I help leaders and professionals who are dealing with persistent pain and nervous system redlining. By integrating kinesiology and somatic wisdom, I help you resolve internal disconnect and restore capacity to show up with energy and presence. Twice a month, I share expertly-curated healing tools. Subscribe and I'll send you my Heal From Inside Out mini-course.
Beyond self-improvement
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“The greater part of the soul lies outside the body.” The Architecture of Initiation Hello friends, My first introduction to the formal conception of initiation was during a 5-week course with the depth psychologist Francis Weller. It was mid-covid, and it coincided with my own initiation journey, although I wouldn’t have used that word at the time. Burnout, anxiety and a lifetime of seeking something deeper had led me to a healing journey. A journey fuelled by ritual, community and psychedelic ceremonies. That journey continues to this day, but it has certainly steadied a lot since the ground-shifting potency of those first few years. For most of my life, I struggled to show up as meaningfully as I knew I could. Although I had some professional accomplishments, some deep part of myself knew I was capable of greater contribution. Even though I had explored lots of meditation, therapy and Tai Chi, I still felt weighed down like wearing a lead suit, zapping my energy and making it difficult to push through. Learning about initiation helped provide a framework for the process my guides and mentors were ushering me through. That structure helped me see the path through a much larger lens than psychology, and know healing as being much bigger than myself. It’s not about you In our default western world, personal development is the water we swim in. It can be hard to see outside the box that orients us towards our individual success, growth, and self-actualization—or even see that the box exists at all. It’s a world that metabolizes psychology and spirituality into another form of individuality. But individual identity stands in stark contrast to the traditional reasons for initiation, which is to help you transcend your individuality and welcome you into a more expanded sense of belonging. “Initiation was never meant for the individual. It had nothing to do with personal growth or self-improvement. It was an act of sacrifice on behalf of the greater community into which the initiate was brought and to which they now hold allegiance. They were being made ready to step into their place of maintaining the vitality and well-being of the village, the clan, the watershed, the ancestors and spirit. It was never about them, but about the continuum of generations to come.” - Francis Weller I’ve written before about our modern misconception of healing as something that happens inside yourself, as if you were an isolated machine. In fact, the process of a successful initiation means identifying less with the individual self, to become more participatory with the greater cosmos. Trauma and Initiation The Jungian psychologist Robert Moore expressed two of the main reasons for initiation as (a) bridging the aging-maturation gap and (b) overcoming existential crises. Of course those who live long enough do become biological adults, and eventually experience traumatic losses and challenges. However, without culturally intact rites of passage, childhood trauma and major life transitions tend to leave us feeling more disconnected and isolated, rather than leading to a more expanded version of ourselves and our wisdom. Childhood trauma splits the psyche which leads to physical bracing patterns. Major life transitions, such as when your former strategies of accumulating security or esteem no longer serve your next chapter, often end in burnout or meaninglessness. In combination, these pave the road to inflammation, chronic stress and disease. But it doesn’t have to be this way. It’s actually possible, with guidance and community, to embrace the dissolution of our old identity and integrate with something much larger than ourselves. These days, we need this journey more than ever before. And it starts with each one of us. Your invitation In the time since my own initiation began, I’ve been passionate about the subject, reading books, taking courses, and helping many people through their own processes. It’s a passion that I've shared with my wife, Trina (a clinical counsellor and psychedelic therapist). If you feel called to show up more fully but feel dragged down by exhaustion and the weight your body is still carrying, join us for a virtual workshop, The Architecture of Initiation: From Bracing to Becoming, on September 9th. This is for the change-makers (or would-be change-makers) who want to show up in the world with more energy and presence, who are going through a transition period, and are ready for greater contribution and to release the weight of exhaustion holding you back. If that's you, we hope to see you there. Walking the path, Gabriel The Architecture of Initiation: From Bracing to BecomingVirtual Workshop with Gabriel Shaw and Trina Woods
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You know your body is carrying something. It feels like the lead suit that never quite lifts, the tightness at the back of your skull, the pressure in your chest that never fully leaves. You've read the books, done the therapy, tried the apps. You can name your patterns. And still you're bracing. Still forcing yourself through the day.
This is the gap between what you know and how you live, and it's not a discipline problem or a knowledge problem. It's a threshold problem.
In this 90-minute session, Kinesiologist Gabriel Shaw and Therapist Trina Woods map the actual architecture of initiation. What has to happen, physiologically and structurally, for a high-capacity change-maker to cross the threshold from muscling through into sustainable, embodied capacity.
You'll leave with a clear picture of the path and start experiencing the shift in the present.
Details
Duration: 90 minutes
Location: Virtually via Zoom
Recording sent out within 24 hours.
Investment: $35
You'll move from silently doing everything right while still white-knuckling through your days to understanding exactly what initiation requires to close the gap between what you know and how you live, and what your specific next threshold looks like.
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Healing Shares
Each week I share vetted resources from trusted experts to assist your healing journey.
- Introduction, Integration and Initiation (10-min article)
Want to read more on initiation? Trina shares her story. Make sure to subscribe to our new Substack.
- Tai Chi Somatic De-Bracing Reset (Direct Link)
Several of you asked for the direct link to the reset sequence, so here it is. Make sure to bookmark it for future reference.
(For subscribers only. If you'd like to share it, please use this link.)
- Embodiment Means Being Torn Apart and Flying Away. (90-min podcast)
Since we discuss embodiment so often here, this audio journey helps to put that practice in the context of initiation.
Thanks for being on the journey! As always, please reply to give me feedback. I always loving hearing about your favourite resources, too.
Gabriel
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Resolve pain. Reclaim your capacity. Restore your presence.
I help leaders and professionals who are dealing with persistent pain and nervous system redlining. By integrating kinesiology and somatic wisdom, I help you resolve internal disconnect and restore capacity to show up with energy and presence. Twice a month, I share expertly-curated healing tools. Subscribe and I'll send you my Heal From Inside Out mini-course.
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