Transformative Practices: Personal Transformation, Collective Evolution

Transformative Practices: Personal Transformation, Collective Evolution


For untold millennia people in every region and era have originated and refined diverse practices for the purpose of accelerating their own individual learning, growth, development, expansion, refinement, and betterment.  Many of these practices, which have rightfully been termed "transformative practices," have had profound, and often very demonstrable, effects in the lives of innumerable people across time and space.  Much to our great fortune, many of these transformative practices have survived into our present age.  Additionally, due our present age being a nexus time period where basically everything from everywhere is available to us on a daily basis, there is an astounding kaleidoscope of these transformative practices from which any individual can choose when crafting a personal practice.

Some examples of transformative practices include, but are most definitely not limited to the following (not alphabetized):


Raw Foods/Green Foods/Superfoods
Fermented Foods
Natural Vitamins, Minerals, Phyto-nutrients, Herbs, Teas, etc...
Brainwave Entrainment/Hemispheric Synchronization
Natural Entheogens (Mushrooms, Peyote, Ayahuasca, et...)
Energy Psychology Techniques (EFT, TAT, BSFF, WHEE, Psych-K, etc...)
Neuro-Linguistic Programming
Naturism/Nudism/Free Body Culture
Dream Work/Lucid Dreaming
Out-of-Body Exploration
Water Programming
Chanting/Toning
Living as Physically Immortal
Shamanic Work
Healing and Transformative Sounds/Music, Images,/Art, Words/Books
Subliminal/Paraliminal Affirmations/Suggestions
Story-Telling
Hypnosis
Ecstatic Dance/Movement
Intentionally Directed Questioning and Answering
Being in/Connecting to Nature
Channeling/Mediumship/Non-Ordinary Communication/Intentional Contact
Enemas
Journaling
Deep Travel/Cultural Assimilation/Being a Cultural Chameleon
DNA Activation/Epigenetic Clearing/Energy Blueprint Clearing and Programming
Conscious Reality Creation/Manifestation/Visualization/Affirmations/Intentionality
Meditation/Silence/Stillness
Yoga (immense depth and breadth here)
The (5,6,7) Tibetan Rites
Capoeira
Tai Chi Chuan
Ba Kua
Aikido
Hapkido
Tantra/Sacred Sexuality/Erotic Spirituality/Taoist Sexual Practices
Polyamory
All-Chakra Poly-Tantra/Sacred Swinging
Kundalini Activation
Tantric Full-Body Massage
Polarity Therapy


When practiced individually, these various activities can have immensely beneficial effects in the multiple domains of a person's life.  When they are combined, however, something amazing happens.  A synergy is created that does not occur if any of them are practiced alone.  The most significant effects are felt when transformative practices that activate or exercise different aspects of being are utilized together.  This is the idea behind Integral Transformative Practice (ITP) and Integral Life Practice (ILP).  Based on their experiences at Esalen Institute, George Leonard (August 9, 1923-January 6, 2010) and Michael Murphy created and refined Integral Transformative Practice.  The idea behind ITP is that the more diverse and distinct domains or aspects of being that one simultaneously activates or exercises, the more accelerated one's learning, growth, and development becomes.  It also dramatically increases the possibility of positive transformation, the development of expanded human capacities, and reaching new levels of consciousness.  Using ITP as a jumping off point, Ken Wilber and other integral evolutionaries at the Integral Institute created Integral Life Practice, which refined ITP into a very efficient, modular, scalable system of personal transformation and development.

Although there have always been those who have been aware of the effect on the world of their individual, personal practices, it is only fairly recently that  we as a global civilization and as a species are realizing that our daily, individual, personal practices do indeed have an immensely profound effect on Humanity as a whole.  This is true for multiple reasons.  Firstly, we are all deeply and intimately interconnected with everyone and everything because we originate from the same great Source.  Secondly, as part of the global living systems, we are plugged in to what is happening on any part of the Earth.  Thirdly, being a part of the Human species, we are all connected via the Collective Human Consciousness that unites like the cells in one body.  This overarching, connective collective consciousness can, perhaps, be better understood in terms of Rupert Sheldrake's morphogenetic fields, which have a great deal of experimental evidence to support them in all the organizations of Nature. On top of this is the fact that there is no such thing as objective reality.  Everything you experience "out there" is simply a reflection of what is going on within you.  From your perspective, you create it all.  You are the world, the world is you.


Going from separate individual transformative practices, to combined integral transformative practices, to what I will now term evolutionary transformative practices, we see ever greater (w)holism, integration, and synergy, as well as constantly accelerating individual transformation and collective evolution.  In basic terms, we are realizing that our individual transformation is, in actuality, the collective evolutionary awakening and development of our entire species.  The expression, "we're all in this together," has never had more validity.  Simple things can have profound effects, simple practices can change everything. What we do, think, feel, learn, and accomplish directly affects every single person on the planet.  Read that again, and sit with it for a bit to let it settle into your mind. Every day, as you go about your day, keep in mind the effect you are having on the greater consciousness of Humanity as a whole.  The future of our species on this planet is squarely in your hands.