About The School

Mission Statement

Inspiration is dedicated to serving the emergence of personal, relational, and planetary wholeness. Recognizing the intimate connection among all living beings, we honor the interdependence of ourselves and others and are open to being inspired by the gifts and potential inherent in all life on the planet. The commitment to our own individual awakening and consciousness in each moment is the foundation for our endeavors. Our path is designed to promote holistic embodiment of presence, wisdom and love, in order to facilitate each being’s healing, evolution of consciousness, and connection with the Divine. We support others through individual healing sessions, group workshops, events and celebrations, selfless action, and love. We pray for divine guidance and inspiration to travel a true path of life, love, and service.

Land and Sanctuary

Inspiration is situated on five acres of woodlands and meadows adjacent to Soldier’s Delight Park, a 1900-acre natural environmental area. The area is a unique geological formation and eco-system, a haven for animal and plant life with over 39 rare and endangered species.

From our three-season outdoor classroom we can observe the creatures that share our land: deer, groundhogs, squirrels, birds, foxes, and other wildlife. Sitting or lying in the grass and feeling the pulse of the Earth as we engage our inner work facilitates a sense of unity with the totality of life. A connection to the natural world reminds us that we are reflections of the wider body of Earth.

Because each creature deserves love and kindness, we interact with the plant and animal life on the property in a manner that is respectful and honors our interconnectedness. Inspiration currently maintains two buildings with classroom, retreat, and office spaces.

Personal Retreat
& Event Space Rental

Inspiration joyfully and proudly announces that a beautiful space is now available for people who wish to do a personal retreat or spiritual practice in an atmosphere, sweetness, inspiration, and peace. The room is furnished with a double bed and a desk, equipped with heating and air conditioning, has a whole wall of windows, and adjoins a lovely hand-tiled bathroom with a bathtub and shower. Use of the sexy zen outdoor shower is also an option and access to keep a small amount of food in the refrigerator on the first floor is included. Individuals are asked to pay a fee of $40-60 on a sliding scale, and couples $50-70/night. Please contact the Inspiration office for availability.

Anyone interested in renting the outdoor classroom/pavilion for events can also contact the Inspiration Office at essence@inspirationcommunity.org or 410-998-9777 ext. 3 for rates and availability.

Spiritual Director & Founder

Since 1982 Jessica Dibb has been the Founder, Spiritual Director, and Principal Teacher of Inspiration Consciousness School, and has designed and facilitated unique workshops, classes, and on-going trainings grounded in a highly integrated model of psycho-spiritual healing and development to support self-actualization. Her teachings assist people in cultivating consciousness through all stages of life from conception onward. Using Integrative Breathwork, psychodynamic principles, and established and emergent wisdom teachings, Jessica facilitates embodied awareness of each moment. Her intuitive teaching style, individualized and attuned attention to students, and integrative approach helps to facilitate long-lasting transformations.  She also teaches nationally and internationally, including teaching Integrative Breathwork at the Psychotherapy Networker Conference for several years, and being a principal presenter at the International Enneagram Conference for over a decade.

Jessica is Co-Director of the Global Professional Breathwork Alliance (GPBA) and Chair of the GPBA’s Ethics Committee (www.breathworkalliance.com).  Her vision and mission has included: creating a set of ethical and training standards for Breath Practitioners; cultivating cooperation amongst the diversity of Breath Practices and Schools into a unified field of participation; creating bridges between the science and research of breath practices, and the practitioners who apply them to support others’ healing and transformation physically, emotionally, cognitively and spiritually; creating a professional platform for Breathwork to interface with the public, giving them informed choices about types of Breathwork and Breathwork Practitioners; and share the potential of optimal breathing and breath practices for our world.

Jessica is highly respected for her innovative experiential approach utilizing the wisdom of the enneagram for awakening and consciousness. In addition to years of in-person workshops, she now leads the enneagram platform through The Shift Network (www.theshiftnetwork.com). She is the host of the annual enneagram global summit, convening 50 leading enneagram teachers from around the globe with cutting-edge teachings. Jessica also teaches several online courses each year on the enneagram and consciousness through The Shift Network.

Jessica’s background reflects a rich diversity that includes: classical training at the National Academy of Ballet and Theatre Arts and performance experience with the Royal Ballet of England and the Bolshoi Ballet of Russia; yoga and meditation practice since she was 14, including four years at an ashram; pre-med studies at The University of California, Irvine; and social/civic leadership and service.

Jessica is a founding member of the board of Convergence, a non-profit organization working to promote dialogue and innovative solutions for challenging social issues of our time (www.convergencpolicy.org).  She was an engaged advisor to the the US-Muslim Engagement Project which published the Report “Changing Course: A New Direction for US – Muslim Relations”. She also served on the board of the U.S. Consensus Council for Search for Common Ground-USA.

Jessica was one of the leaders who walked in the first ever large Silent Peace Walk in America in Central Park, initiated by Jack Kornfield and Stephen Fulder.  She is honored to be one of the founding leaders of the non-profit Silent Peacewalks. (www.silentpeacewalk.org). She is currently the chair of the organizing committee.

She is the visionary and convener of a historic conference to created a unified field of Breathwork Practices – Breathwork Immersion: From Science to Samadhi that was held at Omega Institute for Holistic Studies in Rhinebeck, New York in 2013 and 2014, and at Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health in Massachusetts in 2015.

Her deepest passion is to support evolving creativity and positive possibilities on our planet by supporting awakened consciousness, and the embodiment of love, wisdom and presence in every

Past Accomplishments

The Unified Global Breathwork Movement was initiated in the fall of 2013, at the Omega Institute for Holistic Studies at a conference entitled, Breathwork Immersion: From Science to Samadhi, led by Jessica Dibb. Faculty, including Dan Siegel, MD, Stanislav Grof, Jack Kornfield, Jim Morningstar and Dr. Richard Brown and Dr. Patricia Gerbarg, gathered from around the country and the world to celebrate the power of breath, and share their wisdom and experience in the field. Along with Jessica, over 20 students of the Inspiration Consciousness School attended the conference. Pat Waddell, Kappy Laning, Alice Wells, Heather Davis, Sindee Ernst, Lauren Chelac Cafritz, Paul Philips ,Carol Seddon, Kathy Sirota and Barbara Morris all attended as assistants to the conference, for which they received much recognition and praise by the faculty and participants.
Jessica’s vision, tremendous dedication and labor, and inspired unifying leadership led to not only a successful first conference, but the inception of a 5 year series of conferences, all of which will be hosted by Omega. Inspiration now finds itself at the helm of an international movement seeking to bring awareness of the potent medicine of breath in its many forms to the larger world.
Work on the Omega Breathwork Immersion Conference 2014 to be held on august 24-29 has already begun! Contact the Inspiration Office Coordinator, at essence@inspirationcommunity.org if you would like to volunteer.

  • Coordinated and directed the February 2012 Inaugural Breathwork Summit and Teleconference – hosted by the Shift Network http://breathworksummit.com

  • Sponsored and participated in The New York Silent Peace Walk on October 7th, 2012. Jessica was a co-leader along with founders Jack Kornfield and Stephen Fulder, as well as Rabbis, Imams, Ministers, sufis, and social justice activists.  Alice Wells, Shelley Morhaim, Rita Singer, and Kim Holcomb from Inspiration were facilitators for the sharing circles at the end of the walk. www.nypeacewalk.org  
     

  • Honored the themes of unity, dialogue, and peacemaking during Reflection and Hope: A Ten Year Anniversary Event for 9/11

  • Raised $15,000 for the TEMEDT project to abolish slavery in Mali. The founder of Temedt, Ibrahim, is the 2012 award recipient of the Anti-Slavery Society of England  www.antislavery.org

  • Hosted the world-renowned band Animal Collective for 3 months while they wrote new music and prepared for their 2013 tour

    Jessica Dibb with Animal Collective

  • Inititated our first psycho-spiritual teacher training program

  • Hosted the 6-day annual board meeting of The International Breathwork Training Alliance (IBTA)

  • Kirtan with Bo Lozoff and Adan Ayala

  • We continue to enjoy the participation of interns from the Goucher College psychology department

Testimonials

There is the moment, the space between an exhalation and the next inhalation, in which I am completely empty. It is within this space, this moment, that I see entire universes exploding and imploding within me, I feel the infinite space surrounding me and within me and I know that everything is possible because I am everything and everything is part of me…It was awe inspiring and humbling to regain my purpose, regain my voice, and watch as my classmates did the same. Before coming to The Awakening Course, I was closed off to most people. I always held a piece of myself back. By the end of the eight weeks, I spoke freely and openly. There is a genuine sense of community within the class, it is a safe place. For the first time I can remember, I let people see me, the real me, all of me. I let go of my guard, my walls, my protective devices and trusted everyone to see who I am. ~Kathryn Mascardo

Jessica and the Inspiration process was and continues to be an integral part of my spiritual, emotional, mental, and physical healing— with many tools to create safety, awareness of self, creator, as well as, interfaith connections. I am so blessed to have Jessica as a major teacher and mentor in my life, The people I have met through the many classes I have taken are exceptional and spiritual warriors, who have the power to create Shalom, Salaam, Namaste, peace in this world. The breath is the baseline for life and for healing and this tool has transformed my life. Thanks a million times and many lifetimes for this healing ~
Shoshana Shamberg

I had yet to understand, much less experience, the power of moving meditation. Being introduced to [moving meditation]… that year was a revelation!…they were the first steps on a journey that continues to this day; a journey of remembering to do whatever it takes to be present in my body, my heart, and my mind.
~ Darriel Park

As we were working on core wounds in the Spiritual Apprentice class, I had an experience that has stayed with me ever since. A quieting of mind, an opening to Boundlessness, and an overwhelming joy at the unity of All That Is. For that moment (and for about a week afterward) I was 100 percent present to my life in a way I had never experienced before. Although the ecstatic presence faded over time, it has never entirely left me and can be recalled. An integral step on my spiritual journey for which I am forever grateful to my teacher Jessica. -Shelley Morhaim

What comes immediately is this… “ I was laying under the tree outside the pavilion, experiencing my rebirthing. When I looked into my 2 guides eyes, I truly and completely felt as if I started over this current life. I was born there at Inspiration to an amazingly warm, generously loving open family of like-minded souls. It was perfect, exactly as I had dreamed it. I was home, finally. That feeling has never left me.”… And… “On Sunday, 2 days into a fast (which I had never done before) , digging deep in this work, breathing, releasing, letting go, connecting to spirit, connecting so deeply with the group, laying there in floor of the pavilion, music pumping (Krishna Das) and then Pater Gabriel, I had the most profound “thrust” of energy that felt completely organic and completely endless. It was like a bolt of lightning straight line from God, source, spirit, no static, no interference, streaming through me, through us all…looking into eyes, everyone in complete and utter joy…it was beyond words. It was there in that moment that I experienced essence, God, the now, the here, and the true power and potency of my being through the power of the connection to the one, to the all … Bob Sima

There were moments during some of the group breathing exercises in which I felt an incredible connectedness to all these beautiful souls around me. The joy and release of that moment remains in me and gives me hope for what can be achieved in this world, if we can just get past ourselves. Really missing our Wednesday nights……..
Mark Huslage

I took the Awakenings course twice. It helped me with so many life experiences that I needed to begin letting go of. Jessica and the guides create an environment of safety and support. I awakened to my brilliance, own power to heal self, connection to other beautiful souls but most importantly to my own presence of GOD.
Lorena Lues

I have suffered from habitual anxiety most of my life. At the Awakening Weekend, we did a breathwork session around “letting go”. I realized that so much of the tension in my life stems from my need to be in control… I began to cry, realizing how much I wanted to release this responsibility. Then the truth opened, and I knew, at the core of my being that “I (the ego) am not in control… God is.” Once I can let the control go, the tension and anxiety melt away. Whatever happens is what is meant to be, I don’t have to make it right. -Kathryn Hester

During my time at inspiration, I have had many experiences that have had, and are still having, a profound effect on how I am in the world and how I experience life. From all of the time I have spent and the work I have done at Inspiration, life has become much more exciting and I have become much more aware of each moment in my life and how precious it (they) really are. It is hard to describe in words any one intense experience that I have had since the majority have taken place more in my body then my mind, but I do remember one very well. During the one year apprenticeship class we were doing an exercise, and during that exercise, I chose to lead the entire group in a meditation. The meditation that came up in my mind was one where I gave everyone a visual representation of growing from an acorn to a tree, going through the seasons, and then withering away back into the Earth. During this experience, I could feel that everyone in the room was intently focusing on me and my words to them. It was so intense to feel such a large amount of energy and projection being sent my way that my entire body just completely filled with this energy. After my physical body seemed to reach its capacity (or at least what I thought its capacity was at the time) I didn’t know what to do with all the energy coming in, so I sent it straight up into the sky, like a tornado of light, continually until I had completed the meditation. Afterwards, I felt “higher” than I had ever felt up to that point in my life. It was like being bathed in light or having showered under a waterfall of pure energy. It was wonderful.There have been many similar experiences, both highs and lows, and I have come to appreciate all of them for the wisdom, beauty, grace, and freedom they have bestowed upon my being during my now lifelong practices. -Ian K.

My “positive” experience at Inspiration isn’t based on individual experiences. Instead, for me it is the cumulative effect of returning again and again to the vibration of Oneness – Essence that Jessica invokes in me. Over time, the habit of separation consciousness has been dissolving layer by layer and my life is transforming on all levels. To write about individual experiences seems trivial – each one has broken through the shell of separation in the unique way of that moment. – Kathryn Yarborough

My first most amazing experience at Inspiration was the 2nd week of my first Awakening course – during the dynamic exercise for Orange week – when I felt, or was present to, for the first time in my life enormous HUGE flows of energy, like liquid golden elixir, pouring onto and into my crown, dripping off my head onto my whole body, running through my whole body, huge channels opened and energy running into and through me. I held onto the hand of the person next to me and I was sure she was feeling the firehose of energy running through and out my hands. Maybe she did, or maybe not – I thought for sure it would bowl her over – it felt that huge in me.

I was 55 when I had that experience and I found it startling that there was a force that huge available to me that I had never known about or tapped into in 55 years.

As I now know myself to be an ennea-one and a body-centered person, it still astounds me that for 55 years I had learned to systematically cut myself off so completely from my deepest source of wisdom.

I think the Awakening course leap-frogged me ahead on my spiritual seeker’s journey by about 10 years – maybe more – maybe a lifetime or two ahead. I am clear that I have always been on my journey – but the acceleration that was initiated in those 8 weeks still astounds me. -Martha Sherman

During the 1 year class, we were breathing in the purple room, and then we decided to “take it to the streets,” and took a trip to Owings Mills mall. I floated through the mall –I mean this almost literally –it felt as if my feet weren’t touching the floor. I completely experienced and understood how God must see the world — I saw crying children and impatient parents, people complaining and rushing, but all I cvould see was the love in every face and every interaction. I saw how love is behind everything –how everything is love. It changed my life forever.” -Peggy Mainor

Sometimes – there are these really profound moments. When I realize just how much you and my classmates have changed my life. Today – while Jupiter and Saturn were facing off in the sky – I experienced one of those moments. And it felt really critical to bow – to you, to them, to all of the people in the world doing this work. Willing to face themselves – willing to be afraid – willing to be terrified – willing to let the false pieces die – to let their true selves live. To let Essence through and through Essence to let grace make miracles. I love you. With everything I am. And I will be grateful always. -Megan Grumbine

Jessica, I just want to express my complete and utter gratitude for your presence. I was teaching a class today, and just over and over again, the work that I’ve done with you was shining forth. The gift of the work that I’ve done with you. So, thank you so much for who you are and your presence. I can only speak for as it’s shone up in my life, but I expect you’ve touched hundreds, if not thousands, in this way -Marty Perkins

Jessica Dibb is unique because she embraces an integrated, psycho-spiritual approach that proactively helps students become aware of their habits (and or unconscious patterning) and provides multiple methodologies to help build their self realization. These strategies range from exercise and movement to intimate dialog; from deconstructing core wounds to laugh therapy—it’s all grist for the mill of expanding consciousness, gracious and loving relational inter-dependence and a spiritually expanded perspective. –Pat Waddell

A Letter by Sue Hilyard to her friends about Awakening:
took this course last fall and it has transformed my life. I am now taking Jessica’s 1 year apprentice class as a result. Jessica’s work (and lot’s of my own) has done for me in a seemingly short time what years of therapy could not (sorry Ann). I highly recommend the 8-wk class to anyone ready to shake off the old patterns of being for a new, healthier way of life. If you know anyone who could benefit from this type of work, please forward to them. Some of the ways I have already transformed (if you don’t know by now):

  1. Lost 15 lbs.

  2. Learned conscious breathing for everyday

  3. Able to meditate regularly

  4. Understood what foods make me unwell (sugar, white flour, etc) and how to eat what my body needs

  5. Serenity as never before in my life

  6. Better able to speak my truth instead of locking it up inside

  7. Accepting life situations and stresses in a more relaxed mind frame (less anxiety)

  8. Listening to the pain or illness in my body and how it speaks my mind for me

  9. Learned how to be more present in daily life (i.e. listening, speaking, action)

Let me say this has not come easy for me. Anyone who knows my history understands my struggles. Additionally, shedding the old patterns/stories is also very painful. The pain however is letting it go and ultimately, this is what is needed to truly awaken to our authentic selves. Jessica is an incredibly gifted, highly conscious guru and coach. Even the most stubborn spirits/ego’s are no match for her tenacity!!

Love and many blessings to all – Sue

p.s. Folks often travel from great distances to experience what Jessica has to offer them (PA, NY, VA). I drive 1.5 hrs each way to do this. It is often not an easy drive as I get home late and have to be up at 4:30 am for work! I am so energized by the class however, I can cope with the lack of sleep (and I love my sleep!!).