“I called to the LORD in distress; the LORD answered me and put me in a spacious place.” ~ Psalm 118:5
I live in the bible belt. I used to live in the heart of the LDS Church in Salt Lake. I spent years visiting an ashram for weeks at a time. Before that….
As we continue this exploration of how to talk about the spiritual nature of this work, I hope y’all will chime in with your understanding and experiences.
I am living a rhythm of spiritual growth. I am moving forward in a song of new understanding and still I hear a familiar love that I understand as God.
One of the participants in the AAIT Curate Your State program asked me how we know when we have FULLY accepted and integrated an experience. Such a good question. There are some indicators that make it pretty clear that we have lined up with acceptance and integration. The biggest one is that we learn to rely on the evidence of our own experience. AND AAIT has built-in mechanisms to direct awareness to that experience.
Last weekend, while I was facilitating an Intensive and participants were exploring the profound ineffable territory of empty consciousness and healing, Nazis were demonstrating in Charlottesville.
While a hearty group gathered in the hills of East Tennessee to push past their own illusions and limited ideas of separation, a man plowed into a crowd with a lethal weapon, killing one and wounding others.
I enjoy contemplating and studying teachings from many traditions. This little gem has captured my attention for years. As I reflect on this sutra, what is most compelling to me is the phrase “ocean of the heart.”
Way back in 1988 I made a decision to join a training group I had been invited to by Dick Olney to join his training group for therapists,. This was a big deal decision for me. I knew I wanted to study with Dick. I had one workshop with him, he was a master therapist. What I hadn’t quite counted on is what it would mean — leaving my young family to fly from Salt Lake to San Francisco once a month PLUS the $200 group fee, a FORTUNE to me.
In many healing arts models, practitioners BEGIN working with clarity about the focus for change. Over time, this clarity devolves as the conversations become more rambling or real change is less evident or not as quick as both practitioner and client had hoped.
With AAIT, having clarity about the “change contract” is part of almost every session.
The conditioned self can be sneaky and oh so self righteous — full of justifications for its existence. We feel it when we are in a suboptimal state of being or triggered. This idea of being triggered is crucial. For when we are triggered, we are reactive, not responsive. Our reactions don’t fully feel within our control and/or are not congruent with our real self.
I’ve read lots of articles recently about being with family in such a highly charged political environment. As healing arts professionals, most of us have worked long and hard on developing our skills in listening, setting boundaries and standing in what’s true for us without bashing the “other.” Nonetheless, it can be challenging, the best thing I’ve read so far on this topic was …