Community Testimonials

I facilitate a variety of communities around the practice of realizing spiritual freedom. They span topics such as

• Ego hacking and self inquiry,
• What do you truly want in life,
• The trap of success,
• Awakening together,
• Spirituality and health,
• Spirituality in uncertain times,
• Maturing spiritually together in your twenties,
• How to go through a spiritual turning point, and more.

If you’re interested in joining one of my communities, you can learn more about them here:

Jim’s Communities and Groups

Below are testimonials from my students who have regularly participated in my online and/or in-person communities. You can find testimonials about my one-on-one work on this link:

One-on-one Sessions Testimonials

Life-changing Community

Put simply, Jim Tolles’s communities have changed my life.

Before my spiritual awakening, I had no idea an awakening could even happen to a person. It was as if I had been stumbling around in the darkness, and then suddenly, all of the lights turned on. Everything I’d been avoiding came to the light, and my ego did not like what it saw. I was completely overwhelmed by my pain.

I initially joined Jim’s “Ego Hackers” community because I wanted to get out of that pain. In “Ego Hackers,” we quite literally hack our ego’s code through self-inquiry.

“This is great,” I thought. “I have one or two attachment issues to work on, and then I’ll be back to ‘normal.'”

Ha!

After a few gatherings, I realized that my reasons for joining were actually prideful ego responses, and that being a part of a community meant a sincere, dedicated commitment to unearthing myself. The fear of what I may find was daunting, but I saw others doing the work, and that was a powerful motivator. I began to witness community members experience breakthroughs, drop harmful habits, and come out of trauma responses.

People were transforming before my eyes.

As a childhood sexual abuse survivor and a child of a narcissistic parent, this was huge for me. I had always operated in a chronic state of flight or freeze. My community showed me that not only was it possible to live another way, but that I could do it, too. So, I rolled up my sleeves and started digging into myself with my community by my side. I’m so glad I did.

As of writing this, it’s been a year and a half of being in Jim’s communities. I’ve been in two different “Ego Hackers” groups, and I am committed to the work. I am listening to my body’s wisdom more. I feel clearer, stronger, and more expansive. I have reached states of relaxation I did not know I could access. My understanding of love, intuition, and reality continues to evolve. And perhaps most importantly, I feel deeply supported. The connections I’ve made in the last year and a half have been profound. I have cultivated nourishing, loving friendships with people across the globe. I’ve had the honor of holding space for some of the most aware, insightful, and courageous people I’ve ever known.

In turn, my community has held (and continues to hold) me as I surrender and release layers of trauma. They’ve sat with me while I’ve uncovered painful, repressed memories. They’ve supported me while I’ve cried, screamed, and shaken. They’ve held me accountable when my ego wants to run. I can’t find adequate words to describe what it feels like to be loved in that way. All I can say is: I am grateful.

To be guided by Jim is an invaluable experience. Jim models what it means to be a community builder. He creates considerate group agreements and healthy boundaries, which enables members to feel safe to explore themselves. Each group is enhanced by Jim’s profound spiritual wisdom, practical teachings, and loving awareness. He is a powerful force.

If you’re a potential student considering joining, I strongly encourage you to be supported by one of Jim’s communities. The work is not easy. But it is absolutely worth it. Please know you are welcome here. You don’t have to walk this path alone. 🙂

Kate L.
New York, USA
Ego Hackers 2022 – ongoing

The Power of Community

In late 2020, I joined one of Jim’s spiritual communities called “20-somethings Spiritual Group,” which evolved into a group called “Maturing Spiritually Together” and then “Spirituality in Uncertain Times,” which I am still part of. I’ve seen groups change, deepen, fall apart, and re-form. I’ve seen how powerful a community can be for individuals.

Jim’s communities are an essential part of my trauma healing and spiritual growth. Jim’s guidance was and is really on point and extremely helpful, but being part of a community is what kept me going during those years of digging into the mud of my trauma and various issues. I don’t know if I’d have made it where I am now without the groups’ support during good and bad times.

In the communities, we celebrate progress together, share different perspectives and truths, challenge each other to identify the roots of our egos, and hold space for each other to process whatever emotions or body sensations come up during healing or letting go of ego. I had moments where it felt like the darkness inside me was too much, but I knew I had people around me to whom I could reach out. Group members held me in acceptance and love, and it helped me push through whatever it was that came up.

I’m forever grateful for that.

We lift each other up. Good moments become even better, and difficult and challenging moments become easier with which to work. And there are so many lessons to learn about being in community because unfortunately, most of us humans forgot how to be in community, including myself. Some of the things I’ve learned are:

A community is not just a group of people doing shared activities together, which can be part of it too, of course, but it is a group of people committed to regular communication and who follow a broader purpose.

This is what Jim offers with his spiritual communities.

And it is badly needed.

It just hit me recently how greatly loneliness affects our health in negative ways and how fundamental it is for us human beings. We are social creatures, but we forgot. We’re not taking this seriously enough and think we can do everything on our own, which leaves us stuck, sick, and lonely.

I’ve also seen a lot of people leave groups I was part of, and a lot of the times it happened at crucial points where there was the opportunity to look at deeper issues and traumas.

So if you’re coming up to such a point, I recommend sticking with the community and facing the discomfort because the freedom that is waiting on the other side is priceless.

I whole-heartedly recommend joining one of Jim’s communities to experience and learn about community in your life so that you can get to know the transformational power of community yourself not just for your inner work and spiritual growth, but also for your health.

Nina S.
Austria
Multiple Groups (2020–ongoing)

Discovering Spaciousness in Community

I have been a member of one of Jim’s groups since the fall of 2021. The central question for the group to explore has been, “What do you want?”

Stop and ask yourself that question.

Now, imagine exploring this question in a group of six other people, who are holding it and turning it in their hands like a gem- inquiring about it, seeing it from different vantage points.

Just as the “wants” of group mates change, so too does the content of our gatherings. I never know what to expect in our bi-weekly meetings, as the shape of our conversations and explorations arise authentically and are directly tied to what our group mates are currently working on.

Jim facilitates our conversations and focuses on what the group wants to explore at that given point in time. Given the diversity of experience in the group, a wealth of wisdom and perspective can be applied to the topics we examine together. Because our community has stayed together as long as it has, we have witnessed growth in each other. Beliefs have been challenged, quiet voices have become more confident, and healing cycles have completed.

For myself, in the space of this online community, I have confronted and worked on a baseline emotional state of misery and sadness. While I could put on a show for other folks in other parts of my life, I could not conceal the reality of my emotional state on the virtual calls with my group mates and Jim. It was exposed in the beam of attention from these six caring people. Since I could no longer deny this sense of misery, I had to cozy up to it and see what it wanted to say. Through my work with Jim and the group, I was able to want to engage and integrate this part of myself. After following the thread of this process, I am feeling a sense of wholeness and spaciousness! I am profoundly thankful to my online spiritual community for this!

Clearly, a safe space allowed for this healing to occur. Jim established group norms, which we all agreed to prior to joining the group. We agree to be honest and vulnerable with each other. We understand that things can get messy, emotionally. We agree to own what we were feeling and to honor each other’s experiences. This cultivates a sense of safety and ownership that is both nurturing and empowering.

In addition to upholding our group norms, our community has grown stronger because we reach out to each other between group gatherings. There is a lot of expertise and wisdom among all of the people in the group. I feel like I can reach out to any of them.

It is supportive to have folks just a phone/video call away who understand what you are working on.

I would recommend one of Jim’s groups to folks who are willing to participate. You will have to bring your curiosity and your vulnerability. You will need to be willing to speak up for yourself and to hold space for others. If you are ready to engage with raw authenticity, then joining one of Jim’s online communities can assist you in unraveling your ego.

Feeling Deep Love and Support in Community

If you had asked me what the chances were of me joining a spiritual community a year ago, I would have said zero. I came across Jim’s website during a particularly difficult period in my life, and I was looking for guidance and support, but on my own terms. I attended a few workshops, and on the back of that, I was invited to apply to join several different spiritual communities. I ignored each email that brought these opportunities my way.

Jim invited me to answer some questions about what I was looking for, and I stated something along the lines of, “Something to challenge me and to stop me hiding from myself.” Following this Jim invited me to join a spiritual community for an orientation session to see what I thought. My response was a very quick, “No,” generated by the fear activated in my body at doing anything related to speaking in a group. When the challenge came back from Jim that I was being offered exactly what I was supposedly looking for, I had nowhere to run.

That was in April of this year, and I have been a member of the Uncertainty Group since.

The experience has been enlightening, loving, and terrifying, and one I am so thankful to be having. The community has been a place to learn, listen, grow, and share. Jim’s guidance is kind but unequivocal. He speaks of serious subjects, but at times with such humor. He seeks to bring out the best in all of us.

I feel a deep gratitude for being a part of this group and a love for my fellow community members that I did not know was possible. I feel like I have landed exactly where I am meant to be and look forward to the journey I am on, as part of this unique group, embracing awareness and inner growth and supporting each other in life.

Sandra I.
UK
Spirituality in Uncertain Times Community 2023 — ongoing