Integrative Awakening is a psychological spiritual practice offered by Neil Steven Cohen on an individual or group basis. The focus is on bringing attention to the spiritual development of each individual with respect, gentle love and acceptance and to provide a safe space in which to explore the unknown territory of the spirit at a comfortable pace and in a comfortable way.
Neil is a gentle, kind man and is clearly well-educated and experienced in the territory in which he offers coaching, teaching and training.
He is based in Santa Barbara, CA at the time of this writing and offers a group in Santa Monica, CA on Sunday afternoons.
I attended a group session and was impressed with Neil's sensitivity, ability to create a safe and serene environment in which to explore spirituality in depth and without negative criticism.
I found the practice to be too non-physical and too intellectual for my own needs. My intellect is too highly over-developed to subcumb to any practice without a rigorous physical component. However, I felt drawn to the territory Neil leads each person to explore.
I can heartily recommend working with him if you are in a place in your spiritual development in which you need a gentle, non-critical, encouraging, inviting approach to take you deeper into your journey.
... So Goes the Nation is easily one of the best made, most interesting political documentaries I've seen regarding the way we elect our Federal leaders.
The movie is definitely biased against the Republican party (and therefore biased in favor of the Democratic party). But that is hardly the value this documentary has to offer.
The real gold comes in the revelation of the methods used by both parties to manipulate and influence elections. It is, quite literally, mass hypnosis in action.
I'm not claiming that anything either party does is unethical, illegal or immoral (though there is certainly room for debate on all counts). What I'm suggesting is that this documentary shows very powerfully just how our political parties have developed their ability to feed us the simple messages necessary to keep them in power. In this particular case, the Republicans did a superior job. But the Democrats carry their weight in this arena quite strongly.
Perhaps the most powerful scenes came in the form of montages. A talking head speaking on TV on behalf of the Republican party states a particular message - "Kerry flip-flops." An official campaigning against Kerry repeats the mantra at a public gathering - "Kerry flip-flops." News show talking heads repeat the mantra - "Kerry flip-flops." Pretty soon we see stadiums full of people chanting "Kerry flip-flops." We see demonstrators clashing verbally and the pro-Bush demonstrators simply reply to every pro-Kerry statement with the mantra - "Kerry flip-flops." Mass hypnosis IN ACTION!!
Want to see modern mind control as it happens? Interested in magick, persuasion, power, control, construction of reality? Watch this documentary. And watch it with an eye to the process behind the campaigns. Drop your political position and watch what both parties do to condition, control and herd the voters.
This is a powerful film. Do yourself a favor. Watch it. Learn from it. You will see more deeply into the world around you if you pay attention to what this movie has to offer.
I have to admit, I wasn't all that thrilled to see the site at first. It was too slick and, frankly, smacked of a religious agenda hiding somewhere in the back. But as I read further (and I haven't read the whole site yet, so don't hold me to this), I relaxed that view a bit and came to see that the basic concept on offer is actually a pretty amazing and very simple way to reengineer personal reality for the better.
The idea is to go for 21 days straight without complaining. The method is simple. It involves the use of a bracelet (which you can get from the website for free). Here are the basic rules of the game, from the site.
Suggested Rules
Begin to wear the bracelet, on either wrist.
When you catch yourself complaining, gossiping or criticizing (it’s ok,
everyone does) move the bracelet to the other arm and begin again.
If you hear someone else who is wearing a bracelet complain, you may
point out their need to switch the bracelet to the other arm; BUT if
you’re going to do this, you must move your bracelet first!
Stay with it. It may take many months but when you reach 21 days you
will find that your entire life is happier, more loving and more
enjoyable.
This documentary blew my mind and shocked me. Somehow I never cease to be amazed at the level of arrogance and utter inhumanity to which human beings are capable of falling. And for some reason, I am stunned each time I hear about the next huge business scandal, though by now I would have thought I'd be used to them, even expecting them.
For anyone living in a closest, this documentary covers the rise and fall of Enron, an enormous business tied to the deregulation of enery markets in the early 2000s and the creation of energy trading (think of trading units of energy the way stocks are traded on a stock exchange).
Enron was a company built on smoke and mirror accounting practices, a house of cards that eventually collapsed, taking with it Arthur Anderson, the largest accounting consulting company in the world (at that time).
Before the collapse, all the big boys at the top dipped their ladels in the honeypot to make sure they got their payout before leaving all the front-line, rank-and-file workers high and dry. The non-executive workers lost their livelihoods, their pensions, their retirement plans - everything.
Oh, and before the collapse, the arrogance of the guys on the energy market trading floor included manufacturing the rolling blackouts that hit California. There was never a lack of power necessitating rolling blackouts to save energy. There was merely the illegal manipulation of the markets by the traders to increase their incomes. These guys even went so far as to call powerplants in California and request full shutdowns under false pretenses to cause the impression of a lack of power as a way to increase the cost of energy, thereby increasing the market position of the traders. Amazing!
I have to admit, I'm very impressed with this short book by Dr. Hyatt. I've never been a huge fan of traditional hypnosis, neither the masculine or feminine style. I've always believed hypnosis to be lacking certain fundamentals - a lack of psychological depth, engagement of only the mental and congitive parts of the being.
Dr. Hyatt overcame those concerns for me with this little book. He clearly has an understanding of the importance of engaging the entire being - cognitive, emotional, physical and energetic - to facilitate real and lasting change. And he has a deep understanding of the fundamentals of psychology, the unconscious mind and the reason we are how we are and why we generally want to stay that way even when we consciously profess a desire to change.
Though he calls the book an un-book and does his best to include exercises throughout to fully egage the reader beyond the mere mental act of reading, the book falls somewhat short of his claims. However I believe this to be a shortcoming of the medium, not the message.
Dr. Hyatt expands on the book in several CDs and DVDs that are considerably more interactive and more fully engaging.
This book gives an excellent introduction to his concept of energized hypnosis and is a great way to learn about an effective method of self-transformation. The actual doing of the self-transformation requires a slightly higher investment of money and time, but that is always the case.
A merely intellectual understanding is never the same as a direct experience. This book is the first. Try it. If you like it, move into the more interactive material to experience the power of the technique Dr. Hyatt has developed.
