RESPOND is partnering with 5ToMidnight to bring TIAMAT Tier 1 and RESPOND’s new Guide Development Program (Level 1) to Toronto this November. 

Guide Development Program

The birth of this program was derived from the question “What capacities would a ‘full-stack’ human possess?”, the stack here references a series of domains (more info below) suggested for wise practice. We then further asked ourselves, “What capacities are necessary to address today’s perennial problems?”, or in other words, what’s necessary to thrive in modern-day life? 

The result from asking these questions is the Guide Development Program (GDP), a multi-stage, comprehensive Leadership Development Course. 

While the “Guide” piece refers to what Respond has used to name one of the layers of members in the network (often facilitators of complex and transformational practices and courses), the goal of the GDP is to offer domain-general applicability. We expect ‘graduates’ of the GDP program to be regarded as possessing the necessary skills to lead (themselves and others) across many different contexts whether that’s managing a company, or a team within a company, or facilitating a group process or practice, or being a more effective parent and partner in a familial setting.

More about the Stack / Domains

The domains are referenced in Respond’s: “A Theory of Wisdom Practice” article which is part of the meta-curriculum for Wisdom Practices researched by Respond in 2022 and 2023. In it the article defines an ecology of wise practices that touch into and integrate all of the four domains, Dialogue, Imaginal, Mindfulness and Embodiment. (The GDP program will start to address a fifth domain, Service.) 

We believe that being of service is also a necessary element in a well balanced ecology of life practice. As a result, the GDP program is best suited to people who are in a position to engage with something ‘bigger than themselves’. In other words, being in a position to provide some kind of service. This could be team leadership, helping others with their personal development, or guiding/parenting children. 

As a precursor to the GDP Level 1, participants will take part in More Wise – How to Practice for Wisdom, an online weekend intensive that addresses the Theory of Wisdom and covers the domains via Respond’s Theory of Wise Practice. You can read more about this course-within-a-course here.

The GDP Level 1 focuses on how to sense into and maintain one’s individuality within a group context. You’ll be exposed to exercises that foster your ability to discern what is “yours” and what is not. You can expect to be placed in challenging contexts that stretch and develop these ‘muscles’. 

These include but aren’t limited to:

  • develop an awareness of the self and subjective experience
  • track changes occurring in the group and how they impact you
  • maintain presence with a group context amidst relational fluctuations

Bundle Option: TIAMAT Tier 1 (recommended)

TIAMAT is a secular Ecology of Practices, borne from ritual, performance and theatre that leverages 4E cognitive science to facilitate the cultivation of flow, insight and rationality to afford wisdom and self-transformation.

In Tier 1, you will be introduced to a series of psychophysical exercises that are designed to synchronize mental behavior (thinking, feeling, sensing, observing) with physical actions in relationship with self, other and world. 

Please see the solo event listing here for more information about TIAMAT and the Tier 1 weekend.

In the context of the GDP, TIAMAT Tier 1 functions as a training container to build fluency with the skills that will be employed during the GDP Level 1. A helpful analogy would be thinking of Tier 1 as “shadow-boxing” and GDP 1 as “sparring with a live opponent”. This is not to say that participants who do not take TIAMAT Tier 1 are disadvantaged or in any way unfit for the GDP Level 1. Someone with a good deal of experience in their own ecologies of practice can do just as well in the GDP Level 1. However, TIAMAT might still offer considerable value in terms of a diversity of perspectives and/or integration between practices. 

Investment

Registration: $1500 CAD

More Wise: How to Practice for Wisdom (included w/GDPL1)

  • Pre-Session: Read the two Respond Network articles provided after registration (est. 90mins)
  • Dates (online)
    • Saturday, November 11th and Sunday, November 12th – 9:00am to 1:30pm EST

TIAMAT Tier 1 ($250CAD optional add-on, €500/$500CAD value)

  • Dates (in-person)
    • Friday, November 24th – 6:30pm to 9:30pm
    • Saturday, November 25th – 2:00pm to 8:00pm 
    • Sunday, November 26th – 10:00am to 4:00pm

Guide Development Program Level 1

  • Dates (in-person)
    • Friday, December 1st – 6:30pm to 9:30pm
    • Saturday, December 2nd – 2:00pm to 8:00pm 
    • Sunday, December 3rd – 10:00am to 4:00pm
  • and
    • Friday, December 8th – 6:30pm to 9:30pm
    • Saturday, December 9th – 2:00pm to 8:00pm 
    • Sunday, December 10th – 10:00am to 4:00pm
  • Integration Call (online)
    • TBA – Late December (90-120mins)

Next Steps

There are no educational or experiential prerequisites and the course is designed to start from the ‘ground floor’, and scaffold up as we progress. It is, in effect, open to the public. However, to gauge fitment (the course for you, and you for the course) we ask that you fill out a short registration form, and we will setup in (approx.) 15-minute fitment calls with each participant.

Please note: This course may not be for you if you identify with any of the following:

  • Have experienced Trauma and you are presently (recently have been) experiencing symptoms of that Trauma
  • Are presently experiencing difficulty regulating yourself, or consider yourself prone to dysregulation.

Please note: If you are currently working with a mental health practitioner, we request that you discuss your potential participation in this course with them prior to registration.