A 3 Day Online Course with Jeff Foster
The Gift of Disappointment
Spiritual Awakening Through Loss, Failure and Heartbreak
Embracing negative feelings
as “sacred portals”
of transformation
Slow Down. Breathe.
Sink into wonderment.
Befriend the very place where you stand.
– JEFF FOSTER
A personal invitation to 3 days of profound self-acceptance…
Dearest Friends,
Here’s the liberating, painful, and honest truth:
Sometimes you don’t get to be a Buddha.
Sometimes life doesn’t go “according to plan” (according to your plan, anyway!) and despite all the therapy and awakening and healing work you’ve done, your hopes crumble, your dreams shatter, things don’t turn out the way you expected. Out of the blue, a disappointment, a rupture, a shock, an old pain, fear, trauma resurfacing, the searing grief of the abandoned child within, the rage of a forgotten Universe…
Suddenly, all of your great spiritual insights disappear, and all those beautiful and wise concepts about healing and awakening and spiritual enlightenment … they now feel like empty words, second-hand concepts, useless, and distant to you.
You thought you were healed. You thought you were doing ‘well’. You thought … a lot!
But what’s real, now, and alive, is the burning in the belly, the fire in the soul. The pang of disappointment. The broken heart. The groundlessness. The abandonment, the sense of loss. Unavoidable. Intense. So close. So present.
Sometimes you have to let go of your plans and expectations, and all your clever concepts, and you just have to feel. You have to dive into your body, your nervous system. You have to let go and re-ground. You have no choice.
You have to sense your feet on the floor. Breathe into your discomfort. Awaken from your dream of how this moment ‘should’ be. Throw away all your second-hand ideas about “the path”. And start again, with these very primal, very sacred questions…
What if this disappointment… is actually my PATH?
What if this heartbreak … is actually a PORTAL?
What if I can let go of My Way…. and trust LIFE’S WAY?
*
I’ve always believed that spiritual growth can come from life’s most challenging and even shattering moments. It is in this raw, shaky, tender, vulnerable space of disappointment, loss, failure, and heartbreak that we are invited to truly meet ourselves. These experiences, which we often resist and run away from (and all our addictions are an attempt to run away…) hold an awesome potential to awaken us to the profound truth of who we really are. They can bring great authenticity to our lives. They can strengthen us, and at the same time, open our hearts.
I’m happy to be able to introduce my new 3-day course, The Gift of Disappointment: Spiritual Awakening Through Loss, Failure, and Heartbreak. This course is a really gentle yet powerful exploration of how the moments we fear most, and the pain we run from most, can actually be the very portals through which we find our deepest peace and aliveness.
In three recorded sessions, we will voyage together into the heart of our most difficult experiences. You’ll learn how to embrace life as it is, without the constant need to fix, change, or escape it. You will explore how to release the outdated stories and expectations that keep you stuck, and instead, find the courage to be present with what is. This is not about bypassing pain, or indulging it, but about opening to it as a doorway to truth.
I’ll teach you ways to stay present even in moments of emotional intensity and pain.
And I’ll invite you into a meditative field of deep acceptance, presence and self-compassion.
You don’t need to have any special skills or be on a specific spiritual path to benefit from this course. Whether you’re dealing with the pain of unmet expectations, the grief of loss, or simply the everyday disappointments of life, my course will offer a safe and compassionate space to explore these feelings and uncover the hidden gems within them.
I hope you enjoy this journey.
With love and gratitude,
Jeff Foster
Author of The Way of Rest
P.S. If you join today you’ll get exclusive access to TWO bonus talks + guided meditations (over 85 minutes in total) plus a new video based on my popular poem How I Became A Warrior – recorded especially for participants of this course. More details below!
…or keep scrolling to find out more…
MEDITATION:
NOT JUST A PRACTICE BUT A WAY OF LIFE
You’ve probably heard about the wide range of benefits meditation offers for both mental and physical health: It can reduce stress, improve focus, enhance emotional well-being, and even lower blood pressure.
But… meditation is much deeper than just a practice; it’s a way of returning to the heart of who you are. It’s not about escaping reality but embracing it fully, with compassion and openness.
“In meditation, your only job is to be present. Don’t try to get rid of any aspect of your experience: Your crazy thoughts – just watch them. Uncomfortable feelings – just breathe with them, cry with them, laugh with them. The part of you that hates meditation, the child in you who can’t sit still, welcome it all with open arms. In meditation, even the unwanted is wanted; even your resistance is sacred!”
Meditation is not just a practice, it’s a way of life. It allows you to sit with your pain, rather than run from it. It helps you to see clearly the stories and expectations that bind you, offering a space where you can gently release them. Through meditation, you cultivate the presence and inner stillness needed to transform life’s most challenging moments into opportunities for healing and awakening.
In this course, Jeff will make meditation, and spirituality itself, simple, joyful, human – and humorous! – again. His teachings are suitable for beginners, and for every age and ability and background. Whether you are new to meditation, or you’ve been meditating for decades and feel stuck – or even bored – in your practice, Jeff will give you a fresh contemporary perspective.
Meditation:
Not Just A Practice But A Way of Life
But… meditation is much deeper than just a practice; it’s a way of returning to the heart of who you are. It’s not about escaping reality but embracing it fully, with compassion and openness.
“In meditation, your only job is to be present. Don’t try to get rid of any aspect of your experience: Your crazy thoughts – just watch them. Uncomfortable feelings – just breathe with them, cry with them, laugh with them. The part of you that hates meditation, the child in you who can’t sit still, welcome it all with open arms. In meditation, even the unwanted is wanted; even your resistance is sacred!”
Meditation is not just a practice, it’s a way of life. It allows you to sit with your pain, rather than run from it. It helps you to see clearly the stories and expectations that bind you, offering a space where you can gently release them. Through meditation, you cultivate the presence and inner stillness needed to transform life’s most challenging moments into opportunities for healing and awakening.
In this course, Jeff will make meditation, and spirituality itself, simple, joyful, human – and humorous! – again. His teachings are suitable for beginners, and for every age and ability and background. Whether you are new to meditation, or you’ve been meditating for decades and feel stuck – or even bored – in your practice, Jeff will give you a fresh contemporary perspective.
OUR 3 DAY WORKSHOP COVERS…
DAY ONE
REWIRING EXPECTATIONS:
How meditation helps us surrender to the way things are
“When life doesn’t go my way… can I trust life’s way?”
During this session, we’ll cover:
- How can disappointment and heartbreak be “portals” to spiritual awakening?
- The “healing fire” of meditation: Release outdated images of how life is “supposed to be”
- Why your current meditation practice may be keeping you stuck
- Stop trying to fix yourself – the magic of letting yourself be unfixed
- Accepting loss, heartbreak and disappointment as integral parts of life’s journey
- Staying present even when the mind drags you into past pain and regret
- Recognising your inherent divinity and worth, even in moments of brokenness
PLUS: Guided Meditation for Letting Go & Opening to the present moment
DAY TWO
HARNESSING THE WISDOM OF GRIEF AND HEARTBREAK:
Practicing Self-Compassion In The Face Of Failure And Loss
“Disappointment can soften your mind and open your heart…”
During this session, we’ll cover:
- The transformative potential of grief, and “allowing” your heart to break
- Cutting through rumination and obsessive thinking
- Managing overwhelming emotions “one moment at a time”
- How to meditate when you feel like distracting or fixing yourself
- Being curious about the bodily sensations of disappointment and loss
- The nature of trauma, from a spiritual perspective: dealing with the biggest disappointments and deepest shocks of life
- “Letting go” at your own pace with patience and compassion
- Dealing with self-criticism and thoughts of inadequacy and shame
PLUS: Guided Meditation for Opening to Heartbreak & Deepening in Self-Compassion
CULTIVATING SPIRITUAL RESILIENCE IN CHALLENGING TIMES:
Birthing new life out of the ashes of the old
“The true spiritual warrior is full of doubt and fear… yet they keep walking the path”
During this session, we’ll cover:
- Breaking the cycle of fear and anxiety and stepping back into life
- How disappointment can bring you resilience and deep humility
- Finding gratitude even in times of failure, heartbreak and loss
- Allowing the “little heartbreaks” of each day… and opening to new beginnings
- Trusting your deepest inner experience and surrendering to the Universe
- Reframing loss and failure as an opportunity for growth and creativity
- Why contemplating mortality, and the little ‘deaths’ of life, can open your heart
- How to keep moving forwards even when you’re scared and full of doubt
PLUS: Guided Meditation for Stepping Bravely into Life
Plus Receive These Exclusive Free Bonuses when you Sign Up…
Bonus #1: “Diving into Presence” – Talk + Meditation (50 mins)
Access Jeff’s special talk and guided practice on the issue at the heart of meditation: surrendering to the present moment. A unique audio guide now available to Gift of Disappointment participants, this gentle yet profound session explores how we can find peace even in the midst of inner turmoil – how we can find the ocean even when the waves are choppy! Available for you to download or stream and keep as your personal aid in this process.
Bonus #2: “Meditation for a Broken Heart” – Talk + Meditation (35 mins)
Plus you’ll receive a second special talk and guided meditation on infusing your pain and heartache with tenderness and light – the light of yourself. Instead of running from our wounds, Jeff encourages us to dive in, lovingly, slowly, and with great care. Available for you to download or stream and keep as your personal aid in this process.
Bonus #3: “How to Become a Warrior” – Exclusive video
In this new video recorded exclusively for participants, Jeff shares his popular poem How I Became a Warrior and explores how to apply the poem’s wisdom to your own life. He shares about his own ‘warrior’ journey. Being a warrior is not what you think it is! Yours to stream, download and keep.
“Foster writes from the gut, and his authenticity is off the charts.”
– Esquire Magazine
The Gift of Disappointment
Spiritual Awakening Through Loss, Failure and Heartbreak
Here’s everything you will receive as a participant:
1) Three recorded teaching sessions with Jeff
2) Complete Audio & Video Downloads of All Sessions
3) PDF Transcript Downloads of the Sessions
4) Bonus 1: “Diving into Presence” audio
5) Bonus 2: “Meditation for a Broken Heart” audio
6) Bonus 3: “How to Become a Warrior” video
Enroll in Jeff Foster’s The Gift of Disappointment today…
Please Note: Due to the digital nature of this program, there are no refunds.
If you are experiencing financial hardship please email the support team at support@jefffosteronline.com.
“Strictly speaking, you do not heal ‘from’ trauma.
You heal ‘in’ it, you heal ‘through’ it.
You simply come to know yourself as Life Itself. And you turn towards the wounded place. And you flush it with attention, which is love.
And maybe the wound will always be with you. Maybe you will always walk with the hurt. But now, you hold it. It doesn’t hold you.
You are the container, not the contained…”
– Jeff Foster
About Jeff Foster
Jeff Foster studied Astrophysics at Cambridge University. In his mid-twenties, after a long period of depression and illness, he became addicted to the idea of ‘spiritual enlightenment’ and embarked on an intensive spiritual quest for the ultimate truth of existence. The spiritual search came crashing down with the clear recognition of the non-dual nature of everything, and the discovery of the extraordinary in the ordinary. In the clarity of this seeing, life became what it always was: intimate, open, loving and spontaneous, and Jeff was left with a deep understanding of the root illusion behind all human suffering, and a love of the present moment.
Jeff was voted #59 on Watkins Review’s list of the world’s 100 Most Spiritually Influential Living People. Jeff has published several books in over a dozen languages. His latest book “You Were Never Broken” was published in July 2020 by Sounds True.
Jeff’s simple, compassionate teachings on self-acceptance
have touched thousands all over the world…
“Jeff’s words melt my heart and create an Oasis where I can rest and be myself.” – SY
“Jeff’s expression in this world gives me the permission to be wonderfully messily and chaotically human. Something I never gave myself. His expression literally saved me at some point.” – RC
“I’ve ‘known’ all this stuff for years but you moved it all from my head to my heart….The nuts and bolts of being here now….Falling into the arms of life. In the last call, during the opening meditation, I felt the universe inside me and was beautifully lost in it. Truly life changing, Jeff, and I thank you. 70 years of wandering in the desert and you have guided me home.” – JS
“His words are filled with beautiful inspiration and understanding, and so many times have just touched my soul when I have most needed it.” – JB
“For me Jeff is the voice of the wild soul that truly enters all essence of being and embraces every aspect of it.” – IV
“His words help me to not spiritually bypass my humanity. Put me right there in the middle of everything that Life is.” – VH
“His words, his meditations help me to find rest in me as I am right now, to find peace on my way, to see my fear as a little child looking for my attention and my Love.” – ME
“His words stabilize, normalize, embrace and pacify those of us who feel emotion deeply and haven’t been able to understand that we are beautiful because of them.” – LS
“A conscious voice able to illuminate not only the underlying mystery of it all, but also the deep seated traumas in the human psyche. A rare light that penetrates to the darkest forgotten places at the roots of violence.”- JS
“He helps me to step out of the stories of my mind. He shows me the joy of the open heart.” – JM
“His teachings have touched the deepest place inside and the felt resonance is just so reaffirming that it is all just passing in front of a never changing presence.” – TA
“I thought I was the one that had to carry life! I didn’t trust life at all, not for one minute. I felt like it was trying to take everything from me, even to kill me. I thought I had to learn more, work harder, try harder, work faster, work longer, do more, stay one step ahead … well, you get the idea. Until I couldn’t take it anymore. Then, during meditation, you suggested the unthinkable. To just fall into the arms of life. Life, that dangerous thing I’ve been protecting myself from for decades!! Prepared to die in an instant, I just made that swan dive into the dark abyss with nothing more than the wings of a prayer, and lo and behold I was held! I am held still!” – LH
“Jeff’s teaching gave me courage to face and meet that what seems unbearable. A doorway that was forgotten, overlooked, fled from.” – DW
“Jeff puts into words what I couldn’t express and it moved me to tears. He taught me that it’s ok to be a divine mess, awkward and scared, completely vulnerable and authentic. Learning to leave the mask off and embracing beautiful, f****d-up me.” – AS
“His teachings diminish my fear and allow my own wisdom to flourish.”- MH
“Jeff was the first person to allow me accept what I couldn’t accept – that began my healing process and I will be forever grateful.” – EH
“Jeff’s words have changed my life in that I have come to understand that all of me is worthy of love” – SP
“Jeff has taught me to accept my unlovable parts and start loving the whole of me” – TN
“His teachings have helped me to become best friends with myself resulting in trust, compassion, and grace.” – DC
Frequently Asked Questions
Are the sessions live or recorded?
All of the sessions are recorded and available for you to enjoy now in our member site.
How can I get support?
We are here to support you along the way with any questions you may have about accessing your membership.
For support please email: support@jefffosteronline.com
Please always use this support email rather than trying to contact Jeff. We typically answer within 24 hours or sooner and we are here to make your journey as easy as possible.
I signed up but I haven't heard anything...
Sometimes our emails might end up in your junk/spam/promotions folder, so please do check there!
Refund policy?
Since you will have downloadable videos there will be no refunds after purchase. Thank you for understanding.
Direct any tech questions to support@jefffosteronline.com.
Note: If you are experiencing financial hardship please email the support team at support@jefffosteronline.com.
© Jeff Foster, all rights reserved. | Privacy Policy & Terms & Conditions