07/11/2019

Last week a seven-month coaching engagement closed with a gorgeous completion conversation. I had the unique pleasure and honor of serving as a coach for another Master Integral Coach®. This engagement was a reminder of how much growth is possible when we are open, willing and committed. My client was all of these – ripe for each session to delve deep and wide so that focus practices came fresh and easy for her to make potent meaningful progress. She was able to integrate prior stuck points with generous space, created in movement with practices which included body awareness.

Last month three members of Colman Knight attended the first Online Taster Course for the 15 Commitments of Conscious Leadership, work developed by a group which includes a longtime Hendricks training mate, Diana Chapman. The foundation of their model is openness to learning, and a recognition of the same – am I open or closed: am I open to learning or am I closed and defended?  All CK members have been exploring these commitments together with monthly trainings followed by individual practices. We are learning more decisively that the answer to openness or constriction is in the body. We are practicing “above or below the line” as a way to strengthen our openness to learning and create more meaningful connections.

Today, a client of over twenty-five years arrived for a conversation about her finances and repeating issues with her partner. The difference in the conversation today, as compared to the many other conversations in the past, was her openness to learning for herself. She recognized that she needed support with areas of development that would support her ability to make optimal decisions. We touched upon the financial matters swiftly and skillfully; the majority of our connection was tethered to the “real” issue and the superior way of attending to her situation. In conversation, she was repeatedly invited to check in with her body, to register the truth of her discoveries. She was stunned – in a good way – at how the meeting unfolded and the possibilities we uncovered.

The link among these three different vignettes may be obvious: openness to learning. Also, perhaps not obvious but the essence of integral mastery, is the link of our body intelligence with each arising situation, whether it is about finances, relationships, emotions, or gardening (my favorite spring time activity).

If we want to make leaps and bounds progress, allowing the dots to connect, the swirls to spiral, the giggles to guffaw, we include somatic intelligence to supercharge our insights and tether them to our bigger field of connections. Let me unpack this statement. One plus one equals two. You may have also heard, that sometimes one plus one equals three. Meaning, we move from a linear perspective to a dimensional perspective. Dimensions take us to a larger view which means that if this is true about this situation, I see how it is true for these situations.

An example from today: I might believe that my anger at my spouse for walking without me this morning (when we agreed to walk together the night before) comes from my judgment of him not listening to me, breaking an agreement, and a lack of care. But when I look closer, open to learning including my body wisdom, I see that I am hurt. In my hurt is sadness aching in my chest; in my sadness and hurt, I see it is closer to my desire to connect; in this desire, I see it is not current day, but a thread of hurt and sadness back to childhood, of wanting to connect with my father.

If I stayed in my closed mental judgment, the anger would constrict my view and demand something from my spouse, perhaps re-creating a pattern for both of us to justify our position. Being open to learning, valuing our relationship, I stayed with my feelings and body awareness which created more space to view the situation from other angles. My natural response provided pops of insight, including a deeper connection with my beloved.

With money, we are on the bleeding edge of discovery, growth and fulfillment when we bring body intelligence into our work. Money can be substituted for any situation examined. Mastery is only possible when we include our body. Mastery means that our life becomes easier, sustainable, more enjoyable and more impactful.

Thank you to all of the people co-creating with me to gain these insights and offerings for the benefit of our world.

Expanding with optimism,