The Life We Are Given

Christine Rickerby met George Leonard when she heard his Akido 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.”

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.

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.”

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?

Learn more about Annie Ellicott and the experience and insight she's gained as a practitioner. “Recognizing, honoring and skillfully navigating homeostasis has been incredibly helpful to my long-term progress as a singer, songwriter, improviser and voice actor. Being comfortable in the role of the fool has given me access to new career paths and incredible adventures.”

Get a deeper sense of the core practices that form the foundation of ITP in this 24-minute audio excerpt from the book, The Life We Are Given, read by co-authors and founders George Leonard and Michael Murphy.

The notion of evolution applies to both the self-evolution of practitioners and also evolution of the practice itself. Thirty-one years later, the practice lives on because we find it works in wondrous ways, is not a one-size fits all and, mostly, because the practice has evolution built into its DNA.

Integral Transformative Practice can be visualized as a four-legged stool, with each sturdy leg representing a core value of ITP: theory, practice, community and research. While there is an abundance of resources on the theory guiding ITP, reinforced by an incredibly supportive community in practice, the “research” component can sometimes be overlooked.