Workshop 12: Healing and Relationships Through A Course in Miracles
This workshop includes a concise teaching followed by a guided meditation to support lived practice through A Course in Miracles.
Overview
In this twelfth and final workshop of a foundational A Course in Miracles series, the focus turns to relationships as the final classroom for healing and awakening. This session explores the difference between special relationships driven by the ego and holy relationships guided by the Holy Spirit.
Drawing directly from A Course in Miracles, this workshop explains how peace is restored by releasing others from responsibility for our happiness, withdrawing judgment, and choosing non-conflict. Relationships are revealed as powerful opportunities to collapse time through forgiveness, allowing love, freedom, and peace to replace guilt, control, and fear.
Experience the Workshop in Video Form
Prefer to receive this as a guided video experience?
You’re welcome to receive this meditation as a guided video experience below:
(VIDEO LINK COMING MID-NOVEMBER!)
Part 1 - The Teaching: Relationships as the Final Classroom
Have you ever noticed how happiness seems to rise when certain people are near… and fall when they are far away?
We feel happy when a person says or does what we approve of.
We feel unhappy when they don’t.
Most of us never question this assumption: that our joy depends on how bodies behave.
And when a relationship becomes “special,” the stakes rise. We swing between peace and conflict, approval and disappointment, closeness and threat. This pattern touches every type of relationship—parent and child, siblings, friends, coworkers, and especially romantic relationships, where we often place the greatest expectation for “completion.”
The Special Relationship
A Course in Miracles calls this dynamic the special relationship.
It is the ego’s attempt to find love outside of us.
It is also the ego’s attempt to make one person responsible for our happiness.
At first, this can feel thrilling. The ego loves being “special.” But the Course teaches that specialness is unstable by nature, because it is built on conditions, bargaining, and fear of loss.
The Course does not ask us to give all such relationships up.
It asks us to heal them.
The Holy Relationship
A holy relationship is the same relationship, offered to the Holy Spirit to be transformed. It becomes a relationship of love without conditions, guilt, attack, or judgment—painless to everyone involved.
The core shift is this:
The ego seeks control to feel safe.
The Holy Spirit restores freedom so peace can return.
When we see someone as a body, we want to control what they say and do. We attempt this through guilt, pressure, emotional withdrawal, accusations, or manipulation—often without realizing it.
The holy relationship relinquishes this.
It says:
“I forgive myself for seeing you as separate from me.
I want peace.
I want to see the truth in you.
As I heal, you are healed also.
And together we will experience peace.”
How You Know Which One You’re In
You know the kind of relationship you’re practicing by how you feel.
If you feel anxious, needy, threatened, controlling, resentful, or frequently hurt — the ego is leading.
If you feel free, content, trustful, patient, and peaceful — the Holy Spirit is guiding.
To transform a special relationship into a holy one, we must choose peace instead of conflict.
This begins very simply:
Step back and observe without judgment. This takes you above the battleground.
Cease to attack. This includes subtle attack such as sarcasm, guilt, blame, withdrawal.
Choose peace as the goal. Remember that neither of you likes to feel bad. But projecting your “bad feelings” onto another does not get rid of them - it magnifies the feeling.
Invite the Holy Spirit in to help you see your Oneness with the other person. Where there is only One Self, there is no one else to be in conflict with and peace is chosen instead of pain.
This shift—from conflict to peace—is described as one of the final obstacles to awakening, because relationships are where the ego’s “reason for separation” seems most convincing.
The Central Practice: Release Others from Your Happiness
Here is the heart of this workshop:
Release everyone from being responsible for your happiness.
This single decision collapses countless loops of conflict.
Because whenever we are upset, the ego claims, “They did something to me.”
But the Course teaches we are never upset for the reasons we think.
We are unhappy because we are not at peace.
And we are not at peace because we are trying to force the world (and people) to give us what only God can give: lasting joy.
So, the practice becomes an inner vow:
I release this person from the responsibility of my happiness.
My happiness is not outside of me.
It is within me, and I claim it now by releasing the world outside myself from being responsible for my happiness and giving this responsibility over to the Holy Spirit instead.
Release = Peace.
And peace is contagious.
When you stop demanding, judging, and controlling, a miraculous space opens. In that space, the Holy Spirit can heal what you could never heal through force.
What About Harmful Behavior?
This practice does not mean you tolerate abuse, addiction, betrayal, or destructive choices.
It means you withdraw from conflict, not from wisdom.
Do not condone non-peace-seeking behavior.
Do not “be okay with it” as a spiritual bypass.
And do not intensify guilt through attack.
Instead:
Withdraw judgment. Withdraw attack. Withdraw the ego’s war.
And allow the Holy Spirit to guide your next steps—whether that means boundaries, distance, joining a support group, counseling or leaving.
(And if you are under immediate physical threat, leave immediately.)
Your job is not to control outcomes.
Your job is to choose peace and allow peace to be given—sometimes in forms you did not anticipate.
The Holy Instant in Relationships
Whenever the peace of your relationship feels threatened, the Course has this to say about it:
“Whoever is saner at the time the threat is perceived should remember how deep is his indebtedness to the other and how much gratitude is due him, and be glad that he can pay his debt by bringing happiness to both. Let him remember this, and say:
I desire this holy instant for myself, that I may share it with my brother, whom I love.
It is not possible that I can have it without him, or he without me.
Yet it is wholly possible for us to share it now.
And so I choose this instant as the one to offer to the Holy Spirit, that His blessing may descend on us, and keep us both in peace.” (ACIM, T-18.V.7:1-6)
Remember that above all else, you want peace.
Ask for the holy instant—the moment of release from the ego’s story.
In truth, you do not need to strive. You do not need to fix the other person. You do not need to force resolution through pressure.
You need do nothing—except release.
And in this release, relationships are healed, whether bodies remain together or not.
In a Nutshell
Let us never forget why we attempt to create special relationships to begin with. It is the attempt by the ego to re-create our relationship of perfect union with God. Yet, bodies can never unite us as Spirit does.
This is why these special relationships cause us so much pain. Through them, we attempt the impossible and it never works.
The ego seeks special relationships as a substitute for the Love of God.
The ego uses relationship drama to distract the mind from inner peace.
We heal relationships by giving them to the Holy Spirit.
We do this by withdrawing judgment, demands, guilt, and attack—releasing others from our happiness.
At first, the relationship may feel strained as the goal shifts from conflict to peace. This is a time for faith.
A special relationship becomes holy as freedom replaces control.
You do not lose someone by giving them freedom. You often gain them—because peace is where love can finally rest.
And whenever you need words to guide your heart back into peace, remember this prayer:
I release this person from the responsibility of my happiness. My happiness is not outside of me. It is within me and I claim it now by releasing the world outside myself from being responsible for my happiness and hereby give this responsibility over to the Holy Spirit instead. Amen
Part 2 - Guided Meditation: The Tree of Life
This meditation was adapted from A Course in Miracles Workbook Lesson 95: I am one Self, united with my Creator.
Okay, let’s begin.
You may close your eyes if you wish or watch this meditation (click here or the link below.) It is comprised of peaceful nature scenes from my farm and other quiet moments during my travels. These recordings are intentionally simple and grounding, created to support stillness, inner listening, and a gentle return to presence as the meditation is received.
Now, bring your attention to sound.
Notice the farthest sound you can perceive.
Now the closest.
And then the quiet space between sounds.
Now listen for something closer than any other sound:
your breathing.
Feel the breath moving in… and out…
Slow and gentle.
Deep, comfortable, soothing and even breaths.
Now bring awareness to your chest.
Notice the movement of your chest with each breath, in and out.
Try and feel the rhythm of your heartbeat. Just become aware that your heart is moving.
Just noticing it.
In this moment, nothing is required of you.
You are safe.
You are here and you are fully in the present moment.
The Calling
Now imagine you stand before a Great Presence. You cannot see it clearly, yet you feel its majesty and love.
It speaks:
“I am sending you to a land that will feel far away, to perform a special task for Me.
Take what I give you, and plant it there.
Plant it well. The land needs what you are asked to give.”
You look into your palm and see three radiant seeds of light—three spheres, equal in size, holy and alive.
The Journey
An old bus appears. Only you and the driver are inside.
You sit down. The bus begins to move. As you travel farther from Home, you may feel a wave of loneliness.
If loneliness comes, simply notice it.
And remember:
You have one final task.
You are prepared.
This is the last journey of this kind you must make.
You have just this one last task to do and you take comfort in knowing you have prepared yourself for a long time to do this one final thing. It is important that you not forget your purpose in going to the far away land. You are going there to plant the seeds of light. With this thought, you continue to relax even deeper…
The Far Away Land
At last, you arrive. You step off the bus into a wide field of tall, dry, dead grass. The air is warm, but the ground is cracked and dry.
You walk until you find a small patch of soft, fertile black soil—only about a meter wide, but it is enough.
You carefully, reverently kneel down beside it.
Holding the three seeds firmly in your right hand, you raise your fist high…
and plunge it deep into the soil—up to your elbow.
You have planted the seeds of light well.
Now, you step back and watch to see what grows.
A tree sprouts instantly—growing and growing until it becomes immense in height and canopy.
Love radiates from it—the same Love that sent you.
A Voice now says:
“Behold the Tree of Life!
From Its Love you were all created, and to Its Love you shall all return.
All will hear My Call, for it is My Will.
Return to Me and live as One among My Loving Branches.”
Now you see people arriving. One by one, they stand beneath the canopy… and disappear—released from the body, lifted into the branches as light.
A few at first… then hundreds… then thousands.
You feel relief and joy moving through them as shackles of their bodily identities fall away.
You realize your task is complete.
Now, you look around and you notice others planting seeds of their own. More Trees of Life rise from the land, transforming the dead field into a lush pasture of living green.
The branches intertwine—one canopy of Love.
Each tree is a doorway, Home.
Each is connected to all.
Ascending
Now it is your turn. You step beneath the Great Tree. An unseen force lifts you.
Your body no longer weighs you down. You slip from it with ease, shedding it like clothes.
And now, I will count from one to seven as you ascend.
One… rising higher…
Two… moving upward and inward…
Three… the old false self, falling away far below you now…
Four… approaching your true Self…
Five… floating upward… ever ascending…
Six… above the canopy, into the Light.
Seven… You hear these words:
“You are one Self, united with your Creator, at one with every aspect of creation, limitless in power and peace.”
You stand again before the Great Presence—your Creator.
You see the lights of all your brothers and sisters there also—created with you before time began.
And in this place, all that happened “on earth” is left behind with the body identity.
You are equally released. Equally safe. Equally loved.
And you say to all those lights, those souls around you:
“You are one Self with me, united with our Creator in this Self.
I honor you because of What I am, and What He is, Who loves us both as One.”
And now we rest a few moments enveloped in the healing Light and Love of our Creator.
During this time, periodically remind yourself: I am one Self.
Allow the meaning of these words to sink deep into your mind, replacing all false bodily ideas about who you are:
I am one Self.
Returning
And now, without losing any of the peace and happiness you are feeling right now, we will begin the reawakening process. You will clearly and vividly remember everything you experienced, heard or felt during your journey within.
You will awaken as I count up to five. When I reach the number five, you will become fully alert and wide-awake.
One… You are beginning to feel more awake. You feel the weight of your body, your feet, your legs, your arms, your torso and your head.
Two… Now you are becoming more aware of your surroundings… Feeling satisfied, safe and comfortable.
Three… You’re looking forward to the profound positive results from this deeply healing meditation.
Four… Feeling absolutely happy and wonderful and more and more awake
Five… Now you are wide-awake and fully alert. Open your eyes and be present.
Welcome back. You did beautifully. Thank yourself for this time spent with God, His Peace and His Light. It is a gift to your highest Self that knows no limits in Healing and Love.
Watch the Full Guided Video
Prefer to watch instead of read?
This meditation is also shared as a recorded video, spoken in my natural voice and accompanied by peaceful nature scenes from my farm and other quiet moments during my travels. These recordings are intentionally simple and grounding, created to support stillness, inner listening, and a gentle return to presence as the meditation is received.
(VIDEO LINK COMING MID-NOVEMBER!)
Explore the Full Teaching Workshop Series
Workshop 1: Healing and Abundance
Workshop 3: Healing and Forgiveness
Workshop 5: Healing and Grievances
Workshop 6: Healing and the Holy Spirit
Workshop 7: Healing and True Sight
Workshop 8: Healing and the Second Coming
Workshop 9: Healing and the Last Judgment
Workshop 10: Healing and Creation
About the Author: Beth Geer
Beth Geer is a long-time student and teacher of A Course in Miracles, known for her Holy Spirit–channeled messages and her ability to translate ACIM principles into living, breathing spiritual practice. Through her books, YouTube teachings, and Monthly Miracle Minded Messages, Beth guides seekers toward forgiveness, inner peace, and awakening to Love.
She is the author of:
…And numerous channeled Holy Spirit writings that continue to uplift and heal hearts around the world.
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