Brighton Integral Salon

I've just finished my first weekend of the Integral College course here in Brighton. I thought I'd say a few words to those who were there and to share some of the experience with those who weren't.

It was a really engaging, experiential weekend. I had great friends on the course and met many more. It was lovely to meet so many people and connect with them so deeply - within a few hours I was very happy to stare deeply into the eyes of a complete stranger and move down out of my head and into a heart which I felt opening again and again all weekend.

I've really missed practising in community, sure I had a sangha before, but these people were different, they were all really fired up and willing to start working on themselves deeply. And to actually talk about, and listen to, the blocks and problems that can stop us from growing.

There was a lot of laughter and quite a few tears, and it was lovely to be able to share that group space, I can't ever remember someone feeling safe enough to open themselves to an FP group to that extent. There was healing happening, people truly finding out about themselves, and for that I'm deeply grateful to everyone there.

So now I'm armed with a 'buddy' who is going to support me on my journey. Also, importantly, he has permission to challenge me and to make sure I'm showing up and following up on the commitments I've made to myself and the group.

We started the weekend with lots of focus on intention, and I was used to that, but before long I was in different territory, going on a visualised journey to meet my 'inner child'. I won't tell you what he had to tell me, but I'll certainly recommend meeting yours if you haven't already.

One of the themes of the weekend for me was 'uncertainty' and it was interesting for us to then look at the various rules and roles that I've been given, and have followed throughout my life. After contemplating this a bit deeper I realised that I actually have a lot of certainty when I listen to my body, my emotions and my intuition and that a lot of the uncertainty is just old maps and rules that used to work well but no longer suit my current needs - this was a revelation to me, so simple, but really great in popping me out of my scripts and into an authentic connection with the present moment and better engagement and embodiment of the course materials.

A great start to a great weekend.