April Newsletter - Workshop in London & an Audio Course

Published: Sun, 04/15/18

Dear ,

I hope you are all well. Spring seems to have finally come in the UK - I was out of the country for nine days and when we arrived home we found that our garden was full of blooming bushes and blossoming trees. It’s so lovely to look out of the window and see so much colour!

Last week I was on holiday with my family on the island of Mallorca, staying in a farmhouse owned by a friend of mine, Serge Beddington-Behrens. It’s such a magical and quiet place - in the middle of nowhere, surrounded my mountains, and with a warm, healing atmosphere from the field and trees and the house itself - that I came home feeling rejuvenated. The whole island of Mallorca is so magical and beautiful - the sky has a tinge of beautiful rich blue, and we went on so many lovely walks, enjoyed hanging out in the the village squares, and I even went swimming in the sea (one of my favourite pastimes) a couple of times. It was exactly what I needed and I feel recharged and ready to starting writing poems again. The house also has one of the best collections of spiritual books I’ve ever seen. That’s because Serge is a transpersonal psychotherapist and author who spent many years involved in spirituality in California in the 70s and 80s. He’s a remarkable guy, and one of the kindest people I’ve met.

Incidentally, the farmhouse is available for anyone to rent from Serge - you can see some photos and some more information here.

Return to Harmony Audio Course

My ‘Return to Harmony’ audio course has just been published through Sounds True. This is a 6 CD set, containing most of the spiritual teachings and techniques I’ve developed over the past 10 years that I’ve been leading workshops and on-line courses and giving talks. It includes many guided meditations and poems - including many that have never been published before - and is designed to take the listener on a journey of spiritual awakening, from disconnection to connection, from separation to union. To me, it seems a beautifully produced and packaged summary of the work I’ve been doing so far in my writing and teaching.

If you’re interested, the best place to order it isn’t through amazon but direct through the Sounds True website.

One Day Workshop in Transpersonal Psychology

On June 16th, I’m leading a one day workshop in London, organised by the British Transpersonal Psychology section. (In case you don’t know, transpersonal psychology is the field of psychology which looks into spiritual experiences and spiritual traditions.) There will be three speakers, including myself and Gloria Dura-Vila (who will be speaking about The Dark Night of the Soul). I’ll be speaking about the relationship between psychological breakdown and spiritual transformation. There will also be some practical information and exercises designed to help those who are going through spiritual transformation.

I’ll paste in the summary of the event, to give you more information.

Transpersonal Psychology, Trauma and Transformation
Saturday 16th June 2018 at BPS Offices, Tabernacle Street, London

In this one day workshop, leading figures from the field of transpersonal psychology and the study of spiritual crisis (including Dr. Steve Taylor and Dr. Gloria Dura-Vila) will examine why there is such a strong connection between transformation and trauma. From the 'dark night of the soul' to the concept of 'spiritual crisis,' spirituality and mental turmoil have always been closely intertwined. But why do spiritual awakening and spirituality transformation often follow intense psychological turmoil? Why are people undergoing personal or spiritual transformation frequently diagnosed with psychosis? What is the relationship between psychosis and spiritual awakening? The workshop will include a practical/experiential elements, as we examine the approaches can we take - as both therapists and individual spiritual seekers - to harness the potentially transformative aspects of psychological turmoil, and support those who undergoing this transformation.

For more information, or to sign up for the workshop, see here.

Poem for Russel

That’s almost all for this month. It’s the school holidays so I have to go the park now, and play soccer with my kids! (At the age of 50, I am now in the best soccer form of my life, after years of playing practically every day with my kids!)

Let me leave you with the following poem, dedicated to the wonderful spiritual teacher Russel Williams, who is seriously ill at the moment:

Be Soft (for Russel Williams)

Don’t build a hard, solid self
full of fixed ideas and firm beliefs.

Be soft
so that you don’t create friction, or clash with the world
but accept and absorb your experience with ease.

Be soft
so that disappointments and insults don’t bruise you
but bounce harmlessly away
after your softness has absorbed their force.

Be soft
so that thoughts and emotions can’t attach themselves to you
and ideas don’t turn to rigid theories which can’t be contradicted
and animosity never lingers long enough to form a grudge
and pain passes away before turning to trauma.

Be soft
so that you can bend with the wind, without breaking
and become moist with the rain, without flooding.

Be soft
so that you can pass through the world without leaving damage
only the lightest of trails which will dissolve like a cloud
and become part of the air which everyone breathes.

All best wishes and blessings, Steve

P.S. Shortly after he wrote this newsletter, Steve was informed of the passing away of Russel Williams, his friend, spiritual teacher and co-author of Not I, Not Other than I. In the newsletter he mentions that Russel was seriously ill. He will write more about Russel in his next newsletter.