What to Expect from Your TIMBo Group
TIMBo is an innovative approach to personal connection and health—mental, emotional and spiritual. This information is intended to help you clearly understand what to expect from the program and what we expect from you to make your group experience as smoothly as possible.
Group sessions
Groups meet once a week for 1.5 to 2 hours to explore mindfulness-based interventions including mindful discussions, breathing techniques to help in creating full body awareness, and simple, gentle yoga followed by guided meditation. TIMBo participants receive a workbook which is used to guide discussion topics such as compassion, fear, confidence, shame, awareness and perspective. Discussions also include how and where emotions are felt and manifest in the body and incorporate. The curriculum has been deliberately designed using mindfulness practices to facilitate the integration of new learning and discoveries that come from the discussion.
Although your presence is required, your active participation is entirely voluntary. You are welcome to contribute as much or as little as you are comfortable during our group sessions and you will not be forced or pressed to do anything that you are not comfortable doing. TIMBo is suitable for individuals who have never practice yoga or guided meditation. The yoga postures are simple, repetitive, mindful movements paired with breath, allowing participants of all abilities to feel the benefits of a gentle yoga practice.
The TIMBo program is trauma-responsive and designed to be suitable for women who have experienced trauma. It is appropriate for everyone, regardless of an individual’s exposure to trauma or experience with yoga. Participating in all sessions of TIMBo has been proven to decrease the symptoms of depression, anxiety and PTSD and increase rates of self-compassion. The TIMBo program can be attended multiple times as it is applicable to your current emotional, physiological, and environmental state and there is always room to cultivate more self-compassion.
*Your TIMBo group is not a training or a continuing education style course. It is not a webinar or an instructed course, or an experience for those seeking tools for their clinical practice.
Are you ready for this program?
TIMBo is beneficial for anyone who is willing to show up with an open mind, a willingness to accept themselves and others, and the courage to cultivate present moment awareness of how and what you are feeling without judgment. TIMBo cultivates a compassionate connection between your body and your mind as well as a connection between group members. TIMBo creates a safe space for you to experience the importance of being present and holding space for yourself and other group members, while sometimes “being uncomfortable” as a necessary part of the journey towards health, healing and recovery.
TIMBo is not a good fit for everyone. To experience the full potential of the TIMBo program, you must have the willingness and desire to engage in a personal journey of self-inquiry and self-discovery. During the TIMBo program, you may experience some emotional challenges or discomfort as a necessary part of the transformational journey. You can expect the first 4 sessions or so, to feel the most uncomfortable while the group is establishing trust, safety and connection. This is a normal part of the overall process. You will find that you begin to look forward to connecting with your TIMBo group during the week as the group and sessions begin to give you a sense of well-being and feeling grounded. This process takes a little time, (about 4-5 classes) so please be prepared and just keep showing up.
The TIMBo program will give you new insights, understandings and compassion for yourself and for those around you. It will affect how you are in relationship with yourself and those around you. It provides powerful and effective tools for becoming a more present and compassionate parent, partner and colleague and it is unlike any program out there. TIMBo is unique in its simplicity as it uses the innate wisdom and intuition of the group members to effect change in one another. It is a program that assumes we can trust individuals to arrive at healing thought patterns and behaviors through the safety of the group and the ability of the practices to help integrate new learning. It is truly revolutionary.
*TIMBo is not suitable for individuals who are not willing or able to commit to the weekly sessions. See the Attendance policy below.
Attendance
TIMBo is a progressive program, so it is important for you to be present at each session as the curriculum builds upon itself. The program is a journey that has a beginning, a middle and an end and we want you to experience the full benefit of that journey. We understand that life happens and that you may not be able to attend all 9 sessions of TIMBo, so we have put the following policy in place to help you maximize your experience while still accommodating your busy life:
You may miss a maximum of two, nonconsecutive TIMBo sessions, and no more than one of the first four sessions.
You are responsible for keeping track of the number of sessions you have missed.
You will be unable to re-join the group* if you miss two consecutive sessions or three nonconsecutive sessions. (*If you are asked to leave the group, you will have the option to apply the unused portion of your tuition toward a future group.)
You will receive an email from your facilitators notifying you if your participation is no longer permitted. You will not receive notice from your facilitators prior to this email.
Please let us know if you have sessions you know you need to miss and we will indicate this on the attendance calendar.
Confidentiality
The confidentiality of your TIMBo group discussions is very important to us. Facilitators are trained and required to maintain confidentiality and to only speak of what takes place in the group with their co-facilitators and supervisors if it is relevant to evaluating and refining facilitation skills. As group members, it is also important to honor the confidentiality of the group. Your TIMBo group becomes a sacred space where you can feel safe, connected and understood.
Refund Policy
With a week notice prior to start date of the group you are eligible for a full refund. After the start date of the group (whether you are in attendance or not) you are no longer eligible for a refund for any reason. Pending approval, you may be eligible to transfer your tuition to a future TIMBo group.