Illuminated

Illuminated is a twelve-week spiritual workshop on Zoom for women who want a prayer and meditation life that feels alive. It is taught by Chana Mason, a somatic therapist, coach and breathwork facilitator, and draws on Jewish mystical sources alongside somatic practice and modern personal growth methods. The cohort is capped at twenty-four women, and the course runs live online with participants joining from wherever they are.

What to Expect

The course builds in a deliberate order. It begins with the body, the most solid place to stand, then moves into thinking, emotional state, and finally consciousness itself. Early weeks focus on learning the language of the body: noticing the tightness in the chest or the pit in the stomach early and treating it as information. From there you study the beliefs underneath an upset and practice shifting them through honest inquiry rather than positive thinking. You also learn to recognize the emotional state you are in while you are in it, and to move on purpose toward the one you want, without suppressing what is real.

Once those relationships are steady, the work opens toward a richer inner life: meditation that feels vivid and colorful, a prayer life you look forward to, and the ability to consciously connect with an ancestor, a holy figure, or a future you are building toward. The aim is to stay grounded while this happens, more present to ordinary life rather than less.

This is practice, not a lecture series. The group meets live for two hours each week, Tuesdays from 4:00 to 6:00 PM Israel time, which is 9:00 to 11:00 AM US Eastern for most of the course. Because the US and Israel change their clocks on different weeks, one session shifts by an hour in Eastern time, and there is one skipped week for Purim. Every session is recorded. Between meetings you receive an Illumination exercise and work with an accountability partner, so the learning continues through the week.

About Chana Mason

Chana Mason is a somatic therapist, coach, author, and meditation and breathwork facilitator based in Jerusalem, with over a decade of work in these fields. Her training spans breathwork, Internal Family Systems, somatic practices, EMDR, the Work of Byron Katie, NLP, Jewish Spiritual Therapy, psychedelic-assisted therapy and Family Constellations, much of it pursued in search of her own healing. She writes that she once struggled with anxiety, depression and a prayer life so strained she could not speak to God, and that everything she teaches is what she needed first. She is the author of Hold That Thought, The Size of Your Dreams and Inner Voices. Her guided meditations on Insight Timer are rated 4.8 out of 5.

Before You Go

No prior meditation experience is required, and all levels are welcome. What matters is a willingness to practice during and between sessions. The course is taught in English.

Included are the twelve live sessions with recordings, weekly Illumination exercises, an accountability partner, and a one-on-one integration session with Chana after the course. You also receive free access to the online course Freedom of the Pen, the audiobooks Hold That Thought, The Size of Your Dreams and The Cash Machine, and a full year of course materials and the community chat.

This workshop is not a fit if you want information without practice, expect a quick fix, or would prefer to stay unseen, since the group is part of the work. Chana also notes that it is not built to support someone in an acute crisis.