Connection Labs

Uniquely interactive, heart-centred events offering guided experiments in genuine human connection.

“What would it be like to show up with others as more of who you really are?”

“Who might you meet if you could really see them?”

Upcoming Connection Labs

  • Toronto Listening Experiment is currently on hiatus. Please subscribe to my newsletter (see bottom of page) if you'd like to be informed of future offerings.

    In the meantime, you might want to check out Melodies and Meaningful Connections, run by my friend Joanna.

Previous Connection Labs

  • 7-9:15pm at Modo Yoga Bloor West.

  • 7-9:15pm at Modo Yoga Bloor West.

  • 7-9:15pm at Annette Studios in Toronto.

  • 7-9:15pm at Modo Yoga Bloor West in Toronto.

  • 3:30-5pm on Zoom.

  • 7-9pm @ Annette Studios in Toronto.

  • 7-9pm @ Annette Studios in Toronto.

  • 7-9pm @ Annette Studios in Toronto.

  • 7-9pm @ Annette Studios in Toronto.

At Connection Labs, we experiment with…

  • being more present in our interactions

  • getting more curious - about others and about ourselves

  • noticing our stories about who we think we should be

  • showing up as more of who we really are

What to Expect?

At each event, participants are guided through a series of experiences that are designed to create deeper, more satisfying, and more enlivening connections — with others, and with ourselves.

Each Connection Lab is what we like to call a structured experiment.

The Experiment: We are simply here to discover and experience whatever comes up. There's no right or wrong way to be or to feel.

The Structure: Each experience will have some guidelines, which may feel strange or awkward at first. The intention of this structure is to gently nudge ourselves out of “autopilot” so that we can experience something new.

The only real “rule” is to honour yourself.

That means you don’t have to do or say anything you don’t want to. It’s also an invitation for you to fully welcome your experience, whatever it may be.

  • I'm Shaina: a complicated, messy human like the rest of us. Also a human who, for most of my life, has been most motivated by the desire to see people—and to be seen myself—on a deeper level.

    That journey has taken me in many, often zigzagging directions. The most life-changing of these was discovering the Authentic Relating Toronto community in 2016, after going through a very difficult period in my life. Beginning as an extremely eager participant in any and every ART event or course I could attend, I eventually became trained and certified as a Connection Lab facilitator in 2018, hosting 50+ in-person events between 2018 and 2020, including "Eye Contact Experiments" and pop-up listening experiences in public spaces.

    In 2019, hungry for more ways to bring Authentic Relating into the world, I joined the amazing prison nonprofit Realness Project, assisting with delivering connection workshops behind bars. And in 2020, as in-person events were put on hold, I also became part of the Authentic Relating Games Online community—both behind the scenes as Director of Engagement, and as a Connection Lab facilitator, hosting virtual events throughout the pandemic.

    Outside of Authentic Relating, my formal training is in psychology and Peace and Conflict Studies. I currently work with the nonprofit restorative justice agency Community Justice Initiatives, where I am passionate about helping people build understanding and find meaningful ways forward in the aftermath of harm and crime.

    I look forward to meeting you!