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 Happy Spring!
Spring is the season where Mother Nature celebrates wild enthuiasm! It's a time of new beginnings, spring cleaning and ahhh-ahhh-chooooo....
In this mid April issue you will find:
- An article about my boyhood days of playing hide-and-seek, not getting the girl and how all that relates to ego and essence.
- An audio clip of my explanation of Radical Wholeness inspired from an interview with Mary Simpson.
- NEW Essence Circle format.
- NEW Radical Wholeness Minutes weekly Podcast series starting in May and
- Leslie's FREE Clean Yourself from the Inside Out Qigong, Pilates and Food Healing class this Saturday at Body Awareness. Guess who'll be handing the surgeon the corn? Yep!
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Hide-And-Seek
Remember playing Hide-and-Seek as a kid?
I sure do! Springtime often reminds me of this innocent game. I recall spending many a spring break at my Grandmother's house in Tennessee. After a wonderful dinner of minute steak and wheel potato's, I would often run through her backyard, cut though Jill's yard, which backed up to my Grandmothers, to excitedly arrive at the Cul-de-sac where Jill and a dozen or so others were waiting to pick sides for a few rounds of Hide and seek. I had gotten pretty good at both the hiding and seeking parts by now.
I recall one game of hide-and-seek in particular. I was about 10 years old and remember hiding very well. I chose a great place where I would not be found, in the back of the woods between the Cul-de-sac and back end of the grave yard, behind a log and under some brush. I confess that while a part of me wanted to continue my winning streak of not being found, another part of me was hoping that Jill would find me. If you haven't guessed it by now, I had a crush on Jill.
What begin as wonder-filled twilight evening shared with young friends over a fun game of hide-and-seek while secretly hoping to have whatever kind of special moment a 10 year old hopes to have with the girl with whom he has affectionate feelings for, turned out to be one of the loneliest nights I ever spent in the little town of Etowah,Tennessee.
I remember hearing the exiting sounds of other kids being sought after and found. "Not me, they'll never find me" I thought to myself. I had hidden very well. Yet after some time, after all of the noise and laughter and aliveness dulled to nothing. What begin as a fun and exciting adventure, now left me feeling lonely and kind of left out.
I began to seek what I had previously been hiding from, to be found. So I made some noise and then myself more visible. 'Hey over here!" I shouted, no one came. I felt alone. And, for good reason, I was alone! I had hidden too well. It was a dark and very lonely walk back through Jill's yard to my Grandmother's.
How is this similar to the way so many people live out their lives, hiding so well behind their masks of protecting and proving that the life that is most sought after, on the deepest and most nourishing level, is missed out on and never found?
Like me in the woods, how many people do you know that hide so well that they never find the wholeness that their soul-essence most seeks?
Every human being has two basic drives: One is to survive and thrive. This is the job of the ego. The other is for Wholeness. This is the job of the Soul or what Carl Jung refers to as the deeper Self, with a Capital "S."
Paradox is; while the ego serves an important and necessary evolutionary and developmental function, it has it's limitations. This is why so many people today are looking for ways to transcend it, not get rid of but go beyond. To go beyond the ego we must face, feel, and embrace all our fears and limiting beliefs in healthy and whole way. When we do, we are released from them. Now, we can finally stop hiding behind the ego's protecting and proving strategies that prevent us from connecting with and expressing our authentically unique part of the whole. No more hide-and-seek.
Whatever we resist persists. Yet, whatever we have the courage to face, feel and embrace, becomes grace.
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What is Radical Wholeness?
What is Radical Wholeness?
6:00 ( a little choppy )
The Transformational Work
9:30
Transcript:
Welcome to this brief introduction to the healing and transformational work of SOULutions. I'm excited about sharing these few words with you about the Ego to Essence work that I feel so passionate about and refer to as Radical Wholeness.
SOULutions Mission and all of the healing and transformational work that we do with individuals and couples, both privately and in workshop settings, is aimed at one singular purpose: helping people find and begin to live their most authentically unique expression of wholeness, what I refer to Radical Wholeness. In the simplest of terms this the work is about helping people to:
1. Heal any wounds from the past that might be holding them back from experiencing their wholeness in the present and
To begin contributing their authentic gifts and passions to the world in a practical way, for a unique purpose that serves life.
The whole idea of Radical Wholeness is based upon the recognition that every human being has two basic drives: One is to survive and thrive. This is the job of the ego. The other is for Wholeness. This is the job of the Soul or what Carl Jung refers to as the deeper Self, with a Capital "S." This drive for wholeness is the source of all authentically pursued spiritual paths. In non-religious terms its the quest for meaning and to be a part of something greater than ourselves.
By whatever means, this quest for wholeness seems to be a part of the evolutionary impulse within each of us. The late Carl Sagan declared himself as an Atheist, yet from this perspective of Wholeness, his long lived profound connection with and reverence for the Cosmos as akin to a deeply religious life.
Here's my description of Radical Wholeness:
Radical Wholeness is a liberated state of emotional and spiritual well-being that goes beyond the fear based limits of the ego. It's an undivided life filled with peace, passion, purpose, authentic power and presence. It's a fully integrated way of living with mind, body, heart, soul and will all working in concert with Life for a purpose that serves the healing and conscious evolution of the planet, in some large or small way.
It's an inner state of being where no part of you is in conflict with any other part of you, or the world. It's saying YES to all of Life without suppressing, grasping or denying anything. It's the inner union of Spirit and soul, the light and the dark within us, masculine and feminine. It is our own unique individual expression of the whole.
It was described by one client as like "finally arriving at home, in my own skin and it feeling more connected and peacefully alive than I could have ever imagined."
What makes it Radical is it's counter intuitiveness, at least for many people. As we know, the number one objective of the ego is to protect us from anything that it believes would cause us to feel vulnerable. In doing so our ego plays kind of a hide and seek game with us, hiding from what we are most seeking, on the deepest level, running away from what our soul wants to run towards.
Yet, as many people are beginning to discover, any fear that we don't own, owns us. If we continue to hide from our fears and limiting beliefs by masking them with the ego's protecting and proving strategies, the wholeness that we seek remains hidden.
Paradox is; while the ego serves an important and necessary evolutionary function, without which we wouldn't be here, it has it's limitations. This is why so many people today are looking for ways to transcend it. To go beyond the ego, we have to face, feel, and embrace all our fears and limiting beliefs in healthy and whole way. Paradoxically, when we do, we are released from them. Now, we can finally let go of our protecting and proving strategies. This is how we transcend the ego and find the wholeness that we seek. No more hide-and-seek.
So what does this Finding Radical Wholeness work look like? The work is done in two phases or movements- an inner movement that I call the Soulwork and outer movement that I call the Spiritwork. Plus a regular Practice to insure that the transformation continues to deepen in a persons life.
The first movement to this "symphony of wholeness" is the inner-work. This is the soulwork of healing any emotional wounds and limiting beliefs from the past that might block a person from being fully connected with their wholeness in the present. This where we uncover, heal and release what I call the Core Wound. This is the deepest fear that our ego has tried to avoid experiencing. It's the root of all of our defending, avoiding and controlling strategies.
When people uncover and release this core wound, they feel such a relief and see their life with such much clarity. And, this can be done in one session through the Phoenix Process rather than months or years of therapy.
They just see their whole life unfold in front of them including their limiting choices, the variety of ways that they've attempted to protect themselves, the many ways that they have avoided intimacy, the motivation behind most of their goals and sometimes people see that even their greatest achievements have been a kind of a compensation for this core fear. Now that this core wound is released
they can finally let go the ego's need to suppress or empress and begin to spend more of their time connecting and expressing, the two main essence behaviors.
Once we've released this core wound, we then go about uncovering and letting go of the egos main proving strategy of avoiding this core fear. For example: Someone with the core wound of never measuring up, they might have the proving strategy of always having to be the best at everything, or at least looking the part,at any cost. This could lead to a ruthlessly competitive me verses you kind of drive, pointing out and sometimes exaggerating their accomplishments. The motivating drive is extrinsic and rooted in avoiding the fear of NOT measuring up. Their life can become more about chasing success, acquisitions and ego inflating experiences than of being authentically valuable. The transformational work in this instance would to release the fear of not measuring up AND the proving strategy of always trying to prove that they do.
The second phase of this work is an outward movement. This is the spiritwork of helping a person to shine their light out in the world as their own unique expression of wholeness.
To accomplish this we utilize some pretty innovative exercises that we've developed along with a couple of testing instruments, all designed to help clients to discover, or more often uncover their own most unique, yet sometimes hidden, strengths, gifts, talents, passions, values and in-particularly, their quirks.
Then we have more fun than should be legal while determining how to creatively and practically offer this "authentically unique expression of life" in service to the healing and conscious evolution of the planet, in a grand or simple way, with joy, passion and ease.
And Finally, to make sure this transformational shift from ego to essence to Radical Wholeness not only remains constant in a persons life but continues to deepen over time, we work together to create a i daily Practice that is unique to that person. To do this, I create three individualized recordings that utilize some of the most advanced brainwave entrainment technologies: a 12 minute daily Jumpstart that can be listened to before getting out of bed, in the shower or on their way to work or while exercising, a 30 minute deeper meditation and visualization to listen to during the day when they can, as a part of a meditation routine. At least 3 times per week is recommended. And finally hour long recording to drift of to sleep with that includes delta Brainwave frequencies to facilitate a deeper and more restful sleep. Each recording reminds them of who they are in their Essence, including their purpose and life calling. This regular practice ensures that an individual makes the permanent shift from limited ego to limitless essence and fulfills the goal of the work which is to find and live their most authentically unique expression of wholeness.
While I personally believe that the journey to ever deeper, fuller and more expanded states of wholeness is a never ending journey, I've been asking the question for some time now: "How can the most number of people get the greatest benefit from this transformational work, in the most effective and lasting way, in the shortest amount of time?" I've created with three options:
1. 10 private sessions over a 3-4 period, two or three sessions per month, depending on a persons time, budget and individual temperament.
The FIRE Of Wholeness Breakthrough Experience. This is kind of a transformational boot-camp that we do three times a year. It consists of 2 & 1/2 weekends over a 60 day period, plus a daily practice and weekly group tele-circles. Next one starts the last weekend in May.
Radical Wholeness Conscious Couples Program. These is a private session program with most sessions done together as a couple. This may be the most powerful because it has the added benefits of deepening the intimacy between the couple in a very big way.
If you would like to learn more, please browse the website and then give me call or shoot me an email. We'll set up a relaxed and informal time to talk about your issues and concerns in order to determine if the Radical Wholeness work is a fit for you right now and if so, your next best step. You can find us a www.radicalwholeness.com or call at 404 236 1036. I look forward to talking with you in person soon.
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New Essence Circle Format
Mark your calendar for Tuesday, May 4th from 7-9 pm for the BREATH OF THE HEART Meditation. This is partnered breathwork and heart to heart connecting exercise that has been part of the Friday evening portion of the FIRE Of Wholeness Breakthrough Experience from the beginning. People almost always report it as being one of the most heart opening and soul connecting processes that they have experienced. It combines conscious breathwork with what is the Indian Yogi's call Puja. The result is a profound recognition of your own wholeness and the experience of oneness with one another.
Moving forward each first Tuesday of the month Essence Circle will include an experiential process that leads to a state of Radical Wholeness. This includes breathwork processes like The BREATH Of Life, Dolphin Meditation, Chakra Breathing, Breath Walking as well as other experiential modalities like Trance Dance, Five Rhythms, Osho Mrditations and more. If you are a graduate of The FIRE Of Wholeness or the Finding Radical Wholeness Private Session Program, and have a process that you would like to lead as a part of your "essence expression", please let me.
Hope to see you May 4th!
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Weekly Podcast Starting in May!  Radical Wholeness Minutes
Not Less than. Not More than. I AM.
Be on the look out for a separate email announcing the pilot episode which will air in May.
Each Radical Wholeness Minute will be a down-loadable podcast of between 5-10 minutes each.
You'll be able to subscribe to receive them automatically through i Tunes, if you like.
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 Cleanse
Yourself Inside and Out!
Body Awareness FREE Wellness Day, Saturday April 17th
1:00-2:00 pm Pilates Mat & Qigong
Come and Have Fun with Us and Get in Shape at the Same Time!! Come to an all levels Pilates & Qigong class.
2:30-3:30 pm Food-Based Healing Talk
Learn simple recipes for a Spring Cleaning Detox with Food-based healing. This FREE session will feature an array of products and practices that can cleanse and energize your body. Includes blended recipes and free samples. I'll be Leslie's official Assistant.
Ever had liquidated avocado pit in your smoothie? Yummy!
You can check it out and sigh up at www.bodyawarenessstudio.com
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Dedicated to one singular purpose: Helping People to find and live their most authentically unique expression of wholeness.
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In Wholeness,
Michael
Please consider forwarding this to anyone that you know who may find anything here of value. Thank you!
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