Angela Murphy's Post

What is a Transformational Practice?

Angela Murphy | 01.29.08 | 05:45 PM |

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When I did the Transformational Life Mapping exercise, I searched my life for the times I did rigorous transformational practices, such as yoga (for more than a few classes a month) or the times I studied the Course in Miracles (not too sporadically) or daily meditation (which didn't always happen every day). Since I'm not the most disciplined person, the idea of doing a life-long practice (as many people do) seems daunting to me. However, something as simple as conscious breathing can be considered a 'practice' if done with intention and awareness. Baba Harihar Ramji talked about ending each activity with three conscious breaths of gratitude before moving on to the next task, as a practice...I can do that (if I remember!).

I didn't really consider the awe I felt at seeing a beautiful sunset or the sigh of gratitude when a project was complete, as a practice, but if it's done with intention, the activities of our daily lives can become transformative practices.

I'm interested in knowing what you do as transformative practices.

If you haven't seen the latest SIA video series on Transformational Life Mapping, you might want to take a look. It got me thinking! The pdf forms to map your own transformation are available to download in the video section too.

You can go here to begin: http://www.shiftinaction.com/discover/videos/transformation/one

peace,
Angela

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Member Comments:

Integral Transformation Practice?

Submitted by Bob Johnston on January 30, 2008 - 7:05am.

Great question, Angela. My short answer is it all depends on one's transformational interests and needs in light of her/his soul development intentions for his/her present incarnation.

My soul development intention for this incarnation is to discover natural processes for integral health, meaning mind-body, social, economic, vocational, aesthetic, and ecosystem health. Thus, if a "transformational" practice I have been experimenting with does not result in integral health I discard it. In case you're wondering, to me biological death from natural causes is necessary for the health of our Earth. Integral world health is prerequisite to solving world hunger, poverty and bringing world peace.

Having long ago committed the following affirmational meditation to memory, it has become an integral frame-of-reference for my everyday way experiencing of life and all other transformational practices in which I engage.

1) I am a vital center of our infinite ageless omnipresent nurturing Source of all;

2) I am not any temporal feeling, thought, behavior, identity or possession;

3) I transcend, own and include in my repertoire all my temporal feelings, thoughts, identities, behaviors and possessions as options;

4) I cocreatively manage the use of my options in a way mutually empathetic and healthful to myself, other entities, and our ecosystem;

5) I am open to feedback from my body, dreams, other entities and ecosystem on how well I am doing. I make adjustments to my intentions as wanted

My longer answer is best described in two previous SIA posts, too lengthy to be repeated here:

My Ten Commitments (alternative to the 10 commandments)
http://www.shiftinaction.com/node/1172

Integral Healthful Aging: My Noetic-Based Checklist
http://www.shiftinaction.com/node/3130

Yours, Angela, with empathy and trust in evidence-based integral natural science and our omniversal, ageless, omnipresent, nurturing Source of all consciousness and integral health,

Bob Johnston

Practices

Submitted by Angela Murphy on January 30, 2008 - 8:30am.

Thanks for your response, Bob. Those are wonderfully clear affirmations! Having read both of your previous posts, I highly recommend them to others... they are both insightful and inspirational.

Noticing...

Submitted by Rod Sherwin on January 30, 2008 - 1:05am.

My practice has consisted of two parts which each help the other. The first is to notice my thoughts and feelings from a witness or observer point of view. The observation is completely non-judgemental so if I get angry my next thought is "How about that. This is making me angry. Huh."

The second part of the practice is to apply a energy clearing method on the emotion to clear it. My favourite tool is the Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) but I also use chakra work, chinese medicine, whatever ever grabs me at the time.

As I notice and clear emotions that come up, I get better at noticing emotions from an observer point of view without get invested in them.

Over time, the more I clear the less stuff comes and it is easier to notice when stuff does. When no stuff is coming up my thoughts are generally at peace or at least relatively quiet to when I first started do this.

I do this whenever I can, usually right at the time I notice and emotional state that I'm curious about. Over several years, doing this regularly but not on a fixed schedule has been very transformative for me.

Regards,
Rod
Tap4Health EFT Practice, Melbourne, Australia

Power of Observation

Submitted by Angela Murphy on January 30, 2008 - 8:34am.

Thank you for sharing that practice, Rod. Self observation and non-judgmental response is definitely something we can incorporate as a practice in every day life!