December 2009: We have come together…
We had our first Cuddle Party in Uppsala and are loading for the next ones. It is amazing how easy it is to drop the me vs others attitude once we drop into our bodies through the magic of touch. We continue exploring the areas in which affectionate touch could enrich our lives emotionally and physically and how we can challenge our own assumptions about ourselves, men and women.
At the same time this time of year my energy level is quite high and the need to create is felt on a cellular level. I consider starting a local group where members would give each other support in applying the Integral approach in all areas and dimensions of their lives (ILP).
October 2009: Cuddle up, everyone!
Inspired by the first-hand experience of the Cuddle Party (in Copenhagen), I am determined to bring Cuddle Party to Sweden, hoping to host the first one already in October. At the moment I am taking the intensive Facilitation Training and working out the details. Although I’d like to make a contribution to the community at large, this is admittingly quite a selfish act: the organisational process itself is a lot of fun and brings me in contact with new people, training is very helpful and also connects me with facilitators in different countries, while the “cuddle chemical” oxytocin is something I will definitely need more of when the long, cold and dark Swedish winter arrives. If you miss something, make it happen!
My worst habit is I get so tired of winter
I become a torture to those I’m with.
* * *
Look as long as you can at the friend you love,
no matter whether that friend is moving away from you
or coming back toward you.
- Rumi
September 2009: Double McAngo
Started the Ango period both with TreeLeaf and Wilf Fox Zen sanghas. Set up the page here on AR with short notes on how the practice evolves during these 100-days (it will be somewhat longer since TreeLeaf started earlier). The whole Double McAngo thing doesn’t come from my belief that “more is better” or the idea that my practice will become double as strong just because I have two sanghas but because the sanghas (and the teachers) offer different approaches and different technical opportunities for staying in touch.
August 2009
Looking for ways to renew and deepen the practice. How do I do that in the context of the busy everyday life? The answer came in the form of 100-days period of non-residental zazen and Dharma study with the virtual TreeLeaf sangha and Jundo Cohen. Commitment and following through will be the hardest part, I think but that remains to be seen.
Start: Saturday, August 29. Will have a separate page set up for it on this blog by the time we start.
May 2009: Going Shingon with Hokai Sobol
City reatreat in Japanese Shingon in Rijeka, Croatia. A brief account of the experience is coming soon.
Februari-March, 2009: Twisting for life
I dedicate more time to yoga as a way of bringing together body, mind and spirit through the practice of asanas.
One of my favorite places now is the shala at Ashtanga Yoga in Uppsala.
January, 2009: Feel the red
There are various ways to be creative. What are yours? On Creative Response blog I challenge my own creativity in a variety of ways and offer some creativity boosting questions for those who would like to increase self-awareness through artistic self-expression.
November, 2008: The sleeplesscoach blogs in Swedish
I start a blog in Swedish where I discuss everything that has to do with coaching, from how media influences our ideas about it to how practising everyday Zen influences my coaching style and the other way around to the practical issues of marketing and what works for me.
November, 2008: Being creative with Creative Response
I founded Creative Response (registered in Sweden) that offers the benefits of life coaching to those who would like to make a change in their lives and deepen their life quality. I see coaching as en expression of my boddhisattva work in the world by offering my clients this powerful tool that can help them achieve the desired goals but also, in the process, open up for their lives and alleviate suffering.
