Bridging Silence and Transformation:
A Centering Prayer & Ikebana Workshop
Date & Time: Saturday, April 5th, 2025
12:45pm Gathering, Program is 1:00pm – 3:30pm
Location: Community of Christ Church
830 North Kirkwood Road • Kirkwood, MO 63122
COST: $35.00 dollars
(Includes all materials for Ikebana arrangement)
This fee is non-refundable. Registration is at
the end of the page.
REGISTRATION IS CLOSED – CLASS IS FILLED
Please register before April 4 at noon as floral materials
and supplies need to be preordered.
Explore the Contemplative Paths of Mindfulness, Silence, and Spiritual Connection
Join us for a unique, transformative 2.5-hour workshop where you’ll experience the beauty and serenity of two relaxing contemplative practices: Centering Prayer and Ikebana from the Ikenobo School (Japanese flower arranging). This workshop will help guide you toward mindfulness, spiritual clarity, and offers inner peace through silence, presence, and simplicity. By the end of the session, you’ll have learned how to cultivate a deeper relationship with the Divine and nature, all while creating your own beautiful Ikebana arrangement to take home.
What You Will Experience:
Hands-On Flower Arrangement:
You’ll have the opportunity to create your own flower arrangement using materials provided. With expert guidance, you’ll arrange your flowers mindfully, taking time to connect with the beauty and energy of each bloom, stem and leaf, and leave with a an Ikebana arrangement to display at home.
Centering Prayer Teaching:
A 20-minute guided Centering Prayer meditation will introduce you to this modern Contemplative prayer. Learn the simple steps for cultivating inner silence, focusing on a sacred word or breath or inner gaze, and deepening your connection to God through stillness and surrender.
Ikebana of the Ikenobo School:
Discover the principles of Ikebana, the ancient Japanese art of flower arranging, through the teachings of the Ikenobo School. You’ll learn about ancient Japanese floral design, simplicity, and reverence for nature as you create your own Ikebana arrangement.
Please bring pruners or scissors , a small towel (for your work surface) a box to take your flower arrangement home
Flower materials, pitcher, container, plastic kenzan and other supplies provided.
Why Attend?
- Transformative Experience: Both Centering Prayer and Ikebana are deeply transformative, guiding you to inner peace, spiritual growth, and connection with the Divine.
- Mindfulness: Learn the art of mindfulness through silence, meditation, and flower arranging.
- Personal Connection: Leave with a hand-made Ikebana arrangement as a symbol of your spiritual journey.
This is suitable for beginners and advanced floral arrangers for men and women.
Anne Brown, Mary Patterson and Susie Brent are Assistant Professors of the Ikebana Ikenobo School.
Why Ikebana and Centering Prayer?
Ikebana: The Art of Flower Arranging with Mindfulness
Ikebana, or Japanese flower arranging, is not just an art form—it is a spiritual practice rooted in Buddhism. Practitioners of Ikebana don’t just arrange flowers; they may enter into a contemplative state, aligning their creativity with the sacred energy of nature. In Ikebana, each element—whether flower, stem, or leaves—carries meaning, and the simplicity of the arrangement may reflect the clarity and balance of a meditative mind.
The Rokkakudo Temple is said to have been founded by Prince Shotoku about 1400 years ago. Priests who made floral offerings at the Buddhist altar of this temple lived near a pond (the Japanese word “ike”), in a small hut (called “bo”). For this reason people began to call the priests by the name “Ikenobo.”
In 1462 the name Senkei Ikenobo first appeared in historic records as “master of flower arranging.” Senno Ikenobo, who was active in the late Muromachi period (mid-16th century), established the philosophy of ikebana, completing a compilation of Ikenobo teachings called “Senno Kuden.”
Senno Ikenobo taught, “Not only beautiful flowers but also buds and withered flowers have life, and each has its own beauty. By arranging flowers with reverence, one refines oneself.”
Arranging flowers and finding beauty in flowers – these are linked to a heart that values nature and cares for other people. This is the spirit of Ikenobo Ikebana.”
Through the practice of Ikebana, you will experience:
- Mindful Presence: Engage deeply with the natural world around you as you create.
- Simplicity: Focus on minimalism, clarity, and the intentional placement of each flower.
- Connection to the Divine: Each arrangement is a sacred act, attuning you to nature and, by extension, the Divine.
Centering Prayer: A Path of Silence and Stillness
Like Ikebana, Centering Prayer is a transformative spiritual practice that invites you into deep connection through silence and simplicity. Developed in the 1970s by three Trappist monks, Thomas Keating, Basil Pennington, and William Menninger, Centering Prayer is a modern Christian contemplative practice rooted in ancient prayer traditions going back to the Desert Mothers and Fathers.
In Centering Prayer, the practitioner sits in stillness, focusing on a sacred word (such as “peace” or “love”) or sacred breath, or inner gaze and gently returning to that choice when distractions arise. This practice invites the participant to:
- Cultivate Silence: Deepen your connection to God through quiet, contemplative presence.
- Focus on Simplicity: Let go of distractions and bring your focus back to your sacred word or breath or inner gaze, fostering inner peace and transformation.
- Experience Inner Peace: Through practice the discipline of silence, helps you to find yourself in deeper communion with the Divine.
Workshop Highlights
In this hands-on workshop, you will experience both practices—Centering Prayer and Ikebana—as two powerful contemplative paths that guide you toward mindfulness, presence, and transformation.
Cost: $35.00 dollars for floral materials and supplies.
This fee is non-refundable.
A little history on the formation of the Soul Trekkers
In 2022 following a 7 day silent retreat in Snowmass, CO at St. Benedict’s Monastery, Jennifer Beeman, Heather Fricke and Susie Brent gathered with Jenny Adamson and Pat Johnson to discuss potential avenues for sharing the methods of centering prayer with the next generation. It was suggested to combine centering prayer with an activity such as yoga or art.
It was agreed upon that contemplative prayer may enhance and be enhanced by any activity that lends itself to a stillness in mind and heart, a joy within, and being truly present in each moment. The divine dwelling within can be communed with while hiking beneath the trees, free flowing with a favorite melody, exploring and creating in a favorite artistic medium, within the deep breath taken while settling into a yoga pose, energy breath work, or while listening to the draw of classical piano music. These are just some avenues to become more comfortable with simply being.
It is the Soul Trekkers intent to investigate the many branches of the Tree of Contemplative Practices combined with guided Centering Prayer meditation sessions to inspire exploration, joy, and connection in a fellowship of contemplative travelers. While centering prayer guidelines will be offered, any and all meditation disciplines are welcome. The goal is to embrace stillness and foster a relationship with the God within each of us and our true authentic selves. Come share in the beautiful intimacy that stillness in community has to offer.
