Podcast 142 — Practical Professionals: Can Anyone Lead a Gateway to Practical Homeopathy® Study Group?

Kate: (05:31)

So, that's really fun. Okay, so let's talk now more about the study groups themselves and what we found to be useful as we planned the study groups and led them — because we have led a lot of study groups. So, we want to give all of the listeners the tools — some of the tips and tools — that we used to do our study groups. So, Michele, why don't you talk about a few of those things?

Michele:

Well, I think one of the things that you actually started, Kate (when you started leading the study groups) was being consistent with the day and time. You were consistently holding them on a certain day and time every week.

And when people would go to Joette’s Find Your Study Group Friends Facebook page, they always knew when you were going to hold your groups, and it was able for them to connect with you and to schedule with you. And that was great for me, too, when I decided to join your group. So, that was one of the things.

Kate:

And I know we really tried to plan the study groups on days and times that we thought were good for both coasts. We have the East coast and the West coast, and that can be tricky.

And then we also thought about days of the week. We tried to avoid Wednesdays because of a lot of people do church things on Wednesdays. We didn't do them on Sundays because it's like family day. So, we really put a lot of thought into the day and the time that we planned our groups.

And that's something that if you are leading study groups, I'd really recommend that you do is think about all the coasts … and we even had people from overseas join us. The evenings tend to be best for most time zones.

Michele:

Yeah, I think the farthest away we had was someone from Switzerland once. And it was very, very late at night, if I remember correctly, that she would meet with us. And she'd be in her sweats and in the dark and [inaudible]. And yeah, that was pretty neat.

And then another thing we did, too, Kate, was we had consistent study group meetings. So, we would have a Gateway I group, and then we would do a Gateway II group right after that, and then we would do a Gateway I after that. We just kept them rolling. And so that was something that helped build our Gatewayers, or our Gateway groups, in our community.

Kate:

Because I think people knew if they were going to invite their friends, that we would have another one, and they would just keep going, like you said, Gateway I, Gateway II.

Now, some people do a Gateway I and a Gateway II, and then, when they're doing the Gateway II, at the same time, they'll start another Gateway I. So, you can double up like that. And then you're always leading both a Gateway I and a Gateway II.

But I think also, Michele, something that was helpful is going into Gateway II because you had more time with these people, so you developed even better relationships with them.

Michele:

Right.

Kate:

And I love Gateway II. I'm surprised that more people don't do that.

But Gateway II, I even use it as a resource when my family has a cold or a flu. It's a quick reference for me to look up the remedy. So …

Michele:

Yeah, it's like Gateway I is a great starter guide when you're just first learning about homeopathy, and you don't really know what it is.

And then Gateway II … you really do dive into the medicines more like the entire section on cell salts and emergency first aid.

And both of them together … I still use them as references even all these years later. And they are full of notes from our study group members. We're amazed — right, Kate — that every time we hold a Gateway group — even all these years later — there's somebody that comes in with a little tidbit of information that is valuable.

Kate:

And we talk about how it helps us, too. Because as we're going through it — even though we might have done it 50 times — we go through it again, and you and I are reminded of something. “Oh yeah, I remember now. Okay, that cell salt is great for this.” And it brings it back to our memory, and we're able to further our knowledge and just storing all those uses for the remedies in our minds. Because we learn it, and then we tend to forget things. So, it brings it back to our minds and keeps it fresh. I love that. I learn every time we lead a study group.

What else? Can you think of any other tips, Michele?

Michele:

I was thinking about with the community you have, too, through the Signal groups and even emailing with your people, there's always somebody there to help you when you need help — when you have that brain mush because your kids are really sick, and you can't even think of what remedy to use. And you could reach out to your friends from your study group that are in the Signal group. It’s really powerful.

Kate:

Oh, I thought of something else that when we started another study group (like, say, another Gateway I) we would send it out — that information: “Hey, we're starting another study group.”

We would send it out to our whole email list. Everyone that's attended our study groups in the past, because inevitably they would want to come back. (And we offered that for free if they've already joined.) But they would have friends or family members that wanted to join in this next time that we went through it.

So, we kept a list of everyone and sent them an email and let them know what we were up to and when we would be doing new groups. So, really, we got a lot of new people that way into our study groups and more and more friends.

Michele:

I remember once we had one person bring their four sisters to our group. And I said, “Why don't you do … you have your own study group right there?”

And she's like, “Yeah, but we want to learn in the larger community with more people.”

So, she brought her sisters to our group, And I think that now, a couple of them are even leading study groups, which is really exciting. And it's so exciting to see people …