The Conscious Aging Alliance
The Sage-ing Guild is a part of a broader movement offering a vision of aging as a time of life characterized not by diminishment and decline, but by growth, contribution and fulfillment. This movement is often referred to as conscious aging. The Guild initiated conversations with several organizations in the conscious aging arena which produced agreement to support each other, initially by making available on each of our websites information about each other, and links to each other's websites.
Here are the current members of the Conscious Aging Alliance:
The Center for Conscious Eldering
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The Center for Conscious Eldering, based in Durango, Colorado, is dedicated to supporting the development of conscious elders. We do this by offering Coaching for Conscious Living, Choosing Conscious Elderhood rite of passage retreats, introductory workshops by invitation from churches, retreat centers and other groups, and Meeting Ancient Wisdom pilgrimages to meet indigenous elders. We serve those in and approaching the elder third of life who seek passion, purpose, growth and service as they age
 An important aspect of our uniqueness is that we use the power of nature to support your growth as an elder. It is in the natural world that we can most easily remember that which is authentic and natural in ourselves, and thus gain clarity and vision for how we can best thrive and contribute in a world urgently in need of the wisdom and gifts of conscious elders. Our retreats, workshops and pilgrimages all involve significant time spent outdoors in inspiring natural settings.
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| centerforconsciouseldering.com |
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Legacy of Wisdom
Making Wisdom the Central theme of Aging
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The Legacy of Wisdom project is dedicated to creating a vision of "wise living and aging." Its founding was generated through the work of Ram Dass, Rabbi Zalman Schachter, Jay Goldfarb, Tom Valente and Roshi Joan Halifax. Other supporters have been Mary Catherine Bateson, Bob Atchley, Rick Moody, Al Kaszniak and others.
 Taking advantage of a structured set of questions in five Key areas of life, the Legacy of Wisdom will publish its findings from interviews and from conferences and workshops with inspiring elders which we sponsor. Global in perspective and multi-generational in reach, we know that living wisely can occur at all ages. The children of today are the aged of tomorrow. The five Key Wisdom areas:
- Mission and Fulfillment
- Relationship and Lifestyle
- Health Care
- Finance and Legal
- End of Life Preparations
By limiting our range of questions, Legacy of Wisdom will provide an easier avenue for understanding—and through that a sense of inspiration and motivation. Links to resources, courses and helpful consultancies will flow naturally from the work. There is a need for both the skill and the emotional will of Wisdom.
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Life Planning Network
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The Life Planning Network is a community of professionals and organizations from diverse disciplines dedicated to helping people navigate the second half of life. Our mission is to create and communicate knowledge and resources that support professionals in their work to enhance people's later lives and thus benefit society.
 There are several ways we support professionals in this field, including workshop leaders and facilitators. Our members can promote their organizations and activities to the public through a directory on our web site. We also list a broad range of resources specifically for our members on our web site. Members gather in chapters as they emerge around the country as well as in regular program opportunities to share and learn. And they collaborate, refer, co-market and partner in other ways to build their respective businesses and to advance the value of the life planning movement for the benefit of all.
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Mankind Project Elders
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The Elder Body of the ManKind Project (MKP) is made up of hundreds of members over age fifty who have formally declared themselves as elders. The mission of the elder body is "To awaken and nurture intentional eldering by teaching and mentoring." When a member becomes a "declared elder" he is announcing to the community that he is living the second half of life intentionally. We believe that this intention includes being a source of blessing, an advocate for Earth, a mentor and a wisdomkeeper.
 The manner in which the elder body of MKP accomplishes its mission is through four practices:
- Certified ritual elders guide a circle of elders at each new member initiation weekend in creating an maintaining a sacred container for the weekend processes led by other men we call "leaders."
- Once a man joins he is encouraged to join a support group. There are hundreds meeting all over the world. Some are made up entirely of elders and most have a elder or two as members.
- In each of our regions (Canada, USA, Germany, France, UK, South Africa, New Zealand, and Australia) annual conferences are held by the elders which we call Gatherings.
- Individual elders do personal work by taking classes based on a seven stage life path we call the Elder Journey.
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O2e Older to Elder
 O2e Older to Elder is committed to the transformation of personal and cultural interpretations about what it means to be an older adult in our society. O2e creates the possibility of being an Elder for people in mid-life through a unique educational and training experience that allows them to develop a new understanding of commitment, well-being, happiness, self-expression and being valued throughout the last third of their lives. Aging, rather than being something we deny or resist, becomes a gift to be shared with the community. Founding members Shae Hadden, Andrew Mackey, Dr. Marc B. Cooper and Chris Creamer provide programs and coaching to organizations, businesses and individuals committed to transforming the paradigm of aging. |
An important part of our offer is the newly released book The Elder, by Dr. Mark B. Cooper and James C. Selman. The Elder is a fable that will transform our view of aging in America forever. It inspires readers in mid-life with the possibility of a future of hope, joy and contribution. A future in which we can contribute the gifts of age—wisdom, perspective and experience—to others in a way that brings out the best in them. |
| oldertoelder.org |
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For The Elder: TheElder.org |
Recognition Rites
for a New Vision of Aging
Sage-ing Guild
 Recognition Rites is a program founded by Dr. Tom Pinkson that shifts attitudes about aging and older people to the position of respect and reverence that mature cultures demonstrate with their valuation and socially integrative use of their elders. It offers a unique blend of ancient and contemporary knowledge that is the result of Dr. Tom Pinkson.s forty years of work bridging cultures, traditions, belief systems and peoples. Recognition Rites offers hope and a call to action, in a most timely and necessary manner.
Recognition Rites bring people of diverse background and belief systems together for an event that helps break down barriers of separation between races, ages, religions and social class. They build community. They foster greater appreciation of diversity, of older people, of how love and appreciation enrich all our lives. Recognition Rites serve as a seed and stimulus for others in attendance to create celebrations for meaningful elders in their own lives.
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The Sage-ing Guild is an organization with the mission of helping to change our society's current belief system from aging to sage-ing—that is, from simply becoming old to aging consciously. We believe that the wisdom and gifts of conscious elders is urgently needed in today's world, and sage-ing supports the development of such elders. Sage-ing is both a philosophy and a set of psychological and spiritual practices, originally developed by Zalman Schachter Shalomi, that support living with passion, purpose, inner growth and commitment to service as we age.
 We train and support a network of Sage-ing Leaders who transmit the wisdom of sage-ing through workshops, elder circles, and other educational and personal growth programs. Through our website, we offer a free six-month Associate Membership which provides access to valuable resources for individuals wanting to do their own conscious aging work while encouraging others to do likewise. We also conduct a robust public education program using a wide variety of social media, and are committed to collaborating with other like-minded organizations.
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Second Journey
 Second Journey is among a small number of emerging social-change organizations helping birth a new vision of the rich possibilities of later life.
- to open new avenues for individual growth and spiritual deepening
- to birth a renewed ethic of service and mentoring in later life
- to create new model communities—and new models OF community—for later life, and
- to marshal the distilled wisdom and experience of elders to address the converging crises of our time
Captured in the shorthand of our logo...Mindfulness, Service and Community in the Second Half of Life
We pursue this mission through publications, including our quarterly newsletter, Itineraries, and occasional book releases; through workshops and Visioning Councils with their focus on the challenges of Creating Community in Later Life; and through the rich resources on our web site.
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