Foundations

Foundations is an eight-week training in the practice at the heart of the ARC Network, dyadic unfolding.

The form is simple enough to learn in an afternoon. From the first session, you will practice it in dyads. The purpose of Foundations is to give you a strong ground from which the practice can keep unfolding over a lifetime, as deeply as you want to take it.

Across eight weeks, the training introduces the practice layer by layer through weekly group sessions and paired practice with different partners. It also introduces the language and frames that give dyadic unfolding its particular quality.

The rhythm

Each week has two parts.

The group session. The whole cohort gathers for 90 minutes on Zoom: arriving together, reflecting on the week's practice, receiving a new layer of teaching, and practicing in pairs.

A paired session. Between group sessions, each participant meets with a new partner for an hour-long dyad. Partners rotate each week.

Foundations is a living training. Each cohort follows the same basic arc, while the rhythm and emphasis continue to evolve with what we learn.

Who it is for

Foundations is for people new to dyadic practice — including those new to contemplative practice altogether, those with meditation training but no relational practice, and those drawn to the ARC who want direct contact with the practice and teachings.

It's also for people with experience in related approaches — Hakomi, Aletheia, Circling, and similar traditions — who want to explore the distinctive way the ARC approaches dyadic practice from first principles. People often find that this deepens and clarifies the practice stream they already carry.

What it asks

You'll spend eight weeks in a vulnerable, intimate space with people who begin as strangers, and you'll practice with a different one of them each week.

The practice isn't therapy, coaching, or crisis support, and it isn't a substitute for professional care. It's a peer practice: two people, neither of whom is treating the other.

How you join a cohort

Before joining a cohort, you'll have a conversation with a member of the ARC. It's a chance to meet one another, hear more about the training, and explore whether the cohort feels like a good fit. If it does, we'll let you know when a place is available in an upcoming cohort.

What follows the training

Graduates who find themselves wanting to explore joining the ARC enter the Entryway. There's no expectation that you'll join the network upon completing the training.