Dr. Murphy in the Netherlands

Last month Michael returned to de Voorde in the Netherlands to facilitate an LLFP workshop put together by Victoria Annegarn and Maria Bosman, who are organizing a number of events for the Love, Loss, and Forgiveness Project NL. He will be returning there for another workshop on November 23. Here is an update from Michael about his experience there:

“What a delight to back in the Netherlands with a group of people eager to explore love, and how we can live more loving lives! At a time when politicians compete violently and greedily for the prize of power, we often find we are consuming ourselves to death and loving our planet, ourselves, and each other less and less. In the workshop we gazed at ourselves and each other and discovered once again that it is so easy to gaze at a child and be "in" love with her as she is "in" love with us. Yet it seems impossibly difficult to gaze with love at the child/adolescent/adult/old person within ourselves.

I believe that this self-hatred is THE major barrier to living more peaceful and loving lives individually and collectively. We witnessed this self-neglect in ourselves and each other in the workshop. We also discovered that it is NEVER too late to change this hateful attitude (it took me sixty years or more!) Many in the group decided to continue on a more loving path by joining a nine-member, 9-month group close to home, and a number of others decided to come to Dzogchen Beara in Ireland next May for further inspiration.

I am so looking forward to another group on November 23rd because I KNOW that it will be different from the earlier group but essentially the same. I know that these future participants, (like everyone else in the Netherlands, the US, and everywhere)  have within them an inexhaustible supply of love that is often covered over by hatred, judgments, and neglect, and if we ALL practice how to uncover this power supply, we could change the world for the better! “

                                                                                         With love, Michael

Science of the Gaze

The Gaze is one of the important Practices of the Love, Loss and Forgiveness Project. Here is a clip where Neuroscientist and psychotherapist Allan Shore discusses the science of  healthy attachment.

LLFP on Radio WBTN 1370 AM Bennington, VT June 8th 10-11am

Dr. Michael Murphy and John Carlson will be live on Carol Tunney and John Hearsts' health related call in talk show, "Be Well!", in Bennington, Vermont to talk about the Love, Loss, and Forgiveness Project and upcoming Living the Loving Life Workshops. (Like the one in Bennington on June 22 and 23rd at the Yoga Place).

In Bennington? Tune into WBNT 1370 on the AM dial on Friday, June 8, 2012  from 10-11 am   

 If you are not in the Bennington, Vt area, no worries, you can listen live online by going to http://www.wbtnam.org/index.php and clicking on the "Listen Live" link.  

Tune in, call in (prime the call in questions pump!), tell others! Here is an opportunity to get your questions answered about the Project and how it can be helpful to you, your family, and your community. Talk to you then!

Reflections on the Group of Nine Experience # 2

“I simply want to love and be loved.  Simple, yet not easy.  Fear arises in the body.  And fear can easily cause me to wander off my intended path.  Isn’t that true of the human condition, though?”
 
“Having intimately danced with the death of my beloved husband recently, I now know what multitudes before me have experienced.  And, the questions…  Profound questions arise following that last breath taken by a beloved spouse.  “Now, just why am I  here?” was certainly one of the immediate ones.” 

“To deeply love myself” has been the only answer that has made sense to me.  It will be loving kindness towards myself that will allow me to heal and keep loving life in its totality until my own death arrives. The spiritual practices experienced in the healing presence of the Love, Loss and Forgiveness Group of Nine supports me in deepening my experience of, and capacity for, living the loving life.  I offer a bow of deep gratitude for the timely arrival of the Love, Loss and Forgiveness Project in my life.” 
           

  ~Brenda

Reflections on the Group of Nine Experience # 1

There have been a number of new community based Groups of  Nine forming lately. We thought this new blog thread would be an opportunity to help give voice to the varied experiences people have as they do the Love, Loss, and Forgiveness Project practices. Here is a place to share with others who are already involved in groups and with those who are new to the Project and want to understand the project better (download the free Welcome Book by clicking on it to the right of this post).

If you read something here that inspires or moves you, please comment. If you are inspired to write a short piece about your own experience send it to llfproject@gmail.com and it will be posted. You can write anonomously or sign your work, as you please. The important thing is to realize that we are not alone on our quest for living a more loving life. Enjoy these stories.

The Group of Nine meeting that I attended for the first time this past Sunday was, without doubt, a singularly stellar inner experience for me.  

I am not new to this kind of work - I have been on 'the path'  for many years and have participated in any number of workshops, conferences, trainings and the like, all of which have contributed in positive ways to the person I have become. But Sunday something shifted within me that never occurred before.  

I got in touch with an inner compassion for myself that I've experienced before for others but never for myself.  It was alarming at first - when I see others pain, my first instinct is to want to hold them in my embrace and assure them that all is well, even though it might not feel that way at the moment. Suddenly, I wanted to do the same thing for myself in the gazing experience and by golly, I did!

The tears that have never come easily flowed with the grace of a gentle stream and the gracious compassion of my witnesses put me into a space I'm still in today as I write these words. I love the man I am becoming and I have such gratitude for that little kid who birthed this process so many heartfelt years ago. He is my new hero.

Thank you LLFP.

Bill Hirschen
Slingerlands, NY

Workshop, Bennington, Vt June 22nd & 23rd

Living the Loving Life Workshop
This experiential workshop reveals pathways to live a life of meaning and love. Group gatherings and three-person exercises explore practices of love, loss, and forgiveness that are fundamental to well-being. Through honoring ourselves with care and compassion, we experience a deeper, more satisfying connection with loved ones, neighbors, coworkers, and others.

When: Friday eve, June 22nd  5:30- 9:00 and Saturday, June 23rd 9:00-5:00

Where: The Yoga Place  532 Main St. Bennington, VT  (802) 447-0101

Workshop tuition is $120. (There are limited scholarships available)

Registration is limited, please contact us before June 15, 2012

In this workshop you will experience the practices of the Love, Loss, and Forgiveness Project:

•Develop deep listening skills and gain the courage to speak openly
•Grow in your capacity to unconditionally love yourself and others and know contentment
•Honor death and dying and relinquish your fears
•Overcome disappointments and embrace losses
•Learn to let go of your painful stories, forgive yourself and others and experience true freedom

Please join us! Reserve your place. Registration is limited.

Workshop tuition is $120. Upon receiving payment, you will be sent an info packet with directions to the venue. Please bring your own snack and lunch. Coffee and tea provided.

Questions? Want to Register? Contact:   

John Carlson  llfproject@gmail.com  

The Love, Loss and Forgiveness Project (LLFP) offers workshops for individuals and organizations and support for community-based groups. We focus on human attributes essential for promoting personal confidence, community building, and the ability for all to help themselves and others live well. This project is based on the work of Dr. Michael Murphy, a pioneer of the hospice movement in the United States, and has been developed and refined over two decades in the United States and Europe. To find out more about this extraordinary movement and its founder, visit our website at www.lovelossforgiveness.org

Group of Nine Forming in Mechanicsville, NY

There is a Community based Group of Nine forming in Mechanicsville, NY and is still in need of two members. Our first gathering will be on Saturday, March 24 from 9-4pm. If anyone is interested, please email llfproject@gmail.com for more information. Thanks.

Inspiration on Vulnerability

Knock Knock

Who's there?

Please click on this You-Tube video. For inspiration, for more keys towards living a more loving life.

http://www.karmatube.org/videos.php?id=1796

WORKSHOP February 28th and 29th

Living the Loving Life Workshop
This experiential workshop reveals pathways to live a life of meaning and love. Group gatherings and three-person exercises explore practices of love, loss, and forgiveness that are fundamental to well-being. Through honoring ourselves with care and compassion, we experience a deeper, more satisfying connection with loved ones, neighbors, coworkers, and others.

Saturday, February 25th 8:30- 5:00 and Sunday, February 26th 9:30- 2:00
At the Still Point Interfaith Retreat Center 20 Stillpoint Rd , Mechanicville, NY 12118

In this workshop you will experience the practices of the Love, Loss, and Forgiveness Project:

•Develop deep listening skills and gain the courage to speak openly
•Grow in your capacity to unconditionally love yourself and others and know contentment
•Honor death and dying and relinquish your fears
•Overcome disappointments and embrace losses
•Learn to let go of your painful stories, forgive yourself and others and experience true freedom

Please join us! Reserve your place. Registration is limited.

Workshop tuition is $120. Upon receiving payment, you will be sent an info packet with directions to the venue. Please bring your own snack and lunch. Coffee and tea provided.

Workshop logistics Questions? Contact Lori Mershon call 518-581-3180 ext 301 or email: twofeathers27@hotmail.com

LLFProject Organization Questions? Contact John Carlson 518-677-5564 llfproject@gmail.com

The Love, Loss and Forgiveness Project (LLFP) offers workshops for individuals and organizations and support for community-based groups. We focus on human attributes essential for promoting personal confidence, community building, and the ability for all to help themselves and others live well. This project is based on the work of Dr. Michael Murphy, a pioneer of the hospice movement in the United States, and has been developed and refined over two decades in the United States and Europe. To find out more about this extraordinary movement and its founder, visit our website at www.lovelossforgiveness.org