Philosophy
I understand everything to be deeply interconnected and bound to everything else. I have come to this understanding in adulthood. It was not something I learned as a kid growing up in the U.S. of A. It is something I have come to know more acutely, more deeply in the last several decades primarily through the lens of bodywork and Structural Integration. I am keenly aware of the weblike nature of the human body and the ubiquitousness of the fascial system. I am also aware of the invisible nets that we all inhabit. The threads connecting you and I and the seemingly imperceptible connection between a way of viewing ourselves as individuals, as “other” than the world and the very perceptible signs that the world is in deep distress.
I understand all this with my mind and my heart but I am still cultivating this knowledge in my body. I still feeI many days that I am walking on the earth but am somehow not of the earth (thanks Western Cartesian mindset!). I’m learning what reconnection with myself and with the place that I inhabit feels, smells and tastes like. I’m learning to deepen my connection to the people I’m with and learning how to be fully myself in the presence of others. I strive daily, to see more clearly the invisible strings that stretch and sway in all directions at once and to understand how and to what or whom they connect.
I am one of many who is working to unlearn separation from self, from others and from the planet. I have come to know and name this process in myself as Intentional Evolution and I believe that this reconnection - requiring the unlearning of disconnection and dissociation from self and others - is where we must begin if we are to survive as a species and to thrive in the short time we are gifted in this biosphere. In order to move forward in a meaningful way, creating new patterns, systems and structures, we must first test-drive these ideas in our own lives. Before we can invent a new equitable economy or shape our political systems into something functional, we must “grok” what it is to move in a weblike world where everything is tied to everything else and what this connection can mean for us and the others we relate to in our daily lives.
The beautiful thing about this is that we, as complex systems, are self organizing. Meaning that we can make “good” decisions, take life affirming actions (eat well and move often) and the spontaneous ordering tendency found in all complex systems including our bodies will find the highest level of organization available to it - this may show up as better sleep and a sense of well being in the body and a more open and adaptable nervous system capable of emotional regulation and connection with others. Three cheers for eating your veggies and going for a walk! This is the key to Intentional Evolution. By finding, allowing or inviting new patterns of behavior, thought or belief into our lives, the automatic process of self-organization will follow. Our animal bodies know what to do.
There are many paths forward in this exploration of evolving on purpose - the one below is a model that I’ve found personal success with over the years. They are interconnected and self perpetuating. In our coaching together, we can hold these in mind as one process/ one model for finding clarity and a way forward. I talk about various models and concepts in my occasional writings.
Awareness:
noun - the state or condition of being aware; having knowledge; consciousness:
Awareness is the starting point. If you are reading this, you already possess it! It shows up in many guises. Perhaps it appeared for you as a sense of stuckness or a need for change in one or more aspects of your life. It may have come in the form of an understanding that you’re not clear about your path forward in your personal or professional realms. It may have been a dawning realization that you want something more in life and are not quite sure what it might be exactly or how to go about finding out. You may know what that “more in life” is but are unable to figure out how to move in that direction. Perhaps it’s something else entirely that has you seeking coaching as a potential support. In any case, congratulations! You’ve already begun your process! Get in touch if you would like to have a chat about whether this is a good fit for you.
“Awareness makes the change.”
~ Ida P. Rolf
Authenticity:
adjective - representing one’s true nature or beliefs; true to oneself.
Through awareness, we can move into authenticity. When we gain clarity about the nature of our current situation, our inherent values, and how we would like to be in the world, the way forward becomes clearer and more available to us. FInding authenticity, for many of us, is an un-learning process. Peeling back the layers of story that we have told ourselves or have been gifted by our forebears. Choosing new patterns of thought and belief once we’ve seen the old pattern for what it is.
“Authenticity is the daily practice of letting go of who we’re supposed to be and embracing who we are.”
~ Brene Brown
Alignment:
noun - a position of agreement or alliance; the act of aligning or state of being aligned
In the world of bodywork, alignment is a felt sense. It is a recognized, experienced state of grace and ease and spaciousness. In coaching, we can extend this idea beyond the bounds of skin and bone into the world we move within. We can explore alignment between our core values and beliefs and our behaviors and actions on a daily basis. We can lean on our awareness and our authentic body-knowing in order to live into alignment. In this everyday, embodied behavioral alignment, we can honor the patterns we have developed and seek to shift and change any that don't support us. We can step into new situations with our awareness and authenticity leading the way or we can meet old patterns with new eyes and a renewed sense of whole-self.
“When the basis for your actions is inner alignment with the present moment, your actions become empowered by the intelligence of life itself”.
~ Ekhart Tolle
What do you mean by “intentional” evolution? Isn't evolution something that happens randomly and by chance?
We no longer stand at the cusp of great changes, we are in fact smack dab in the midst of an enormous reorganization of…well…everything. The climate is changing, the economy seems fragile and frail, technologies advance at speeds we can barely track let alone absorb and make sense of. As a species we are in the midst of a great re-imagination of what it is to be a human on planet earth. It’s exciting and terrifying and strange.
For many of us raised in western cultural traditions, this shift means an unlearning and a relearning of what it means to be connected and embedded within an ecosystem. What connection is and what it means to be - first and foremost - an organism reliant on the networks that sustain us in body and mind and spirit.
We have the opportunity as individuals and as a species to rewrite our story, to weave a narrative that is kind and equitable and sustainable and conscious of how we fit into this incredibly complex and creative world. We get to choose the stories we tell.
What does all this have to do with coaching and intention and evolving? Well, as I view it, if we wish to see these new narratives come into being we have to begin here and now. In this body. In this moment. If we wish to dream with others to co-create a way of being in the world that values interdependence and reciprocity we must find a way to cultivate that way of being in our own lives with our own bodies…each and every day…or at least most days.
Until I can find a way to be with myself long enough to hear what this body has to say about how to live in alignment with my professed values, I will struggle with clarity about how to proceed, what best next steps to take and how to move forward with my desire for alignment. I can vote the “right way” and participate in the larger systems that contain me and my life but until I’m able to embody what it means to be connected and embedded in the web of my existence and to act toward myself and others accordingly, I cannot rightly participate in the larger scale shifts that are needed. Think globally, act (really, really) locally.
There is much in life where we have little or no direct control. Our thoughts and our behaviors are two areas of life that we can influence and change. It's possible that other species feel overwhelmed with their to-do lists or contemplate the ways that they might better communicate with family members or develop their capacity for living with more joy….but I doubt it. I’m pretty sure what makes us unique mammals is the capacity for storytelling and for the ability to “see” into the future. We understand that we have the capacity for choice. That we can take explicit action in the direction of our best selves. As noted earlier, the reality of being a complex self organizing system means that when we cultivate grace and ease our organism thrives. When we nourish ourselves and our communities we evolve in life affirming ways together. When we reconnect with ourselves and others the evolution toward greater adaptability and function at larger scales happens automatically. Pretty sweet story, huh?
The intentional part is deciding how we step forward. The evolution part is watching the changes we embody weave themselves into the fabric of the world.