Greetings community,
This week we look to the snake for a lesson. So lets think about what the snake symbolizes...what the snake has symbolized through the ages and accross cultures. With but a body, no extremities, the snake represents the early stages in the evolution of our race. It represents a closeness with the land, a state of togetherness in which the snake and the land it slithers on can be said to be one and the same. For us as humans, this means that all the resources we need to survive are already a part of us, in our immediate surroundings. If a challenge we confront requires resources beyond what we are able to attain, often this is because that challenge has been built into something much more than it need be. In channeling the energy of the snake, we can approach the challenge from the ground level, upon which we ourselves are stationed and therefore experience great stability, and better distinguish the superfulous from the necessary.
Friday, June 25, 2010
Friday, June 18, 2010
The Art of Soaring
Greetings community,
Hope all is well. We've stepped a little further into the summer now and those familiar sights, sounds, and smells are beginning to emerge. Yeah!
This week we look to the crane for lessons. The crane is a graceful creature, seldom ashamed of its nature. There are times in our own lives when we are able to channel the crane's energy and walk through our surroundings with the utmost confidence and pride. Reflecting on the above statement, I invite you to consider what circumstances surround you at such times. How do these circumstances relate with your feelings of empowerment? If you can find a way to manifest similar circumstances in other situations, might it be possible to generate similar feelings? at whim? In order to soar, after all, one must be surrounded by open spaces.
In Unleash the Beast news, yesterday I had the opportunity to hold a workshop in Salem with a group by the name of ProjectABLE. It was a fantastic experience. Right from the get-to, following opening ceremony, everyone in the room found a way to engage in a manner most appropriate to their personal natures. It was a beautiful scene. In addition to the movement workshop, I was given the opportunity to pioneer a new Unleash the Beast Life Coaching curriculum. In providing participants with a chance to internalize the energies they had just generated through various movements, these exercises proved effective in helping them to see the world and their relation to it through new perspectives - perspectives led by those primal insticts common to each of us. They then proceeded to express their new perspecitves through art. WOW! What they came up with blew me away. Thank you ProjectABLE for being such a great group!
Looking ahead, tomorrow I will be holding a workshop with the THRIVE brain injury support group at the Emmanuel hospital in Portland. The workshop will run from 12:30 - 2:30. I may also be holding a workshop next Friday at the LILA peer support club from 2 -3. This event has not been confirmed. As soon as I recieve further information, I will let you know. If you are interested in attending, or have any other questions or concerns, please reply to launchmentor@gmail.com.
Ben
Hope all is well. We've stepped a little further into the summer now and those familiar sights, sounds, and smells are beginning to emerge. Yeah!
This week we look to the crane for lessons. The crane is a graceful creature, seldom ashamed of its nature. There are times in our own lives when we are able to channel the crane's energy and walk through our surroundings with the utmost confidence and pride. Reflecting on the above statement, I invite you to consider what circumstances surround you at such times. How do these circumstances relate with your feelings of empowerment? If you can find a way to manifest similar circumstances in other situations, might it be possible to generate similar feelings? at whim? In order to soar, after all, one must be surrounded by open spaces.
In Unleash the Beast news, yesterday I had the opportunity to hold a workshop in Salem with a group by the name of ProjectABLE. It was a fantastic experience. Right from the get-to, following opening ceremony, everyone in the room found a way to engage in a manner most appropriate to their personal natures. It was a beautiful scene. In addition to the movement workshop, I was given the opportunity to pioneer a new Unleash the Beast Life Coaching curriculum. In providing participants with a chance to internalize the energies they had just generated through various movements, these exercises proved effective in helping them to see the world and their relation to it through new perspectives - perspectives led by those primal insticts common to each of us. They then proceeded to express their new perspecitves through art. WOW! What they came up with blew me away. Thank you ProjectABLE for being such a great group!
Looking ahead, tomorrow I will be holding a workshop with the THRIVE brain injury support group at the Emmanuel hospital in Portland. The workshop will run from 12:30 - 2:30. I may also be holding a workshop next Friday at the LILA peer support club from 2 -3. This event has not been confirmed. As soon as I recieve further information, I will let you know. If you are interested in attending, or have any other questions or concerns, please reply to launchmentor@gmail.com.
Ben
Friday, June 11, 2010
Its Monkey Time, 6/11
Greetings community,
Hope all is well. Have you ever found yourself in a situation where you were quite pleased with your performance in general, but could not seem to stop your mind from dwelling on a detail you were displeased with? and that detail seemed to cloud over any feelings of satisfaction or fulfillment that you might otherwise have had? Well...if you have, you are not alone. I think it is safe to say that everyone experiences this dynamic in one form or another. I bring this point to the foreground, as earlier this week I found my own mind submerged in just such a dynamic. And you know what I did, what I thought of...thats right, the monkey. I considered how a monkey swings from branch to branch without worrying too much about consequences. As long as the monkey knows where it is headed, it finds no problem in dropping down to rise higher, or moving a little to the left to end up right. In just this way, we, too, may find it advantagous to concern ourselves less with the consequences of each of our actions and more with the direction in which we are ultimately headed.
In Unleash the Beast news, great things are on the rise. Specifics have yet to be mapped out, but I think it safe to say that Unleash the Beast is moving right along. In the immediate future, I will be running a workshop in Salem on Thursday afternoon and in Portland on Saturday afternoon. If you are interested in participating in either one, please reply to launchmentor@gmail.com and let me know. In closing, I'd like to paraphrase for you a wise saying I recently came across. Ideas that grow too fast are destined for trouble, while ideas that grow at their own pace have strong foundations on which to stand, and as a result can withstand many disturbances.
Hope all is well. Have you ever found yourself in a situation where you were quite pleased with your performance in general, but could not seem to stop your mind from dwelling on a detail you were displeased with? and that detail seemed to cloud over any feelings of satisfaction or fulfillment that you might otherwise have had? Well...if you have, you are not alone. I think it is safe to say that everyone experiences this dynamic in one form or another. I bring this point to the foreground, as earlier this week I found my own mind submerged in just such a dynamic. And you know what I did, what I thought of...thats right, the monkey. I considered how a monkey swings from branch to branch without worrying too much about consequences. As long as the monkey knows where it is headed, it finds no problem in dropping down to rise higher, or moving a little to the left to end up right. In just this way, we, too, may find it advantagous to concern ourselves less with the consequences of each of our actions and more with the direction in which we are ultimately headed.
In Unleash the Beast news, great things are on the rise. Specifics have yet to be mapped out, but I think it safe to say that Unleash the Beast is moving right along. In the immediate future, I will be running a workshop in Salem on Thursday afternoon and in Portland on Saturday afternoon. If you are interested in participating in either one, please reply to launchmentor@gmail.com and let me know. In closing, I'd like to paraphrase for you a wise saying I recently came across. Ideas that grow too fast are destined for trouble, while ideas that grow at their own pace have strong foundations on which to stand, and as a result can withstand many disturbances.
Friday, June 4, 2010
Unleash the Beast Update, 6/4
Greetings community,
At last. The rain in Eugene has abated. It seemed like it would never stop. For those of us that planned for rain and set aside a slew of indoor tasks to accomplish, this break makes it difficult to focus on work and other things we must accomplish. Coincidentally, this week is the week of the tiger, a powerful beast that tends to move with precision and accuracy despite changes in environment.
Maintaining one’s course can be a great challenge. It is easy for us to lose sight of our original intentions and work for ends that perpetuate outside objectives (or no objectives at all) more than our own. For this reason, it is often helpful to break intentions down to their simplest form…what am I doing and why am I doing it. Then, even when surrounded by distractions, one is able to keep in mind one’s ultimate goal.
In UNLEASH THE BEAST news, another workshop was held at the new LILA Peer Support Club this afternoon. Thank you to everyone that participated…and that includes those of you on the outskirts who felt inspired to wiggle like a snake or flap your arms like a crane for just a few moments.
This week marks the first week of the summer that UNLEASH THE BEAST will not be run on Sundays. For summer scheduling info, please stay tuned to this blog, unleashthebeastupdate.blogspot.com, or check http://www.launchmentor.com/.
And please, support UNLEASH THE BEAST by sharing this blog with those close to you.
Ben
At last. The rain in Eugene has abated. It seemed like it would never stop. For those of us that planned for rain and set aside a slew of indoor tasks to accomplish, this break makes it difficult to focus on work and other things we must accomplish. Coincidentally, this week is the week of the tiger, a powerful beast that tends to move with precision and accuracy despite changes in environment.
Maintaining one’s course can be a great challenge. It is easy for us to lose sight of our original intentions and work for ends that perpetuate outside objectives (or no objectives at all) more than our own. For this reason, it is often helpful to break intentions down to their simplest form…what am I doing and why am I doing it. Then, even when surrounded by distractions, one is able to keep in mind one’s ultimate goal.
In UNLEASH THE BEAST news, another workshop was held at the new LILA Peer Support Club this afternoon. Thank you to everyone that participated…and that includes those of you on the outskirts who felt inspired to wiggle like a snake or flap your arms like a crane for just a few moments.
This week marks the first week of the summer that UNLEASH THE BEAST will not be run on Sundays. For summer scheduling info, please stay tuned to this blog, unleashthebeastupdate.blogspot.com, or check http://www.launchmentor.com/.
And please, support UNLEASH THE BEAST by sharing this blog with those close to you.
Ben
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