iccp

I have just come down from Killiney Hill having seen the sun rise on Winter Solstice morning, seems like a good time to start blogging ..a new year opens!! This is my first blog ever, (coming into a new age of communication is scary) a trust is called for, do not know who, if anyone is reading this, a strange feeling, feel like shouting ``is anyone there `` as if down a long corridor. Winter Solstice is here and the dark short days, a time of ending, and breathing out. It has been a busy year and term, as I and we all try to come to terms with uncertainty in our world, and the fear that brings up. I find myself going back again and again to Paema Chodron When things fall apart.~ with her invitation to meet each situation with compassion and to meet ourselves with that also. I think in the current time in Ireland that might be a good idea ,with so much search for blame and the apportioning of responsibility when all aspects are being questioned from banking to Church to government and most of all ourselves So it is a time for me to look over a few of the highlights of the year just gone A highlight that comes to mind for me is that I have just finished a ten week course with the fourth year students at the Institute in Integrative Psychotherapy theory which included an experiential weekend. It may sound strange to name that as a highlight for myself ,but it was .It was an opportunity for me to consider again what I believe is core to integration ,which is so close to my heart. How do we see the integration of the person that psychotherapy can support. I revised my thinking somewhat (see revised article in the library section of the site on how I see integration. I am touched to come to believe more and more that we can only integrate ourselves in the present time and by coming more and more to live in our hearts. In this I see more clearly that psychotherapy far from being a ``talking cure`` is a deep relational cure where we can offer someone a ``developmentally –needed relationship`` to help the other transform their character-structure to a more open and integrated relating to the world .Important work that I was privileged to share with our students. Another highlight for me was the first Coming Home workshop in July last. A dozen of us gathered in Tipperary to set off on a journey of therapeutic bodywork, poetry ritual ,yoga and dance that was a transformative experience for us all ,and which will be repeated shortly. For me it was about dealing therapeutically with issues from the past but not getting lost in them, and finding ways to dance through our pain and yet to hold gratitude and faith in our transformative potential. Finally a third highlight to share was the recent Holy Sex-Wild Love, Men’s Tantric workshop which happened in early December. This was a powerful event that I co-ordinated, run by Leigh Tolson. We had a wonderful group of 25 men between the ages of 35 and early 60s coming together to share and learn how to develop as sacred lovers. It felt so good to be doing this in the context of the recent Murphy report where unholy sex was being exposed, to be linking sex and spirituality in a profound way. We will be running another similar workshop on the last weekend of April with a follow up workshop in July where Leigh and I will co- facilitate a blend of Tantra and Somatic Psychotherapy. It is the time to rest for a little while. am looking forward to the Coming Home Retreat on Jan 7-10th in Tig Roy ,In the beautiful Glen of Atherlow in County Tipperary. This workshop will be along the lines of the very successful similar workshop held there in July last. It is a time for people to take 4 days out of busy lives and ask the questions Am I living as I want to be aligned with my life purpose? What do I need to heal? These and other questions are used to open deep conversation. Meditation, yoga, movement, bodywork, poetry and sharing make for a powerful experience of refreshment and nourishment, to take us into the new year. All are welcome (see details in this site) Last time there were 12 of us in the group, and along with wonderful macrobiotic vegetarian food ,home baking and a luxurious Finish Wood burning sauna in the trees we had an enriching time. I love running these workshops because we can work deeply in a community setting over a few days and I come back refreshed as well. So with this taster of past and future I want to finish my first blog and head into the Solstice sunshine. Ger Murphy