Meetings
Attend our meetings and share your Near-Death Experiences and other Spiritually Transformative Experiences.
About
Find out more about Toronto Awakenings Sharing Group and its in-person and online meetings.
Founders
Meet Toronto Awakenings Sharing Group’s co-founders, Dr. Yvonne Kason, Monica Maurin, and Dr. Shira Taylor.
Toronto Awakenings Sharing Group in the News!
“Not some hallucination: Near-death experiencers share their stories at Toronto organization”
By Ryan Rocca, Global News
February 16, 2023
Toronto resident Yvonne Kason has had multiple near-death experiences in her life — experiences so powerful that they dramatically changed her view of reality.
Kason, a retired family physician who was also on the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Medicine for many years, has since started two organizations — one of which is based in Toronto — where people can listen, discuss, and gain insight into similar experiences.
Near-death experiences, referred to as NDEs, are often so powerful, extraordinary, and difficult to put into words that those who experience them commonly don’t know where to turn, Kason says.
The internet is full of NDE accounts and while each one is often unique, there are similarities.
Join Our Meetings
You are most welcome to join us. We will be exploring Near-Death Experiences (NDEs) and other Spiritually Transformative Experiences (STEs).
We are the Toronto Awakenings Sharing Group. Our in-person and Zoom video-conference meetings feature a STE related speaker and a question and answer period. We also offer “Experiencers” Sharing Circles, hosted by Spiritual Awakenings International starting October 2021, which are small sharing groups in which you are invited to share your STE experiences and listen to others. This is not a therapy group but rather a meeting of those who are curious to learn and share their experiences. Sharing is not required, but attentive and respectful listening is. Our meetings are held roughly 5 times a year. Please sign up for email notification of upcoming meetings.
Upcoming Events
Damian Reilly
Identity Crisis Extraordinaire!
January 27, 2024 – 1:00PM
My recovery from a near death experience…
“Life was trucking along pretty well for me, and then, wham-o.” Damian Reilly got knocked off his snowmobile one fateful New Years Day. It is a tragic story. It is a story about life, death and everything in-between. It’s about what we see, what we are blind to and how we learn to see again.
Now I can accept my gifts, I seek the truth, I see the truth, I speak the truth.
Life’s gift, is life! What is life? Tune in for the truth from the other side…
Damian Reilly was born in Edmonton, Alberta in 1969 but moved to Ontario and raised in a few small towns before kindergarten, Toronto became his hometown, now it’s Parry Sound, Ontario. He also calls it his spiritual home.
Attending University in Quebec, then returning to Toronto in the early 90’s, Damian started a corporate career quickly finding himself of the forefront of marketing leadership advancing through many blue-chip corporations with growing responsibilities. He was living the Canadian dream as taught in high school and before. He amassed a lifetime of once in a lifetime experiences because of his work, his zest for life and the desire to try it all. You name he can drive it. He has travelled the world, built businesses from within, and from nothing. He built his own vacation home by 33 and was lucky to add many friends along his journey.
At 40, it all changed. Not radically, but radically. Involved in a horrifically tragic accident involving a close friend he calls a brother, he was badly injured with over 20 broken bones, damaged multiple organs and ripped most of the soft tissue below the waist and for a period of time, he died. Sadly, his friend did not return that day, but Damian did. He is a research participant on the study of near-death experiences and has done his own deep research on the subject and the study of consciousness and currently assists Canadian Indigenous people to heal from intergenerational trauma to help his country reconcile an ugly chapter in its history.
Damian also shares his story to inspire us all to live life as it was meant to be lived.
Cindy Bain
Modern Day Mystic?
March 23, 2024 – 1:00PM
From the tender age of 5, Cindy’s journey began with a profound experience witnessing her father’s passing. This poignant moment ignited a lifelong commitment to serving others. Initially, she channeled this dedication into a fulfilling career in healthcare as an RN and Research Coordinator. However, as she embarked on the path of building a family, Cindy discovered a newfound passion and calling in energy healing.
Cindy’s life has been punctuated by a series of spiritually transformative experiences (STEs), each shaping her spiritual evolution. These encounters include mystical visions, spiritual rebirth, unification, near-death experience, and even moments of enlightenment. Join Cindy as she shares her transformative journey, exploring the depths of spirituality and the profound impact it has had on her life.
Cindy Bain is a non-practicing RN, starting her career in NICU, PICU and published in medical research from SickKids hospital in Toronto. She holds an Honours degree in Psychology and Health from Queen’s University, and is the founder of her own energy healing business, Cindy Bain Recharge with Reiki. As an energy healing expert of over 22 years, spiritually transformative experiences (STEs) are routine in Cindy’s life.
Spiritual Awakenings International
Experiencers Sharing Circles
First Saturday of Every Month: at 1 PM EST or 6 PM EST
Join us the first Saturday of each month at the “Spiritual Awakenings International Experiencers Sharing Circle” in which anyone who has had a Spiritually Transformative Experience can come together with a group of other “Experiencers” to share and to listen. SAI Sharing Circles will be offered the first Saturday of each month. These meetings are confidential, and not recorded.
Spiritually Transformative Experiences* include, but are not limited to the following:
- Near-Death Experiences
- Other death-related experiences such as: deathbed visions, deathwatch experiences/shared-death experiences and After-Death Communications
- Mystical experiences
- Diverse psychic or intuitive experiences, including clairvoyance, clairaudience, clairsentience, out-of-body experiences, past-life recall, mediumship, channeling, and more…
- Spiritual energy and/or Kundalini Awakenings
- Inspired creativity
- Spiritual Emergencies
Many people who have had Spiritually Transformative Experiences seek a safe place to share their story. If you think that perhaps you have had such an experience or you are interested in learning more, you are welcome to join the Experiencers Circle to share and learn.
*Note: “Spiritually Transformative Experiences” was first coined by Dr. Yvonne Kason in 1994.
Live online via Zoom. Register at www.spiritualawakeningsinternational.org
About Our Group
Toronto Awakenings Sharing Group was started in 2019. We call it an “Awakenings Sharing Group,” providing discussion time for those who are interested in Near-Death Experiences and other Spiritually Transformative Experiences. All are welcome to the meetings, whether they have had any of these experiences or not. (Minors must be accompanied by their legal guardians.)
We are not organized by or affiliated with any religion or religious organization. Near-Death Experiences and other Spiritually Transformative Experiences come to those of all different faiths and no faith at all. They also come to those of different cultures, race, gender, sexual orientation, age, and ability, and we hold openness for each unique experience and experiencer. We are a non-aligned group and do not endorse any one doctrine, philosophy, religion, religious interpretation or political position. We welcome participants with diverse views and perspectives and ask all participants to respectfully engage as listeners to others’ experiences, without offering judgment, challenge, comment or advice. The views and opinions expressed by any individual or speaker attending our meetings do not reflect any official position of the Toronto Awakenings Sharing Group. To read more on our Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Policy, click here.
Toronto Awakenings Sharing Group was created to offer interested individuals a safe, supportive place in which to share, network, and learn more about diverse Spiritually Transformative Experiences (STEs) and their often powerful after-effects on body, mind and spirit.
The term “Spiritually Transformative Experiences” was first coined by Dr. Yvonne Kason MD, in 1994. STEs include: Near-Death Experiences (NDEs); Mystical Experiences; Spiritual Energy or Kundalini Awakenings; diverse Psychic Experiences; Inspired Creativity; and other death-related STEs such as Deathbed visions, Death-Watch/Shared-Death Experiences, and After-Death Communications. Research studies have show that up to 15 percent of the population have had an NDE or other types of STEs. Many people find these occurrences very impactful and even life transforming. Sadly, experiencers often find they are misunderstood by their family or friends, and feel they have no one with whom to share their understanding. Our group meetings aim to provide just such an opportunity, to share privately and respectfully, with support and understanding of the diversity of each person’s STEs.
We believe that Near-Death Experiences and other Spiritually Transformative Experiences hold a wealth of information for all of us, especially given that no two experiences are identical. Our meetings are facilitated by Toronto Awakenings Sharing Group’s three volunteer co-founders, who have worked with and have also experienced their own Spiritually Transformative Experiences.
Toronto Awakenings Sharing Group is affiliated with Spiritual Awakenings International. www.spiritualawakeningsinternational.org
Meet Our Co-Founders
Dr. Yvonne Kason, Monica Maurin and Dr. Shira Taylor founded the Toronto Awakenings Sharing Group in 2019. All three co-founders have had many Spiritually Transformative Experiences (STEs) and two have had Near-Death Experiences (NDEs). They felt there was a need for a community such as this in Toronto and began to offer bi-monthly meetings to all who feel sincerely interested.
Toronto Awakenings Sharing Group is not a therapy group and no counselling can or will be offered. Rather, it is a forum in which to share personal NDE and STE stories in a supportive environment, and to learn more about all types of STEs from our meetings’ featured speakers. Experiencers, their friends, families, physicians and counsellors, as well as all persons sincerely interested in learning more about the wide range of Spiritually Transformative Experiences are welcome to attend.
We believe that Spiritually Transformative Experiences are part of the spectrum of healthy human experiences.
Currently, Toronto Awakenings Sharing Group is led by Dr. Yvonne Kason and other volunteers. Please direct all inquires to: info@torontoawakenings.org
Yvonne Kason MD, MEd, CCFP, FCFP
Dr. Yvonne Kason MD is a retired Family Physician and Transpersonal MD-Psychotherapist previously on Faculty at the University of Toronto. She has had 5 Near-Death Experiences and multiple Spiritually Transformative Experiences. She first coined the phrase “Spiritually Transformative Experiences” (STEs) in 1994. She has 40 years experience researching and counselling persons with NDEs and other STEs.
Dr. Kason is President of Spiritual Awakenings International, www.spiritualawakeningsinternational.org, Past-President of IANDS, cofounder of the Spirituality in Health-Care Network and the Kundalini Research Network, and author of 6 books, her most recent “Soul Lessons from the Light: How Spiritually Transformative Experiences Changed my Life” (December 2022), and “Touched by the Light: Exploring Spiritually Transformative Experiences.” (2019). Learn more at Dr. Kason’s website: www.dryvonnekason.com.