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Satvatove Institute

Graduate Newsletter Vol. 2

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July 4th, 2005 - Volume 2

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Dear Satvatove advanced seminar graduates,

Here we go. This is the second issue of the Satvatove Institute Graduate Newsletter. It's been an exciting couple of months. In this issue we have another fantastic video to share with you as well as a lecture and article from our senior coaches, David and Marie. I hope you enjoy reading the newsletter as much as I enjoyed compiling it.

Sincerely,

Antoine Palmer

Satvatove Institute

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CONTENTS:

1. Video Inspiration: Gainesville, Apr-May, 2005

2. Consciousness, Behaviour and Biology - The process of

transformation of habit

3. What is Life Skills Coaching? - by Marie Glasheen

4. Sharing from LMP graduates

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VIDEO INSPIRATION:

(Don't Miss This one!!!)

I was fortunate to have the opportunity to fly into Gainesville for the Combined Course in April - May. It was very dynamic course with a wonderful group of participants. There have been many courses in the Gainesville area of the last years and so there is quite a community of graduates developing there. Many of the students in the foundational course were participating for the second or third time. The tools acquired in the foundational course are so essential that participants have a fresh and valuable experience even after re-auditing the course several times.

I took some candid footage of the course and would like to share them with you in the form of an inspirational video. Take a look through the following link:

http://www.satvatove.org/members/impressions

P.S. Just in case you missed the link to the previous video of the Swiss courses, you can also access that one through the link given above.

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*The following article is an excerpt from a conversation which took place during an LMP group coaching call.

CONSCIOUSNESS, BEHAVIOUR AND BIOLOGY:

- The process of transformation of habit -

Changing habits can be done immediately. It doesn't need to be a long drawn-out process like neurology or something. Our consciousness affects our bodies. Another aspect of this is that behavior also changes biology and so if we actually change what we're doing then even physiologically things change. And so what we will experience is that insight leads to action, and then vice versa; action leads to insight.

So we've done a lot work. In the courses, in the coaching, in the LMP, we have gotten lots of insight. We look at defeating tapes, we look at habits and then from that, insight leads to actions and then sometimes, we go the other way, that perhaps I don't understand everything, or I don't have all the realizations I should have in order to make change. Still, I know that here is something I want to change about myself and I want to take action to change it. And by taking those actions, insight comes. It is important to work on both tracks. We have the insight track and also, for example through our PACTS, we have goals. We know that "I might not understand everything about myself, I don't quite understand why I am the way I am in relationships, or.. exactly what I'm bringing from my childhood, I don't understand everything. But I know that if I do what I need to do to achieve this goal, then that's going to be great for me, that's going to fix me on my contract, that's going to be so important for me, it's going to be so valuable for me to bring me out of myself, to achieve the greatness that I'm supposed to achieve, to take me out of my grungy stuff whether I understand exactly what the payoffs are or not, but I know, by being commitment-driven, with clear intention I will achieve my goals and gain insight about myself.

Clear intention is actually something deeper than commitment. Clear intention means that I have my consciousness in that result, and for that we need clarity. We need clarity in the form of a vow about the greatness we want to achieve, internally, externally in our relationships, in our career, in our projects, in our spiritual life we have clarity about the greatness that we want to achieve. And commitment is a tool to achieve that. Willpower is a tool to achieve that. We have so many tools, coming to focus. In our PACTS and in our projects we have a commitment that I know that by being commitment-driven then that's going to take me where I need to be, where I want to go, whether I understand what's going on or not. That's going to drive me to change my habits. The rule of thumb I've heard is that if you break a habit it takes two weeks and to form a new habit takes about 100 days and that's about the lengths of the LMP program. And so what we're doing in coaching and LMP is forming new habits. so when we're doing something different in a new way it takes about 3-4 months, 100 days let's say, to form a new habit. I heard a quote from Gandhi, thatI. a mother came with a boy and the boy was 10 years old. He had a question for Gandhi and the question was "how can I give up sugar?" And so Gandhi looked at him and said, "Come back in two weeks". So the boy came back in two weeks and said "OK how can I give up sugar?" and the mother said "how come you asked him to come back in two weeks? Why didnīt you talk to him two weeks ago?" and so Gandhi said, "two weeks ago I was eating sugar. So I still had that habit so I couldn't speak on it" Now, we can change instantaneously.

With awareness we can change instantaneously. Now, if we change or break a habit, it may take some time until the new habit comes naturally. Maybe it's two weeks and maybe for some habits it's longer. But we can change it instantaneously. And even if different emotional habits are ingrained into our neurological pathways, we can change those instantaneously too because the spirit soul can act despite whatever else is going on. We don't let biology get in the way, we don't let tiredness get in the way. And by changing our consciousness and our behaviour, even our physiology changes. In the foundational course I sometimes give the example about the cancer clinic. You've all heard that example: The first thing they would ask the candidate: "When did you decide to die?", meaning that the consciousness changes the physiology.

So we can change habits continuously. The reality of changing habits may be gradual but we shouldn't use that as a crutch. We can make change continuously and to make that change a new habit, yeah, it might require a deep commitment for a long time. In the LMP, group members will support each other and challenge each other to break old habits, create new habits and acknowledge successes. One of these habits is about long-term commitment and clear intention. That means long-term living without sinking back into grungy pay- off states and long-term commitment to big, exciting projects. It also means I'm living a balanced life, that's part of my intention. I have a balanced life, I'm not neglecting other things, I know how to be on contract in every circumstance.

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WHAT IS LIFE SKILLS COACHING?

by Marie Glasheen - Life Skills Coaching Trainer

In the same way that top athletes use coaches to maximize performance, we can use coaching to facilitate excellence in our life.

Coaching supports the achievement of extraordinary results based on goals set by the individual or team. Through the process of coaching, individuals focus on the skills and actions they need to successfully produce their chosen results. Clarity is achieved through the coaching process. Coaching accelerates progress by providing greater focus and awareness of possibilities, leading to more effective choices. Coaching concentrates on where individuals are now and what they are willing to do to get to where they want to be in the future.

Life skills coaching may also include educational and therapeutic elements. Coaching focuses on an individual's life as it relates to goal setting, outcome creation and personal change management. A coach helps people define what they want and supports them to reach their goals. (i.e. "I want to learn how to create a happy, committed partnership.")

In the capacity of education, coaching provides people with general or specific information and skill-building opportunities for them to learn what they need to be successful. An assumption that is made in coaching, is that individuals or teams are capable of generating their own solutions with the coach supplying supportive, discovery-based approaches and frameworks. (i.e. "What communication principles and skills will help me to create the relationships I want?).

With regards to therapy, the coach assists individuals in resolving emotional wounds or obstacles that inhibit success in their relationships. (i.e. "My anger started when my father was brutal to my mother.")

Life skills coaches are trained to listen and observe to customize their approach to the individual client's needs, and elicit solutions and strategies from the client. They believe that the client is naturally creative and resourceful. The coach's role is to provide support to enhance the skills, resources and creativity that the client already possesses. While the coach provides feedback and an objective perspective, the client is responsible for taking the steps to produce the results he or she desires. Coaching does not directly focus on treating cognitive or emotional disorders. While positive feelings or emotions may be a natural outcome of coaching, the primary focus is on creating strategies for achieving specific goals in one's life.

Individuals who engage in a coaching relationship can expect to experience:

fresh perspectives on personal challenges and opportunities

enhanced thinking and decision making skills

enhanced interpersonal effectiveness

increased confidence in carrying out their chosen work and life roles.

Coaching helps people productively focus on areas of life that are most essential to them, whether it is career, relationships, health or spirituality. People today are more open to the idea of being in charge of their own lives. Coaching helps people do just that.

The individual coaching client is someone who wants to achieve higher levels of satisfaction, performance and learning. People utilize coaches to increase quality of life and learn more effective life skills.Clients typically work with a coach because they want to achieve one of the following goals:

Fulfillment goal- a balanced life, satisfying relationships, enthusiasm, or connection with one's spirituality.

Learning goal- improving public speaking skills; increasing patience with colleagues, children and other; learning to practice self-care; learning to mediate disputes; and developing consistency.

Performance goal- improving business as a business owner, meeting daily standards for numbers of contacts with potential clients, clearing away clutter.

Frequently, a coach works with clients in all three of these areas simultaneously. For example, a client may want to improve her or his small business results (a performance goal), as measured by the amount of sales per customer. In the process of identifying what needs to happen to create that result, the client may discover a need to contact more potential customer. In order to do so she or he may have to become a better networker (a learning goal). As the client begins to concentrates more on networking, she or he discovers that less time is spent at home. Thus a new goal is established: to spend more quality time with family members because of the desire to be a loving and caring parent (a fulfillment goal).

The author of the Inner Game of Tennis, Timothy W. Gallway writes: "The coach is not the problem solver. In sport, I had to learn how to teach less, so that more could be learned. The same holds true for a coach in business."

Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakur, a renowned yogi and Vedic scholar, writes in his book Amrita Vani: "A person's defects are better rectified in a private tutorial class or private coaching than in hearing lectures in a school or college."

Coaching helps one develop personal character, manifest the authentic qualities of the self, and enhance one's spiritual life.

Satvatove (www.Satvatove.org) Institute is an international coaching enterprise with its headquarters in Alachua, Florida. At Satvatove Institute, we are trained to guide you to change life habits and accomplish the exceptional results you desire. Coaching is about you, your life, work, goals, needs, desires and dreams. We like to think of coaching as offering our clients a "sacred space" to share and explore and try on new ways of thinking and being.

Thank you for taking the time to read this article. Please contact us if you have questions. +1-386-418-8840, or write to seminars@Satvatove.org.

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LIFE MASTERY PROGRAM

- words from LMP graduates -

To date, Satvatove Institute has conducted 8 courses of the Life Mastery Program. Other LMPs will be forming within the next month in Chateauroux, France and Gainesville, Florida. We have received some very inspiring feedback from LMP graduates.

The LMP helped me to refresh the skills I had learned in the Combined Course, but, more important even, led me towards systematically applying them in my daily life. Whatever insights about myself I had gained in the Combined Course, the LMP helped me to work through them and to make real changes in my life. In a sense, during the Combined Course I opened a door and during and after the LMP I walked through that door. For me the LMP was a very helpful and even necessary continuation of the process.

Katrin Wimmer - graduate psychologist

Having almost completed LMP now I have a broader understanding of how my situation could have/would have been different last year had LMP been an option for me. From my perspective I consider the foundational training and LMP to be the 'most' valuable learning to date. The quality, depth and intensiveness of LMP cannot be rated highly enough. Taking this training into 'real life' and holding it up against a backdrop of personal and actual experiences and visions has been both challenging and extremely rewarding. I feel it will be most essential to strongly promote LMP as a strong consideration for advanced graduates.

Deborah Cloesen - Caterer

In the LMP, I clearly saw the value of the communication skills that I learned in the Foundational Course, and I found that it helped me bring them into my everyday life. Additionally, the LMP allowed me to strengthen the personal qualities that I recaptured in the Advanced Course and grow more confident in them day by day. Perhaps best of all, I created strong, supportive, and long- lasting friendships.

Meryl Strauss - Gainesville UF student

The LMP program is a powerful tool to increase and deepen each area of our life which we want to deepen whether it may be our spiritual life,sadhana, our career or other topics. The gatherings we have are so nice and we learn so much from eachother and we support each other. I can clearly say it is one of the best desiscions I have made. It is also interesting to see that for each person, things just start to "happen". Letīs say one member of the group has a particular issue or topic. And then a situation or challenge will come which really puts everything in its right place.

Suzanne Jacob - professional singer

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That's it for now. I hope the articles and sharing were inspiring for you. You can look forward to another issue of the graduate newsletter in the beginning of September. As always, I welcome your feedback and sharing. Also, if anyone would like to participate in the next volume of the graduate newsletter, I would be happy to hear your ideas. The newsletter is open for articles, testimonials, insights or any other creative contribution you would like to make to the graduate community. I'm sure that each of you have some wonderful experiences to share for our inspiration.

Until next time.

Sincerely,

Antoine Palmer

Satvatove Institute

a.palmer@satvatove.org

www.Satvatove.org

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July 4th, 2005 - Graduate Newsletter Volume 2

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