Words That Come From Depths

Words That Come From Depths is a six-week online spiritual workshop in compassionate communication, led live on Zoom by meditation teacher Julia Frodahl. It is a course for anyone who wants to speak more honestly, listen more deeply and stay connected through difficult conversations. It is grounded in the Buddhist principle of Right Speech and woven with frameworks from Western psychology.

The course is aimed at people who ruminate over what to say, rarely share their true feelings, communicate indirectly or passive-aggressively, or find that boundaries come out either as an iron wall or not at all. It also suits those who can't stand small talk and don't know how to use it as a way into deeper conversation. Couples, siblings, and adult children with their parents are welcome to attend together, and the teachings are meant to serve personal, professional and wider social relationships alike.

What to Expect

The group meets for six live Zoom calls on Sundays, from 9 to 10:30am Pacific. Every call is recorded, so a missed session can be watched later. Each week brings clear practices to help the teachings settle in, along with live role-play and group discussion that works through the fear and resistance that can arise when speaking from a more heartfelt place.

The weeks build on one another:

- Week 1: A new way of looking at communication, and the inner work required to communicate with compassion, authenticity and effectiveness.
- Week 2: Listening to understand the other person more deeply, and what to do when you feel defensive or angry, or hear a misperception you want to correct.
- Week 3: Frameworks, specific tools and language for communicating when there is tension, with time spent workshopping practical scenarios.
- Week 4: Further practical tools and continued workshopping.
- Week 5: Applying what you have learned to a suffering world, and the wider benefits of skillful speech.
- Week 6: Additional workshopping and a closing plan for ongoing practice.

Between calls, participants join a private online community to share insights and challenges with classmates. Past participants describe it as kind, safe and supportive.

About Julia Frodahl

Julia Frodahl is a meditation teacher and inner-work guide who offers what she calls a garden of teachings for people drawn to deep inner work that restores self-love, presence and belonging, for the individual and the collective. She describes her approach as slow and honest, work that heals at the roots and changes how a person thinks, feels and lives.

She did not come to this path as a planned career. She came looking for her own way out of pain and for an understanding of the world. As a young adult she studied philosophy, spent time in Buddhist circles, taught herself to write music and lived an artist's life. After a loss that upended that life, she sat with her emptiness in the desert and studied psychology, which shaped the blend of contemplative and psychological thinking found in this course.

Before You Go

This course is open to all levels. No prior experience with Buddhist teachings or psychology is needed. It is taught in English.

Included are the six live group sessions with Julia, recordings of every call, weekly practices, live role-play and guided discussion, workshopping of practical scenarios, and access to the private community. Course materials remain available for six months from the program start date, and extensions cannot be given. One-on-one sessions with the teacher are not part of the course. You can join alone or with a friend or partner.