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This workshop is a powerful and playful exploration of the stories we tell ourselves—consciously or unconsciously—and the effects they have on our lives. During five Saturday sessions, from 10:30 AM - 12:30 PM, as part of a small group of five, we’ll combine the wisdom of Joseph Campbell, the wellspring of Tai Chi Chi Kung, and Insight Journaling™ to bring into focus dormant—or undiscovered—possibilities, and craft a plan for making them a reality.  On This Page: What’s In It For You? About Michael Kessler For More Information Related Links WHAT’S IN IT FOR YOU? This workshop provides what Joseph Campbell referred to as a “sacred space,” which he described as “a playground” ... a place to “rediscover the moving power of your life.” In the meditative martial arts we refer to this place as a ”dojo”: a place where you can come to actively focus on, and feel, your way “along the track that has been there all the while, waiting for you ...” The Wisdom of Joseph Campbell Life is without meaning. You bring the meaning to it. The meaning of life is whatever you ascribe it to be. Being alive is the meaning. - Joseph Campbell This workshop is not an academic or scholarly approach to the work of Joseph Campbell. We won’t be debating or arguing over what he meant; what we’ll do is reflect on his insights that mean something to us. We’ll position ourselves to enter into the place he “pointed” to, and then practice going there. Back to top History and Your Story “When we talk about settling the world’s problems, we’re barking up the wrong tree. The world is perfect. It’s a mess. It has always been a mess. We are not going to change it. Our job is to straighten out our own lives.” - Joseph Campbell. We’re all shaped by history, the collective experience of the family and society we’re born into, and then tempered by the ventures we get involved in: jobs, relationships, politics, and other life-shaping events. And after many years of this, ‘history’ becomes ‘your story.’ This section of the workshop uses a collection of myths and stories to coax out your “inner character”; that aspect of yourself that you wish you could be everyday, and would be, if you knew how. By distilling out their embedded wisdom, you’ll get a clear sense of which one(s) awaken that vitally needed, dormant or un-discovered aspect of the authentic you. Back to top Special Tai Chi Exercises To refuse the call means stagnation. - Joseph Campbell Self discovery is a coordinated play between body and mind. When you reflect on things you’re not used to thinking about, it’s not uncommon to feel tension in various places in your body. When you release that tension, energy and awareness flows, insights happen, new connections are made, and you feel better. With this in mind, we’ll be learning, practicing, and enjoying a series of special easy-to-do, health-enhancing, and power-inducing Tai Chi Chi Kung exercises. Back to top Insight Journaling™ It is by going down into the abyss that we recover the treasures of life. The very cave that you’re afraid to enter turns out to be the very source of what you are looking for. The damned thing in the cave that was so dreaded has become the center. - Joseph Campbell In coordination with the deepening of our thoughts through the “power of myth,” and centering our bodies through Tai Chi Chi Kung, we take advantage of this flow, this momentum, and use our insight to go a bit deeper: to discover within yourself the resource you did not know, or remember you had. This journaling process shows you how to draw power from the experiences you’ve already had, and then enter into the day-to-day activities of your life with a powerful new clarity, derived from your own insight: and through the stories we’ve read and reflected on, the collective wisdom of those who have come before. Back to top Goal Mining The goal is to live with godlike composure, on the full rush of energy. Like Dionysus riding the leopard without being torn to pieces. - Joseph Campbell Another unique aspect of this workshop is “goal mining”: the process of taking advantage of the ‘loosening’ up of your body and mind, to “observe” what seems to be deeply important to you now, and record it to be acted on later. By “mining” your goals from a deeper place, the foundation upon which your conventional thinking sits, you’ll begin the process of making the possible real. Back to top How To Write Your Next Chapter If you follow someone else’s way, you are not going to realize your potential. - Joseph Campbell Each session of this workshop builds on the learning, practice, and experience you had at the one before—combined with the exploration exercises you do between sessions. Then by continuing with this process beyond the fifth session, you will have a unique set of skills for authoring the next chapters of the rest of your life. Back to top ABOUT MICHAEL KESSLER Michael Kessler has been “under the influence” of Joseph Campbell since 1986, and by combining the insights of this master teacher with his own experience as a teacher, meditative martial artist, businessman, and peaceful warrior, he’s developed a unique method for re-discovering top priorities, and a process for strengthening the resolve for achieving them. Back to top FOR MORE INFORMATION Contact Michael Kessler (206) 842-6936 //';l[1]='a';l[2]='/';l[3]='';l[21]='"';l[22]=' 116';l[23]=' 101';l[24]=' 110';l[25]=' 46';l[26]=' 109';l[27]=' 111';l[28]=' 105';l[29]=' 98';l[30]=' 64';l[31]=' 108';l[32]=' 101';l[33]=' 97';l[34]=' 104';l[35]=' 99';l[36]=' 105';l[37]=' 109';l[38]=':';l[39]='o';l[40]='t';l[41]='l';l[42]='i';l[43]='a';l[44]='m';l[45]='"';l[46]='=';l[47]='f';l[48]='e';l[49]='r';l[50]='h';l[51]='a ';l[52]='= 0; i=i-1){ if (l[i].substring(0, 1) == ' ') document.write("&#"+unescape(l[i].substring(1))+";"); else document.write(unescape(l[i])); } //]]> RELATED LINKS What People Are Saying about Joseph Campbell and the Story of Your Life Entering Sacred Space The Whole Is Greater Than The Sum of Its Parts Tai Chi at BIOM Chi Kung at BIOM Joseph Campbell Foundation Back to top http://www.biom.net/index.php/343/