Inner Transition Skills

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Comment by Shoshana Nejman on August 29, 2009 at 9:21pm

Hello everyone. If you meet, I'd like to know when that is. I'm new to Transition Colorado, so I'm just finding my way around. Thanks.
Shoshana Nejman

Comment by Sapan Rinpoche - Lama Kunga Gyal on August 16, 2009 at 3:38am

My goodness ... the lethargy and I guess actually, the BUSYNESS of us all! I have just gotten around to joining this and other groups here in Colorado, not just many of the local groups, but the special interest groups such as this one. We are all so busy, in our TRANSTION WORK and in our OTHER ENDEAVORS, that we seem to not take advantage of the the great Networking and Participation opportunities that we have here on Transition Colorado. I see that this comment of mine is the first on this one and only thread since April 21st. May our movement into the Fall, beyond Labor Day & "Summer," be forthcoming in great ways as we take stock of our Transition Movement, how it has grown here in the United States, and our reorganization from "Boulder County" to "TRANSITION COLORADO!" I am so thankful for all of the fine work that Michael Brownlee, Les Squires, and so many others have contributed to make our Colorado environs such a vital link to the world of "TRANSITIONALISM." Hmmm ... that's a nice-sounding word! See you around and, please do not mind if I NUDGE you a little bit to become more involved here on our Transition Colorado site, etc. Kindest regards, Sapan Rinpoche - Lama Kunga Gyaltsen, Transition Lyons

Comment by Pam Sherman on April 21, 2009 at 9:39pm

Just a note to everyone:
how wonderful the interactive talk with Greg was last night. We participants were very enthusiastic; great energy, great group.
Greg is so passionate about the Transitions model of personal and societal change--the changes we have historically gone through from beginning of change (the endpoint of whatever we're letting go of) to renewal, with the dark night of the soul inbetween--the crucial stage of chaos where we are tried and formed. Without this stage, it's not possible to embody the newness of the Renewal stage (what we intuit in our visions). It forms who we are to become. We'd like to have a longer time with Greg to do this work; we were just really digging our teeth in and no one looked like they wanted to leave when the security guard urged us out because the library was closing. Maybe we'll schedule a longer workshop with Greg and others can have a chance to come, too.

Comment by forrest craver on March 21, 2009 at 12:42pm

Well folks this is the meat and potatoes or broccoli and herbs of the transition movement. People like me age 65, must quickly develop a variety of deep skill sets to advance the movement. Awakenment events are just not enough. Openings close. Awakenment must lead to formation --ie skill sets -- and then on to the third stage of movement building -- demonstration. As economic decline accelerates and the Long Emergency becomes starkly apparent to the population at large, we must be there to offer hope and practical life support. We are the 9-11 response to what is coming, economic meltdown. Right on!

Comment by Coco Gordon on February 10, 2009 at 12:47pm

Hi All
I bounced around yesterday, attending the Longmont roundtable in evening, so am delayed feeding back here- am starting with a top of head remembering.

We spoke to the honoring of the indigenous people in how we conduct our talking circles, not appropriating their ceremony, but honoring the depositing into center with no dialog TO each other -using a tiny orange feather that fluttered into my hands from above & I string-bound without knots as I was taught by a Quileuete elder. David gave us the parameters of a talking circle. We went three rounds in our talking circle, until nothing was left to say.

David gave us a briefing on 2 other methods for inner work, one given as a handout and the other a personal men's group tool for inner transition that David has effectively used for 15 or so years in his life. Don spoke several times to the Theory U work which begins by listening & drops down the U to place of potential, co-sensing to co-presence reflection allowing inner knowledge to emerge and leads back up the U to co-creating a prototype and miscrocosm of the new to explore the future to acting from the energy of the whole, I will upload this diagram to upload from Anne Parker's day of Conversations That Matter. I will upload into a discussion format, as this conversation is better put onto a lasting discussion instead of comment wall which will disappear.

I offered the idea to practice other methods as well, one at a time to get the depth of entry into inner work, beginning with one-on ones, emotional check-ins, internalizing the ways of consensus facilitation, various healing methods, (like Body Mind Centering, Evelyn Berk’s Light body work, Emily Conrad D’Aoud’s cellular inner movement work), going out into Nature to listen to their conversations, and other inner work I have experienced working with friends who developed it.

I was struck in the first round by two opposing wishes expressed: to not need to learn skills and technologies or how to's in this group as inner work, and to concentrate on making ones own and other's living relationships harmonious, peaceful and meaningful as a mission to oneself & to others (Shades of Zen and the Tau long learned). Tears welled as my heart went into the center to acknowledge my and our implication in the genocide of the indigenous people whose lives were cut off from nature and their harmonious living with nature place so that we could to make room for our possessions, extract resources, in process forcing their losing the commons and rights to AIR Water Seeds, decimated by our taking of their children, lands and lives into our spheres of what we thought of as 'finding' abundance, appropriating into our own forms of illusive harmony and peace. In reality we who took now are losing all the very basics of life forms that we so selfishly took away from the indigenous before us.

I spoke to the setting up of the grid in human’s endeavors to make empire and great cities, how in leaving out the nesting circles that fed into watersheds then bioregions we lost our connections to life forms and Nature.

To continue on I would suggest to reconnect us to our lost life forms and larger abundances, to being nature, and rejoining it, such as practice with Council of all Beings work, to take walks, go out into nature and converse with all life forms, not just humans in a box, as we have been elementally changed (belief changes DNA). Our past behavioral actions forced more humanly aware Nature interactions underground for 500 years. In my last round I spoke to the disparity I am feeling, as needing to relearn what I have retained of old technologies which are going extinct. Part of our inner Transition work is with the elders who can revive, teach as a complement to old stories told, all old gathering and necessary contemplative hands on handwork again.

After the healing rounds we wrapped up with where we though Heart & Soul was for us & asked are we ready for what is being asked by Transition to do for Transition, & all said 'not ready' 'Not ready", to make Heart & Soul a teaching tool as now being delineated by Sophie Grande, a facile method in Transition. We would just go into it more in our own groups and track it in our lives.

I decided not to do my usual mind-mapping, or what I call flownotes while we speak since it felt like a sacred time to just be WITH our dredging up and placing into the center for no exploitive or needed use. I suppose a measure of the inner work opening up deeply was my forgetfulness of 'things', left behind in the REI where we met. I also expressed the wish to continue on with our practice of different ways to do this inner work, yet be mindful of what the wind, fire, snow say when we are stopped, what is it telling us? I told some stories of how flood, and fire caused me to do this kind of reflection when I was injured, was it too great a paradigm shift I was attempting to be part of at that time of injury? Was I ready? Was my world ready?

Comment by Alice Kelsey on February 10, 2009 at 9:45am

Our Loveland group had a terrific discussion last week. I shared that from time to time I worry about the fragility of our group cohesion since it has evolved magically versus logically so how can you count on its stability. Other group members encouraged me to trust in the resilience of our group. That was wonderful feedback for me not to mention good advice. :-) Alice from Loveland

Comment by Urchek on February 9, 2009 at 5:31pm

Hey all, i was disappointed that I missed the meeting today. Sounds like some deep and narrow conversation that happened. Looking forward to the next meeting though. I think the Inner Transition speaks very deeply to me, even as an unformed, ambiguous concept.
"What is the heart and soul of Transition?" Hmm. Part of transition for me (transition as a concept, not as this movement in particular, though it applies) is the interplay of life, death, and learning. Transitioning out of something is a sort of death process for me, a letting go. Some of us in this society are ready to let go of how we go about our daily bread; some others wouldn't seem to give up for anything, even in the face of the challenges our way of life necessarily creates.
But that doesn't answer the question directly, I suppose. As Don said, its one for the percolator.

Comment by Don Hall on February 9, 2009 at 4:55pm

I second what David has written. This kind of deep sharing and conversation is essential if we are going to build real community. And it also happens to be deeply enjoyable! All of us is wiser than one of us.

At the end of the meeting, we all agreed that the question, "What is the heart and soul of Transition?" still needs to percolate awhile within us. While I spoke of the heart and soul as a process of letting go into presence, and letting vision and inspiration unfold from that still point, Coco described it (correct me if I'm wrong) as a spontaneous energy arising in her community, that includes all aspects of life, not just inner work. We will have to find our way together.

We also agreed that we don't know yet what this group is going to become. It is clear that Inner Skills are an important part of Transition, but what shape that will take is still unclear. What are your ideas? How do you think this group can best serve the community? Let's open it up!

Comment by David E Greenwald on February 9, 2009 at 2:31pm

Hello all;
We each agreed to post our own comments on our Inner Work meeting today. Coco was wondering out loud at the very high winds today. In January it was snow that got in the way, and maybe the wind was a factor in low turn out today? It was myself, Don Hall and Coco.

We used the Conversation Cafe approach as in answering the question "What is the heart and soul of Transition for you?"

I experienced the sharing to be rich and deep - and felt a deeper level of 'knowing' myself, Don and Coco.

We explored Inner Work at the personal level, within small Transition group settings, and also Transitions in general. We did not get into methodologies or theories related to the 'doing' of Inner Work.

I came aware with a confirmation of how important Inner Work is and will be to Transitions - but I am less clear about how it unfolds within this Inner Work Group within Transition Colorado.

Our Louisville Initiating Group will be addressing Inner Work within our own group in the weeks to come, and I sense as this unfolds some good insights will come up and this we can share with the larger Transition community.

Comment by Zia Parker on February 3, 2009 at 7:58pm

As I see it, the challenge is to shift our way of being in the world so that we sense and are sensitive to the living world around us. Thus, enabling us to integrate the information coming to us-both from our bodies and the earth-and respond with contributions toward a healthy, harmonious balance with all beings.

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