Welcome!

I’m so glad you’re here.

We live in complex times. Some say we live in a time “between worlds.”1 In the imaginal cells of the collective human psyche, a profound shift is cocooning. We’re beyond the comfort zone of what we know, searching to find ground in the familiar and hope in what we cannot name. All the while, the complexities of our day-to-day march on—the joys, the agonies, the sorrows, the love. This rich unfolding conundrum is why I’m here and, I imagine, it’s why you are.

Across the eons, there come great leaps in consciousness. In every leap, there is a gap between one way of perceiving the world and another. The gap is a transition time between two worlds and an active imaginal zone. It is a playground of potentia. These Sunday letters are meditative essays that invite us into that imaginal playground.

I write these letters to reflect together on this betweenness as a transitional zone of promise and nurture our shared human becoming—not as another self-betterment project but as a dynamic journey of the unfolding of our birth-given humanity.

Why Subscribe?

At the heart of why subscribe? is a deep yearning for a more intimate and sustained presence with the sacred unfolding of our lives.

You’ll receive free:

~ Weekly letters

~ Occasional guided meditations

~ Participate in monthly Gatherings in Silence

As a paid subscriber, you’ll also be able to:

~ Same as free +

~ Join in special conversations on Zoom and Chat

~ Participate in online courses and in-person retreats

~ And my abiding gratitude for supporting and sustaining this work

Beyond the Comfort Zone aims to move beyond the capitalist model. All paid subscriptions are welcome at a Pay What You Can model. If you wish to engage more deeply and the annual subscription rate does not fit your budget, please email me: reneeeliphd [AT] gmail.com.

A bit about me

My life’s work is devoted to human becoming—as a contemplative scholar, phenomenological2 philosopher of consciousness studies, mentor, and integral health practitioner. 

I hold a transdisciplinary Ph.D. in Transformative Studies with a concentration in Consciousness Studies from the California Institute of Integral Studies, an interdisciplinary master’s degree in the Humanities from the University of North Carolina Asheville with a focus on the human condition, and an advanced studies undergraduate in Physical Therapy from the Medical University of South Carolina. I am a recipient of a research fellowship from Esalen Institute’s Center for Theory and Research for my work contributing to the Future of the Body project. Since 2014, I have served on the Educator Council Board for the Center for Education, Imagination and the Natural World, a work closely mentored by the late cultural historian and eco-theologian, Thomas Berry.

My research explores the evolution of consciousness across all life, not only the human, and is a phenomenological gathering place for wisdom traditions.

In late 2022, I began a thirteen-month pilgrimage traveling wild reaches of North America in a converted Sprinter van. Embarking on this journey was a way to come home to a deeper order of being. Beyond the Comfort Zone was birthed on that journey.

The Welcome Page evokes the pilgrimage in words and images, and invokes what Berry calls The Great Work of our time.

Work with me

First, let’s clarify a few things about becoming.

There is a tendency in the human psyche to believe that to become is to become better when, in fact, we might say that to become is to let go of the idea of becoming, all the while leaning in with heart to the preciousness of this one life.

Persons come to the interiority of human becoming having tasted an effervescent quickening in a moment of intimacy, a burning inner question, a yearning that won’t leave them, a sorrow, a health crisis or life-changing diagnosis, an inner reckoning with the vicissitudes of age . . . all of these invitations from within.  

I offer one-on-one Soul Friend and Integral Health mentoring sessions on a sliding-scale basis.

Soul Friend or Anam Cara in the Celtic tradition was a spiritual companion with whom you could share the rich depths of your inner life, spiritual longings, and travails on the path. The friendship was an act of recognition of the ancient belonging between friends recognizing one another through the companionship of soul. The friendship was formed on the understanding that the human soul is always unfolding its lifetime of becoming, always revealing more of its essence, always making meaning of life, always turning toward love. 

In the contemplative tradition, Soul Friend work is referred to as Spiritual Direction/Companionship. 

These listening sessions take place in the spirit of Anam Cara. The first session is complementary.

Integral Health Mentoring explores the body’s “refusals” in illness and age as an expression of being.

For over a decade after retiring from health care, I conducted Integral Health research and co-founded a women’s line of probio-botanicals supplements, educating and mentoring an international clientele through the sacred rite of passage of menopause and “middle age.” Until 2024, I provided formulation consultation for nutritional supplements companies worldwide. But the Wellness-Industrial Complex has increasingly overshot integrity of care for humans, plants, and planet. I let go of that arm of my multilimbed work to focus singularly on the deeper dimensions of human being, the inner thread always at the heart of my work. In Integral Health Mentoring, we do call on botanicals and microbiome nourishment and address lifestyle aspects of renewed health, such as nutrient optimization, movement, rest, and stress. But what makes this mentoring work unique is our journey into and exploration of the inner dimensions of our own human becoming. It is profoundly healing work. Contact me for an exploratory consultation: reneeeliphd [AT] gmail.

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Reader Recommendations

Toni Monsey

In these urgent times, Renée's words draw me "beyond the pursuit of comfort to the depths of human becoming," just as she promises. 

Donna McArthur

“Renée's writing stirs my heart and soul. In sharing her heart centered, hard earned wisdom she calls me to a deeper exploration of my soul's true calling."

Kaitlyn Raitmyer

"Renee shares such a depth of wisdom and experience that always seems to bring me deeper within my own self."

A Few Notes