Into the Woods, Land of Medicine Buddha, Soquel, California

I’m back!

It’s been the longest two years of my life. Yet it flew by and it’s almost over. In January of 2012 I attended my first seven-day Opening Seminar at Sofia University (formerly Institute of Transpersonal Psychology). In a few short weeks I will complete my final requirements and will be set free, the requirements for my master’s degree in hand.

Much of the work at Sofia is experiential – especially in the first year of the program – and it took quite a bit of trust to stay in the program. This was, after all, unlike any master’s program I had read about. How could I be learning if my assignment was to take a two-hour walk in the woods?

And yet, somehow, I was.

The first year charted the course, and without my noticing, refined my thinking. Those first twelve months focused my energy even through my frustration and resistance. It was a struggle and a retreat and not unlike crawling into a spiritual cave.

But this second year? The stone has been rolled away and there’s light. During this second year the curriculum asks us to gather what we’ve discovered during our first year and figure out a way to bring it into the world. This second year asks us to make a commitment. To live, as the cliché goes, by the courage of our convictions.

My final assignment on this two-year journey is to create an e-portfolio. If you go to my Sofia page you’ll be able to view my resume’, mission statement and philosophy. I’m also including some poetry and artwork created over the past twenty-four months. (Since posting this I’ve continued to re-work the presentation of my e-portfolio.  My intention is to blend it seamlessly into the Practically Twisted site rather than holding it as a separate page. To facilitate that I’ll be removing the Sofia page.)

My Transpersonal Integration Paper will be available to read as a separate post pending approval from the Chair of the program. My topic was A Kosha Model for Creating a Yoga Therapy Based Healing Protocol. (Since posting I’ve learned that my paper has indeed been approved!)

So…these two years are nearing an end. I’ve about to complete the masters and I’ve completed the first 500 hours of Niroga Institute’s yoga therapy program. The question is – how will I fill my days?

Is it time to stop collecting pieces of paper? I think so.

I think it’s time to start using what those pieces of paper represent. It’s time.