Why Integrate?

All of our pieces are really part of the whole

Have you ever noticed how, upon returning home from a life-altering and transformative experience, it takes very little time before you are back to your old self and living your old life as the memories of "that time..." slip further and further away? Even when you feel as if so much has changed, and you have every intention of holding on to the lessons you've learned, stepping back into your everyday life slowly erases all that new knowing that you came home with.

As a wilderness guide, one of the things I learned was the importance of integration. We go into the wilderness, either physically or metaphorically, and have a transformative experience. It is beautiful, and we feel renewed. We are excited about the new ways that we see the world and feel ready to return to our lives and bring our new perspectives home with us. But without careful attention to holding onto those perspectives, they often begin to vanish as quickly as we empty our backpack.

Unfortunately for most of us, our families, friends, and communities haven’t had any new experience, and they are attached to the status quo that they are comfortable with. Then, here we come with our shiny new self and find that our friends and families can’t help putting tremendous pressure on us to return to the safety of who they know and remember us as.

Slowly, without our even noticing, we are pulled back into the same life we had before our transforming new experience.

“When she transformed into a butterfly, the caterpillars spoke not of her beauty, but of her weirdness. They wanted her to change back into what she always had been. But she had wings.”
― Dean Jackson

This quote speaks to exactly what happens...we have changed, and those who haven't want us to return to the us we were in the past.

I started doing integration work is the early 1990's when I realized that unless we took the time to integrate our experiences before our return to the “other world” we were at significant risk of losing our momentum, and the lessons we had learned. I found that the best way to go about this is to begin the integration process while still on the journey!

We need to learn to feel comfortable with our new selves before our return, find a way to fully embody our new perspective, and realign ourselves into integrity. If we wait until we get back to our life the experience will slip away with almost no notice.

Michael and I have helped many people learn to take what they have discovered on their transformative journey, integrate those experiences, make life altering changes, and create a bridge for themselves between old patterns and habits to the life they see for themselves in the future.

Our goal with Sacred Escapades is to help you bring home the things you will learn about yourself.

Your journey is just the beginning of your transformation. During integration time, you will learn the 4 R’s - the tools and techniques that will help you review what you have learned, recognize your strengths, realize your truth, and return to share your truth with the world.

As we integrate, we will learn to face our fears regarding how we will bring back a new experience of ourselves flowing in consciousness. This is a ceremony in itself and teaches us to become grounded in our new lives.

Don't hesitate to send me a message for more information!