About Us | ServiceSpace Pods - Learning that serves. Serving that learns.

What Are Pods?

Pods are intimate, peer-led learning circles that bring together seekers and changemakers from around the world.

Each pod is a container for transformation -- a sacred space where participants engage in daily contemplative practices, share their experiments in service, and support each other's growth through authentic connection.

Unlike traditional courses or workshops, pods are non-hierarchical. There are no teachers and students -- only fellow travelers learning together through the powerful combination of:

Daily Reflections (Head) - Contemplative prompts that spark inquiry
Service Experiments (Hands) - Micro-practices in daily life
Weekly Gatherings (Heart) - Video calls for sharing and witnessing

Pod Journey Timeline

1

Orientation

Meet your circle, learn the rhythm, set intentions

2

Daily Practice

Engage with reflections, experiment with practices, share discoveries

3

Weekly Calls

Connect deeply with your circle through shared presence

4

Integration

Reflect on transformation, celebrate ripples, stay connected

Our Approach: Head, Hands, Heart

ServiceSpace pods integrate three dimensions of transformation, creating a holistic practice that touches mind, body, and spirit.

Head: Contemplation

Each day begins with a thoughtful prompt designed to spark inquiry. These aren't questions with right answers -- they're invitations to pause, reflect, and notice what emerges. Participants explore themes like gratitude, interdependence, purpose, and presence.

"What would change if you saw every interaction today as sacred?"

"Where in your life are you seeking control when you could practice trust?"

"What gift have you received that you've never acknowledged?"

These daily inquiries become a practice of noticing -- of bringing awareness to patterns, assumptions, and possibilities we might otherwise miss in the rush of daily life.

Hands: Practice

Wisdom without action remains philosophy. Each reflection includes micro-practices -- small experiments you can do in your daily life. These might be acts of service, creative expressions, or experiments in being. The emphasis is on doing, not perfection.

"Today, hold the door open for someone -- and really see them."

"Call someone you've been meaning to thank. Just to say thank you, nothing else."

"Leave an anonymous gift for a stranger."

These aren't grand gestures -- they're small, doable acts that shift how we show up in the world. Over time, these micro-practices weave into the fabric of daily life, creating lasting change.

Heart: Connection

Weekly video calls are the heartbeat of each pod. In circles of 8-15 people, participants share their discoveries, challenges, and transformations. These calls aren't performances -- they're sacred spaces where vulnerability becomes strength and witnessing becomes healing.

"In being seen and heard, I discover who I truly am."

"When someone witnesses my struggle with compassion, something in me relaxes."

The calls follow a gentle structure -- check-ins, sharing, reflections -- but what emerges is organic. Participants often say these circles become the safest spaces they've ever experienced, where they can show up fully as themselves.

Why Head, Hands, Heart?

This three-fold approach recognizes that transformation happens in the integration of all three. Insight without action remains abstract. Action without reflection can lack depth. And neither has its full power without the holding of authentic relationship. When all three work together, something profound shifts -- both in us and in the world around us.

The Five Principles

These principles guide how pods are designed and held. They represent a different way of being together -- one that trusts emergence, honors relationships, and nurtures leadership in all.

Many to Many

In traditional education, knowledge flows one-to-many: one teacher, many students. In pods, we practice many-to-many learning. Everyone teaches, everyone learns. Everyone's experience becomes curriculum for the circle.

This isn't just a pedagogical choice-- it's a recognition that wisdom doesn't reside in any single person. A CEO and a parent both have profound insights to share. A student's fresh perspective can illuminate what an elder has always known. When we honor everyone's knowing, the collective wisdom that emerges is far richer than any individual could provide.

In Practice: In pod calls, there's no designated teacher. The facilitator holds space, but insights and breakthroughs come from all directions. A question from one person sparks a reflection in another, which inspires a practice for a third. The circle becomes a living web of wisdom.

Context Over Content

The container matters more than the content. The quality of presence, the depth of trust, the authenticity of relationship -- these create the conditions where real transformation can happen. You can have the most profound curriculum, but without a safe, loving container, hearts won't open.

This principle asks us to prioritize how we are together over what we're doing together. It means taking time to build trust, creating space for tears as much as insights, and honoring the messy, non-linear nature of real change. The content provides direction, but the context -- the field of love and acceptance -- is what allows seeds to grow.

In Practice: Pod facilitators spend as much time cultivating group coherence as they do on content. Check-ins might take half the call. Tears are welcomed. Silence is honored. The group learns to hold space for whatever needs to emerge, trusting that the content will unfold naturally when the context is right.

Trust in Emergence

Pods don't have predetermined outcomes or success metrics. We don't know where each pod will lead, and that's not a bug -- it's a feature. We create conditions for transformation and then step back, trusting that what needs to emerge will emerge.

This isn't passive. It's a profound act of faith -- faith that when we show up with intention and open hearts, the universe will meet us. Faith that the wisdom we need is already present, waiting to unfold. Faith that organic, emergent processes often create more profound change than rigid plans.

The ripples that follow pods constantly surprise us. Someone starts a care network. Another shifts their entire business model. A third discovers a calling they never knew they had. None of this was planned -- it emerged from the conditions we created.

In Practice: Facilitators hold the container lightly. There's structure (daily prompts, weekly calls) but within that structure, spaciousness. Questions are welcomed without needing immediate answers. Uncertainty is normalized. The group learns to sit with not-knowing, trusting that clarity will come in its own time.

Laddership

Not leadership from the top, but "laddership" from below. In traditional hierarchies, leaders climb the ladder, accumulating power as they rise. In laddership, we hold the ladder for others. We lead by serving, by creating conditions for others to shine, by nurturing the leader in everyone.

This approach recognizes that everyone has leadership to offer -- not as a position or title, but as a way of being. A parent leading their family with love. An employee creating culture through small acts of kindness. An elder holding wisdom for a community. These are all forms of leadership.

Laddership is also about leading from within. Before we can serve others effectively, we do our own inner work. We confront our shadows, heal our wounds, and cultivate presence. Only then can we hold space for others without our own unresolved material getting in the way.

In Practice: Pod facilitators model laddership by sharing their own struggles alongside their strengths. They create space for everyone to step into leadership -- asking questions, offering reflections, holding space for others. Leadership becomes fluid, circulating through the group rather than residing in one person. Everyone gets practice leading, and everyone gets practice following.

Gift Economy

Every pod is offered as a gift. No fees, no transactions, no expectation of return. This isn't just about making pods accessible (though it does that). It's a practice in non-transactional relationship -- an experiment in what becomes possible when we organize around generosity instead of scarcity.

In a transactional economy, we exchange value: I give you X, you give me Y, and we're done. In a gift economy, the flow is different. I give to you, you give to someone else, they give to another. Value circulates, creating connection rather than closure. Relationships deepen instead of ending.

This approach asks both givers and receivers to practice trust. Givers trust that the gift will land where it needs to. Receivers trust that they're worthy of receiving freely, without having to earn it. Many participants pay it forward -- not to the pod, but through their own acts of service, creating ever-expanding ripples of generosity.

What This Looks Like:

All pods are free to join
Facilitators volunteer their time
No fundraising or solicitation
Participants often "pay it forward" through service
The whole ecosystem runs on trust and generosity

In Practice: When someone asks "How can I give back?" we gently redirect: "Give forward -- to anyone, anywhere, in whatever way calls to you." This keeps the gift flowing. It also teaches an important lesson: in a gift economy, you can never repay what you've received. You can only pass on the love.

From Silicon Valley to Global Movement: What began as four friends serving in a homeless shelter has grown into a global ecosystem touching millions -- all run by volunteers, powered by love.

The ServiceSpace Story

For over 25 years, ServiceSpace has been an incubator for "laddership" -- the practice of leading from within.

Founded in 1999 by a group of friends in Silicon Valley, ServiceSpace started with a simple question: What would happen if we organized around generosity instead of scarcity?

Today, ServiceSpace is a global ecosystem with dozens of projects -- from DailyGood to KarmaTube to Awakin Circles -- all designed to cultivate a more compassionate world.

Pods emerged in 2020 as a way to deepen this work during the pandemic. What started as an experiment has blossomed into a platform serving thousands of participants across 50+ countries.

Learn More About ServiceSpace

Our Values

These principles guide everything we do

Service as Transformation

We believe that serving others is the fastest path to our own transformation. Every act of generosity shifts both the giver and receiver, creating ripples that extend far beyond the original act.

Relational Leadership

True change emerges from relationships, not positions. We cultivate "laddership" -- leadership that serves from below and leads from behind, nurturing the leader in everyone.

Inner + Outer

Sustainable change requires both contemplation and action. We integrate inner work with outer service, recognizing that personal transformation and collective change are inseparable.

Small Acts, Large Ripples

We trust in emergence -- that small, heartfelt actions create ripples far beyond what we can see or measure. Change doesn't require grand gestures; it starts with presence and love in daily moments.

About ServiceSpace Pods