Course Offering
The Reciprocity of Sentience and Presence
June 12-15, 2025
The Seventh Sense Care Collective
1640 Bulls Head Road, Clinton Corners, NY 12514
A 3.5 day course facilitated by Karen Bellone, with a special afternoon session facilitated by Jennifer Cohen Harper with Mindfulness with Horses, is designed for all people, with an emphasis on those who care for the dying ~ doulas, hospice workers, nurses, caregivers, to further develop the ability to hold space and be fully present. This workshop is to develop the innate abilities we all possess - that of sentience and presence, and how they intertwine to reveal the power of our own true nature.
We’ll be joined on Friday by Mindfulness with Horses founder Jennifer Harper, who will support us in connecting to the equines of 13 Hands through a framework of awareness, consent, and compassion. In learning to share space in meaningful ways with these highly sensitive beings we’ll build our capacity for attunement, present moment awareness, and clarity in non-verbal communication. The skills gained during the session will allow us to engage in supportive ways with these powerful beings throughout the rest of the workshop.
Sentience: The quality of being able to experience feelings
Presence: A person or thing that exists or is present in a place but is not seen
Reciprocity: The practice of exchanging things for mutual benefit
For our days together, (except for our bonus afternoon with Jenn) our morning and afternoon sessions will be based around guided meditations, individual and partner exercises, reflection time engaging with process, working with items brought with you to the workshop (more on that after registration), and group sharing.
The subjects we will engage with are:
•Orienting with the Five Senses/Language of Sensation
•Integration of Other Senses and Synergy of Sense
•Perception and Memory - Physical, Emotional, Collective, Ancestral
•Getting to Know the Body's Wisdom
•Auric Fields, Subtle Bodies, Liminal Spaces
•Components of Mystical Experience - Unity, Noetic Quality, Sacredness, Ineffability, Transcendence
•Rituals and Safe Spaces
•Life Stories and Our Narratives
•Disengagement and Self-Protection
•Self Care
Content Overview:
For those accompanying the dying, the ability to hold space and to be present are essential elements, yet they are often elusive concepts to understand how to develop further. The Reciprocity of Sentience and Presence is designed to help strengthen these innate abilities we all possess. We can come to further understand our organic relationship with this infinite, yet invisible, aspect of integrative knowingness.
The body itself, the vessel that carries our mortality, is the source of great wisdom. It is here with us in this lifetime to work in tandem with our brain, and is an essential part of our thinking and feeling mind. Nature has endowed us with powerful tools, often dormant in our understanding of ourselves. Once re-awakened, this knowledge can help us to embrace a more vibrant and authentic experience of living, connected to the energetic world we are a part of. The exploration to remember and reinforce these fundamental aspects of our own true nature will help to foster healing, well-being, and a sense of safety and security. We will reconnect with our innate wisdom, re-kindling a more profound knowingness; an embodied and empowered sense of self. This is not only of great benefit to us individually, it also deepens our ability to hold space for others.
This Training is for:
This workshop is appropriate for doulas, nurses, caregivers and those who accompany and hold space for others, as well as anyone who wants to invest in a deeper relationship with themselves; to embrace learning how to live more fully while alive, with the understanding that these tools may be there to aid us when our time comes to shed this mortal coil.
Location:
The Seventh Sense Care Collective- 1640 Bulls Head Road,
Clinton Corners, NY 12514
Half-day at 13 Hands Equine Rescue - 50 Tuscan Way,
Clinton Corners, NY 12514
Schedule:
Thursday: Opening Ceremony 5-8pm (dinner provided)
Friday: 10-5pm (lunch and snacks provided) - Lunch 12-1 1pm-5pm at 13 Hands Equine Rescue
Saturday: 10-5pm (lunch and snacks provided)
Sunday: Final Session and Closing Ceremony 10-3pm (lunch and snacks provided)
Format:
Education/ Introduction
Experiential Exercises
Movement and Meditation
Community-Building
Facilitators:
Karen Bellone
Death Doula, Artist, Founder of The Seventh Sense Care Collective
Karen Bellone, MFA, is a Certified End-of-Life Doula and Death Educator. She is the founder of The Seventh Sense in NY’s Hudson Valley, where she is an integral part of a worldwide community that is reigniting the wisdom of death within our modern lives. She is also founder of Exit Strategy for Dying, a monthly Death, Arts and Culture Readers supporting a resource hub to educate and refocus the narrative around death and grief through the lens of arts, culture, storytelling and innovation. Prior to embracing her passion for end-of-life work, Karen has had a long career as an award-winning filmmaker and internationally collected photographer. She received a BFA in Film Production from New York University, and did graduate work with the world-renowned Actors Studio, through their inaugural program at the New School for Social Research.After training and becoming certified with INELDA (International End of Life Doula Association), Karen worked with an innovative hospice in Los Angeles where her skills as a death doula were developed and broadened. In addition to working with patients in various stages of their life journeys, she was responsible for training the volunteer staff, nurses and other hospice and medical professionals to bring more understanding, humanity and compassion into their work with the dying. She believes strongly in the ability to demystify and assuage the fear that surrounds death in our culture and to foster safe passage for the dying, as well as to aid the families and loved ones through grief and bereavement.
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Jennifer Cohen Harper,
Mindfulness with Horses
Jennifer Cohen Harper is the founder of Mindfulness with Horses, which offers transformative equine assisted learning retreats for adults and families, with a home base here in the Hudson Valley at 13 Hands Equine Rescue. Jennifer is a mindfulness and yoga educator, TF-EAL (trauma focused equine assisted learning) facilitator, author, mother, and lifelong student of horses. The driving force of her workis sharing practices and experiences that support healing, strengthen connection with ourselves and others, and help people joyfully embrace the full human experience. Jennifer has been studying embodied mindfulness practices since 1998 and has been teaching since 2005. She has over 17 years experience providing training to mental health providers and educators interested in incorporating embodiment practices into their work. Thought leaders including Dr. Daniel Siegel, Mona Delahooke, Sharon Salzberg, and Rick Hanson have endorsed Jennifer’s work, and she has been featured in notable publications such as Psychotherapy Networker, The International Journal of Yoga Therapy, and The New York Times
Exchange:
$675 + $50 facility fee for 13 Hands Equine Rescue
This includes 3 days of lunch and one dinner, plus snacks and beverages. Course fees are for educational services and not donations to the Seventh Sense Care Collective.
Accommodations for non-commuters available at 13 Hands Equine Rescue which is a short 5 minute drive from The Seventh Sense. Please inquire for more information, prices per retreat as follows:
1 Ensuite Room - $225 per night ($675 per retreat)
4 Regular Rooms with shared bathroom - $125 per night ($375 per retreat)
2 Apartment Rooms with shared bathroom - $175 per night ($525 per retreat)
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Course Reservation
No Accommodations
$725 Course Exchange -
Ensuite Room: Accommodation - Course Registration Not Included
Accommodation at
13 Hands Equine Rescue
$675 Ensuite Room Fee ($225/night) -
Apartment Room: Accommodation - Course Registration Not Included
Accommodation at
13 Hands Equine Rescue
$525 Room Fee ($175/night) -
Regular Room: Accommodation - Course Registration Not Included
Accommodation at
13 Hands Equine Rescue
$375 Room Fee ($125/night)