In this seve
n-week online course, Steve Taylor will explore spiritual awakening through poetry and meditations. In each session, Steve will read some of his spiritual poems and lead meditations, exercises and discussions based on the poems. Each session will be based on a particular theme, dealing with a different aspect of spiritual awakening or spiritual experience. Participants will also be guided and encouraged to create their own poetry (although this is optional of course). Many of the poems will be taken from Steve’s book The Calm Center, as well as many as yet unpublished poems. The course takes place on zoom.
To purchase the course, use the form at the bottom of this page.
“The Returning to the Calm Center online course will be a journey of spiritual awakening, by means of poetry and meditation. We will experience many moments of stillness, presence, oneness and harmony. I will provide guidance on the journey, and share many practical exercises and spiritual contemplations that could become an important part of your life.”
Steve Taylor
About the course:
•The course lasts for 7 weeks, with one zoom session per week, from Sunday 13th April, 2025. It will begin at 7pm UK time, 8pm CET, 2pm EST, or 11 am PST.
• Each session will last for around 75 minutes, with the opportunity for questions and discussion at the end.
• All sessions will be recorded, if you can’t make the actual time, or in case you want to watch again. The link to the video will be sent out shortly after the end of each session.
• Courses members will also be sent links to guided meditations, and also the texts of the poems that Steve reads.
• At the end of each session, Steve will recommend meditations and exercises to practice before next Sunday.
• You will also be able to correspond directly via e-mail with Steve and his assistant in order to clarify any issues which arise.
Here is an overview of each of the seven sessions:
Session 1: The Journey of Awakening
What does awakening mean? What does the journey entail? In this session, we will experience spiritual awakening as a journey from separation to oneness, from discord to harmony, and from the surface to the essence of our beings. We will discuss some of the obstacles that may block the journey, or that may arise along the journey. Steve will read poems such as ‘The Core’ and ‘Become the Sky.’
Session 2. Transcending the Ego
We will disidentify from the ego, by standing back and observing the thought-mind, without attaching ourselves to it. In the process, we will slow down and still our minds, and attune to a deeper self beyond the ego. In the process, we will become free of negative thought-patterns, and experience the harmony of our essential nature. We will learn to see the ego-mind as a tool to use whenever we require its logical and organizational intelligence, but which we can let go off as soon as we no longer need it.
Session 3. Presence and Poetry
Presence is an essential spiritual quality. In this session we will cultivate presence and experience the freedom and natural joy that presence brings. We will also experience the heightened perception and sense of wonder that arise in presence, recapturing the fresh and vivid vision of childhood. We will also find that presence brings creativity, and have the option to create our own short poems, based on the Japanese Zen principle of mitate. Steve will read poems such as ‘The Clear Light of the Present’ and ‘A Moment without Thought.’
Session 4. Letting Go
Many of Steve’s poems focus on the transformational effects of acceptance and surrender. In this session, we will let go of our resistance to life, and experience the harmony and oneness of acceptance. This includes accepting ourselves, letting go of judgement and self-criticism and allowing ourselves to shift out of doing and into a mode of being. We will also experience the joy of letting go of our psychological attachments and connecting with the fundamental wholeness and contentment of our deep being. Steve will read poems such as ‘The Alchemy of Acceptance.’
Session 5: Oneness with Others
Connecting with others – other people, living beings and nature as a whole – is an essential aspect of spiritual awakening. As we awaken, we naturally become more empathic, compassionate and altruistic. We transcend separateness and attune to an impersonal formless essence within us, which we sense exists within all other beings, bringing us into oneness with them. In this session, we will cultivate this connection, and experience our fundamental oneness.
Session 6. Oneness with the Body
Many of Steve’s poems focus on sensing the sacredness of the body, as an expression of spirit. In this session, we will experience the oneness of spirit and body. We will sense spirit pervading the physical form of our bodies, and flowing through them as our subtle body. We will also explore the link between the body and presence. Since the body is always in the present, awareness of the body is a gateway into presence. We will also remind ourselves that the body is a temporary form, as is life itself (at least in this form). Steve wil read poems such as ‘The Wave’ and ‘Oneness with the Body.’
Session 7: Awakening and Evolution
The impulse that we feel to awaken is part of the evolutionary process. We are awakening on behalf of evolution, continuing a process that has been ongoing for millions of years. In this session, we will connect our own awakening to this universal process, and sense our own being as the expression of universal consciousness. Again, we will use meditation and presence as a way of tapping into our creativity. We will have the opportunity to create our own poems to depict our own journey of awakening.
Testimonials from Steve’s previous course, The Adventure :
“The course was more than just one single adventure. It has a lasting effect on my life. Each morning when I get up I feel grateful to be simply here, being a part of something greater than our mind can imagine. The exercises help to deepen the new perspective on life which is much wider. I feel that life is in a flow – no matter how challenging it is. It’s great to have the meditations to connect each day to my deep inner being.” – Elisabeth
“Steve’s authentic, heartfelt persona directly points to our spiritual nature in a down to earth, warm, generous, clear and profoundly poetic manner. The Adventure course has allowed me to reflect, recognise and grow. It has been a privilege to be part of the program, highly recommended.” – Phil
“It’s been life changing for me.” – Sandy
“Being together and doing so many practical exercises during the course and the week after created a kind of energy and space to grow awareness and experience change for all of us during those weeks together. This was very helpful for me! Steve excelled in his teaching by naturally being as fully aware as possible while teaching! I think this is the best way for students to learn; by demonstrating what they are teaching. Not just repeating what has been said so many times in different ways.” – Odette
“Thanks to Dr. Steve Taylor for sharing an engaging, genuine, inspiring journey with all the course members! A “must attend” opportunity, to connect with your wider Self.” – Francesco
”Thank you for the grace you share in the quest of the deeper meaning and the soul of life.” – Perrin
“This present entity also feels deep gratitude of all you’ve done here and through your work as spiritual psychologist and poet to bring us humans back into touch with what we sometimes seem to have very nearly lost – our true nature.” – Rob
“I have thoroughly enjoyed the course and it has been very beneficial and thought provoking, I have learnt and I am still learning and growing a lot.” – Ronnie
“Just wanted to express my gratitude and appreciation for you and this course. It was wonderful to be able to join this experience. The rigour of your work has been a great comfort to my journey.” – Belinda