LET

The body gives signals before consciously processing a situation. These include tension, lightness, fatigue, and expansion, among others. In the ITP practice of Staying Current, we can use our bodies as learning tools.

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.

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.

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.”

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.

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.

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.

Michael Choy, Mastery teacher and one of the founding members of ITP Palo Alto, shares how ITP has nurtured his ongoing transformation, how their collective practice has evolved within their group and what he is looking forward to most about co-leading the upcoming series: “The Magic of the Integral.”

This guided video on basic centering, from ITP's Leonard Energy Training, provides an easy path to somatic balance and awareness of center. In the ITP worldview, a change in the condition of the body, mind, heart, or soul affects the whole person and so it follows that a balanced body leads to a balanced life.