Tag Archives: Michael Murphy

The Two Most Abused Modern Miracles: Diet and Exercise

Posted on March 19, 2012 by Roger Kenneth Marsh| Leave a comment

This picture was taken on a recent hike of mine on the mountain in my backyard, Mt. Diablo. I love exercise that takes me into the inspiring energy of the great outdoors. I gave up boring gym workouts long ago in favor of free, fun, and truly energizing outdoor exercises that require no special equipment.

Have you noticed the conversation about health and diet really ramping up these days? It’s been prevalent since the exercise revolution of the 70’s, but recently seems more and more people are getting sick. The side effects of living in our modern world are catching up with us. It seems people are either too busy (I don’t have enough time) or too depressed (I don’t care) to take care of themselves. Both of these conditions – too busy or too depressed – lead to sedentary lifestyles coupled with consumption of highly processed, convenience foods. You can get away with this for a while, but eventually it catches up with you.

The data and research are clearer today than ever before: proper diet and regular exercise are the keys to healthy living. Almost every disease in our modern world can be linked back to poor diet and lack of exercise (plus mental/emotional stress). These are factors in which YOU are in control, NOT your genes, destiny, or bad luck. I see it on PBS all the time: people reversing chronic health ailments like coronary artery disease, migraines, even cancer, through changes in diet and exercise. Not to mention just plain old feeling better with more optimism and energy!

In this issue of Major Good Mojo we look at one of the most important ingredients for creating your life’s dreams and desires: taking conscious, loving care of your physical body. This is Step 9 of the Major Good Mojo System: “Feel Good In Your Body – Look After It!”

Read on and enjoy!

The Two Most Abused Modern Miracles: Diet and Exercise

Step 9 of the 10 Step Major Good Mojo System is “Feel Good In Your Body – Look After It!” This step has multiple aspects to it, all of them about taking care of your physical self. Over the years I’ve learned just how important this is to a life of fulfillment. We have bodies for a reason, and that reason is to live and fulfill our destinies and to create and fully experience our lives. If our bodies are out of shape, worn down, or not given the proper fuel, sleep, or fresh air, just like any mechanical system, they will break down. They will not be able to serve their purpose.

Lots of people struggle with this in their lives. I think one of the reasons is because the body is for living, and if you don’t know what you are living for, then you’re not truly, or naturally, motivated to live. That makes taking care of your body, your key tool for living, an uphill battle and struggle. When you are connected to Spirit and your passions (accomplished through the first 8 steps of the Major Good Mojo System), taking care of your body becomes so much easier and more natural. You are excited about life, you are inspired by life, you have divine energy flowing through you and you want to live. It makes a lot more sense that you want to exercise and move your body, eat a healthy diet, drink plenty of refreshing water, breath lots of fresh air, let in the beautiful sunlight, connect with plants and animals, and get plenty of rest and sleep.

One of my original teachers and inspirations was Dan Millman, author of the best selling book “Way of the Peaceful Warrior.” He is often asked, “How can I become a Peaceful Warrior? What is the most important thing I should be doing?” His reply is, “Get plenty of sleep, eat a healthy diet, and exercise your body.” We’re so busy looking for the magical aspects of living a fulfilling life that we forget these basic things and the huge difference they make.

One of the most powerful practices I have discovered is called Integral Transformative Practice, or ITP for short. This is a long-term practice for transformation developed by human potential pioneers Michael Murphy and George Leonard. Michael Murphy is one of the founders of the Esalen Institute (the west coast center for the human potential movement, founded 50 years ago, located in beautiful Big Sur, California) and George Leonard was President of The Esalen Institute for a time. Over the years these two saw pretty much everything when it came to programs and processes for realizing our human potential.

On January 4, 1992 they embarked on a research study they called “Integral Transformative Practice” with 36 people that met every Saturday morning for 11 months. In 1993 a second group met for 10 consecutive months. They decided they would forgo the spectacular “gee-whiz” experiences they knew they could facilitate, feeling they only gave the illusion of significant change and could even interfere with lasting, long-term transformation. Rather, they held a strong belief in the “transformative power and sacredness of life’s quiet virtues, including intellectual curiosity and integrity, a sense of the spiritual, unconditional love, healthy exercise, and a devotion to practice.” They “were in it for the long run.” “The practice would be integral in that it would involve and seek to integrate body, mind, heart, and soul. It would be transformative in that it would aim toward positive, long-term personal change.”

While the practice certainly has its physical/body-based components, including proper diet and regular exercise, it goes beyond this and recognizes the INTEGRAL nature of ALL OUR COMPONENTS. This means focus and development in one area affect all the others. So, for TRUE physical health and vitality, we must also develop our other parts: mind, heart, and soul. And vice-versa for all the other areas of our being.

The standard affirmation that every ITP Practitioner makes is “My entire being is balanced, vital and healthy.” It’s important to affirm your preferred state of balance, vitality, and health, and ingrain this into yourself through repetition as a conscious and unconscious truth.

So, Step 9, taking care of our physical body, is in the Major Good Mojo System as a very important part of our daily practice for fulfillment and experiencing Major Good Mojo in our lives. To experience the power this can provide in your life, I invite you to engage the The Major Good Mojo Coaching System.

Your Major Good Mojo Assignment:

Take a look in your kitchen cupboards and pantry and see what you see. Are they filled with processed foods, crackers, cookies, pasta, chips, cereal, white rice, tortillas, bread, candy, etc.? Modern dietary research is indicating the average American diet is too high in these starchy, sugary, processed carbs. Just decreasing your intake of these things will make a big difference in your health. Replace them with things like fresh vegetables, fruits, and nuts.

Take a look at your exercise habits. Is your habit NOT to exercise? Just notice. Modern research is showing that even a small amount of non-strenuous exercise (a short walk for example) can make a huge difference in health and well-being. It’s the consistency that matters most, not the intensity. See if there is an opportunity for you to increase the exercise you are getting in your life and notice the big difference it will make.

Congratulations – you are one step closer to Major Good Mojo!

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How to Stay Connected to Spirit and Passion

Posted on March 5, 2012 by Roger Kenneth Marsh| Leave a comment

This picture was taken at the Esalen Institute on California’s Big Sur Coast, as I gazed out over their “Great Lawn” to the Pacific Ocean. I selected the picture for this eZine because the two art pieces nicely demonstrate the typical path one follows living in Spirit and creating a passion-filled life. It’s never a straight line! However, over time, with a consciously engaged practice, there is progress, and often significant, beautiful progress.

One of my favorite quotes from human potential pioneer Michael Murphy, co-founder of the Esalen Institute, is “The question isn’t whether to engage a practice or not, because you’re already practicing something. The question is what are you practicing?” Michael is referring to our ability to consciously choose what we practice in our lives. Are you choosing to practice fear, worry, and concern? This choice, if you can call it that, is typically made unconsciously and by default. Or, are you choosing to practice joy, love, and generosity? This choice is usually made in a more conscious and intentional way.

In this blog we look at one of the most important ingredients for creating your life’s dreams and desires: having and establishing a consciously created daily personal practice. This is Step 8 of the Major Good Mojo System: “Stay connected to Spirit and Passion.”

Read on and enjoy!

How to Stay Connected to Spirit and Passion

Step 8 of the 10 Step Major Good Mojo System is “Stay connected to Spirit and Passion.” Spirit and your passions go hand in hand. As Chris and Janet Attwood, authors of “The Passion Test,” often say, “What you love and God’s will for you are one and the same.” As you deepen your connection to your Higher Self and become more and more adept at listening to and following its guidance, you’ll find you’re led to your passions. You’re led to move and take action on what it is you love. Step by step you’ll be fulfilling your passions, your dharma, and your purpose. This step, Step 8, is about putting in place a practice that keeps you connected to Spirit and your passions day in and day out.

I cannot overemphasize the importance of a long-term, daily practice. It’s inside of this long-term context that your true transformation and evolution will be most powerfully facilitated. In a long-term practice you have the time to experience what does and does not work for you, what is and is not efficient. Then you are able to tune and optimize.

Living and fulfilling your passions is the result of the path of practice, and it occurs and is engaged OVER TIME. Therefore you need to be on a path of regular practice that marks your way, guides you, supports you, and keeps your evolution on track. It’s like creating a groove in a piece of wood with a rock, or perhaps on a piece of glass with a diamond; the first time you practice you just scratch the surface of the wood or glass. But then each time you practice, over and over again, you deepen that groove, and subsequently those things you are working on. Your connection to Source and Heart Wisdom, seeing the good in everything, going with the flow, transcending limiting beliefs, embracing the contraction and low energy times in your life, and expressing and creating your authentic life purpose, all eventually become the natural path for divine energy flow in your life.

It’s also important to note that for your practice to have deep transformational value it must continue independent of what is going on in your life. If you allow life to rule you, you will soon stop your practice. However, if you engage your practice independent of the conditions in your life, you can persist. This means you choose to do your practice for no reason and you do it no matter what.

You can look at your life as your ultimate long-term practice. Over your years on this earth you discover what works and doesn’t work for you, making adjustments, learning and deepening your connection to Source, until you ultimately and literally do dissolve into the oneness. Your long-term practice can be a microcosm of this ultimate and real long-term practice of your life – becoming more free, present, powerful, and joy-filled – while still alive and animating your physical form.

And don’t be afraid to try out different practices. Do what works for you. I’ve engaged many different forms and my transformational practice has continually evolved. Know that something may work for you and be very powerful at one stage of your life, then you grow beyond it and are ready for something else. Don’t feel like you have to select something and stay with it forever. Be free to evolve and engage and create what works for you.

Establishing your own, customized, daily practice that keeps you connected to Spirit and your passions is a major benefit of the Major Good Mojo System. To experience the power this can provide in your life, I invite you to engage the The Major Good Mojo Coaching System.

Your Major Good Mojo Assignment:

Take a look in your life to identify any daily practices you have that keep you connected to Spirit and your passions. If you have some, great, keep doing those. If you don’t, spend a few minutes right now to think of one or two things you might do each day to get more connected. Perhaps you’ll choose to read some uplifting and inspiring words, or start a gratitude journal, or walk in nature, or even meditate. These are all simple things that, if engaged consciously each day, can become a powerful practice in and for your life.

Consciously choosing, creating, and engaging a long-term daily practice is one of the most powerful things you can do.

Congratulations – you are one step closer to Major Good Mojo!

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How to Create Anything In Your Life. Really!

Posted on July 11, 2011 by Roger Kenneth Marsh| Leave a comment

One of the things I’m now noticing showing up in the popular “you can change your life and have anything you want” messages, is an acknowledgment that it takes time and effort - that you can’t just “wish it true.” You actually have to take action and PARTNER with the process and birth it into the world.  You cannot change the world without first changing yourself – and changing yourself is something that typically happens OVER TIME, one step at a time.

One of my mentors, Fabienne Fredrickson, says the Universe always answers and fulfills your requests – however not necessarily in the way you think it will. It typically shows up as an OPPORTUNITY to take some small action that will lead you toward the fulfillment of your request.  So you ASK, and then watch for opportunities showing up that you can say YES to and take action on.  That’s how it works.  NOT ask, ask, ask, and sit on the couch waiting for it land in your lap.

Real change requires a surrender of your old ways. To make way for the new you showing up, you must let go of old, comfortable habits…. and that typically takes some time.  This is really hard, if not impossible, to do on your own.  This is why structured programs like the Major Good Mojo System – where you systematically engage a process in partnership with me – are so helpful for realizing the changes and results in your life that you desire.  Without the structured process and power of partnership, we tend to stay in the same old grooves and get the same old results.

How to Create Anything In Your Life, Really!

Have you noticed that life has a certain inertia to it, and when you press in on it, it tends to press back a bit? It’s called homeostasis. In their book, The Life We Are Given (Tarcher Putnam, 1995), George Leonard and Michael Murphy point out, “Our body, brain, and behavior have a built-in tendency to stay the same within rather narrow limits and to snap back when changed – and it’s a very good thing they do.” It’s what keeps your body together and all its systems running smoothly. The body works very hard at maintaining homeostasis and keeping things balanced. Homeostasis is the natural resistance to change; it’s the tendency of the Universe to maintain the status quo.

This does NOT mean things don’t change; things are always changing. They change over time, however, ONE STEP AT A TIME. And as you travel your path of growth and development you are definitely going to run into this naturally occurring phenomenon. Knowing about it in advance will help you identify the mechanism when it shows up and wisely choose to continue on your path. Transformation can happen in an instant, but it usually doesn’t.

Here’s how it usually goes:  we start off Unconsciously Incompetent.  In this stage of evolution we don’t know what we don’t know.  In the case of our subconscious habits and patterns, they are running our lives without our conscious awareness of it. We perceive and interact with the world the way we see it and “that’s just the way it is.”

Then, as you clarify your passions and begin engaging your personal vision, you will move into the next stage: Conscious Incompetence. You are now becoming aware of what you previously did not know. You are now aware of your incompetence in a particular arena and, in the case of subconscious habits and patterns, you are becoming aware of how they are running your life in ways that you no longer desire. Although this stage can be a bit painful, it is a MAJOR first step, because things you want to change or develop have moved from unconsciousness into your CONSCIOUS AWARENESS where you can now see them and begin working with them.

Over time, as you become more and more aware of how your subconscious habits and patterns have been running your life, and you build your ability to choose differently, you move into a new stage of development:  Conscious Competence. This is a great place to be because you are now competent at choosing and creating your life, using your new skills, empowering truly authentic choices (rather than unconsciously reacting), and therefore experiencing success in the way you have envisioned.

It’s important to note that most of the progress and “work” happens between these second and third stages. You will take one step forward, then two steps back, and two steps forward, then one step back. You bounce back and forth between your incompetence and your competence, until you finally develop stability:  your old habits and patterns lose their grip while your new skills take hold and you are able to competently create your life in a new, consciously empowered way.

Finally you move into stage four:  Unconscious Incompetence. You become so competent at using the new skill and believing your new beliefs, that the new skill, or competency, eventually becomes “just the way things are.” At this point it moves into your unconscious mind. This is a great stage to be in because now your experience of yourself and your world, as you have consciously chosen and created it, goes basically on auto pilot. Whether it is health, wealth, love, or peacefulness, these new skills and competencies become a deeply integral part of who you are.

Simple, common examples of this process are learning to tie our shoes, brush our teeth, or learning to drive. All of these things at one point in our lives were difficult for us to do.  But now we do them automatically without giving it a thought. They are literally programmed into our subconscious and our ability to do these things is “just the way it is.”  This is also true of other “ways of being” and beliefs you have learned and practiced over the years,  whether they are empowering or not.

As you step onto your Hero’s Journey and begin embracing your unique passions, purpose, and mission, you will experience those places in yourself ready for transformation and evolution. Keep this model in mind and you will be better able to stay on the path and create the Major Good Mojo you desire.

Your Major Good Mojo Assignment:

Ask yourself:  “What do I want to change or create in my life right now?” Jot down the things that come to mind.  Then, knowing that change typically happens over time, one step at a time, ask yourself, “Am I really willing to do what it takes to have these changes I want in my life?”  If the answer is yes, congratulations, you are embarking on an exciting journey. And if the answer is no, that’s fine too. It just means either what you want isn’t really what you want, OR, you really are not ready to make the change right now.  Either way, yes or no, honor your truth.

Congratulations!  You’re one step closer to changing your life, creating what you want, and accessing Major Good Mojo!

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Soul Filled Living – The True Source of Satisfaction and Fulfillment

Posted on June 27, 2011 by Roger Kenneth Marsh| Leave a comment

As part of my ongoing exploration and development, a couple weeks ago I was at a cmonference where the featured speaker was Esalen Co-founder Michael Murphy. This picture is me with Michael at the conference.  Michael is a modern day pioneer in the exploration of human potential and this Universe we live in.  A real inspiration!  The  conference was “Integral Transformative Practice and the Evolution of the Soul.”  Michael led the group on an exploration of how the soul may be evolving through lifetimes and is an essential element in the evolution of the Universe itself.  The inquiry and question we were exploring was “How can we partner with our soul and become ACTIVE participants in both our individual and collective evolution?”

I am keenly interested in this aspect of “the evolution of the soul” and specifically how it relates to OUR evolution as a human being (as a body, mind, heart, AND soul) right here, right now. From the Webster’s Dictionary, the definition of evolution is:  an unfolding; a process of development or change; a movement that is part of a series.  Yes, this makes sense.  An unfolding, a process of development or change, a movement that is part of a series.  One could say that evolution is the process of the unfolding of the soul into and through the world.  So how is the unfolding of your soul going?  I think that’s a pretty important question.

I’m plugged into a lot of “transformational” work, processes, and people. It’s MY passion, so I engage and follow these things.  Typically, marketing messages are  targeted at one of a few things; weight loss, more money, or better relationships.  At business training seminars we’re told these are the top things people are looking for and that if you want to sell your stuff, we must target our messages at one or more of these things.  That may be true, but for me, these things are not the end in themselves and doing that (selling those results) only adds to the problem.  It further feeds the false belief that “if I just had XYZ THEN I would be happy” (more money, less weight, better relationships).  Well, maybe for a moment, but not for long.

In my experience, lasting happiness (joy) and true fulfillment can only come from your soul. This is living from the inside-out.  You START with what your soul wants – this is your personal inside guide to your ideal life – your compass for navigating the terrain of YOUR life and living the life that is most fulfilling for YOU. Trying to lose weight, get more money, or have better relationships – as great as those things are – is living from “the outside in.”  This means trying to fill an emptiness inside with something in the “outside” world.  It will feel good for a moment, then you’ll be on to the next thing, and the next thing, and the next… never experiencing the satisfaction you really desire.

I recently tweeted a quote by Robert Collier “Success is the sum of small efforts repeated day in and day out.” The key is to focus your efforts toward the success that you REALLY wish to create and experience – your SOUL’S desires.  Until you tap into THAT place of desire, you’re like a hamster on a treadmill going from one thing to the next, never satisfied.  Until you are tapped into your soul’s desires, you’ll be grasping at straws like losing weight, getting more money, or having better relationships. If you’re ready to discover your soul’s desires and live a truly fulfilling life from that deep place, I recommend engaging The Major Good Mojo System.

So how do we know what our soul wants for us?  How can we live that  deeply satisfying Soul Filled Life? Well, there are many aspects to it, but in this short article I’ll share one of the most important:  follow your bliss.  This is the guidance we have often heard from author and teacher Joseph Campbell. Unfortunately, it is rarely appreciated or truly lived.

One of the keys to knowing what your soul wants for you in this lifetime is to pay attention to and engage things that you enjoy! This may not be easy at first, as many of us have gotten very good at “working hard and suffering to survive and feel deserving.” However, we can begin choosing activities that provide the greatest likelihood or probability that the experience it offers (the people, the places, the conversations and words you use, the ideas, the actions, the impact and results in the world, the overall environment you are in, and as well as both the present and possible monetary rewards, etc.) will have at least SOME enjoyable aspect(s). As you do this, if you practice this time and time again, the fullness of your bliss will unfold over your lifetime like a beautiful flower coming into its own.

I want to further emphasize and support this notion of “following your bliss” and engaging activities where you experience the most joy. Joy is life-force filled. And what people want most on this planet (including yourself) is life-force. The more you embody and become a channel for life-force energy, the more you become of SERVICE to others – you are giving them what they most want and need.

This is the key to success. Becoming a channel for, and access to, what people want most:  life-force energy. The most powerful way to do that is to follow your very own bliss. Isn’t that divine?! And here’s another reason to follow your bliss – when you do, you become more and more unstoppable. Another word for Joy, and for Bliss, is Inspiration. When you are inspired you are connected to the divine flow and intelligence of the Universe. Your personal energy is optimized, solutions and ideas come to you “from beyond” and your overall experience is amazing. When you are inspired, you have “spirit inside” – and when you have spirit inside you bring spirit and life-force energy to others.

This is operating from your soul – this is Soul-Filled Living. The person who operates from the soul and allows their truth to flow through them is inspired in the deepest sense. Such a man or woman is a rare and treasured gift for all of us. When an artist is touched by Spirit and creates something from that authentic place, we are all touched. It’s like looking at something here in the physical world that came from and represents the beauty, mystery, and magic of the metaphysical world.

Wherever there is success AND joy, there is inspiration. You can have success with no joy or inspiration, but you cannot have joy without success because joy in and of itself is success! So are you going for the success “hoping for the joy” or are you going for the joy hoping for the success? If success in a material sense is important to you, I suggest doing both. Follow your bliss with a plan for manifesting material success.

Manifesting your soul’s desire is a long term partnership with Spirit that unfolds over time. You are the instrument that Universal Life Force Intelligence is playing. Mother Theresa said it this way:  “We are all pencils in the hand of God writing love letters to the Universe.” What is your love letter to the Universe? What does God want to write with you and your life? Only YOU know the answer.

PS:  The Passion Test ™ is one of the best ways to get clear on your passions, your bliss, and what it is you love. As a Certified Passion Test Facilitator I’ve included The Passion Test in The Major Good Mojo System, click here to find out more!

Your Major Good Mojo Assignment:

Look back over all the experiences in your life and see if you can identify your “Theme of Joy” – the common thread through all those experiences that attracted you to them in the first place. What is the common “Thread of Joy” that you loved about each of those roles and experiences in your life?  These are HUGE clues to your soul’s purpose and desires for you in this lifetime.

Congratulations!  You’re one step closer to tapping into your soul’s desires, following your bliss, and experiencing the true joy and satisfaction you desire. Now that is Major Good Mojo!

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