The Whidbey Akhaldans Fourth Way School is a center that offers students the opportunity to cultivate integrated development of self-awareness and self-understanding. This self-understanding transforms our inner–and outer–experience of life. Through unlearning our conditioned, past patterns, we are able to connect in a more grounded and authentic way with ourselves, with others, and with the world. This process is always underway, and it is our eternal, joyful Work.

To create and hold a local, non-residential group where we can work together, we’re making space for friends with a wide range of interests and comfort zones. There are some people who lean toward the Gurdjieff work and particularly the Movements. Others don’t resonate with the Movements but enjoy and are awakened by the experiential and playful nature of the somatic integration groups. Still others come just for the Salon, where they find stimulation and the relief of being in a circle of people who want to explore ideas and how they impact us emotionally. We have a small core of people who come for all three and are actively welcoming newcomers.

In this page you will find the various opportunities through which we share this Work, during our in person weekly groups on site. We offer accommodation for participants who are interested to join our groups from off island. Read details down at the end. We also offer weekend and week long retreats.

Upcoming special event – Aikido, the Movements and the Law of 3

• August 15-22 with a full-day workshop on Saturday, August 17

With special guest Aikido Master Tim Detmer visiting from Japan, we will explore how the three Forces can be seen, felt and experienced in the practice of Aikido and in the Gurdjieff Movements.

Please ask Carol for more information: whidbeyakhaldans@gmail.com

Friday Evening – the Seekers’ Salon

Fridays: 7:00-8:30 PM Pacific Time
On-Site: Whidbey Akhaldans Fourth Way School, Coupeville, Washington

Listening, Sharing, and Exploring the Big Questions. We gather with the intention to listen and speak from presence. We’re steadily improving!

Integrative Somatic Experience (Currently on Hiatus)

In this session, we undertake a deep-dive into a three-centered experience (body, heart, and mind) with guided meditations, music, movement, and psycho-drama. We share our observations, insights, and questions with a community that is safe, challenging, and accountable.

We encourage regular participation in this session, as there will be suggested readings and exercises between sessions. We do, however, welcome drop-ins with an invitation from Carol as well.

Saturdays are Community Work Days

This is an opportunity to work together to help ourselves and each other. Light (and not so light) physical labor in yards, attics, garages, gardens and forests provides challenge and satisfaction for all our Centers. Contact Carol if you have a project (on or around Whidbey Island) and/or a wish to help.

Sunday Morning – Gurdjieff Movements and Inner Work

Sundays: 10:00 AM-11:30 AM Pacific Time
On-Site: Whidbey Akhaldans Fourth Way School, Coupeville, Washington
A donation of $20 is gratefully accepted, but not required.

In this session, we develop a deeper understanding of our automatic behaviors, thoughts, and feelings through attention to ourselves. We use Gurdjieff’s Movements and Exercises as a way to develop our capacities of awareness and attention. We connect with our unique qualities of Essence, as well as with others who are Working, and with Nature.

We encourage regular participation in this session to develop the experience of group and community. We do, however, welcome drop-ins with an invitation from Carol as well.

Weekend Accommodation for Off-Island Participants

We have set all the offerings around the weekend so that folks from the mainland can come on Friday evening and stay through to Sunday. We have extra rooms or, when many, comfortable floor space. When there are overnight guests, we make sure to have more opportunities for work together or just space to Be.

For more information, please contact carol at whidbeyakhaldans@gmail.com

Individual 3-day Intensives

Those looking for a more goal-oriented, personal learning experience are invited to apply for an immersive 3-day stay at the Whidbey Akhaldans Center. During this time, Carol acts as a coach and accountability partner in focused aspects of your personal Work.

While the time is technically unstructured, students are invited to spend as much time as they need in the activities that feel right to them. Carol devotes her time and care to the student’s personal journey, and they undertake the Work both formally and informally. Formally, students are offered guided meditations, personalized exercises, in-depth discussions, coaching sessions, and Sacred Dances. Informally, the Work also takes place in small moments: walking together on the beach, sharing meals, and sitting beside the fire. Our 3-Day Intensives are a wonderful opportunity to experience the deep care and personalized attention of Carol, as she coaches her students towards–and through–greater self-understanding.

Upon completion of the Intensive, Carol invites her students to create a formal contract for change with themselves that articulates the much-needed change they seek to bring about.
Intensives require a preliminary conversation with Carol before arrival. The cost of the 3-Day Intensive is $600, and includes 3 nights’ lodging in a private bedroom in the School’s main house, and most meals.

Intensives are offered during the week. You can find out more about our schedule, here.

Residential Program

We offer our residential program at the Whidbey Akhaldans campus in Coupeville, Washington. The school is located on 5 stunning acres of a Pacific Northwest forest, in a beautiful, serene home.

Anyone is welcome to apply, but the final invitations are made by Carol, after an interview. The program runs during the ‘better’ weather months of May, June and July every year.

The cost of the residential program is $600 per month. This includes lodging, teaching, 90 minutes of weekly one-on-one intensive coaching, and participation in any group activities occurring on campus. Participants share a fully-equipped kitchen and bear the responsibility of their own food.

The residential program offers participants the unique opportunity to experience continuous community living, and regular processing of the arising frictions and reactions that are an inevitable part of coexistence. Powerful challenges and subtle shocks will arise as we cultivate deeper self-understanding; these are delivered in a safe, and compassionate space. They prove remarkable and insightful fodder for self-improvement coaching in your one-on-one sessions with Carol.

We share our living and kitchen areas, as well as participate in the upkeep and improvement of our physical surroundings.

Weekend and Week Long Retreats

Working intensely together with intention can catalyze transformation in ways that even regular daily practice cannot. Weekend and week-long retreats provide the space and the framework for some of our most important Work.

For detailed information about our – Weekend Retreats.

For detailed information about our – Week long retreats.