Why Communities of Practice Succeed
Sangha isn't just a nice idea. It's what the research shows actually works.
People don't sustain practices alone. Community-based approaches succeed because participants support each other. Practices become normalized, not heroic. Healing happens in relationship.
The Five Layer Wellness Framework™ addresses five interconnected layers of wellbeing: physical (your body as home), energetic (your capacity and boundaries), emotional (your nervous system and feelings), wisdom (your inner knowing), and spiritual (your sense of meaning and purpose).
Not surface-level stress management. Whole-person wellness education delivered through ongoing community connection.
Building Communities Across Indianapolis
Communities of practice look different in different settings, but the core remains the same: people of the path gathering regularly to support each other's journey.
In academic spaces, I've built communities at IU Indianapolis and Marian University. Graduate writing groups where doctoral students practice together, write together, support each other. Not just productivity partnerships, but sangha. I'm part of a Faculty Learning Community on Pedagogical Wellness at IU, where educators support each other's sustainable practice. This year, I hope to pilot an Academic Writing & Wellness Community with the IU Writing Center.
In faith communities, we practice together, pray together, celebrate together. Primarily at Lawrence United Methodist Church, where I've been a member for over 15 years. I served as Director of Children and Youth Ministry for five years, integrating the Five Layer Framework into Sunday school, summer camp, and youth service projects. For the past decade as Wellness Ministry Director, we've created the church's longest-running wellness programming.
This isn't yoga class happening at a church. It's embodied discipleship... congregants supporting each other's whole-person wellness as spiritual formation.
Our practices are intergenerational and multiracial. Open to all bodies, all ages... from 8 (the age a child can respect library or movie theater customs) through grandparents in their 80s. I've guided practices with grandmother-mother-daughter trios. Husbands and wives practicing side by side. Moms with elementary-age children. Multiracial, multigenerational communities gathering not despite our differences, but because of our shared commitment to showing up.
This model extends to other United Methodist and independent multiracial congregations, creating wellness programming that honors each community's spiritual tradition while addressing whole-person health.
In wellness spaces, I partnered for years with Be Great Fitness, a boutique gym serving women in bigger bodies. Learning how to be fit, yes, but also learning how to love the body they're in. Supporting each other. Celebrating each other. Building sangha in a culture that constantly tells women their bodies are problems to fix.
This is what communities of practice look like: People gathering regularly. Supporting each other's journey. Traveling the road of healing together. Not one-time workshops. Sangha.
How We Work Together
Building communities of practice takes time. Programs range from single sessions to multi-year partnerships, depending on your community's needs and readiness.
Workshops & Presentations (1-3 hours | One-time or recurring): Introduction to the Five Layer Wellness Framework™ with immediately usable practices. Perfect for staff development days, orientation programming, conference sessions, or retreat keynotes. Participants leave with framework overview and practices they can use right away.
Multi-Week Series (4-12 weeks | Weekly or bi-weekly sessions): Comprehensive programming where participants learn the full framework, practice each layer, and build sustainable community. Perfect for small group curriculum, staff wellness cohorts, student organization training, seasonal programming. Community forms. Practices deepen. Sangha begins.
Long-Term Partnerships (Semester-long, annual, or multi-year): Ongoing communities of practice where sangha becomes sustainable infrastructure within your organization. Includes credit-bearing courses, organizational culture change initiatives, train-the-trainer formats, Faculty Learning Communities, ongoing community wellness classes. This is where transformation happens—not through one-time intervention, but through sustained community connection.
Delivery formats: All programs can be delivered in-person at your site, virtually via Zoom, or hybrid. For longer multi-week series, hybrid bookend approach works well—kick off in person to cultivate community, meet virtually for weekly practice, gather in person midway (optional) and at the end for celebration.
All participants receive access to free YouTube practices to continue their practice beyond programming.
