Share the bounty! ITPI Summer Newsletter 2020

Dear Friends,

Wishing you blessings of good health, strength and deep learning while our global community adapts to the myriad of hits we encounter these days. May there also be play, laughter and delight amid the challenges - and a spirit of aliveness, wonder and hope.

Our practice of staying balanced and centered is crucial to our well being, particularly during these catalytic times, and paves the way for mindful action rooted in peace and love. As ITP founders, George Leonard and Michael Murphy, often remarked, "Transform yourself, transform the world."

Our summer newsletter features the interplay of personal and social transformation. Practitioners have experienced inner and outer fine-tuning through our recent programs, Integral Leadership, The Ki of Cooperation and Creating Harmony. Enjoy reading personal gems from our contributors about their learning. We hope their insights inspire, delight and inform your practice!

Please check out our fall calendar, including our Nine Commitment Challenge starting August 30th and online Journey of Practice series beginning in October. Our Kata opportunities also abound!

Golf in the Kingdom, our 10th annual ITPI fundraiser, takes place on October 5th preceded by a Zoom launch on October 4th with Michael Murphy and friends. Join us to explore the extraordinary in golf and life and support ITPI to continue our vital work in the world.

We are very grateful for your presence in our ITP community!

With love and gratitude,

Pam Kramer

ITPI President

Creating Personal Peace

for Purposeful Social Action

by Emanuel Kuntzelman

Greenheart International & Global Purpose Movement

founder & ITPI board member

Never before has there been such a sense of urgency to transform society and save our planet, and with good reason. Civilization is on a cliff's edge, precariously balanced between a breakdown or breakthrough in our cultural evolution. Our social, financial and environmental systems are deteriorating, a global pandemic is wreaking havoc on our daily lives and cultural and social wounds that have been festering for hundreds of years are in urgent need of attention. The challenges can seem insurmountable most days, but I remain optimistic.

By default, I believe our natural mode of existence is one of peace. Our human essence is tuned toward one of cooperation and love, and when we engage in deep, personal practice we can return to this centered state of being. Unfortunately, this essence of peace seems to be frustratingly elusive when viewed through the lens of our cultural values. If we're to heal, evolve and unite as a global family it's critical that we take purposeful, social action. Before we heed the call to transform the world, however, we must also engage in the important work of inner transformation to find and return to this place of peace.

Read More

The Ki of Cooperation

by Marcia Beauchamp

KoC Project co-coordinator &

Integral Leadership member

The Ki of Cooperation, an ITPI grant project funded by The Global Purpose Movement, is a guide to embodying the spirit and flow of cooperation. Its lessons and activities follow a process that begins within the individual and step-by-step builds skills, attitudes and practices that encourage cooperation within one's relationships, in group endeavors and as a world citizen.

There are three foundational premises upon which the Guidebook to the Ki of Cooperation are built. First is that cooperation at any level is a phenomenon that begins within each individual and then flows outward into the individual's connections with others and the world. Underlying that premise is the notion that as individuals we are made up of many "parts," specifically, body, mind, heart and soul. In order for one to embody the Ki of Cooperation it is necessary that all our "parts" are recognized and then integrated through ongoing practice. The exercises in this Guidebook introduce a sampling of these practices.

Read More

Transformation & Integral Leadership

2020 Program Reflections

by Kim Kristenson-Lee

ITP Mastery teacher & IL co-facilitator

Are you called to make a change in your life or work? Are you wondering, "What is life asking of me next?" An impulse to grow and to give back is a sign that Integral Leadership (IL) is calling you. With the challenges of 2020, many are being called to step forward. Integral Leadership, in addition to being an action-oriented training, is an established 6-month program for developing yourself as a leader from the inside out. As a facilitator and program practitioner, I witnessed so much growth and transformation in our participants this year - and that includes with myself!

Read More

Original art by Rich Sigberman - www.sigsart.com

My Integral Leadership Journey

by Rich Sigberman

Integral Leadership & ITP San Rafael group member

When the Integral Leadership program began in January, 2020, I was one month removed from a hip replacement operation. Not only was my walking affected, but my energy, and even my thinking was too, although I may not have realized it. I was having a hard time thinking of a project until Charlotte Hatch, IL Facilitator, suggested that the project be me. As I couldn't think of anything better, I made my rehabilitation and recovery my project. With physical therapy and practice, I had recovered enough by early April to begin thinking about a different project: service work of some kind. This 9th commitment in ITP was one in which I felt I had fallen short.

Read More

From ITP Integral Leadership

to Recovery Transportation Systems

by Tom Lewis

ITP Mastery & Integral Leadership member

When ITP took the big step to begin the Integral Leadership Program in the fall of 2018, I was excited. Fortunately, I had completed six ITP Mastery cycles prior to the start of the Leadership Training Program, so I felt I was well-prepared. However, previous training in Mastery is not a requisite since the content of the leadership program represents the fundamental teachings of Michael Murphy and George Leonard in a well-balanced format.

My leadership goal in 2018 came to me as an epiphany one afternoon with my daughter. The notion of tapping into the ride-share industry for more than just transportation from point A to point B seemed so clear, positive, and resourceful. I saw that harnessing the ride-share industry to provide "free" transportation to individuals in addiction recovery would overcome a huge obstacle that stood in the way of their success and ultimately change their lives. Free rides would be used to court appointments, job interviews, NA and AA meetings and a variety of court appointed destinations mandated to stay in treatment. We have taken transportation for granted in the modern era, yet most people in treatment do not have transportation. I realized it was a major obstacle and one that creates stress and anxiety often leading to recidivism and a downward spiral.

Read More

Ripening Like a Tree

by Sally Mahé

ITP Mastery teacher & Ki of Cooperation founding member

So small and tender, a seed

sprout bursts through the soil,

vulnerable, thin and wondering.

A sapling gets to know its surroundings

but wonders if cows will eat it, if

the sun will burn it, if the earth

will really fulfill its promise of rain and nutrient.

A tree wonders a lot as it ripens.

Its confidence comes day to day. It

grows thicker, taller and can see farther

than before.

Read More

Spotlight on Linda Patchen

ITP Houston group leader & Mastery member

Synchronicities!

"When the student is ready, the teacher will appear."

- Tao Te Ching

My friend and neighbor, Lydia Dugan, planned an Esalen event in her home in April, 2004. At the time, I was a contributor to Esalen in order to receive their catalogue, which I always found very interesting and imagined someday going there. I was surprised to receive an invitation from Esalen for the event at Lydia's. I knew it was meant to be. Lydia was surprised when I knocked on her door that evening.

Like a fairy tale come true, I met Michael Murphy and the Esalen staff that accompanied him at the Houston event. I also met Joe and Marion Hirsch. I quickly discovered that Joe and Lydia had created the ITP Houston Group in 1996 of which they were co-leaders. My husband Jerry and I were invited to attend.

And thus, began my Life Journey with Integral Transformative Practice and Esalen.

Read More