Living from the Heart Course
2026-2027

COMMUNITY, TRANSFORMATION, CONTEMPLATIVE LIVING

Connection

Guidance

Transformation

Do you long to come home?

You’re not alone. Many of us experience a restlessness, a desire to come home to ourselves and to God. We grapple with the masks we wear, and at times feel disconnected from our authentic selves in Christ. It’s a journey we all navigate, and together—during the Living from the Heart course—you will be invited to explore and experience a deeper sense of belonging and purpose.

Why Choose SoulStream’s Living from the Heart course?

Living from the Heart offers a learning community that invites participants to deepen their experience of intimacy with God, self, and others.

Opening to God’s heart of love with our whole heart, especially in our most broken places, brings a healing integration within and provides the courage to offer our lives in loving compassion to the world around us.

Personal Encounter

Experience the Way of the Heart that integrates body, soul, mind, and spirit.

Enhanced Receptivity

Learn to embrace God’s presence more fully and overcome what inhibits your spiritual openness.

Transformation

Peel away the masks and discover your deepest self in God.

Guidance

Blend contemplative prayer practices and actionable insights with experienced course facilitators as your guides.

Community

Journey with other participants and facilitators who are willing to be authentic, vulnerable, and supportive.

Impact the World

Discover an inner freedom that nurtures a contemplative response to the world.

Comments from Living from the Heart Participants

“I will cherish this experience forever in my heart.”

“God’s love has grabbed me! I thought I knew it before, but the knowing I’ve experienced now is very different.”

“The transformation that has taken place in me feels remarkable. I sense I Iive with greater freedom and compassion.”

“To travel with a community of fellow journeyers has been a gift—sharing honestly with vulnerability, and laughing too!”

Participating in SoulStream helped Annie and Ricki navigate uncertain and difficult times. They were provided a safe place and the guidance needed to work through the changes happening in their lives at the time.

Receive Support and Guidance

Discover the transformative power of contemplative living and spiritual direction within a supportive community. Join us on a journey of growth and connection as we explore the way of Jesus.

  • Receive authentic and vulnerable teaching by facilitators who share their own experiences of challenges, discoveries, and real life. 
  • Engage in reading and prayer, reflection and conversation.
  • Benefit from mutual support through community gatherings.
  • Embrace a countercultural path that will nourish your soul. 

Your Living from the Heart Journey in 3 Steps

02

Explore

Dive deep into teachings, contemplative practices, and immersive spiritual experiences with a cohort over 8 months.

03

Transform

Embrace a life enriched with spiritual awareness, transformation, and deeper connections.


FAQ’s

The mission of SoulStream is to nurture contemplative experience with Christ leading to inner freedom and loving service.

Real, honest experience — all the daily stuff with its endless opportunities to open to God’s love, the beautiful surprises to savour, and all the brokenness that we share in common and that calls forth compassion.

We seek to live authentically with Jesus by encouraging one another to receive the gift of God’s intimate and loving presence in all of life.

To that end, SoulStream offers courses such as Living from the Heart, spiritual direction training courses and workshops, a committed contemplative community of partners, and other ways to nurture an awakened, receptive, trusting experience in the face of all the opposing pressures of the world we live in.

Learn more about SoulStream’s Values and Commitments here.

Living from the Heart offers a learning community that invites participants to deepen their experience of intimacy with God, self and others. Biblically speaking, the heart is the very core of life out of which intellect, emotions, and intentions flow.

Opening to God’s heart of love with our whole heart, especially in our most broken places, brings a healing integration within and provides the courage to offer our lives in loving compassion to the world around us.

Learning & Teaching Approaches:

A variety of collaborative learning and teaching approaches are used including: mini-presentations; short, structured written personal reflections on assigned reading; demonstrations; small group discussion and activities.

Participants will be invited to engage their imaginations with the use of textures, colours, music, poetry, prayers and plain old fun! Between teaching times, we encourage mutual support among participants through community gatherings. The small team of facilitators will provide feedback on reflection papers and offer what they teach honestly and vulnerably, sharing experiences from their own lives.

Course Content:

  • The Way of the Heart opens us to encounter God personally, integrates body, soul, mind, and spirit, and helps us live out of who we truly are in Christ.
  • Spiritual Awareness and Receptivity: We explore ways to become more open to respond to God’s presence in all of life and identify what inhibits our receptivity.
  • Spiritual Transformation: We gain a deep sensitivity to the dimensions of spiritual transformation into Jesus’ image, coming to freedom in our deepest truth in God, dealing with the masks we hide behind, and cultivating spiritual practices that support our life in God.
  • Contemplative Prayer and Discernment: We come to understand that prayer is responsiveness to the active, living presence of the Holy Spirit; learn ancient contemplative practices; and discover how prayer is integrated into all of life and deepens our ability to discern God’s will.
  • Contemplative Living: As Jesus’ friends, we are called to love our neighbour, care for the earth, and seek justice. With joy we discover, that our response to the world becomes a natural outflow of contemplative prayer and practice.

Please see the “2026 – 2027 Living from the Heart Cohort Options” section below on this webpage.

Anywhere from 10-20.

Absolutely! Call 778-201-4492 or email soulstream1@gmail.com to speak with our Administrator. You can also use this quick contact form: Ask a Question.

Program Fees and Payment Schedule

  • Tuition: $1450

Tuition and accommodation fees will be payable as follows:

  • 50% within one month of acceptance to the program
  • 50% by September 1 of the current year

Not covered by program fees:

  • Personal spiritual direction (10 sessions)
  • Books required for the course
  • Transportation

Cancellation Policy

Participants who withdraw before the registration deadline will be reimbursed the total cost of monies paid for tuition and accommodation if applicable, minus a $50 administration fee.

Participants who cancel after the close of registration and before 15 days in advance of the course beginning will receive no refund for tuition and 50% of monies paid toward accommodation, if applicable. In discussion with the administrator, they may defer their tuition and accommodation payments to the following year if applicable.

Participants who cancel fewer than 15 days in advance of the course beginning will receive no refund of monies paid for tuition and accommodations.

All application fees are non-refundable.

SoulStream recognizes that unforeseen circumstances may arise that cause participants to withdraw. When circumstances are beyond a participant’s control, they can contact the SoulStream administrator to discuss possibilities for refund or deferral.

If SoulStream Cancels

If SoulStream cancels an offering/course without rescheduling, registration fees may be offered to SoulStream as a donation for a tax receipt if the participant chooses, or refunded in full.


“Living from the Heart offered me a safe and spacious place to explore my doubts, fears, and lack of spiritual answers. I didn’t end up with more answers, but what I received was so much more valuable. LFTH led me into a more authentic way of living that encompasses my whole being, enlarged my view of God, and deepened my awareness of the Sacred in me and all around me. LFTH was so much more than a course; it was a place of transformation.”
—Anonymous



“I joined Living from the Heart hoping to take my fledgeling contemplative practice deeper. The cohesive and vulnerable team of facilitators presented well-planned content that included beautiful and meaningful music and poetry. They also shared deeply from their personal journeys, which set the tone for a spirit of openness within the cohort. Although the days were intense, we had time to reflect individually as well as to share with others. It was clear that each and every person was respected in terms of where they were and how able they were to be open with themselves, others and God. My connection with myself and with God has indeed grown deeper and I look forward to continuing the journey as it unfolds. I am excited by life with God!”
—Anonymous



“Living from the Heart has been a journey of healing and new beginnings. I am so thankful for the creative way that the Christian tradition was offered to me, with both intellectual and spiritual freedom, which has helped me to live into the truest part of who I am. Today, almost a year later, I find myself walking much more gently with myself, others and God. I find myself opening to my day-to-day life looking longer and listening deeper to the ‘teachers’ that come almost every day.”
—Anonymous

2026 – 2027 Living from the Heart Cohort Options

Online – Zoom

October 2026 to May 2027

Living from the Heart is offered online through Zoom, including two weekend retreats and six full-day Saturday sessions.

Course Dates:

October 2 – 4, 2026
November 7, 2026
November 28, 2026
January 2, 2027
February 6, 2027
March 6, 2027
April 3, 2027
April 30 – May 2, 2027

Course Fees1:

Tuition: $1,450.00
Application fee: $75
Application deadline: August 30, 2026

Course Facilitators

Carrie Dickman*
Cherie Tetz*
Doug Schroeder*

Onsite – BC

October 2026 to April 2027

Living from the Heart is offered through two weekend retreats held at the beginning and end of the course. Six full-day Saturday sessions will be held at Highland Community Church in Abbotsford.

Course Dates:

Oct 2-4, 2026 at Little Flower Monastery, Deroche
Oct 24, 2026
Nov 28, 2026
Jan 9, 2027
Feb 6, 2027
Mar 6, 2027
April 10, 2027
April 23 – 25, 2027 at Rivendell Retreat Centre, Bowen Island
Weekend retreats: 7 pm Friday to 3:30 pm Sunday
Saturdays: 9 am to 4:45 pm

Course Fees1:

Tuition: $1,450.00
Application fee: $75
Accommodation and meals:
$925.00 total (see PDF Brochure for details)
Application deadline: August 15, 2026

Course Facilitators

Audrey Hoehn
Audrey Hoehn*
Brent Unrau
Brent Unrau*
Esther Hizsa
Esther Hizsa*

1 All books and cost of personal spiritual direction (10 sessions) not included. Options for fitting this into your life financially can be discussed with our course administrator.
A minimum of ten registered participants per cohort are needed to go ahead with the course.

*Denotes Independent Contractor

Do you have a pre-application question?

If you would like to speak with someone about Living from the Heart, please call 778-201-4492 (leave a message if we don’t answer) or use this form to send us a message and we’ll reply as soon as we can.

Name
How should we respond?(Required)

Join Living from the Heart

Apply Now

We are delighted that you are considering joining the Living from the Heart Course.
Please complete the following application to secure your spot. Kindly note that the application fee of $75 is in addition to the tuition. Thank you for choosing to embark on this journey with us.


Contemplative Prayer

Understand prayer as a responsiveness to the Holy Spirit.

Discernment

Learn to navigate life’s complexities with wisdom, clarity, and a deeper understanding of God’s guiding presence.

Contemplative Living

Learn to love your neighbour, care for the earth, and seek justice as natural outcomes of your deepened spiritual practices.

Living from the Heart Course

COMMUNITY, TRANSFORMATION, CONTEMPLATIVE LIVING

Early Bird discount for applications received by February 14, 2025.