Home / The Programme
Thirty sessions of structured self-inquiry
Six phases, thirty sessions, one repeating form. Free of charge, open to any worldview, and explicit about what it does not claim.
The form
Every session is built the same way
The shape is deliberately plain, so that after the first session you always know what you are walking into. There is no hidden curriculum and no stage you are expected to reach.
The pattern being examined, described without drama.
What you actually do. Usually ten minutes.
The predictable wrong turns, named in advance.
What tends to become noticeable — never what must.
Each phase ends with a short section called Possible links to existential health. Those links are framed throughout as research questions and reasonable hypotheses — never as demonstrated effects of the programme.
Read slowly and take one exercise at a time. Begin with what you actually notice, before you try to explain it. No exercise has a required outcome. If your experience differs from the way the material describes it, that too is a useful observation.
One session, in full
Session 1 — The learned self-image
This is the whole of the first session, exactly as you would receive it. The other twenty-nine follow the same form.
The learned self-image
Problem
From an early age we are told who we are expected to be or become — through family, peers, culture, religion, education, work, advertising and social media. These stories shape how we label ourselves and form a measure we hold ourselves against. When life matches the story of “I”, we feel satisfied; when it does not, we feel discontent. One source of suffering is the constant attempt to live up to a changing story about who we ought to be.
Exercise — Who are you, really?
- Sit still for ten minutes.
- Write down the main stories you identify with — for example: I am a son, daughter, sibling, parent; I am an atheist, Christian, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu; I am a student, employee, manager, retired.
- Imagine setting each story aside, one at a time, and ask: “What remains in my experience when I am not repeating this particular description?”
- Notice the breath, the body, the sounds, and the continuing presence here and now.
- Rest for a moment without forming a new identity. Note what changes, and what does not need to be described.
Common misunderstandings and advice
- Misunderstanding: trying to erase your roles in real life — leaving the family, quitting the job, withdrawing from society. Advice: the purpose is not to abolish roles, but to see that they are changeable mental constructions and not the whole of one’s identity.
- Misunderstanding: creating a new “spiritual” identity. Advice: watch that the mind does not turn “no roles” into one more identity to defend.
Observation
When you see how the experience of “I” is built from stories learned over time, their grip can soften. The roles remain, but they no longer have to carry the whole weight of your identity.
That is one session of thirty. The remaining twenty-nine follow the same form and build on one another in a deliberate order — which is why we work through them with you rather than handing them over as a download. The order is the method.
The arc
Six phases
Each phase has five sessions. The titles below are the whole map; what happens inside them is worked through together.
The learned self-image
From childhood you learn what is praised, what is criticised, what is expected, and which labels fit. Nothing here needs to be abolished. The phase examines how the self-image is built, how it feels in the body, and what happens when a role is allowed to be a role rather than the whole truth about you.
- 01The learned self-image
- 02The mirror of comparison
- 03The self-critical voice
- 04The search for approval
- 05Desire and fear
Noticing what is happening
Attention turns towards noticing itself — how thoughts, feelings and bodily sensations can be observed as changing events rather than as verdicts about reality.
- 06Discovering attention
- 07Attention to thoughts
- 08Attention to feelings
- 09Attention to bodily sensation
- 10Attention when nothing appears
The observer examined
What actually appears when you look for the one who is looking? These are the most demanding sessions, and they carry the clearest caution: where self-experience is fragile, or where there are dissociative tendencies, stabilisation comes before loosening.
- 11Looking for the observer
- 12Where is experience experienced?
- 13What in experience feels personal?
- 14When the witness is examined
- 15Awareness and the world
Less striving for control
How action, rest and relationship change when constant self-monitoring decreases. Functional responsibility and the setting of boundaries remain fully in place.
- 16Noticing what is already happening
- 17Freedom from psychological time
- 18The end of resistance
- 19Relationships without a self-image
- 20Action without compulsive ownership
Compassion and openness
How less self-defence can leave more room for care, creativity and participation. Prosociality is treated as a possibility, not a guarantee.
- 21Compassion without effort
- 22Ethics as responsiveness and responsibility
- 23Creativity as flow
- 24Engaged life
- 25Seeing the world as not separate
Integration into everyday life
How the inquiry can become ordinary, responsible and less preoccupied with special states. This phase does not replace care, grief support or crisis management.
- 26The end of seeking
- 27Resting in the ordinary
- 28Death and continuity
- 29The quiet heart
- 30Life without a centre
Suitability
Who this is for — and who it is not for
The second half of that question matters more than the first, and is asked far too rarely.
Likely to suit you if
- You are reasonably steady in daily life, even if tired or dissatisfied
- You are willing to observe before concluding
- You want structure rather than atmosphere
- You are comfortable with questions that stay open
Not right at the moment if
- You are in acute crisis, grief or suicidality
- You are living with psychosis or severe dissociation
- Your sense of self already feels fragile or unstable
- You are looking for treatment — this is not treatment, and does not replace care
Coherence before loosening. Where self-experience is fragile, stabilisation, relationship and everyday structure come first. That is not a formality — unwanted reactions to contemplative practice are documented in the research literature, and we would rather turn someone away than pretend otherwise. If you are unsure, say so when you write and we will talk it through.
This association does not provide care or crisis support. In an emergency in Sweden, call 112. For non-urgent medical advice, call 1177.
Ways to begin
How to join
All of it is free. This is a non-profit association and nobody takes a fee for this work.
Introductory seminar
A single session on the three levels and what the inquiry asks of you. Enough to decide whether to go further.
Workshop
A longer session working through the early exercises together, with time for what comes up while doing them.
Individual conversation
Your own pace, or something specific. Conversation and phenomenological exercises rather than instruction.
The thirty sessions
The complete inquiry, in order, with guidance and a group.