The Art of
Aging & Ailing Awake
Living More Fully in Bodies That Change
A 10-week, 20-hour personal development program that honestly explores living in bodies that age, experience illness, and change.
You’ll learn to meet it all with compassion, honor loss, and find meaning, joy, and possibility in whatever body and life you have now and in the future.
Scroll down for dates, starting mid-October, both in-person and online!
What if living more fully and joyfully doesn’t require our bodies to be a certain way?
The “Why” of The Art of Aging & Ailing Awake
Bodies change-along with our abilities, roles, relationships, limitations, and capacities.
The natural aging process, chronic health conditions, and unexpected events alter how we move through the world and understand ourselves and what is possible. These changes bring real loss- and invite us into a deeper relationship with ourselves, others, and what brings pleasure and matters most.
This compassionate and reflective program is about living meaningfully in bodies and lives that may not look or feel as they once did. It offers a place to recognize and dignify what is different without allowing it to define us.
You do not have to feel grateful for all that has happened, call illness a gift, or pretend that loss or life is easy.
You are invited to bring the truth of your experience AND to get curious about what is possible and worth being present to.
This course is for you
if you are…
living with health conditions or pain
experiencing shifts in ability, fatigue, or capacity
grieving a former or future version of your body or life
long for a new vision of life in a body that wants things slower and sweeter
navigating a new phase of aging or health shifts
seeking deeper joy and meaning as you let go of the past
craving connection with others who understand
suspect there is wisdom your body has to share with you
You may identify with aging, illness, both, or neither. No diagnosis, experience, or stage of life is required. Our bodies are not problems to be resolved or resigned to-they are teachers, companions, and sacred ground for living, loving, and becoming ourselves more fully.
What this course is (and isn’t)
What this course is:
honest, hopeful, and down-to-earth
both practical and reflective
inclusive of many lived experiences
a blend of teaching, discussion, practices, and sharing
rooted in neuroscience, psychology, and spirituality
What this course isn’t:
a place to bypass grief or hard truths
medical treatment, therapy, or medical education
about curing, fixing, or getting back to normal
forced positivity, minimizing pain, seeing everything as a gift
a place of venting and negativity
We Explore…
Relating skillfully to bodies that change, tire, hurt, and behave unpredictably
What we can do when it seems we can no longer do anything
Making room for grief without letting it define us
Re-imagining our lives and discovering new possibilities and perspectives
Habits of mind, body, belief, and emotion
Practices that boost immunity, regulate nervous systems, and dignify our spirits
Roles, goals, plans, identities, and self-concepts
In this course, we develop your ability to…
Recognize and work with unhelpful thought patterns
Stay present with grief, overwhelm, and uncertainty
Distinguish acceptance from resignation
Sort out what to influence and what to accept
Clarify your values, needs, and sources of meaning and purpose
Gently work with physical and emotional discomfort and pain
De-armor trauma stored in your body
Ask for, receive, and offer support
Offer yourself curiosity and compassion
Savor beauty, connection, simple pleasures, and find joy
Our bodies are not problems to be solved or resigned to -they are teachers, companions, and sacred ground for living, loving and becoming more of who we can be.
What program participants have said…
You’ll Get…
(10) live weekly 2-hour group sessions. In-person course is offered in (2) modules of 5 sessions that can be taken together for $300, or separately for $170). The online course is only offered in the full 10-week format.
Small Group Peer Connection
Weekly handouts with frameworks, key take-aways, journal or reflection prompts, and practices
Option for supportive 1:1 coaching or bodywork at a 10% discount
Ready to Sign Up? Register Here!
Two Class Formats
In-Person
(Divided into two sections by 5-week modules. Can attend 1, or both.)
Time: Wednesdays • 3:30-5:30 pm
Location: The Charbonneau District, Wilsonville, Oregon
Dates: Section 1 (5 weeks) 10/14, 10/21, 10/28, 11/4, 11/11 Section 2 (5 weeks) 11/18, 12/2, 12/9, 12/16, 12/30
Cost: $170 for each 5-week module | $300 for the full 10 weeks
Online: Full 10-week series
Live and recorded
Time: Wednesdays • 10am-noon, Pacific 1pm-3pm Eastern
Dates: 10/21, 10/28, 11/4, 11/11, 11/18, 11/25, 12/2, 12/9, 12/16, 12/30
Cost: $300
Meet Your Facilitator
Dana Brenner
Somatic practitioner, coach, meditation teacher, group facilitator, and former therapist; Dana brings compassion, depth, and significant skills to this work. She has decades of lived experience navigating chronic and rare illnesses, has her official AARP card, and is on her own journey of aging and adapting to an ever-changing body.