Why participate in a workshop when I can do it all at home?

I wrote this post on my Danish blog a couple of years ago, and at that time it was about my TMI Excursion Workshops, but it actually applies to other workshops - like Bruce Moen's Exploring the Afterlife workshop - as well. In my previous post I shared his method of Exploring the Afterlife, and you can also find it in his books, so if you read any of that, you might be thinking: "Now, why would I participate in a workshop then??"

So here are:

5 reasons why you should participate in a workshop instead of doing it on your own (and a 6th reason that might be just as important)

Reason #1: You'll actually get it done

Perhaps you're one of those very rare disciplined people who set a goal, and then you walk a straight line towards it without hesitation. And then you might not need my help (perhaps - keep reading anyway).

Buuut then again, you might be like most of us: You buy a set of cd's or books, try one or two of the excercises, and then ... life just happens, and you stop. Especially if you didn't get anything spectacular out of the exercises this first time.

My guess is that no matter how disciplined your are, you probably don't give yourself something like 9 hours of intensive exercises and reflection for 2 days in a row. But then, why would you do that, you might ask. The answer to that question lies in ...

Reason #2: Resistance (and why one or two exercises aren't necessarily enough)

There's a part of you who just wants everything to be as it is. That part of you is called many things, like your ego or little self. And it's job is to keep itself/you alive. So when something happens that looks like it might be threatening its/your existence (like everything you believe in), it works against it.

The strength of the resistance depends, of course, on your reason for doing these exercises. If you just want to quietly teach your mind and brain to relax, your resistance probably won't be too strong. And if this is your purpose, one exercise a day is fine (although, you might want to read reason #1 again).

But if you would like to go deeper (higher? wider?) and really connect with yourself (or something outside of yourself), then it's a lot more effective to do several exercises in a row - and for several days in a row. Not only will you train your brain to get into the state you want faster, but you'll also tire/exhaust the part of you who just wants to keep status quo.

It can sound negative and forced, but that's not how it works in practice. The Hemi-Sync process (and Bruce's process as well) is a gentle and loving process, and by using it consistently and intensively, the ego gets a chance to discover that it's not so dangerous, and then it calms down..

So I can only say that if you think it seems like two loooooong days? Good! Then I'm sure there's going to be something (good) in it for you. And then you'll need:

Reason #3: Guidance

I've been trained to guide you through the process that exercises like these can initiate.

Sometimes you'll just hear me say "aha" and "oh" and "interesting", because your experiences are yours, and I cannot and will not interpret them.

But I will give you some advice on how you can explore them further and find the answers for yourself. What you can do if you feel that absolutely nothing is happening. How you can handle it if something frightens you. If there's something you can do differently to get a different outcome.

I'll also help you handle the resistance I mentioned in #2. It can show itself in various ways, like falling asleep or clicking out (which is like a sudden "cut" in your conscious awareness - a very odd experience).

I've had participants in Excursion workshops who had done Gateway Experience (the home study version of TMI's Gateway Voyage), and they all told me that they got so much more out of it with a live trainer- for the reasons I just mentioned.

Reason #4: Group energy and the value of the other participants' experiences

Something very special happens when you meditate or do other energy work in a group. There's a special group energy that you don't experience on your own.

Your experiences are mirrored in the other participants, and their experiences are mirrored in you. To share what you've experienced (or haven't experienced) during the exercises, has an enormous value to the people you share it with.

Have you ever tried (I bet you have) having a dream at night and then not remembering it when you wake up? And then suddenly during the day you hear the word "spaghetti", and you remember that you dreamed that you were in an Italian restaurant, and then the whole scenario unfolds for you again?

Sleep is an altered state of consciousness, and this mechanism also applies to other altered states - like the ones you learn to move into with (or without) Hemi-Sync. And that's one of the reasons it has great value to talk about your experiences afterwards - and hear about the other's. Also when you don't think you experienced anything at all.

Reason #5: Inner anchorage

The anchorage actually comes from reason #2, 3 and 4. To work with something in depth, to share it with other people, and to have a facilitator at hand.

And when something has been anchored you'll be much better equipped to work with it on your own when you get home. The discipline will then come because you felt the benefits quickly and intensively.

The extra reason #6: Go offline, and meet real people!

Online workshops is the thing these days. I love them myself. For some purposes. But I've discovered that my spiritual development is best worked on in interaction with "real" people. It can be very comfortable to stay at home and avoid being confronted with anyone other than yourself (which can be "bad" enough, sometimes), but I still think you should give yourself the gift of getting close to other people who are on same journey as you. :-)