In my late fifties, I finally got the time and money together to plan a visit to that shining jewel on the sea –Esalen. I wasn’t looking for community, just a getaway for sea cliff hot springs and world-renowned massage with New Age learning attached. Flipping through the Esalen course catalog, I saw a familiar name and face pop up: Pam Kramer! I had met her years before when I took a career workshop that she facilitated. Later, I brought her in to do the same for my team—a temporary project team exploring their options as the work wrapped up.
Knowing that anything Pam put together would be top-notch, I picked her ITP workshop. I showed up with no expectations; my prior self-development work and background as a training professional had taught me that getting the most out of a learning experience was to trust the leaders’ process.
What an experience! In our small group activities, I connected with fascinating people who were drawn to the practice. Pam and others described ITP as a sustainable path leading to growth, not a one-and-done weekend leaving you feeling inspired but not fortified to maintain progress over time.
When there is not a structure in place to support long-term practice and growth, we tend to be pulled back into routine, patterned behaviors. Esalen’s research with early ITP groups had shown that those who practiced regularly made progress over time, extending an insightful weekend into lifelong learning.
The initial synchronicity that had me find a workshop led by Pam was followed up by a second one when I discovered that Pam was a member of the San Rafael ITP group that met close to home! I joined the San Rafael ITP group, founded and, at the time led by, gifted practitioners Donita Decker and Tim Cleary. I fondly remember those early years of membership when we practiced in person at the lovely Falkirk mansion. Initially, I was very much “along for the ride,” getting used to doing the Kata, exploring the nine intentions, creating and refining affirmations.
I never anticipated that I’d adopt all nine Intentions, but over time through regular attendance, the practice took root in me. My practice community helped me move forward; our personal sharing space served to clarify and reinforce my transformation. By 2019, my ITP group had become a supportive and reliable field of practice, but the extent of my grounding in the community did not solidify until the onset of COVID. Our group cohesiveness made for a smooth transition to a Zoom™ format. We missed being together in person but also discovered benefits to the remote format. We now use breakout sessions as well as file sharing, including video and other Zoom™ techniques to connect individually with other members and the group at large.
The grounding power of ITP community demonstrated itself most profoundly for me when, in 2020, I planned a pre-retirement move to a lower-cost geography. My friends worried that I would be lonely, remaking my life in a new location, but I never felt that. All through planning, prepping and selling my Marin County house, followed by a two-stage move to the greater Seattle area, ITP was my touchstone. I'd uprooted myself from the Bay Area, but I was always grounded in the ITP community of practice.
The San Rafael ITP group and weekly Kata opportunities provided a continuing foundation of support and connection as I started to build relationships in my new area. My grounding in the community saw me through an unexpected job loss/earlier-than-planned retirement, building of a local network of writing friends, considerable progress toward completion of my début novel, and now, supporting my significant other through life-threatening illness. ITP is a place where I can be witnessed as I share what is going on for me. My connection to other practitioners in my local group, weekly Kata opportunities and deep-dive ITP workshops have given me the stamina to manage significant life changes in a way that felt more like riding the wave than being pulled by an undertow.