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Frequently Asked Questions

What is Uplift?

Uplift is a lesson library and curriculum that combines the best of the ancient wisdom traditions and modern science. We help families practice spirituality together using our approach.

Why Uplift?

Whether or not they belong to a specific faith, millions of new parents today are looking for more expansive ways to raise their kids.

This trend is both freeing and daunting. Where will new parents find a foundation to raise their kids with — one that integrates the best of their tradition while including the best of an expansive, scientifically grounded worldview?

That’s where Uplift comes in. We give a practical method for spiritual parenting — a foundation to help kids develop their natural spirituality.

Who is Uplift for?

Families with teens, kids, and littles.

Uplift is a perfect fit for families who have a habit of gathering together (at mealtime, bedtime, a weekend night, or a weekend day) to talk about things that matter most.

Our resources can also be used for families that want to weave meaningful topics naturally into everyday conversation without gathering together.

It works whether or not you belong to a religious community and regardless of your belief, as it pulls from wisdom traditions around the world.

What does a lesson look like?

Watch a demo of a lesson in the video below and sign up to get it delivered to your inbox.

What if my kids resist?

We offer a 14-day trial to see how it lands with your family. Test it out, free of charge.

Uplift is flexible. We suggest three different approaches, depending on your needs:

  1. Gather Together: Have a 20-minute sit down lesson together.
  2. On the Go: Use a single activity at mealtime, while in the car, or before bedtime throughout the week.
  3. Moments: Use a video, question, or prompt to build more meaningful interactions naturally throughout the day — one on one or as a family.

One of the benefits of Uplift is that our resources can blend naturally into your life. The Uplift experience can be as simple as saying, “Hey, check out this video…” or asking a single question and discussing it together as it feels natural.

Here are some additional ideas and tips:

  • Put the lesson in your weekly calendar.
  • Add the lesson to a weekly task list or chore chart.
  • Combine the experience with a board game or video game your kids enjoy (20-minute Uplift lesson, 20-min game).
  • Watch one video or read one story at breakfast, then discuss it in the car ride to school.
  • Watch one video or read one story at dinner, then discuss it at bedtime.
  • Look for lesson themes (courage, humility, forgiveness, etc.) as you watch a family movie together, then use that theme to discuss the related lesson topic later in the week. Combining the lesson with something fun will spark more engaging conversation, and quality movies almost always explore a universal virtue of some kind.

Above all, if the experience starts to feel difficult, think smaller. A consistent small habit will yield big results over time.

How do I introduce it?

If you already have a regular family gathering, introducing Uplift is simple and requires little to no work. Just integrate our lesson content into your gathering.

If you don’t have a regular family gathering, you can just share a video or question prompt naturally into your daily life. You might pose one of our questions during dinner, or watch one of our curated videos at breakfast.

It’s about starting a conversation about the topics that matter most.

Do I need to involve my whole family?

No. If some of your kids or even your spouse/partner aren’t interested, that’s totally fine. Use Uplift to start conversations that work for you, however that looks. It can be a powerful experience for one parent and one child — or just for a parent to sit with as they look for ways to make daily conversations around the house more meaningful.

What if I’m part of a religious community?

Some of our members are committed members of religious institutions and find the expansive approach of Uplift to be a strong supplement to their practice. We hold reverence for religious traditions while moving beyond the idea that any single tradition holds all truth, beauty, and goodness.

What if I’m not part of a religious community?

Uplift aims to be a way to find common ground between those who belong to a religious community and those who don’t — and between those who hold to traditional belief and those who don’t. We pull from the wisdom traditions (including Buddhism, Stoicism, Christianity, Hinduism, etc.) as well as the latest peer-reviewed science, so members can take what works and skip what doesn’t.

Does Uplift require particular beliefs?

No, it’s a method for spiritual parenting that’s compatible with a range of personal beliefs or non-beliefs.

How do I make Uplift a habit?

Here are a few simple suggestions:

  1. Bookmark our daily devotional page (accessible for members).
  2. Create a home screen icon for iPhone, iPad, and Android devices for easy access.
  3. Set a weekly reminder in your phone to do Uplift at a similar time each week (breakfast, dinner, before bedtime, Sunday morning, one night a week, etc.).

We also send weekly emails with a new lesson as well as tips about how to weave it into your natural conversation. In addition, we help you connect to other members who live near you, so you can form support groups. We’re invested in anything we can do to make Uplift easier and will evolve to meet your needs. Let us know what works for you.

Why the .org URL?

We are structured as a business, but are considerably different from a typical company. One of our core principles, for instance, is that all surplus is reinvested in the enterprise, distributed to our stakeholders, or donated to charity. In other words, we’re steward-owned and not subject to return-driven investors or wealthy philanthropists looking for quarterly growth, a payout, or a project they can control. As such, we hold a space that doesn’t cleanly fit as a .com or a .org. The needs of the Uplift community come first. To learn more, see our Sacred Economy page.

Why does Uplift cost money?

We want to make Uplift sustainable so a small team can continue to provide resources for families that are searching for ways to nurture spiritual health in expansive ways. Making this vision a reality requires an exchange of money and commitment. Our promise is that we will do whatever best feeds the natural growth of this community.

We believe the benefits of Uplift accumulate over time and that by implementing our resources you will have meaningful conversations and see deep transformation in your home. We hope you’ll become a member.

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