I feel the same way about 3 body workout. In three months I have not gone beyond this simple exercise. However, I feel a strong sense of oneness with suchness after this simple and short exercise and can really feel various thoughts and things arising in and around me. This allows me to start my day with a fresh perspective without the old hat perspectives that were always rich with fear and wanna be thoughts. I feel a sense of freedom and am more productive during the first half of the day. 

Saleem

Hi Norma,

Welcome to the forum and thanks for sharing about your practice.  That's great that you enjoy the 3-body workout and the 1-minute module.  So have you tried to incorporate some of the principles from this practice into your walking and swimming?  3 body walking can be a great practice!    So it's easy to feel your gross body - your legs working and arms swinging, but what about the subtle and causal?  Next time you walk; notice your breathing and how the energy is flowing through your body as you move.  You can even turn your walk into a moving meditation if you are present to what is arising with each step. 

Yes, Ken's latest book is Integral Spirituality.  If you are interested in that topic, another great resource is our Integral Spiritual Center website:  www.integralspiritualcenter.org.   Ken is also coming out with a new book this month, called The Integral Vision.  This book won't have much new material, but rather is intended at making his work accessible to a much wider audience.  The book presents all the primary principles of the AQAL model, but in a simplified way.  It's also uses a lot of visual art and graphics to help people get a feel for AQAL.  It's a good one to give to friends or family that you think might be open to be converted...

I look forward to hearing more about your practice as you continue on your Integral journey,

Huy

Hi Huy,

Thanks for your response.

You asked "From this I take it that you are saying you have a much better understanding of why things are the way they are in your life and the world around you".  Yes!  You clarified what i was feeling about the 3 body workout  together with the other modules, bringing me to this increased awareness .

The interesting part about this expansion is,  just as you said, i became aware of how things actually are as they are, which brought me out of alot of fantasy and denial.  I can wish things were different all i want, but that just makes me ineffective in my life.

So this path is painful and hard sometimes, but the pay-off is i dont feel ruled by fear anymore and my courage is increasing.  I would much rather be in this state of awareness than in my previous state which was pretty much fantasy, creating layer upon layer of lies in my life.    

I will keep you posted on my ILP progress; thanks for the opportunity and your blessings Huy, they are deeply felt.

.  lizzie

Hi David,

Thanks for taking the time to share your experiences with the Kit and give us your feedback.  It's always useful to hear what's working well for people, and what there is to improve. 

I'm happy to hear that you find the 3-body work out so useful.  It certainly seems like it was designed specifically for you, because yoga, qi gong and weight lifting were the primary practices that influenced me in creating it!  I currently still engage in all 3 of these practices each week - gym twice a week, yoga twice a week, and qi gong almost every day. 

And even though I take each of these practices much deeper, I feel that the 3-body work out does a nice job of incorporating many of the core principles from these practices.  I am always interested in how to take it to the next level though.  Do you have any feedback on what you'd like to see in a level 2 3-body work out?

Regarding your comment on Auxiliary practices, we hear you.  When we were creating the Kit, we actually had to go through an intense process to determine what to include, and what to leave out.  As you might imagine, there were many of us that were very enthusiastic about adding all different kinds of practices.  But as we considered the trade-offs, we decided to stick with the 4 core modules for this first Kit, to really establish a sold foundation that other practices can be built upon.

I hear you on providing more online resources for all of the practices.  We're working on it...

In the meantime, since you've practiced qi gong, here's a link to the practice that I'm currently doing:  http://jingui.com/.  This is where I got the body patting exercise from.  I've tried several qi gong practices over the years, and this is by far the most effective and transformational.  This practice develops your entire energetic body to a very high level of function, and the results are very palpable.  In fact, if I had to choose just one practice to do right now, it would be this one.

Good luck keeping up your practice in the Peace Corps, and let us know how it's going when you get the chance!

Huy 

Hi Lizzie,

Thanks for your feedback.  I am of course very happy to hear that you are enjoying the Kit and getting a lot from my favorite part as well - the 3 body workout!   

I was wondering if the 3 body workout had anything to do with this expansion of awareness, or if it just happened to be a coincidence that i was noticing things around me that i usually would just stuff out of my mind.  Also, things appear to me to happen in a more mechanistic than random manner, if that makes any sense.

First, I want to say that it's very rewarding hearing about your experience.  We develop the Kit to help people create and deepen their practices, so that they can live a more conscious and integral life.  So when I hear how people are actually using it and growing, it's very encouraging.  Thanks for sharing!

As to your question, I would guess that the 3 body workout does indeed have something to do with your expansion of awareness.  We designed this practice to access all 3 bodies, cultivate more energy, strengthen the muscles and increase flexibility.  But probably the primary practice of the workout is opening your awareness to what is arising in the present moment.  And the path is to start with what's most fundamental - noticing what's happening with our breathing, feeling our bodies, observing our thoughts and emotions.  Noticing what IS right now.  Not what we want or what we think we should be feeling, but what actually is.  I believe that our awareness naturally expands as we develop our ability to be radically present to all aspects of our being.

If you are engaging with the other 3 modules as well, I would guess that it's the combination of your experiences in all of these practices that has been the catalyst for your opening.  And it does make sense that things appear to be happening in a more "mechanistic than random manner".  From this, I take it that you are saying you have a much better understanding of why things are the way they are in your life and in the world around you? 

Everything in life just happens.  If it is happening for some reason or is just random depends on our perspective.  As we expand our ability to include more perspectives, life just seems to make a lot more sense, doesn't it?  :-)

Blessings on your continuing ILP journey.  Let us know how it goes!

Huy

I've been explicitly using the ILP starter kit for about 2 months...

Favorite aspects:  The 3 body practice (Kata) is exactly what I've been looking for for years.  I've been struggling with so many different practices, including yoga, qi gong, and weight lifting, over the years and wanted a single practice that incorporates all of that without the use of external weights.  The reason is because I will be in the Peace Corps in Peru for the next two years (until nov. 2024) and I wanted a practice that goes with me!  I also like the 1 minute module because I have used it on trips when there's limited space or time.

Benefits: 
+I have noticed an increased ability to feel into my chronic joint pain and aching, instead of wallowing in or becoming overwhelmed by it.   Although my chronic pain has still been a source of frustration and dis-ease for me.

+I feel like I've been able to more easily 'click' into different mental modes, whether it's "lots-to-do focus" or "relaxed conversation" or reading or excercise, I feel like I can more easily change between those modes of being in any given circumstance.

+I should say that my big push is on the MIND modules (i'm reading lots of books and just finished Integral Spirituality).  I noticed that I've been able to "get it" more than I used to.  I seem to be reading better and more thoroughly understanding it than I used to.

Struggles:
~For the spirit module, I'm using Holosync, (and in a few months I will turn to TM) so perhaps what I'm about to say is normal... but I've found it more difficult than it used to be to get into that "feeling of being" or the "ISness".  Those ISness meditations don't seem to affect me a whole lot, but that might have to do with the temporary "training through overwhelm" nature of Holosync.  I also tend to dose off during meditation, which leads me to find it hard to meditate (also, perhaps due to Holosync).  and that leads me too...

--I've been finding it hard to get into a good sleep pattern.  Either I can't fall asleep or I wake up too early.  Often it is due to physical pain but it's also due to my mind spinning.  This could be simply an adjustment because I've been doing some intense ILP stuff.  I've found a natural sleep aid to help smooth things over, and it's seemed to work, although I don't intend to do this a lot.

--While I still haven't mastered the core practices, I'm kind of bummed that there aren't any Gold Star Auxiliary practices.  I know it's a starter kit, so there you go. 

Future improvements:
*Perhaps in the future there can be an online access to Auxiliary practices, and maybe even website links to some of the non-Gold star CORE modules... for example, there can be a link to a Qi Gong website, or a certain ILP approved diet website, or a Zen training center.  Having said this, I just realized that it may take away from the already existing Integral Training, but some of the items on the ILP matrix I've never even heard of. . . So it would be helpful to have some idea.

Overall, I'm pretty happy with the ILP starter kit.  When I first opened it and skimmed through it, I was a little bummed, thinking it hadn't met my expectations.  But when I actually went through everything, I came to realize that it certainly had a lot to grasp, and I'm very happy with it. 

Thanks Huy and Integral Institute!

Sincerely,

David

Hi Huy, I just discovered this forum and I wanted to tell you that your 3 body workout was my favourite part of the ILP.  I loved it and had my beginning ILP practice mapped out pretty well; then every thing just broke loose in my life.  Part of the breaking loose was a dawning awareness of some of the circumstances of my life which i would rather not have become aware of; but in retrospect consciousness trumps unconsciosness so i just have to deal with it! 

 Maybe i am just going mad.  It is painful, because not all the amazing insights i seem to be getting are necessarily good, but you know, i cant imagine life without the work being done by Integral and others in the area of furthering consciousness.

I was wondering if the 3 body workout had anything to do with this expansion of awareness, or if it just happened to be a coincidence that i was noticing things around me that i usually would just stuff out of my mind.  Also, things appear to me to happen in a more mechanistic than random manner, if that makes any sense.

lizzie

Jeffrey, very useful your comment.                                   

blueoak, how I'd like knowing more about your use of students with autism.  Could you tell us more on that?  In another thread for sure   Or with e-mail also.

Hope you'll both continue to participate in this forum. 

Martine

Hi Scott,

I'd love to give an update.  Thanks for asking.

One thing that I am excited about and having fun with is a hand drumming class that I teach.  I've been trying to incorporate the teachings on 3 bodies.  Most people that come to the class don't seem that interested in becoming accomplished hand drummers but are more interested in relaxing into a good groove for awhile.  So, the gross body is our flesh and bone body combined with the hand drum.  The subtle body is the energy we are putting forth to animate the gross body and move the arms and hands and it is also the body that is resonating with the rhythms and melodies and companionship.  The causal body is the space that allows all of this to take place and the space into which the sounds and all other forms disappear. 

Having these teachings to reflect on together is very helpful.  Here are some examples:

-many people are highly critical and self-conscious of the sounds they are producing on the drum.  This is felt as a disturbance and it can be felt by the individual as well as the group.  The way I deal with it now is to point out that it is the gross body that is responsible for making the appropriate sounds and that the gross body must be trained.  This is totally possible and anyone who wants to put in the time can do it.  However, if a person is mainly interested in exercising, celebrating and dancing with the subtle body groove that playing a rhythm can invoke, then perfect technique is not absolutely necessary.  You have to have a little bit of facility but not much.  This makes sense to people and works pretty well but then there is the fact that self-criticism is an old old habit that will continue to arise.  There are 2 things that you can do with that kind of energy when it comes up.  You can just mix it with the rest of the energy going on and pour it into the drum and space through your body or you can just let it go into space(causal body) along with all else.  The causal body allows for any and everything to arise completely impartially.  That space couldn't care less, in the very best sense, and that space is way bigger then your little habitual complaint about yourself.  You can identify with the knot of complaint or the release of space.  Some people have never heard anything like this.  

I've also used the metaphor that I read about in one of David Deida's books.  He likens the body and its energy to a water hose and that our body can have kinks in it that disallow the full flow of energy.  I think am starting to sense this in people as they are playing and am finding ways to work with it.  It's like drum yoga!  Anyways, since I've started doing this, the group has really come alive and they have commented on the difference.  One thing that I am worried about is the fact that I am not a certified teacher of any of this stuff.  I am just a practicioner myself and I don't want to either mislead or misguide anyone.  I make it clear to everyone that this is the case but if I am presenting it then I am still responsible to some extent.  Another thing I am worried about is that a lot of the people who come to the class are pretty seriously green(vmeme).  This scares me a little bit because they are really into wicca and the secret and that kind of thing and  so I worry that they will just nod and smile at whatever "mystical" stuff comes out of my mouth without using their own critical intelligence. 

My son and I are at the library today(I don't have a home computer) and he has just informed me that it is time to go.  There is more to be said about this drumming thing and how the integral model has really made it more fun and meaningful but that can wait. 

Echoing the sentiment of a recent poster whose name I can't remember, I really appreciate the chance to talk about all things integral with such a great and competent community.  I feel like I can communicate on all cylinders, if you know what I mean.

So, thank you very much.

Warmly,

Jeffrey