Lars: Well, Bianca can help you. She's got nurse's training. Gus: No she doesn't. That's because she's a plastic...thing. Lars: That's amazing. Did you hear that? Bianca said God made her to help people.
Lars: Well, Bianca can help you. She's got nurse's training. Gus: No she doesn't. That's because she's a plastic...thing. Lars: That's amazing. Did you hear that? Bianca said God made her to help people.
On Rob Brinded’s advice, I sought out the Alexander Technique for the first time today. I have decided that 2011 will be the year when I reclaim my body, when I learn to fully inhabit it. I don’t want to be tense and out of balance anymore. I’m tired of it. It started with lots of childhood tensions and bad posture while sitting into the wee hours of the morning playing computer games, and it exploded at a ten-day vipassana retreat I did some five years ago. After that, I have had chronic tensions in my body.
I sought out an Englishman by the name of Nigel Hornby who teaches here in Oslo. Nigel was the first ever Alexander teacher here in Norway. It turned out to be an enlightening and very moving experience. I really liked Nigel, a gentle man in his early sixties with natural curiosity about life. His bookshelf made me feel right at home – it had Iron John on it among other fine pieces of world literature.
I explained him my problems and he was absolutely fascinated, especially by the story of how something that was supposed to help me (meditation) actually hurt my body. I quite like talking about myself (not always my best trait) and it was good to be listened to so attentively and genuinely.
As he started working on me with his hands, I noticed how I just didn’t know how to be with the movements. He would move my arms and legs around and I got hit by sensory confusion. Should I control or relax? I imagined that I should try to surrender into the movement, to let go completely, and then he asked “what are you trying to do with your left arm here?”. “I don’t know, I responded,” before I admitted “no, I do. I’m trying to relax into your movements.”
“You don’t know how to relax,” he said. “You don’t have a clue”. Before he a little later said, “you don’t know how to be with yourself.” He was real gentle and we had a wonderful dialogue. He talked about how nobody knows how to be with themselves anymore, how nine out of ten people have back problems. He talked about why the way we talk about relaxation in the West is a huge problem, because most people’s idea of relaxation is actually collapse. That is not healthy at all. So stop trying to relax, he told me. Whoa!
On one occasion, he stopped me when I started talking about what I do on this website (“sorry that I stopped you, but you have so many habits, you started tensing up again”). I was amazed by that. In fact, so much so that I felt immediately how profound that information was for me. In fact, I noticed I tense up pretty much every time I open my mouth. Because I don’t know how to be with myself. Being with myself was an art that was extracted out of me by Western civilization. We shared our sentiments of grief over this.
My goodness. I really don’t know how to be with myself, even after so much spiritual practice. My body shows it clear as day. I was incredibly moved by the insights I got in this lesson and am so grateful to have discovered the Alexander Technique. My arms felt completely different afterwards. I don’t generally feel that awkward about my arms, but they just seemed so much better. In fact, I felt I had been given new arms.
Next week, I’m going back. I’m looking forward to seeing Nigel again, to get to know my body more – and to reclaim it fully in 2011. By the gods, I have missed it.
This is the first part of a two-part interview that’s been published over on Integral Life. I feel that this speaks volumes of why I like AMP‘s work so much. I hope you enjoy it.
I will be promoting the product they are speaking about (videotaping people in authentic interactions) on my newsletter very soon. It’s always a joy to help these guys out.
PS! I just finished the Braveheart review (now I just need to write a summary and a few minor details)
Leaving Neverland (and the awesome collection of poetry I also received today)
Just got a new book delivery from my good friend Ann Kristin out in Australia (she’s who connected me with Uncle Bob). It’s called Finding Neverland – Why little boys shouldn’t run big corporations and is written by a bloke by the name of Daniel Prokop.
Check this out (from the back of the book):
In the Western world, it seems that most adults don’t want to grow up but have lost the joy and freedom of being childlike and in a desperate attempt to stay young forever have achieved eternal childishness, rather than eternal youth.
Phew!
When little boys in designer suits convinced authorities that they should be put in charge of the banking cookie jar, we shouldn’t be surprised when they help themselves to the cookies
And when little boys playing in the Gulf of Mexico break one of their shiny toys and make a catastrophic mess, sure it is obvious that it is time for us to leave Neverland.
In this fascinating, humorous and provocative book, Daniel Prokop argues that contemporary Rites of Passage offer us all a timely way to finally grow up.
(this blog post is a duplicate, with minor edits, of a newsletter I just sent out. Subscribe to the newsletter on the sidebar).
Hi Guys,
Time to gather around the fire
2011 is upon us. I hope you took the chance to set your intention for the year – either on New Year’s eve or January 4 as I suggested. It makes a big difference. I also hope your celebration was great, though it could hardly have topped mine 😉
Seriously, I think I had the best New Year’s celebration of my life this time around, spending two days with old and new friends untangling our egos, dismantling our stories, dancing till we dropped, being nekkid in a sauna together, laughing our heads off, going deep together, eating well, being rude (in a good way) – really liberating to be so open with others.
This is an important blog post and I don’t want to take too long getting to the point, but I gotta share this one moment that had me laughing so hard I cried. Certainly, it’s one of those “you had to be there moments”, but I’m gonna share it anyway.
The running joke among me and the guys I went with become “No more holding back. From now on, we’re gonna f*ck everything open!” This is guy lingo for penetrating obstacles and fears and always open to truth.
We took this a bit…ahem, far…and found oblong, oval cushions – these things were big – and well… put them between our legs – and “f*cked the room open” (launching our truth into the room ;-P).
Thankfully, we shared the moment with some amazing women, and as we sat there laughing our heads off, the women went down on their knees and prostrated to our big cushion c*cks. God, I thought I was gonna die.
Humm, why exactly am I telling you this? *blush* Probably because it’s time to stop holding back!!! And it was such an epic mix of parody and authentic male potency I had to share it with you. Universal rule: You really need to be zany once in a while to reclaim yourself. “Insanity” is the best antidote to conformity.
Anyway, I can’t remember the last time I had this much fun and it ended with me and my two friends pledging Brotherhood before we split up. Damn, I love these dudes.
So, onto this issue of building a tribe…
Yes, I want to step it up in 2011. I want to build global brotherhood! There is a Whisper on the Wind already. As I listen, I feel called to act. There aren’t that many places for men to meet online. Aside from whatever arenas exist within the Pickup community (which I have virtually no connection with), I personally only know of the inner circle provided by the Authentic Man Program (kick ass, but costs money) and the community over at Art of Manliness.
The latter seems, after cursory investigation, to have a slightly more macho vibe than I feel called to participate in. I want to provide community for the “new man”, the dude who has integrated his Feminine and has gone beyond “manning up”. This man is ready to take it to the 3rd stage – the Black Knight of the stories. His path is not up. More often, it’s in and it’s down.
That is where true male power blossoms, where gentle strength, Brotherhood, and absolute and total commitment to Truth and Love, even when the personal cost is significant, is the name of the game.
The world is f*cked right now (in a bad way) and we need to do something about it! The good news? Conditions have never been better to change the world and as the collapse of civilization draws nearer, so does the hope for complete and utter revolution of our species. I look to Authentic World. Decker Cunov, Bryan Bayer and the rest of those guys and gals inspire me. And they are way too few. Cause you know what – politicians and CEO hotshots are not gonna get this one handled. We will! I think of that saying “we are the ones we have been waiting for” and know it to be true.
So I want to set up a community on Masculinity Movies, where we can take the next step. A place where we can gather around the fire and tap into those ancient cosmic threads of knowledge, power, love and wisdom that we need so desperately now to make it through to the next phase of our co-created human story. On our own, we are powerful. Together we are unstoppable. No more holding back!
I’m about to invest in a Ning platform to set up that community. I envision men’s groups across the globe meeting to watch powerful movies and going deep together – and that is just the beginning (I already have interested people in Holland, UK and Australia).
As the work and financial effort needed to make this happen falls on me, I would LOVE if you gave your feedback on this idea below. I’m stretched financially and this is gonna set me back several hundred dollars. Not a lot, I guess, but right now, significant enough. It helps to know you are on board with all of this and that I’m not talking to myself here.
And if you are as excited as I am about this idea, spread this blog post by using the social media buttons below and contribute to the rapid growth of a tribe I desperately want to have an impact on the world in 2011. It will be just one of many. The alliances that are about to form around the world to confront the challenges that face us makes me buzz with excitement.
I will write you soon and tell you more about the development of the technical platform, so that you know when you can jump in and take it for a spin.
Thanks for your attention and I leave you with a challenge: Stop holding back! Become who you truly are. NOW
For the readers of my newsletter, this is the place to share the intention you set and visualizations you did as you focused on 2011 on January 4.
For people who don’t read my newsletter (you can do something about that right now by subscribing on the sidebar), you too are invited to share your goals for 2011 below.
Register below and I’ll send you this *powerful* and much loved introduction to the masculine Archetypes (complete with exercises). I think you'll love it! – Eivind
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