Touching and brilliant. My ego thinks I know everything…. I laugh. Another trip, or deep insight, or breathing with the trees is always helpful….at least temporarily. Chop wood carry water. I think is the last 5%
This one hit home so beautifully and also pointedly. We’re all works in progress and sometimes we think because we have the language and we’re content for the moment that we are done. But there’s that last 5% (or for some us maybe 25%) that we need to find alone in the quiet space. Thanks Shash for the reminder and always for your love and support.
As someone who has at one point read self help books, got into life coaching, looked for great tools and exercises, dabbled in shadow work, has done research, and assists in spiritual retreats guiding others. There is nothing like the quiet reveal and confrontation that comes through grace.
Thanks for chiming in! I’d love to hear more about your concept of Grace. I love it! I think we’re circling around the exact same thing. As I’ve learned to approach myself with curiosity and compassion and move away from the adversarial stance of our performance culture, Grace seems more available!
Thank you for your articulate exposure of how many of us have "outsourced the work of seeing ourselves" and how our honest intentions for activating all the self-help resources can become equally undermining to the process of healing.
As I was reading your post, it reminded me of psychiatry in the 1980s and the use of MDMA (or MDA) as a tool to "reduce defensiveness and fear of emotional injury, thereby facilitating more direct expression of feelings and opinions, and enabling people to receive both praise and criticism with more acceptance than usual… Many subjects experienced the classic retrieval of lost traumatic memories, followed by the relief of emotional symptoms" (Greer, 1985). To paraphrase, MDMA fosters increased empathy and self-compassion. It promotes feelings of trust and introspection, allowing patients to reflect on trauma with a gentler, more objective perspective.
I am not advocating for chemical interventions as a solution for what must ultimately be our own work and journey. However, I do wonder if it allows us to shift the chemical patterns in our brains just long enough for new patterns (mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual) to evolve and take hold.
In kindness - Kim
Greer G: Using MDMA in psychotherapy. Advances 1985; 2:57–59
Dr. Kim! Thanks for chiming in! I'm a huge fan of anything that helps open the door, including MDMA and other psychedelic medicines. The issue I find, however, is twofold, and the second point is less obvious than the first. These medicines can open the door, but in my experience they don't automatically allow new patterns to "evolve and take hold." That deeper integration can only come through a devoted daily practice and inside a container of curiosity and compassion. This is precisely where The Last 5% lives, moving people out of the paradigm of simply managing these parts of themselves and into the deeper, more tender work of actually meeting the protective parts of their system, so that the system can receive the update that we are no longer the age we were when the original misattunement was experienced. I'm an advocate for MDMA, ketamine, psilocybin, and any other door openers held inside a safe container with highly skilled and experienced practitioners who can remain present throughout the integrative process with an individual committed to the longer arc of the journey.
Thank you for clarifying the importance of "a safe container with highly skilled and experienced practitioners who can remain present throughout the integrative process with an individual committed to the longer arc of the journey." I agree, integration is like mycelium; it allows for connection and deeper expansion into the world around us. And, having the safe container (set and setting) that allows one to move through and within their journey.
Working with clients in the integration phase in a C-PAT role is like watching curiosity blossom out of the recesses of shame and self-doubt.
Touching and brilliant. My ego thinks I know everything…. I laugh. Another trip, or deep insight, or breathing with the trees is always helpful….at least temporarily. Chop wood carry water. I think is the last 5%
Ha! Yes! Good to hear from you 🙏❤️🌀
This one hit home so beautifully and also pointedly. We’re all works in progress and sometimes we think because we have the language and we’re content for the moment that we are done. But there’s that last 5% (or for some us maybe 25%) that we need to find alone in the quiet space. Thanks Shash for the reminder and always for your love and support.
🙏❤️ I can’t wait to see the new place!
I'll be in June 2 let me know when you are coming East
As someone who has at one point read self help books, got into life coaching, looked for great tools and exercises, dabbled in shadow work, has done research, and assists in spiritual retreats guiding others. There is nothing like the quiet reveal and confrontation that comes through grace.
Thanks for chiming in! I’d love to hear more about your concept of Grace. I love it! I think we’re circling around the exact same thing. As I’ve learned to approach myself with curiosity and compassion and move away from the adversarial stance of our performance culture, Grace seems more available!
A pause before the defense forms. A breath before the explanation arrives. Brought me to tears 🙏
🙏❤️
Hi Shasheen,
Thank you for your articulate exposure of how many of us have "outsourced the work of seeing ourselves" and how our honest intentions for activating all the self-help resources can become equally undermining to the process of healing.
As I was reading your post, it reminded me of psychiatry in the 1980s and the use of MDMA (or MDA) as a tool to "reduce defensiveness and fear of emotional injury, thereby facilitating more direct expression of feelings and opinions, and enabling people to receive both praise and criticism with more acceptance than usual… Many subjects experienced the classic retrieval of lost traumatic memories, followed by the relief of emotional symptoms" (Greer, 1985). To paraphrase, MDMA fosters increased empathy and self-compassion. It promotes feelings of trust and introspection, allowing patients to reflect on trauma with a gentler, more objective perspective.
I am not advocating for chemical interventions as a solution for what must ultimately be our own work and journey. However, I do wonder if it allows us to shift the chemical patterns in our brains just long enough for new patterns (mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual) to evolve and take hold.
In kindness - Kim
Greer G: Using MDMA in psychotherapy. Advances 1985; 2:57–59
Dr. Kim! Thanks for chiming in! I'm a huge fan of anything that helps open the door, including MDMA and other psychedelic medicines. The issue I find, however, is twofold, and the second point is less obvious than the first. These medicines can open the door, but in my experience they don't automatically allow new patterns to "evolve and take hold." That deeper integration can only come through a devoted daily practice and inside a container of curiosity and compassion. This is precisely where The Last 5% lives, moving people out of the paradigm of simply managing these parts of themselves and into the deeper, more tender work of actually meeting the protective parts of their system, so that the system can receive the update that we are no longer the age we were when the original misattunement was experienced. I'm an advocate for MDMA, ketamine, psilocybin, and any other door openers held inside a safe container with highly skilled and experienced practitioners who can remain present throughout the integrative process with an individual committed to the longer arc of the journey.
Shasheen,
Thank you for clarifying the importance of "a safe container with highly skilled and experienced practitioners who can remain present throughout the integrative process with an individual committed to the longer arc of the journey." I agree, integration is like mycelium; it allows for connection and deeper expansion into the world around us. And, having the safe container (set and setting) that allows one to move through and within their journey.
Working with clients in the integration phase in a C-PAT role is like watching curiosity blossom out of the recesses of shame and self-doubt.
Thank you you spot on!
Thanks Man, I know you know.
You are so on target! Keep expressing yourself and bringing these insights to the world! Appreciatively, Audrey
Thanks Audrey, I know you know 🙏❤️