George Leonard

Many things can startle you, causing you to become unbalanced and uncentered. At the same time, being startled by someone or something can also be viewed as a catalyst for becoming even more balanced and centered than before. For example, without denying the shock, a student who’s startled by the fact that he or she failed an exam can use the experience as an incentive to study more effectively for the next test.

Christine Rickerby met George Leonard when she heard his Aikido class through the ceiling of an art studio she was using. What followed was an opening to an enriching ITP practice and an opportunity to spend time with George at the end of his life.

Examine how ITP creates a cultural pivot by providing a personal path of awareness of the divine as well as a collective shift toward contemplative awareness for the well-being of society.

What does it take to increase our capacity to pivot and shift direction, mindset and mood? Christina Grote explores the role that perception plays in our ability to pivot. Being aware of our options can make a huge difference in our transformation.

After enjoying eight years as a successful head coach for university golf teams, Matthew Steinbach felt the comfort of familiarity was constraining his growth as a coach and as an individual. He examined the role of homeostasis in his life and decided to pivot.

We usually look at our world with an agenda. We look at something. We look for something. What if we didn’t perceive the world through “hard eyes”? ITP Mastery Teacher Charlotte Hatch and ITP practitioners demonstrate experiencing the world through “soft eyes.”

Dr. Matthew Cobb started his professional ministry in The Episcopal Church (TEC) where he has served as campus minister, community organizer, healthcare chaplain, development officer, parish priest, indigenous missioner, leadership developer and spiritual director. ITP and the Ki of Cooperation play an important role in his personal and professional lives.

To achieve cooperation with another, it can help to look at the situation from the other person’s point of view. Leonard Energy Training offers an exercise to help us achieve this. ITP Mastery Teacher Charlotte Hatch teaches the exercise “Getting Off the Line,” reminding us to listen to the other person while taking care of ourselves.

Cooperation with another person can be challenging during a brief encounter or throughout a lifetime. And, in the spirit of our practice, these encounters can prove to be transformative. ITPI Mastery Teacher Charlotte Hatch shares her personal insights gained through the lens of her Aikido studies and ITP.

The practice of GRACE is the opening move of the ITP Kata: Ground, Relax, Aware, Center and Energize. These steps can be called into action any time we need to come into the present moment. Beyond the acronym, grace is a powerful energy, a transmission of divine love or a higher consciousness that is freely given, often unexpectedly, received but not directly earned. ITPI board member and co-author of Living an Extraordinary Life Christina Grote talks about how ITP practices open us up to grace.

The Kata begins with grounding – a powerful and profound place to begin. ITP practitioner Dusty Niles describes how grounding activates a source of energy alive within us all. It also activates imagination and so much more.

Generosity with self is no small feat. We can be more dedicated to giving to others and overlook the importance of tending to our own needs. Generosity with self is essential to transform, especially through our ITP practice. In this essay, Pam Kramer describes her take on the topic.

ITPI is the epitome of generosity within community, starting with the work and inspiration of Michael Murphy and George Leonard. The fruit of their generosity has blossomed throughout the world.

On the face of it, one could think that generosity is directly opposed to the survival instinct. Isn’t thinking “me, first” a major part of survival, and isn’t survival what every thought and action boils down to? This is pretty basic stuff. Why, then, bother being generous? Why give away one’s money, wisdom, and most precious of all, time, to anyone or anything else? Why does generosity, in its purest sense, feel so good?

Learn more about Rachel Hamilton and the ways that a "bad boyfriend" experience opened her life to an ITP practice that enhances her life. Read what generosity means to her. “Generosity is the impulse to share what I have with others. I particularly love to share my spaces and my energy to create sweet gatherings. Vitamin C(onnection) is something we all need, and I love being the person to create the space for us to be with one another and be alive with one another, whether it be to share joy or to process grief.”

With our minds, we think, we reason, we learn, we imagine, and we dream. We strategize, make decisions, and set intentions and goals. Through the capacity of self-reflection, the mind provides a sense of personal history and continuity to our lives, the sense of being ourselves… We discern truth from falsehood. We set our intentions for who we want to be in the world and what we want to accomplish in life.

In many cultures the heart was, and still is, considered to be the seat of intelligence and intuition, a special window into the world and its divine nature. When we see with the eyes of heart we can perceive things as they are without judgment. Our perception is filtered through the lens of love.

Soul is another term that has many meanings in many different cultures and traditions, but in these pages, we use it to refer to the deepest part of our being. It is a part of us that is as essential as the body, mind, and heart; a part of us and yet beyond them all. You might think of it as our personal spark of the greater divinity, unique to each one of us. If you prefer another term, such as deeper or higher or original Self (with a capital S to distinguish it from the small self or ego), or even purpose, please use what is most meaningful for you.

Body, mind, and heart interplay to inform our lives, for sure. But the soul speaks and lives through each of these aspects. This is the brilliance of the integral model we engage with ITP.

ITP honors the body as an amazing teacher and guide. Further, we believe that the body is capable of transformation in both ordinary and extraordinary ways. ITP includes several practices to enhance the health of the body, such as the ITP Kata, aerobic exercise, strength training, and conscious eating. The body is our foundation, our vehicle to express ourselves in the world, and it requires appropriate care to realize its fullest potential.

Learn more about Matthew Steinbach and how ITP has brought new insights to his daily life and his role as a coach to student-athletes. “I firmly believe we are on the edge of cultural transition towards integral transformative practice. My work with the younger generations leaves me full of promise and optimism.”

ITP sees human beings as essential and integral components for the world’s positive evolutionary advance. As we connect with and cultivate the Divine inside each and every one of us, little by little, we bring more and more of that Divine into our own lives and out into the world. Roger Marsh, ITP’s Director of Training and Consulting, shares his thoughts about the ITP worldview.

Explore how the powers of clear intention and relaxation allow your personal spark of the divine to be realized. In this LET exercise led by ITP and LET teacher Charlotte Hatch, notice how your body can align harmoniously with what you hope for yourself and others. This practice, based on the martial art of Aikido, demonstrates the extraordinary abilities resting inside ourselves waiting to be tapped into for greater wholeness and empowerment.

Integral Transformative Practice has long embodied an evolutionary worldview “giving context to a practice pointing us toward the realization of our greater capacities.” As Christina Grote and Pam Kramer write in Living an Extraordinary Life: “Humankind is seen as part of a universal evolutionary unfolding, and we each play our unique part in that unfolding. We can experience the joy of being fully ourselves and fully connected to the cosmic movement of which we are an integral part. Who we are and what we do matters!” In the following excerpt, taken from The Holomovement anthology, co-authors Jill Robinson and Rhiannon Catalyst consider why honoring and nurturing our truest selves is critical in our collective transformation.

Each ITP newsletter spotlights a member of the ITP community so that they can share some insight into their practice and the role ITP plays in their life. This newsletter, with its theme of ITP Worldview, shines a light on Judith Closson. Judith is a longtime ITP member, in-person at Mill Valley and via Zoom from Washington state. Judith has participated in many programs over the years, including Ki of Cooperation. She eloquently expresses how ITP strengthens her connections to the world around her.

Michael Murphy, author, co-founder of the world-famous Esalen Institute, cofounder of ITP, and pioneer of the Human Potential Movement starting in the 60s, relates a wealth of intimate experience, knowledge, and wisdom covering his decades of living at the leading edge of transformative practice and the realization of human potential. Michael talks about Esalen’s latest research, our current crisis of belief, and the anchoring question that has guided Esalen (and Michael) all along: how best to serve?

Most of the time, we walk with a goal - a fitness mission or a destination we have in mind. Try this Random Walk, led by Charlotte Hatch. It’s walking for its own sake – balanced, centered, and allowing the open spaces to call to you. Once you experience this practice, you can transfer it to your daily life. Walking in a crowded space may now feel different.

Thanks to the synchronicities that surfaced between Lydia Dugan and Joe Hirsch, the ITP Houston community got off the ground in 1996. As Joe describes, "The best part of being in the Houston ITP community is celebrating the personal growth of each member and enjoying the support, camaraderie, and richness of new ideas and practices from our group members and other ITP communities." Yeho!

Hello! I’m Sally Isaacs, writing to you from Oradell, New Jersey. I’m stepping in to collaborate with the ITP team to produce the ITPI quarterly newsletters. I’m the reason that the theme of this Winter Newsletter is “ITP Essentials.” I have been a member of ITP for many years. But I’ve stayed on the periphery. I practice the Kata alone. I write, revise, and lean into my affirmations.

Seven years ago, the Tulsa ITP groups decided to up our game by having weekend workshops designed and facilitated by the Master ITP Teachers. The journey has yielded amazing results including strength of the community in Tulsa, personal insights, deepening of integral practice, and lots of fun. It has forwarded the mission of ITP which is “to advance the adventure of Integral Transformative Practice.”