Steve Taylor, PhD
Your deepest moments of presence are already poetry waiting to be written.
Embody stillness, gratitude, acceptance, and other qualities of an awakened heart to liberate your poetic voice, reconnect with the deeper meaning of your life — and cultivate a new way to express what you feel in times of upheaval.
Have you ever noticed that sometimes you feel most alive in your quietest moments?
The sudden stillness in a room after everyone leaves… steam rising from your tea in the first light of morning…
Rich moments like this when your mind softens, your breathing slows, your body relaxes, and, for a brief instant, you’re simply — here.
When that happens, ordinary language can feel too heavy to hold what you just experienced. What wants to come through instead is something simpler: a few honest words, an image, a line that captures the essence of what you felt.
Across centuries, some of the clearest expressions of spiritual awakening have appeared this way — not as doctrine or philosophy, but as poetry. The ecstatic verses of Rumi and Hafiz. The luminous observations of Mary Oliver. Words that emerge when awareness grows quiet enough for life itself to speak through us.
Psychologist, poet, and spiritual teacher Steve Taylor, PhD, has spent decades exploring this living intersection between awakening and creativity — and how moments of deep presence naturally give rise to expression.
In his new 7-week live video course, he’ll guide you through a powerful, experiential journey in which meditation, awareness, and creative expression work together to deepen your spiritual insight and creative flow.
Steve is the author of numerous bestselling books on psychology and spirituality, along with four books of spiritual poetry, including his latest book Back to Stillness. A senior lecturer in psychology and former chair of the Transpersonal Psychology Section of the British Psychological Society, he brings together psychological clarity, spiritual depth, and decades of experience guiding people through genuine inner transformation. Eckhart Tolle has described his work as “an important contribution to the shift in consciousness which is happening on our planet at present.”
What makes Steve’s approach so refreshing is its simplicity. Rather than something distant or mysterious, awakening becomes something you can recognize and cultivate in everyday life — a shift in perception where the world begins to feel more vivid, meaningful, and alive.
In each session, you’ll explore one essential quality of awakening — such as stillness, gratitude, acceptance, embodied presence, compassion, freedom from the mental noise of the ego, and a growing sense of oneness with life.
Steve will share some of his own poems that illuminate each quality, and lead you in meditations and contemplative practices designed to help you embody it directly — not just understand it conceptually.
He’ll guide you through simple but powerful creative practices to express what you feel in short poetic forms. Often this may take the shape of haiku, the ancient poetic form designed to capture flashes of suchness — life exactly as it is — distilled into just a few words. A single image. A moment suspended.
You don’t need to think of yourself as a poet or writer. You might not think you’re creative at all. But you’ll be invited to write as a way of embodying moments of presence that suddenly feel intimate, distinctly universal — and honest.
As the weeks unfold, you may find that instead of searching for the answer to what life is really about, you’ll begin to recognize it in ordinary moments, quiet realizations, and a few simple lines that speak unflinchingly to the true essence of existence.
During this creative, spiritual journey, you’ll:
- Connect with your poetic muse and release creative blocks that may have kept expression dormant
- Understand why poetry has long been a natural language of spiritual awakening
- Practice guided meditations that cultivate presence, gratitude, acceptance, and inner stillness
- Learn how to disidentify from ego-driven thought patterns and reduce overthinking and mental suffering
- Use haiku and other simple poetic forms to express moments of presence
- Release resistance and psychological attachment so you can experience greater harmony with your world
- Discover deeper gratitude for ordinary moments and see more clearly the blessings woven through daily life
- Recognize your body as a sacred gateway to spirit, rather than something separate from an awakened life
- Deepen your sense of connection with other people, nature, and the wider web of existence
- Gain a simple meditation-to-poetry practice you can return to time and again for ongoing spiritual growth
- How to express the sacredness of your body in poetic form
- And much more…
What You’ll Discover in These 7 Modules
In this 7-week transformational course, Steve will guide you through the wisdom and practices you’ll need to reawaken your creative voice by cultivating the inner stillness and awareness from which poetry — and spiritual insight — naturally arise.
Join the Livestream — or Stream Later to Watch at Your Convenience
You’ll connect with Steve and experience his teachings through livestreaming video via any connected device. This connection is easy to use and will enhance the impact of Steve’s transmissions. Can’t make it live? After each class, you can stream the video and audio recordings to enjoy anytime and anywhere at your convenience.
Course Sessions 2026-04-28 9:00:00 am.
This course will feature LIVE teachings, interactive sessions, experiential practices, and Q&A with Steve. Each session will build harmoniously upon the previous ones, so you’ll develop a complete holistic understanding of the practices, tools, and principles you’ll need to embody presence, gratitude, acceptance, and other awakening qualities that can awaken your poetic voice and reveal deeper meaning within ordinary moments.
Module 1: Presence — Connecting With Your Poetic Voice Through Stillness (2026-04-28 9:00:00 am)
Steve will guide you to explore the connection between poetry and spiritual awakening, and why poetry is such a natural vehicle for expressing spiritual experience.
He’ll start off by reading one of his own poems, then guide you through a meditation on slowing down — illustrating how slowness is so closely related to presence.
As your attention settles, you may rediscover the fresh, vivid vision of childhood, and how presence opens creativity. You’ll also create your own haiku to capture a moment of presence.
In this opening module, you’ll discover:
- Why poetry naturally arises from spiritual experience and can express insights that ordinary language cannot
- A guided meditation to experience how slowness opens the door to presence
- Common obstacles that pull you out of presence and how to gently return your awareness
- How increasing moments of awareness deepens creativity and perception
- What haiku are and how they capture brief flashes of presence, helping you express moments of awakening in just a few words
Module 2: Beyond the Ego — Freeing Yourself From Mental Suffering (2026-05-05 9:00:00 am)
Steve will explain why the first stage of spiritual awakening is to disidentify from the ego. He’ll read another one of his poems, and then guide you through a meditation to experience your thoughts as a process you don’t have to latch onto, but can simply allow to flow by.
You’ll also disidentify from the story of your life, and taste a greater freedom from the past. From this state of no-mind, poetic creativity can begin to arise naturally.
In this module, you’ll discover:
- How identification with the ego creates suffering and keeps you bound to mental noise
- A guided meditation to help you let your thoughts pass without getting caught in them
- How to disidentify from the story of your life and liberate yourself from the past
- How the state of no-mind opens the door to creativity
Module 3: Gratitude — Awakening to Life’s Hidden Blessings (2026-05-12 9:00:00 am)
Steve will share how spiritual awakening frees you from the taking-for-granted syndrome, opening your awareness to the value of the most ordinary aspects of life, and the preciousness of life itself.
Following a reading of his poem “The Gift,” Steve will guide you through a meditation on gratitude, and a visualization based on traveling to the moon. You’ll experience a deeper state of gratitude, and then write a poetic piece to express what you encounter.
In this module, you’ll discover:
- Why spiritual awakening naturally gives rise to gratitude and a deeper appreciation of life
- A guided meditation and visualization to help you experience life’s preciousness more vividly
- Why some astronauts who traveled to the moon had transformational experiences that changed how they saw life on Earth
- How to liberate yourself from the taking-for-granted syndrome and notice the blessings woven through ordinary life
- The different aspects of gratitude and how to express them in poetry
Module 4: Letting Go — Finding Harmony Through Acceptance (2026-05-19 9:00:00 am)
Steve will read his poem “The Alchemy of Acceptance.” You’ll identify areas of your life where you experience resistance, and then move through a process of releasing that resistance.
You’ll also explore your psychological attachments and experience the freedom of letting go.
Steve will explain the harmony that arises through acceptance and detachment, inviting you to write a short poem inspired by acceptance and surrender.
In this module, you’ll discover:
- What the alchemy of acceptance is and how it can transform inner resistance
- A guided exercise to identify areas of resistance so you can begin to release them
- Why acceptance brings harmony and opens space for greater inner freedom
- Why it’s important to let go of psychological attachments that keep you stuck
Module 5: Oneness With the Body — Experiencing Its Sacred Presence (2026-05-26 9:00:00 am)
Some spiritual traditions have a negative attitude toward the body. Yet, Steve affirms, the body is a sacred expression of spirit and a gateway to presence.
Following a reading of his poem “Oneness With Your Body,” he’ll guide you through a meditation on expanding your identity and awareness through every part of your body.
You’ll experience deeper gratitude for the extraordinary biological processes taking place inside you that keep you alive and conscious.
In this module, you’ll discover:
- Why some spiritual traditions have a hostile attitude toward the body and how this limits spiritual experience
- A guided meditation to help you experience your body as a sacred expression of spirit
- How your body can help you become more present and grounded in direct experience
- How gratitude for your body deepens spiritual awareness and changes how you relate to yourself
- How to express the sacredness of your body in poetic form
Module 6: Service and Altruism — Deepening Your Sense of Oneness (2026-06-02 9:00:00 am)
Spiritually awakened people feel empathy and compassion for all human and other sentient beings, and feel an impulse to contribute to the world.
Steve will guide you to experience your fundamental oneness with all beings through meditation, and explore practical ways to express and deepen your connection to others.
You’ll also write a poetic piece to express your communion with and compassion for others.
In this module, you’ll discover:
- What motivates selfless service and why spiritual awakening naturally gives rise to compassion
- A guided meditation on your fundamental oneness with all beings so you can directly experience a deeper sense of connection
- How all living beings are fundamentally one beneath surface differences
- How to express your connection to others in poetic form
- How you can help make the world more connected through compassion, service, and awareness
Module 7: The Journey of Life — Honoring Your Place in the Larger Whole (2026-06-09 9:00:00 am)
You’ll explore how spiritual awakening can emerge through an awareness of the fragility of life.
Steve will gently encourage you to contemplate how life is a process, and reflect on examples of people who awakened through an encounter with death.
You’ll also reflect on the journey of awakening as something we undertake on behalf of the whole human race, and create a poem to express your own onward journey.
In this closing module, you’ll discover:
- Why your awareness of mortality can have a transformational effect and awaken a deeper appreciation of life
- A guided contemplation to reflect on your own attitude toward death
- How to accept the fragility and preciousness of life with greater openness and presence
- How awakening is part of a larger human journey that reaches beyond your individual self
- How to express your continuing journey of awakening in poetry
SPECIAL BONUS OFFER
When you register by 2026-04-21 11:59:00 pm , you’ll receive special bonus offerings designed to complement Steve’s transformative 7-module course — and deepen your understanding and practice even further.
Back to Stillness: Poems for Spiritual Awakening
Full-Length Ebook From Steve Taylor, PhD
Steve’s previous books of spiritual poetry, The Calm Center and The Clear Light, have brought stillness and joy to tens of thousands of readers. In his new collection of poems, he offers meditations and reflections to support your spiritual journey. He reminds you of the deep contentment that lies beneath the turbulent surface of the mind, and the harmony that lies beneath the turmoil of the world. As you read, you may find yourself softening out of mental noise and reconnecting with a quieter, steadier center within. Every poem is an illumination that helps return you to your authentic spiritual self.
The Clear Light
Audio Book From Steve Taylor, PhD
In this 35-minute audio book, Steve reads 14 poems from his collection of spiritual poetry, The Clear Light. The book forward, written by Eckhart Tolle, says “If you read this book slowly, attentively, and repeatedly, it can take you beyond identification with the content of your mind, and into the clear light of present-moment awareness.” Hearing Steve read these poems aloud can deepen their meditative quality, helping you absorb their stillness and insight in a more intimate, immediate way.
Plus... you’ll receive these bonuses too!
Using Words to Go Beyond Words: Poetry and Spiritual Experience
PDF Essay From Steve Taylor, PhD
In this essay, Steve explores the longstanding link between poetry and spirituality across all cultures and eras. He shows how poetry can become the “outbreath” of spiritual experience, giving language to what often feels beyond language. He describes how he came to write spiritual poetry, and how his poetry has evolved in parallel with his spiritual development. As you read, you may come away with a deeper appreciation for why poetry can open a direct path into insight, presence, and inner recognition.
Gratitude Meditation
Audio Meditation From Steve Taylor, PhD
Steve created this meditation to help you extend gratitude to different areas of your life. It’s designed to support you in noticing aspects of your life you may normally take for granted — such as your health, your freedom, and other quiet blessings. As you listen, you may find yourself feeling more grounded, more open-hearted, and more aware of the goodness that’s already here.
What People Are Saying About Steve Taylor, PhD…
Join the Global Community
The Poetry of Awakening offers some of the most transformational online teachings available, within a thriving global community of learning and practice.
Join fellow students and practitioners to support and inspire each other as you integrate the teachings and practices Steve Taylor, PhD will share in this powerful program.
You’ll join an international community on the leading edge of manifesting a world grounded in the principles of cooperation, harmony, and reverence for all of life.
Here’s What You’ll Receive
Seven 90-Minute Class Sessions With Steve Taylor, PhD
Experience a unique opportunity to be mentored by and learn from psychologist, poet, and spiritual teacher Steve Taylor, PhD — from the comfort of your own home. Each class session includes a livestreaming video option and will guide you to cultivate the qualities of awakening that quiet your mind, awaken creative expression, and help you experience life with greater clarity, meaning, and connection. Course sessions are on 2026-04-28 9:00:00 am.
Seven Video Recordings of Class Sessions
After each class, the video will be available for you to stream in a high-quality format. You’ll never have to worry about missing a session, and you can watch anytime and anywhere at your convenience.
Seven Audio Recordings of Class Sessions
After each class, the audio will be available for you to stream. You’ll never have to worry about missing a session, and you can listen anytime and anywhere at your convenience.
Seven Transcripts of Class Sessions
You’ll also receive the entire class transcription after each session is completed. You can then review, print, and highlight the most important insights and practices you were given.
Seven 30-Minute Interactive Group Practice Sessions
With live class attendance, there will be a 30-minute optional interactive practice session directly following each class. You’ll be placed in an intimate group with several other participants on the Zoom call to interact, share, and do additional practices to help you further integrate the weekly lessons. Practice sessions are not recorded for playback; if you’re unable to attend the live sessions, the online community group allows you to connect with each other and find alternative times to interact.
Interactive Exercises and Questions for Each Lesson
Between class sessions, you’ll have the option of completing related exercises, practicing new tools, and answering questions to accelerate your learning and integrate each week’s lesson.
Online Community
Our exclusive online community is the perfect place to continue your discovery process after each class. Here, you can continue the discussion about your course materials and interact with your fellow students to take your exploration to an even deeper level.
An Unprecedented Opportunity to Join the Online Course, The Poetry of Awakening
We feel honored that Steve Taylor, PhD has chosen to partner with The Shift Network to offer this exclusive LIVE online course. This is a unique opportunity to interact directly with a psychologist, poet, and spiritual teacher whose powerful insights and pioneering work are helping us heal and awaken ourselves and our world.
If you’re serious about embodying moments of presence to open a portal to creative expression, deeper awareness, and a more vivid experience of your life., then you owe it to yourself, your loved ones, and our world to take this one-of-a-kind program.
If you’re ready to take the next step in your own evolution, click the register button below to reserve your space now.
Your Satisfaction Is 100% Guaranteed!
If you don’t absolutely LOVE The Poetry of Awakening — or don’t feel that it meets your needs — please submit your refund request form on or before May 12, 2026 and we’ll happily issue qualifying customers a refund.
More Praise for Steve Taylor, PhD
World-renowned spiritual teacher and New York Times bestselling author
About Steve Taylor, PhD
EDIT
Steve Taylor, PhD, the author of many psychology and spirituality books (published in 20 languages), is a senior lecturer in psychology at Leeds Beckett University, UK.
His books include The Clear Light, The Leap, and Extraordinary Awakenings. He also writes blog articles for Scientific American and for Psychology Today.
He is the current chair of the Transpersonal Psychology Section of the British Psychological Society. Eckhart Tolle has described his work as “an important contribution to the global shift in consciousness that is happening on our planet.”
Frequently Asked Questions
What’s a virtual course?
Can I still benefit from the course if I miss the live classes?
Can you tell me about the private online community group?
Are there scholarships available for this training?
Please note: Scholarship applications must be submitted before the refund deadline, as we are unable to accept applications after that point.
What’s your refund policy?
If you’re within the refund period, the deadline to receive a full refund is May 12, 2026. To request a refund, please complete this refund request form and submit your request. Qualifying refunds will be processed within five business days, and you’ll receive an email confirming the refund.
We’d also love the opportunity to address and resolve your concerns directly. If there’s anything we can assist with, please get in touch with us at [email protected] — we’re here to help!
Please note: Refund requests are not accepted after the deadline or for courses purchased with scholarship awards.