Consciousness and Connection

From the creators of Alternatives, Conscious2 and TurnON Britain.

Ram Dass once said ‘If you think you’re enlightened, go spend a week with your family.’

And it’s true right?

We commit to practices to develop our conscious awareness, yet when sensations run high or we become triggered by those around us - whether in love or hate - we can easily regress. For many of us, mindfulness, insight and awareness feel accessible when we're in solitude or the company of our spiritual communities, yet how to do sustain these states in intimate, intense or otherwise confronting environments and situations?

Tonight our panel of experts Malcolm Stern (Co-Director and Co-Founder of Alternatives) Justine Dawson (Director of TurnOn Britain) and Alex Howard (Founder and CEO of Conscious 2) discuss the practice of consciousness in connection.

Consciousness can happen anywhere and everywhere.

Rather than needing to isolate into a meditative or inquiry practice, it is possible to use all aspects of relationship as conduits for consciousness. Conflict, jealousy, desire, sex, intimacy provide potent fuel for the awakening process. No, it's not easy. But there are simple and practical practices you can take on to develop your capacity for mindfulness, insight and awareness in connection.

Tonight's event, hosted by TurnOn Britain, experts in the partnered consciousness practice of Orgasmic Meditation, will combine lecture and interactive exercises to delve into the dynamic frontier where awakening consciousness meets real human connection. Our three panelists have combined levels of mastery in consciousness and connection practices that are not to be missed.

Malcolm Stern is a psychotherapist and Co-Director and Co-Founder of Alternatives at St James’ Church in London. His approach involves finding where the heart is and helping individuals access their truth. His London One Year Group is the centrepiece of his work and has been successfully operating since 1990. Malcolm also offers executive coaching and organisational training programmes. Clients range from the European Investment Bank to the NHS. His book on relationships Falling in Love, Staying In Love was published in 2004 and together with Vanessa Lloyd Platt, Malcolm co-presented the Channel 4 series on relationships Made for Each Other in 2003 and 2004. He runs courses annually at Skyros (Greece), Cortijo Romero (Spain) and Finca Argayall (La Gomera). He also teaches at Esalen (Big Sur, California) and Findhorn (Scotland).

Justine Dawson is Director and Senior Faculty at TurnON Britain, an organisation dedicated to igniting connection through the practice and philosophy of Orgasmic Meditation. She is a 20 year practitioner of Vipassana meditation, and was trained as a teacher under Jack Kornfield. Together with Jack, she's taught at Omega Institute, Mt Madonna and other venerable American spiritual institutions. After years of practicing and training to work with people in the silent retreat setting, she felt called to venture into the realm of engaged practice. This call brought her to TurnOn where she has studied and taught for the past ten years. From the inside out she works with people to dismantle the shame, fear and judgment that prevents them from finding full consciousness in connection. Profound, precise and deeply insightful and Justine is a translator between worlds, bringing the spiritual into the mundane and the mundane into the spiritual.

Alex Howard is an entrepreneur, psychological therapist TV producer and author. He is Founder and CEO of The Optimum Health Clinic a world-leading integrative medicine clinic with patients in 35 countries, and Conscious 2 an online platform for mindfulness, yoga and conscious living featuring over 100 teachers including Marianne Williamson, Byron Katie and Ken Wilber. Alex is the author of several books, and creator of the groundbreaking TV series How I Created