Easing back into the flow....

I know I have no one to blame but myself for the horrid lapse in my ITP over the past couple of years, but I'm finally pulling all of the aspects of it back together again: meditation (Who? me: upper left quadrant), Weight lifting, walking (how, lower right quadrant), Diet (what I'm eating Upper Right, how I'm eating, lower right quadrant), affirmations, ITP community, and all my SeattleIntegral work and community (why: lower left quadrant).

I do the KATA (Japanese for form, a combination of Yoga, Akido, and Tai' Chi) when the group meets, but I just can't seem to add it into my daily practice. For some reason, I think it's just not bold enough for me (but then George Leonard does it so much more competently than I, and he's 83, 23 years older than I at 60!). I only know it doesn't seem like enough to me.

When I first heard about ITP several years ago, I hadn't actually met another person who was interested in Ken Wilber. Oh, there was the former girlfriend who first recommended I read Wilber, but it took me a year to get through my reading list and finally get around to that, long past her ungainly departure from my life, so I couldn't exactly talk about it with her.

My first brush with ITP came about from Ken's recommendation in the book, "One Taste," his highly personal journal notes about his own meditative experiences and how they relate to the Great Chain of Being. I became very interested in learning about this "ITP." I bought "The Life We Are Given" and immediately discovered that I was already intuitively doing an "ITP." I just didn't know that's what it was. I was swimming competitively 4-5 days a week, lifting weights, carefully watching my diet, meditating, and seriously reading. The only component missing was community and giving back.

I eventually found others who were into the ITP concept, Wilber, and what appeared to be a new-found revitalization of Spirit in my life. Long story short, I eventually became so wrapped up in creating this amazing integral community of SeattleIntegral, that I seem to have lost my integral way. Now I feel like I'm coming full circle, realizing that truly living an integral life means making time for yourself as well.

The ILP Home Study Kit will be here in a week or two....can't wait to see it!