PAC — Presence • Acceptance • Compassion
You Belong, as you are
Join Us for PAC
Presence • Acceptance • Compassion
A welcoming space to practice Radical Belonging.
Join us for a gentle, guided online gathering where we explore how to meet everyday experiences with greater awareness, acceptance, and compassion.
No prior meditation experience is necessary. Come as you are.
Our Next Online Gathering
Saturday, January 2, 2027
11:00–11:45 AM Pacific Time | Zoom
Gatherings are offered on the 1st and 3rd Saturdays of each month.
The Zoom link will be shared after registration.
Contribution: A suggested contribution of $15 helps support PAC. If this isn't accessible right now, please still come.
PAC is a welcoming space where we explore a kinder, more compassionate relationship with ourselves and the experiences of everyday life.
Life brings moments of joy and connection, as well as stress, uncertainty, loneliness, anxiety, grief, and unexpected challenges. Often, we respond to difficult experiences by judging ourselves, resisting our feelings, or wishing things were different.
PAC offers another possibility.
Through presence, acceptance, and compassion, we learn to recognize what is happening, become aware of our relationship with it, and meet our experience with greater curiosity, understanding, and kindness.
Rather than trying to fix ourselves or eliminate uncomfortable feelings, we explore what it means to make room for the whole of our humanity.
Nothing needs to be fixed before it can be acknowledged. Nothing needs to disappear before it can belong.
A Different Kind of Circle
PAC is a practice-based gathering that combines guided awareness, thoughtful reflection, and authentic human connection.
We explore three fundamental ways of relating to life:
Presence — Becoming aware of what is happening here and now, including our thoughts, emotions, and bodily sensations.
Acceptance — Acknowledging our experience without immediately resisting, judging, or demanding that it change.
Compassion — Meeting ourselves and others with kindness, understanding, and care, especially when life is difficult.
We are not here to become perfect, escape our emotions, or achieve a particular state of mind. Instead, we create space to experience life more directly, notice our habitual reactions, and discover new possibilities in how we relate to ourselves and others.
Our stories are welcome. Our feelings are welcome. Even our resistance is welcome.
We are not practicing to become someone else. We are practicing a different relationship with who we are and what life brings.
Together, we create a welcoming environment where awareness, insight, and genuine connection can develop naturally
What This Space is For
PAC offers opportunities for:
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Slowing down and reconnecting with the present moment.
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Recognizing thoughts, emotions, and bodily sensations with curiosity rather than judgment.
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Becoming aware of habitual patterns of resistance, self-criticism, and emotional reactivity.
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Exploring acceptance without confusing it with resignation or giving up.
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Developing a more compassionate relationship with ourselves, particularly during difficult times.
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Making room for vulnerability, uncertainty, joy, and the full range of human experience.
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Connecting with others through presence, respectful listening, and shared humanity.
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Discovering that we do not have to face life's challenges in isolation.
The invitation is simple: Come as you are. Bring what is here.
Who It's For
PAC may be especially meaningful for you if:
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You experience stress, overwhelm, loneliness, anxiety, grief, or emotional fatigue.
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You find yourself caught in overthinking, self-judgment, or resistance to difficult feelings.
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You want to relate to life's challenges with greater awareness and self-compassion.
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You are curious about mindfulness and direct experience, even if you have never meditated.
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You value kindness, authenticity, personal reflection, and meaningful human connection.
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You want a welcoming environment where you can participate without pressure to share, perform, or change yourself.
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You are open to exploring what becomes possible when you stop treating every uncomfortable experience as a problem to solve.
You do not need previous meditation experience or any particular spiritual beliefs.
You do not need to arrive feeling calm, confident, or ready. You are welcome exactly where you are.
What This Is Not
PAC is not:
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Group therapy or mental health treatment. It is an awareness-based gathering and is not a substitute for professional care.
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An advice-giving or problem-solving group. We practice listening and understanding rather than trying to fix one another.
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A lecture-based class. Brief teachings support our exploration, but direct experience and practice remain central.
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A self-improvement program. There are no achievements to earn or standards of perfection to meet.
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A place where sharing is required. You are always free to listen, reflect, or remain silent.
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A promise of constant calm or happiness. All experiences, including discomfort and uncertainty, are part of being human.
PAC is an invitation to cultivate awareness, acceptance, and compassion in the midst of life as it unfolds.
What Happens When You Come
Each 45-minute online gathering offers a welcoming space to pause, reflect, practice, and connect.
1. Welcome and Reflection
We begin with a brief welcome and a short teaching or reflection drawn from everyday human experience. Topics may include stress, difficult emotions, self-judgment, uncertainty, relationships, or meeting life's challenges with compassion.
2. Guided Awareness Practice
Through gentle guidance, we explore the present moment by noticing thoughts, emotions, bodily sensations, or the breath.
There is nothing you need to achieve. You are encouraged to participate in whatever way feels comfortable and supportive.
3. Optional Sharing and Connection
Participants are invited to share their experiences or reflections, if they wish.
We listen with respect, curiosity, and compassion, without interrupting, analyzing, judging, or offering unsolicited advice.
Sharing is always optional. Quiet participation is equally welcome.
4. Closing Reflection
We conclude with a brief reflection and an invitation to carry presence, acceptance, and compassion into everyday life.
There is no required outcome.
You may leave feeling peaceful, energized, thoughtful, unsettled, or simply curious. Whatever your experience, it is welcome.
Each gathering stands on its own, so you may attend one or both monthly sessions.