Ido Portal Intensive, November 2021
Just returned from one month with my teacher Ido Portal in Berlin. Through many containers, we examined timeless themes/lessons…
developing will, emotional stability, effortless attention.
going deeper into the life practice, what it means to be a practitioner.
the relational nature of reality, with a current emphasis on the emergent phenomenon that arises from intelligent arrangement of push and pull, active and passive…
And what were the containers used to distribute these lessons? We studied…
boxing and wrestling through multiple entry points, providing a meticulous learning process
acrobatics, where I learned a few new “tricks”, but by far the best gift was a huge upgrade for subsequent development - and it has everything to do with HOW.
methods for separating the active and passive elements of the body, to create clarity and turn the body into the conduit that it can be.
dance through various scores, many instructions, learning to listen to the inner “voice” (arguably the most “you” thing about you, and yet the one we are least familiar with…)
engaging improvisation through the highest mode: listening
various libraries of movement vocabularies/systems that Ido has developed and refined
and the “dark arts”… stillness.
And for the first time, lectures in which Ido shared the knowledge he has synthesized from studies across seemingly disparate fields: physiology, psychology, philosophy, biology, spirituality, etc etc etc.
A major takeaway for all - the practice that centers on the body is uniquely suited among all practices for spiritual/personal growth. If your internal/spiritual practices are divorced from physicality, physical scenarios will crack you to pieces. And because we inhabit a body, even the least physical scenario, like arguing with your spouse, is a physical scenario (just watch your cortisol levels and heart rate rise…).
