The Life We Are Given by George Leonard and Michael Murphy mentions scientific studies on isolation. In his pioneering program of heart disease reversal without drugs or surgery, Dean Ornish worked with the premise that isolation is a major factor in sickness and that the support groups in his program were a major factor in the transformations of coronary arteries. Other studies show similar benefits of human connections.
Since most of us live in a culture that isn’t always conducive to long‐term practice for personal growth and transformation, it is helpful to be connected to others in a like‐minded practice group. One of our greatest strengths as human beings is our ability to support one another as well as to adapt to changing circumstances. Evolutionary science is now recognizing this. Our success does not come down to the survival of the selfish, as most of us were once taught. In fact, it turns out that communities that cooperate and share are the ones who fare best in the long run. Those who cooperate survive, as proposed by evolutionary biologist David Sloane Wilson in his book This View of Life: Completing the Darwinian Revolution. The challenges humanity faces today are daunting, however, and we believe that the way forward now leans toward the collective. We can see more and go further together than we can on our own.
Sharing the highs and the lows
As this is a transformative practice, you will most likely experience a shift in your being if you wholeheartedly engage with it. You may experience the joy of moments of pure presence or the fear of losing a part of yourself that you have long identified with. As you go through the process, these transformations can challenge the status quo of your life and you may feel uneasy as new vistas open up. During these times—the joyful and the difficult—it is extremely helpful to share your experiences with other practitioners. This is especially true when you are experiencing something that may be hard for you to understand or integrate in your life.
ITP communities are meant to be safe spaces for sharing the transformations that may arise as a result of your practice. It is particularly important to be able to share any extraordinary experiences with other like‐minded people. When something happens to you that is outside your normal range of experience, it can be easy to dismiss it, or to bury it away for fear of how others will react. The more we share such experiences in contexts where others are open to them, the more normalized they can become in our own minds and eventually in our culture. Also, as not all transformations are positive, your community can act as a mirror for you, letting you know that it may be time for a course correction. For those who may not be comfortable sharing their experience in group settings, it can be helpful to have a practice buddy or a coach to check in with periodically who can keep you on track.
“The Long Body”
“The Long Body” is a term once used by the Iroquois Native Americans to describe the felt sense of connection between tribal members—a sense that their bodies extended beyond their own skin. They didn’t mean symbolic contact. They meant that they could actually experience each other’s state of being regardless of being separated by time and space. 1
We use the term Long Body in ITP to signify the “field effect” that is generated when a group of people are in practice together. The Long Body can be thought of as a field of shared consciousness that nourishes and supports us all, holding our shared intentions for transformation. This field isn’t localized, so as you practice you can tune in to the community of ITP practitioners around the world. In Africa, the Zulus have a similar concept, captured in a word that signifies the interdependence and oneness of humanity: Ubuntu, meaning roughly, “I am because you are.” This may take the idea of the Long Body even further, indicating that in some sense, we co-create each other through our relationships. In this view, it is only through relationship that we reach our full human potential and become truly ourselves.
1. Roll, William G. 2008. “Psi and the Long Body.” Australian Journal of
Parapsychology 8, no. 1 (2008): 6‐28. https://search.informit.org/
doi/10.3316/informit.293667981023521.