ITPI Summer Newsletter 2017 - The Spirit of Adventure and Wonder

The spirit of wonder and awe is alive and well where I'm blessed to live, here in Northern California. Vivid summer flowers abound, streams still flow and hiking trails beckon. What kinds of adventures have lit you up this season?

The highlight of my season was traveling to France to present the ITP Power of Practice retreat (read Isabelle's article below) where I found the spirited group of practitioners to be inspired by the practice, serene setting and each other. Much gratitude to ITP France for putting ITP on the mat and map - in France!

In this issue, learn how practitioners and ITP groups experience wonder in their worlds - through art, poetry, the blending of cultures, sacred text and the expansion of the mind. Explore the array of ITP offerings for lighting up your practice and your ever-evolving human nature. ITP is portable, year-round and always available.

Let us hear from you. Better yet, join us at one of our upcoming workshops or events.

With gratitude and blessings,

Pam Kramer

The Adventure of

Integral Transformative Practice

By Christina Grote

ITPI Board Chair

ITP was conceived in the spirit of experiment and adventure, not surprising given that its founders are adventurers of the highest order. Consider Michael Murphy's journey to India as a young man in the 1950's, encountering a mysterious golf pro in Scotland, as he was on his way to co-founding the Esalen Institute in Big Sur.

And George Leonard, journeying to many, often dangerous parts of the world as a reporter and senior editor for Look Magazine , documenting and sometimes participating in the seismic shifts underway in his native South at the time of the Freedom Riders and the lunch counter sit ins. In a seminal issue of Look, he predicted that California would become the epicenter of the human potential movement, a phrase that he coined.

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The Adventure & Wonder of Transformation

Reflections on the Peyote Road and ITP

By Jerry Patchen

ITPI Board Member and MIH Member

There are many ways to achieve transformation. Linda and I met in 1967, the Summer of Love. A huge shift of the social paradigm was occurring. This shift involved creative expression, art, music, dress, grooming, sexual freedom, civil rights, anti-war politics, Eastern spirituality, yoga, meditation, marijuana and psychedelics. As young, healthy and curious college students, Linda and I tuned into the Zeitgeist - the spirit of the times.

I happenstance secured some mescaline which I ingested while doing yoga and breathing exercises. I was totally unprepared for what occurred. Suddenly and unexpectedly a bolt of lightning coursed up my spine and ignited a thermonuclear explosion. The simultaneous ignition of every atomic bomb on the planet would have been a hummingbird's whisper compared to the magnitude of that explosion.

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The ITP 9-Commitment Challenge

By Charlotte Hatch

ITP Mastery Teacher and Coordinator

Dear ITP Practitioners,

I'm excited to be writing to you about a new project I've been working on this summer: The ITP 9 Commitment Challenge! This Challenge provides a way for all of us to take 12 weeks of our lives and explore each of the 9 Commitments. The goals of the Challenge provide these opportunities:

for us to increase our fulfillment of the 9 Commitments
for practitioners to participate in an ITP activity no matter where they live
to increase communication between practitioners and strengthen our community
for each of us to increase the well-being of our body, mind, heart, and soul
for us to examine our relationship to competition and the value of the journey versus winning
to have fun!

There are 2 versions of the Challenge: a team version and an individual one. If you want, you can participate as a member of a 4- or 5-person team, or you can individually complete the Challenge. At the end of 12 weeks, the team and the individual with the most points will get a prize!

If you want to participate, please send an email indicating your preference (team or individual) to [email protected] . I'll then sharemore information about how the Challenge will work.

Thank you! And let's Go!

Charlotte Hatch

How to Enter a Cold Pool

By Victoria McArtor

Mastery in the Heartland Member

Run toward the water.

Remember how good it feels to be surprised
by something more powerful than yourself.

Realize there has been a stream
running through you all along,

take this as a lesson for abundance.

Look the water straight in her eye.

Pretend the water hides the same animal
you've encountered deep in the dark

of your mind.

Dive in.

The falling is natural,
the hurt is optional.

Realize you have been swimming all along,
wondering as you wander, surprised by something
more powerful than yourself, and yet made

of yourself.

Play.

Take this as lesson for everything.

The Awe and Wonder of Sport

By Barry Robbins

ITPI Vice President and ITP SF Co-leader

The winds of grace were blowing at the 2 nd annual SEC Sports Festival at Dominican University in San Rafael on June 23-25. ITP and Esalen Co-founder Michael Murphy was the keynote speaker, starting off the festival with his talk, "Expanding the Zone." The weekend was rich with experiential breakout sessions, panels, technology application displays, a science experiment, and demonstrations of energy practices such as ITP (Integral Transformative Practice), EEM (Eden Energy Medicine), EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) and HeartMath.

World-class athletes and coaches from all over the country attended the festival where they shared their interest in the expanding world of integral fitness and athletics. Excitement was in the air as participants exchanged their lore and learnings with each other.

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The ITP French Connection

Celebrating the Power of Practice Retreat in France

By Isabelle Goldie

ITP Bordeaux Co-leader and Retreat Organizer

This summer, we were lucky to host and experience the ITP Power of Practice Retreat on July 1 -3 in Soustons - plage, France. Pam Kramer led the workshop in English while Jacques Moreau and I translated into French. Our dream team of 21 participants traveled from various regions of France, the UK and the US.

We had a beautiful, large room with a view of the lake and nearby sandy beach with lots of space to do the Kata, random walk and sit to share our experiences. The first two days were dedicated to an introduction to ITP while the third day was focused on LET.

It was quite an experiment to lead the workshop in both English and French, and we succeeded! We were afraid it would be boring to hear the instructions twice, but from the very beginning, our voices were in synch and it worked perfectly well.

Reflections on The Journey of Practice

By Oana Lansman

ITPI Administrator and Yoga Teacher

"Own our deepest good that we want to bring to the world."

- Michael Murphy

Skillfully presented by ITP trainers, the Spring 2017 Journey of Practice Sessions guided the attendees through an interactive process of self-discovery while providing a roadmap for accelerated personal growth.

The train left station in mid-March and over the next three months took us on a wonderful journey that included three Wednesday night stops at the Falkirk Cultural Center.

First stop, on March 15 we looked into "Exploring Our Vision" with Max Gaenslen

Max skillfully guided our first steps on this new journey and lovingly held the space for us to look deeply within and reflect upon our life's vision. We looked for what was wanting to emerge in the moment. We crystallized our intentions for personal growth. We discovered and explored unique paths of practice to help us achieve our personal intentions.

Our souls were calling, we were listening and we emerged more inspired, joyful and realized beings.

Spotlight on Kim Kristenson-Lee

Mastery in the Heartland and ITP Houston Member

Navigating the Road to Renewal Program Convener

How did you become involved in ITP?

In 2002, I went to an ITP workshop at Esalen Institute in Big Sur, CA, led by George Leonard and Annie Styron-Leonard. Esalen is the birthplace of ITP so this was a very special opportunity. I was intrigued by George, a past Esalen President. I bought the video (yes, video in those days!), the Tao of Practice, to learn the kata. Later, I discovered that I'd already purchased The Life We are Given and the Tao of Practice, via an IONs promotion. Prior to Esalen I could not figure out the kata! With the context provided by the workshop, it was now meant to be. I grabbed my email handle, [email protected] , the perfect prompt to practice!!

Ultimately, I found a nearby group, Walnut Creek ITP. I joined and stayed many years, until moving to Texas in 2011. Then, I joined Houston ITP. I may be the only bi-coastal ITP transplant. If there are others, chime in...!

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