A Community For
Inner & Outer Change
Join a community with live gatherings, deep practices, and meaningful exchanges that invite you to create a more connected, compassionate world.
We are a community of people looking to bring our inner and outer work together.
We offer a space for people who believe our inner and outer world is connected. We wish to create change and impact in the world around us, and know it starts within us; when we transform the inner world, we transform the outer world. If you feel a strong sense of connection to the world, then this space is for you.
Member Spotlight
Meet Erik
“I come for the deep and rich experience this community offers.”
Erik has been a member of the community since the beginning.
Our community supported Erik’s journey channelling grief from the loss of his four-month old son into outer community work at Rooted Northwest.
Our community offers a space for Erik to connect with people who wish to channel their own inner work into outer change.
our ethos
changing our inner and outer worlds together
We believe that our inner and outer worlds are connected. The change we want to create in the world is connected to the change within ourselves.
everyone is both student & teacher
We believe in creating a space where we are learning from and with one another. We are seeking to be connected, rather than to be led.
a space to breathe,
a space to be human
We believe in showing up as you are, as a human, not as a subject matter expert or leader. We cultivate understanding through deep listening and loving speech.
building connections, relationships, & community
We are seeking deep connections with like-minded people who are actively engaged in inner and outer work.
deep practices to connect our inner & outer work
We believe in engaging in deep practices grounded in the realities of our world as well as cultural traditions. We practice not as a means to escape the suffering of our world, but to transform the suffering of our world.
experiential learning for inner & outer change
We are looking to learn from one another through reflections, storytelling, and cultural exchanges.
what we offer
Live Online Gatherings
Our gatherings are driven by connection & reflection.
We gather bi-weekly on Saturdays from 11:00am EST to 12:00pm EST.
Gatherings include a check-in, a guided practice, and an open reflection/discussion.
Guided practices may be led by our founder or a guest facilitator who can invite us to explore new cultural practices.
Gatherings are NOT recorded to encourage full commitment. The most value of our community comes from our live gatherings.
Community Connection
Our community connection is deep, rich, & meaningful.
In addition to our live gatherings, our community forum invites us to stay connected in-between. Here, we may share reflections, experiences, and other content with one another.
Our community is made up of like-minded individuals bringing inner and outer work together. We value connection and evolving our own worldviews.
Engaged Practices
Deepen your connection to your inner and outer work.
Practices are available during our live sessions and in our online practice library.
Our practices are grounded in the realities of our world and cultural traditions. In addition to traditional & contemporary Engaged Mindfulness practices, we invite guest facilitators to lead other cultural practices.
Our online Practice Library has 20+ weeks of guided mindfulness practices, activities, and journal prompts. Other cultural practices will be added soon.
community contributions
$25
CAD per month
taxes not included
Join our bi-weekly live gatherings on Saturdays from 11:00am to 12:00pm EST. Sessions are NOT recorded.
Our community space includes an online community forum to remain connected.
Our community space offers access to practices, including a mindfulness library with 20+ weeks of traditional & contemporary Engaged Buddhism teachings. More cultural practices will be added beyond mindfulness.
Get 1 month free with an annual subscription of $275 CAD.
FREE TRIAL PERIOD ENDED SEPTEMBER 2025
Financial & Membership Support
Be welcome to contact us below if you’re looking for additional financial support, including “Pay What You Can”.
Refund Request & Cancellations
You can cancel your subscription at any time in your account. Refunds may be issued for annual subscription cancellations on a case-by-case basis. In other words, refunds are not guaranteed. Unfortunately, we are unable to offer refunds for monthly subscriptions. Please submit your refund request for annual subscriptions below.
why this space will resonate with you
You wish to contribute to change and impact in your local and global community.
You wish to be in community with people committed to bridging inner/outer change and evolving our worldviews.
You wish to deepen your connection to your inner/outer work by exploring new practices, cultures, and perspectives.
You come with the wisdom that the inner/outer change you seek is not around you, but within you.
You may take a more intuitive approach to life, especially when navigating the world around you.
You are not looking to be changed, you are looking to channel change into something with purpose and intention.
You seek community and value deep, meaningful, and rich experiences, instead of seeking an output or deliverable.
You’re not looking to extract or even receive knowledge, you’re looking to experience and learn.
why we’re different than other spaces
We emphasize community, connection, and reflection within ourselves and with others. We value wisdom shaped by the lived experiences of ourselves and others. We are all teachers and students in this space, we are all here to learn with one another.
We know that grounding mindfulness in Engaged Buddhist tradition is just the beginning of deepening our practice. We encourage and invite cross-cultural learning, sharing, experiences, and practices beyond mindfulness through each other. We are especially interested in creating a space where current worldviews can evolve.
We ground mindfulness and all practices in the realities of our world; we are not looking to escape the world and its suffering, but to connect deeper with the world and its suffering to create change and transformation.
We are one of the few spaces that focus on using deep and grounded practices to bridge inner and outer change, as well as inner and outer work. This wisdom offers insight into individual and collective transformation, forcing manifestation paradigms into new realms reflective of a just and equitable society.
Our Journey
We’re a small group, getting ready to grow! Award-winning artist, Vanessa Ferlaino, created this community practice space as a way to gather those of us actively engaged in inner and outer work. What began as a mindfulness community evolved into something deeper, inviting us to explore how we can create social change through deep connection, reflection, and practice. Vanessa hosts the space, drawing from the teachings of Engaged Buddhism (Thich Nhat Hanh), as well as her training as a Certified 200-hr Mindfulness Teacher Professional (CMT-P) from The Lab of Meditation, specializing in Trauma-Informed Offerings and Social Justice. She has also completed Staci Haines Politics of Trauma course, focused on somatic training and social justice. Our growth plans include inviting guest facilitators so our community to lead cross-cultural practices and experiences.
treasured words from our community
“Thank you for the session today, Vanessa. I’m finding this space to be very valuable and I’m excited to see where it goes.”
“I have found this to be a safe space for me to grow. We ALL have something to offer, and we can ALL make a difference.”
“Hi Vanessa! All of what you are offering is awesome and very valuable!”
FAQs
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This community is for anyone in any age, ethnicity, tax bracket, profession, sector, etc. looking to connect or even discover the change they wish to create through their inner and outer work. We welcome all languages as well, but please note the majority of our sessions are in English.
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This community offers live gatherings, community connection through our online forum, and an online portal with a library of practices that help us connect our inner and outer work.
Practices are offered during the live gatherings, as well as on our online portal.
Our practices right now are Socially Engaged Mindfulness practices, though we are intending to expand these practices to include other cultural practices, with the appropriate leaders.
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The Community Forum is additional space for us to stay connected, share resources, chat 1×1 with other members, and even start spontaneous live sessions.
This space is hosted on “Band”, which can be accessed through desktop browser or mobile app.
Once in the portal, the information to join our Band, with recommended settings, is available to members.
Our Band is private and cannot be discovered by other users.
Please follow our Community Guidelines, available in the portal and on Band, or we will remove you from the group.
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Practices are offered during the live gatherings, as well as on our online hub through our Library.
Currently, our practices mostly focus on Socially Engaged Mindfulness (Engaged Buddhism/Thich Nhat Hanh teachings).
However, we are looking to work with guest facilitators to lead other cultural practices in our live gatherings and in our library, led by respectable and diverse leaders in their fields.
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Y E S
Membership fees allow us to pay guest facilitators who share their cultural practices with us during live gatherings and allow us to share them to our library.
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Live gatherings are interactive spaces for us to come together and be in community.
We share a check-in, engage in a practice, and then open reflection/discussion.
Typically, practices are focused on Engaged Buddhism principles and are tailored to the needs of the group. However, we are looking to bring in other guest facilitators to lead us through different practices and cultures to evolve our worldviews.
Practices are different each gathering.
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Sessions are NOT recorded.
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We ask for a $25 CAD monthly contribution to help us maintain this practice space. This includes:
Join our bi-weekly live gatherings on Saturdays from 11:00am to 12:00pm EST. Sessions are NOT recorded.
Our community space includes an online community forum to remain connected.
Our community space offers access to practices, including a mindfulness library with 20+ weeks of traditional & contemporary Engaged Buddhism teachings. More cultural practices will be added beyond mindfulness.
Get 1 month free with an annual subscription of $275 CAD.
If you would be grateful for additional payment option, including “Pay What You Can”, please be welcome to connect with us here.
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The Library is accessed in our online portal and practices for your own independent use to help you connect your inner and outer work.
Right now, the library offers 20+ weeks of mindfulness material, including a variety of core concepts, video content, exercises and activities, and reflection prompts. They include both traditional and contemporary mindfulness practices, aligning with Engaged Buddhism and Engaged Mindfulness methodologies.
Content is organized into courses, which consist of 4-6 lessons with additional practices. While all lessons are available upfront, we invite you to practice each lesson for one week, before moving onto the next.
We are looking at working with diverse leaders who may be interested in sharing their cultural practices to expand The Library’s offerings.
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Yes, offerings can be accessed both on a computer or mobile, however, the best viewing and engagement experience is accessed through your computer, especially if exploring The Mindfulness Library.
Internet or cellular data is required.
Our online forum is accessed both through desktop or the app.
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You can create an account to subscribe to this membership practice space by going to vanessaferlaino.com/practicespace.
1) Select Join
2) Select the payment option that works best for you.
3) You will be asked to make an account with the below information:
First Name
Last Name
Email Address
Create Password
Re-Enter Password
4) You will then be taken to a secure payment page to process your credit card information. All payments are processed by Stripe.
5) As soon as you make your payment, you will be welcome to the Practice Space Homepage.
6) Finally, you will be asked to verify your account through an “verification email” sent to your email.
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Once you have registered, the easiest way to access the practice space is by visiting vanessaferlaino.com/practicespacewelcome.
If you have an account and are not logged in, you can scroll to the bottom and selected log in.
If you have an account and are logged in, you will be directed to the welcome page.
If you do not have an account, you will be met with a paywall and can select a payment option to join the community.
Other ways to access the community space:
You can also access the community space by going to vanessaferlaino.com/practicespace and selecting LOGIN.
If you are NOT logged into your account:
1) Select Log In
2) Insert your credentials
3) An account panel will appear on the right-hand side of the screen, known as the “Digital Products Panel”.
4) Select View.
You will see two spaces, one for the mindfulness libraries and one for the main space.
If you are already logged in:
1) Select Account
2) An account panel will appear on the right-hand side of the screen, known as the “Digital Products Panel”.
3) Select “View”.
You will see two spaces, one for the mindfulness libraries and one for the main space.
To sign out from the membership space, select Logout from the header. You will be brought back to vanessaferlaino.com where the “Digital Products Panel” will be open to your Account Settings. Underneath the greeting, select “Sign Out”.
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1) Once you are in the practice space, select Mindfulness Library in the header of the membership space.
You will be brought to the listing page that lists all the courses available, including their titles, descriptions, and access link.
2) Select the access link of the course you’d like to access. The course will open in a new window.
3) Select “Start Course” (or “Continue Course” if you have already started course and are accessing it). You can also select a specific Chapter or Lesson you’d like to access, if this is preferable. The content will load on the page.
4) Select “Complete and Continue” on the top right of the header when you are ready to move to the next lesson. We recommend practicing each lesson for 1 week before moving on.
5) You can also navigate to different lessons and view the progress bar of your completion by selecting the menu icon (three horizontal lines) in the top right hand corner of the header.
6) When you have completed your session or course, close the course window on your browser (ex. Google Chrome, Safari, Firefox, etc.). Your course progression is saved automatically.
7) To sign out, select Logout from the header. You will be brought back to vanessaferlaino.com where the “Digital Products Panel” will be open to your Account Settings. Underneath the greeting, select “Sign Out”.
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We use Jitsi Meets to connect, a more secure option than Zoom or Google Meets.
Download the calendar links for the live gatherings at vanessaferlaino.com/practicespacewelcome
Calendar links will include the link for Jitsi meets. We will also send you an email with the calendar link when you first register.
Additionally, the Jitsi Meets link is available on the Welcome Page, if you ever need it.
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When you cancel a subscription through your account, you will have access until the renewal period. For example, if you have a monthly subscription that renews on the 1st of the month, and you cancel on the 15th of the month, you will have access until the 1st of the following month, before your access is cancelled. But your subscription will not renew. If you have an annual subscription that renews on 3rd of February ever year and you cancel on June 15th, you will have access until the following 3rd of February. After that, your account will not be renewed.
To cancel your subscription, select “Login” to access your customer account or “Account” if you are already in your customer account on the top right corner of the website header.
Select Digital products or Subscriptions.
Click the digital product you want to cancel.
If you have remaining payments, click Go manage subscription. Otherwise, move to the next step.
Click Cancel subscription, then click Cancel subscription again to confirm.
When you cancel your membership, you will have access to the membership space for the remainder of the billing cycle. At the end of the billing cycle, your account fully expires. You’ll still have access to their customer account, but links to the membership space won't display.
I am grateful for your visit… Be welcome to join me in some of my free LIVE sessions on the Insight Timer app here.
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When you cancel a subscription through your account, you will have access until the renewal period. For example, if you have a monthly subscription that renews on the 1st of the month, and you cancel on the 15th of the month, you will have access until the 1st of the following month, before you access is cancelled. But your subscription will not renew. If you have an annual subscription that renews on 3rd of February ever year and you cancel on June 15th, you will have access until the following 3rd of February. After that, your account will not be renewed.
Refunds may be issued for annual subscription cancellations on a case-by-case basis. Please submit your refund request here.
Unfortunately, we are unable to offer refunds for monthly subscriptions.
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Select Login or Account in the top right corner of the website header to open the “Digital Products Panel”.
Select “Account Settings” at the bottom, then “Profile”.
Select your current email address.
In the New field, enter the new email address.
In the Confirm new field, enter the new email address again.
Click Save.
Watch for an email to verify the change to their new email address. Click Verify email in the message to complete the process.
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Approach 1: To change your payment method for an active subscription
Select Login or Account in the top right corner of the website header to open the “Digital Products Panel”.
Click Memberships or Subscriptions, then click the membership or subscription you want to change.
In Settings, click Payment method.
Click Update payment method, then select a saved payment method or click Add new payment method to enter a new payment method.
Click Save.
The next payment for the membership or subscription will charge to the updated card. If you have more than one membership or subscription, you will need to repeat the steps above to update your payment method on each subscription.
Approach 2: You can also add a payment method to your account for future use
Select Login or Account in the top right corner of the website header to open the “Digital Products Panel”.
Click “Account Settings” at the bottom and then “Payment”.
Click a payment method listed in the menu to edit the information, delete it, or set it as default.
Click Add new payment method to add a new card to your account. In the Card details panel, enter the new payment method's information.
Click Save.
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No. You do not have to identify as "Buddhist” to benefit or be part of the community. If you are interested in leveraging mindfulness and Buddhist principles for your own mental health and beyond, this is the space for you.
As mentioned, we are also hoping to expand our practices to include other cultural practices, led diverse and experienced leaders.
Coming together
with-in and with-out.
This community practice space was created by Vanessa Ferlaino, award-winning author and certified 200-hr mindfulness teacher, to invite us to come together to chart a new path for humanity. There are no recipes or frameworks to do this, just principles to embody and suffering to transform. This is an intimate space to get to know ourselves and each other, inviting us to deepen our connections within-in and with-out, so we can go back into our own communities to transform suffering.
“I feel blessed to hold this space and bring us all together to witness our interconnectedness and transform all suffering.” — Vanessa Ferlaino
our intentions
Practice
We come together to practice inner and outer transformation.
Reflect
We reflect on our practices and healing journeys, and their intersections across society, social justice, and inequities.
Share
We share our embodied practice by contributing to collective transformation in our communities and the world at-large.
our mission
We seek to transform all forms of individual and collective suffering by empowering people to reclaim their life and power. Ultimately, we seek to remind us all that our humanity is connected.
our ethos
Regardless of what brought us here, we can use Engaged Buddhism and mindfulness to transform our own inner suffering, so that we can then transform suffering in the world, including unjust systems, social inequities and disparities. The best form of self-help is helping one another.
our values
Rooted deeply in Engaged Buddhism and Mindfulness
The Art of Deep Listening and Loving Speech. The “8 RIGHTS” — Right View, Right Speech, Right Livelihood, Right Mindfulness, Right Concentration, Right Thought, Right Action and Right Effort (Learn more in our Community Guidelines if new to you). Interbeing, love, compassion, and understanding.
transform the inner world, transform the outer world.
With deep reverence for these sacred lands, The Community for Collective Transformation From Within wishes to acknowledge that while we reach across multiple timezones and ancestral lands, we are primarily situated on Robinson-Huron Treaty territory, the traditional lands of the Anishnaabeg, specifically Garden River First Nation and Batchewana First Nation, as well as the Métis People. Together, may we acknowledge, honour, and offer deep gratitude and respect to the people, plant, animal, and land spirits who knew this land we call home, Baawaating, long before us, and who will continue to long after. Please be welcome to take a deep breath in stillness, acknowledging the lands on which you are situated, as well as any and all other nations of first people and true keepers of this land who we may not know the name of today, but invite the opportunity to learn. May we be further invited to extend our land acknowledgements into land engagements, supporting and restoring these lands through responsible citizenship, sacred stewardship, partnership, and advocacy for various movements, including landback motions. Finally, in acknowledging these lands, may we hold space for the collective suffering we continue to witness from colonial violence, colonization, genocide, and oppressive systems still present and active in the world. This includes, but is not limited to, Palestine and its Occupied Territories, Sudan, Congo, Syria, and many more. We also bear witness to the ramifications of colonization, including discriminatory practices, exploitive uses of technology, ecocide, gender-based violence (especially in war zones), the military complex, and the border industrial complex. May our acknowledgements invite us to contribute to transformation and re-worlding.
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