August 2023 Newsletter
The Power of Authentic Relating
To love is to recognize; to be loved is to be recognized by the other.
Thich Nhat Hanh
To love is to recognize; to be loved is to be recognized by the other.
Thich Nhat Hanh
Dear Ones,
When we look at the current state of the world it can be frightening, numbing, and overwhelming. We might want to escape, to run and hide, but there is no place to hide! We look outward to find culprits, someone, or something to blame, but we are all perpetrators and victims in an interdependent complex system. When we don’t have an active solution, inward is the only place to turn. Here we can find stillness, and peace of mind while discovering our point of power, which is always in the present.
When we look at the current state of the world it can be frightening, numbing, and overwhelming. We might want to escape, to run and hide, but there is no place to hide! We look outward to find culprits, someone, or something to blame, but we are all perpetrators and victims in an interdependent complex system. When we don’t have an active solution, inward is the only place to turn. Here we can find stillness, and peace of mind while discovering our point of power, which is always in the present.
At the heart of every major issue in the world, climate change, enslavement, racism, war, genocide, and habitat destruction there is one common issue. The myth of separation!
The genesis of this sense of the separate self lies in the unresolved issues from the past. Not just our personal past, but the individual, familial, collective, ancestral, and geographic history of humanity. All of this lives in our cellular, genetic, and epigenetic memory. What also lies buried in our personal and collective somatic anthropology is resilience. We would not be here had our ancestors not made it through similar difficulties and challenges themselves. We have within us a blueprint of survival.
The genesis of this sense of the separate self lies in the unresolved issues from the past. Not just our personal past, but the individual, familial, collective, ancestral, and geographic history of humanity. All of this lives in our cellular, genetic, and epigenetic memory. What also lies buried in our personal and collective somatic anthropology is resilience. We would not be here had our ancestors not made it through similar difficulties and challenges themselves. We have within us a blueprint of survival.
By the turning of this wheel, karmic suffering repeats, and trauma is transmitted from
one generation to the next—until it finds space and presence and clarity;
until it is owned so that it may be healed.
Thomas Hübl
one generation to the next—until it finds space and presence and clarity;
until it is owned so that it may be healed.
Thomas Hübl
When we explore the words karma and trauma, we discover that basically, they mean the same thing - unresolved past. Our very intelligent nervous system, which has been evolving for hundreds of thousands of years, has learned to split off, dissociate, or fragment parts of our essence to protect us in overwhelming circumstances. These fragments become lodged in the body as tension, pain, and numbness. The problem is that without someone or a community to help coregulate and support us in reintegrating this frozen past, our nervous system continues to protect us, not realizing that the danger or threat we encountered is no longer happening. The more we try to overpower the nervous system and get rid of the overprotection, the stronger the nervous system becomes in trying to protect us. It is an awareness that creates the space for healing.
Fragmentation tends to lead to disembodiment and emotional numbness, which pushes us deeper into the Cartesian Newtonian belief that we are merely objects in a world of objects, cauterizing our personal narrative and mental model of individuality. Separation is a product of the mind. To reclaim our intra-connection with all of life we must go to the body and emotions which contain the basic fabric of being related. To the degree I can feel my own body and emotions, I can feel you and life moving through us, rather than feeling that life is only happening to me.
Fragmentation tends to lead to disembodiment and emotional numbness, which pushes us deeper into the Cartesian Newtonian belief that we are merely objects in a world of objects, cauterizing our personal narrative and mental model of individuality. Separation is a product of the mind. To reclaim our intra-connection with all of life we must go to the body and emotions which contain the basic fabric of being related. To the degree I can feel my own body and emotions, I can feel you and life moving through us, rather than feeling that life is only happening to me.
You can then feel the same life deep within every other human and
every other creature. You look beyond the veil of form and separation.
This is the realization of oneness. This is love.
Eckhart Tolle
every other creature. You look beyond the veil of form and separation.
This is the realization of oneness. This is love.
Eckhart Tolle
The journey to wholeness and oneness is a spiritual journey of embracing and honoring our suppressed and disowned shadow parts. When we can truly see ourselves in others the veils of separation begin to fall away and we can learn to authentically and transparently connect and communicate with others. With each connection comes intimacy, vulnerability, authenticity, and attunement. As I expand my capacity to feel my body and emotions I also deepen my ability to connect with others. The more I connect with others the safer the world becomes and the solutions emerge from the growing mutuality and cooperation.
On September 2-3, I will be leading the first live workshop since before Covid. I am thrilled to be offering Relational Intimacy: The Magic & Mystery of Authentic Relating. I do hope you will join us in Nevada City, CA in the heart of the gold country in the Sierra Foothills. This magical little town is surrounded by rivers, lakes, and hot springs, just over an hour from Lake Tahoe. Come join us and have a summer vacation at the same time.
Thank you for your support and participation with the Well of Light Family.
With love and gratitude,
Michael & the Well of Light Team
On September 2-3, I will be leading the first live workshop since before Covid. I am thrilled to be offering Relational Intimacy: The Magic & Mystery of Authentic Relating. I do hope you will join us in Nevada City, CA in the heart of the gold country in the Sierra Foothills. This magical little town is surrounded by rivers, lakes, and hot springs, just over an hour from Lake Tahoe. Come join us and have a summer vacation at the same time.
Thank you for your support and participation with the Well of Light Family.
With love and gratitude,
Michael & the Well of Light Team
If you want to awaken all of humanity, then awaken all of yourself,
if you want to eliminate the suffering in the world, then eliminate all that is negative in yourself.
Truly, the greatest gift you have to give is that of your own self-transformation.
Laozi
if you want to eliminate the suffering in the world, then eliminate all that is negative in yourself.
Truly, the greatest gift you have to give is that of your own self-transformation.
Laozi
