By the time I discovered integrative practice, I had already been on the path of awakening and inner discovery for a few years. I had left my previous job as a strategy consultant in London, travelled extensively to Nepal and other places around the world to further my spiritual practice, and co-founded an NGO (Quantum Civilization). This organization aims to bridge the gap between the sciences and humanities, as well as facilitating a more conscious and 21st century-adapted approach to education, research and transdisciplinary engagement in Romania.
It was only after joining the Alef Trust as a student on the MSc programme in Consciousness, Spirituality and Transpersonal Psychology that I encountered integrative practice. The Learning through Integrative Practice (LIP) module was life-changing for me, as I was able to put into practice ideas and realizations I had made in previous years. Most of them were centered around my mind and cognition. With the help of LIP, I got to experience the importance of embodying one’s mental and spiritual realizations, as well as the importance of not placing mental realization above emotional practices, or in fact not necessarily having a hierarchy amongst modalities at all.
Inspired by the integrative practice module as part of the Alef Trust MSc, I decided it would be a great idea to share the basics of integrative practice at a local level in my community. The bigger vision is that of a cultural fractal of inspiration that will not only inspire the initial participants, but also their friends, and the friends of their friends, leading to a more conscious, integral and harmonious community. One of the driving questions of the project is whether or not integrative practice is something that anybody can benefit from and in what ways do practitioners benefit.
In order to facilitate the above and start finding answers to these questions, over the course of twelve weeks, we aim to first present participants with the theoretical toolkit of integrative practice, and then every week venture into discussing and practicing each of the five modalities: physical, emotional, intellectual-cognitive, interpersonal and spiritual. At the mid-point we will give participants the opportunity to co-create the following three weeks of practice and discussions in a participatory fashion. Amongst a selection of exercises, we will practice yoga, breathwork, discuss lucid dreaming, engage interpersonally in circle discussions and rituals, and learn mediation practices, as well as different exercises to stimulate the cognitive modality. Last but not least, in the final two weeks we will give participants the chance to present their own integrative practice that they will devise, or share why they choose not to further embark on a journey of integrative practice. The partners for this course will be Quantum Civilization, Om Space Organic Movement and Punct Si de la Capat NGO. We hope to be able to deliver the project at a physical location such as a yoga studio. Weekly sessions will be held once a week for three to four hours.
The whole team, myself included, are really looking forward to seeing how this integrative practice research project will unfold. Our hope is to inspire as many people as possible to practice and develop their being over as many of these modalities as possible. We believe that this will serve as a great step in the all-important education process that we as conscious human beings ought to undertake for the sake of our community, planet and well-being.
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