself).”
“Without Thomas’s help, I would still be dating the same woman that always left me miserable: great for a few months, then terrible until it ended. It was my classic approach. But today I know better. Thanks to Thomas I now understand what I was doing all those years. I’m now prepared to meet my future wife.”
“Hands down the best phone call about relationships I’ve ever had.”
“Using acceptance in the face of anger I have been able to release it. Recently I had a job that I decided wasn’t working for me and the person tried all of her manipulative tactics to change my mind and I didn’t waiver. I peacefully accepted that it was not personal and that it felt too good for me to retract my decision. I use to take on other peoples pain and live my life for them and the Compass Way has allowed me to accept that their life is their own and mine is mine.”
“… as effective a practice as non-violent communication and more profound.”