The Body as Teacher

Living an Extraordinary Life excerpt

Christina Grote & Pam Kramer, co-authors

ITP honors the body as an amazing teacher and guide. Further, we believe that the body is capable of transformation in both ordinary and extraordinary ways. ITP includes several practices to enhance the health of the body, such as the ITP Kata, aerobic exercise, strength training, and conscious eating. The body is our foundation, our vehicle to express ourselves in the world, and it requires appropriate care to realize its fullest potential.

Messages from the Body

Lucy Piper, ITP teacher & Tulsa group leader

An ITP practice can bring surprising and gratifying physical changes. Walking 10 to 15 miles a day sounds like a challenge to a body at any age. Lucy Piper took herself to northwestern Spain to commemorate her 80th birthday on an ancient trail.

The Ever Developing Mind

Living an Extraordinary Life excerpt

Christina Grote & Pam Kramer, co-authors

With our minds, we think, we reason, we learn, we imagine, and we dream. We strategize, make decisions, and set intentions and goals. Through the capacity of self-reflection, the mind provides a sense of personal history and continuity to our lives, the sense of being ourselves… We discern truth from falsehood. We set our intentions for who we want to be in the world and what we want to accomplish in life.

Messages from the Mind

Max Gaenslen, ITP teacher

What messages come through the mind? Learn how one practitioner notices the transformation of activity through his mind and how his philosophy informs his practice and the growth that flows from there.

Connections through the Heart

Living an Extraordinary Life excerpt

Christina Grote & Pam Kramer, co-authors

In many cultures the heart was, and still is, considered to be the seat of intelligence and intuition, a special window into the world and its divine nature. When we see with the eyes of heart we can perceive things as they are without judgment. Our perception is filtered through the lens of love.

Messages from the Heart

Charlotte Hatch, ITP teacher

Messages from the heart can show up in everyday environments. Thanks to her ITP practice, Charlotte Hatch took notice of her heart's messages, in a grocery store, of all places.

Powers of the Soul

Living an Extraordinary Life excerpt

Christina Grote & Pam Kramer, co-authors

Soul is another term that has many meanings in many different cultures and traditions, but in these pages, we use it to refer to the deepest part of our being. It is a part of us that is as essential as the body, mind, and heart; a part of us and yet beyond them all. You might think of it as our personal spark of the greater divinity, unique to each one of us. If you prefer another term, such as deeper or higher or original Self (with a capital S to distinguish it from the small self or ego), or even purpose, please use what is most meaningful for you.

Messages from the Soul

Roger Marsh, ITP teacher

Body, mind, and heart interplay to inform our lives, for sure. But the soul speaks and lives through each of these aspects. This is the brilliance of the integral model we engage in with ITP.

Integrating Body, Mind, Heart and Soul

Living an Extraordinary Life excerpt

Christina Grote & Pam Kramer, co-authors

Putting together all aspects of our integral being is a practice itself. Conscious, embodied integration of our many parts reinforces wholeness, balance, and integrity—much of what ITP promises for practitioners. Rather than focusing awareness on one aspect of ourselves, such as the heart with its vast array of feelings, the staying current practice prompts us to pay equal attention to all aspects—the totality of who we are – to mine our deeper truths for self-understanding, growth, and mindful action.

Community Spotlight

Matthew Steinbach, ITPI member

Learn more about Matthew Steinbach and how ITP has brought new insights to his daily life and his role as a coach to student-athletes. “I firmly believe we are on the edge of a cultural transition towards integral transformative practice. My work with the younger generations leaves me full of promise and optimism.”

The Impact of ITP on the Researcher

Josh Brahinsky, UC Berkeley Researcher

Josh Brahinsky is a psychological anthropologist, working over the past few years in Anthropology at Stanford University, Psychology at UC Berkeley, and now in Transcultural Psychiatry at McGill University. He joined a team of researchers to examine ITP and its effect on its practitioners. This project took him beyond academia.

ITP at the Drawing Table

Rich Sigberman, ITP San Rafael member

An ITP practice can gift us with benefits in large and small ways. Sometimes we just need to stop and notice what has changed. Artist and practitioner Rich Sigberman shares what he's noticed.