Integral Transformative Practice: Building The Resilience Every Leader Needs

Christina Grote, board chair of ITP International, and Pam Kramer, president of ITP International share this article as a companion to their podcast ITP: Building the Resilience Every Leader Needs. 

Listen to the companion interview and past episodes of Innovating Leadership: Co-Creating Our Future via Apple Podcasts, TuneIn, Stitcher, Spotify, Amazon Music, Audible, iHeartRADIO, and NPR One.

Many people feel the need to grow deep in their bones. We feel a longing to become deeper, fuller expressions of who we are. We may feel a calling toward a greater life, but don’t know what path to take. We may even feel guilty about taking too much time for ourselves. Perhaps we don’t know how to move forward with so many other important things to attend to—families, jobs, the routine maintenance that life requires. Integral Transformative Practice (ITP) was created in response to this need, this longing. Human potential pioneers and ITP co-founders George Leonard and Michael Murphy believed that the urge to grow and to self-surpass moves through both us and through the world, and that our health and the health of our world are deeply intertwined. The urge that powers our desire to develop and the universe’s evolutionary destiny are one and the same.

At the heart of ITP is the assertion that “we live only a part of the life we are given,” put forward by co-founder Michael Murphy in his magnum opus, The Future of the Body. Murphy points out that each of us can do far more and be far more than our upbringing and our culture have led us to believe. We are not the limited beings that the world tells us we are. ITP celebrates our gifts—our own unique genius—and provides not only a pathway to discover and use these gifts for our own growth, but also offers encouragement to contribute those gifts for the good of the whole.

Rooted in both Eastern and Western wisdom traditions, ITP is a long-term program for realizing the fullest potentials of body, mind, heart, and soul—a comprehensive set of rich practices that set the stage for whole-being transformation as well as positive social change. As we bring these four aspects of ourselves into harmony with dedicated practice using this “integral” or integrative approach, we gain access to our inner resources to progress to a new level of life, to be a fuller expression of who we are now and who we can become. Ultimately, we see our urge to grow and become whole—the energy that pulls us onward toward our fullest potentials—as a manifestation of the power of love. The spark of the divine, or source of it all, is waking up in us and through us.

Integral Transformative Practice holds a positive vision for humankind. With this hopeful vision comes a practice for living—balanced and resilient—in our times, a path that develops and integrates our many-sided nature, pointing us toward the realization of our greater capacities. Based on a foundation of love, ITP can assist us as we move forward into a greater life. The worldview of ITP draws from the wisdom traditions of the past as well as knowledge gained from scientific discoveries and inner research of the human psyche. This worldview offers a greater context for our lives, one of exploration and adventure. Humankind is seen as part of a universal evolutionary unfolding, and we each play our unique part in that unfolding. We can experience the joy of being fully ourselves and fully connected to the cosmic movement of which we are an integral part. Who we are and what we do matters!

Over the three decades since the inception of ITP, people from all over the world have taken up the practice and have shared their experiences with us. We often hear people describe transformations of both their outer and inner being. For many, the primary benefit is a greater sense of well-being through the balance and integration that the practice brings. People become more grounded—indeed, more relaxed and joyful—and able to more gracefully adapt to changing times.

ITP International public programs are designed to impart and reinforce integral practices for practitioners and leaders from all walks of life. Our workshops feature ways to bring forth the fullest expression of our individual strengths into everyday life and the workplace, especially when challenged and under duress. Through body-based, mindful practices such as balancing and centering, and blending (seeing the world from another’s point of view) leaders can navigate more successfully in connecting with others. The leadership qualities of presence, resilience and calm that we focus on in our trainings, pave the way for a harmonious, effective and enlivening work space.

Research is a key pillar of ITP, as the practice was created to evolve over time, making adjustments along the way to ensure efficacy and freshness. ITP has been the subject of research by the Institute of Noetic Sciences (IONS) and more recently by researchers at Stanford University. The IONS study tracked practitioners for a year and found that the practice of ITP positively impacted overall health and well-being. Their results “suggest that involvement in ITP may lead to greater self-transcendence, greater psychological well-being, and in turn, improved physical health.” As one’s body, mind, heart, and soul become aligned and aimed toward positive transformation, a coherence between these aspects of the self develops, which seems to be a powerful factor in the results observed.

With a simple roadmap and an evolutionary vision, ITP orients us toward the realization of our fullest potentials and connects that transformation to a purpose that is greater than ourselves. Our existence is far stranger and more magical than we may realize. The door is open. We invite you to join us on this ultimate adventure.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS:

Christina Grote is the board chair of ITP International and has been a practitioner of Integral Transformative Practice since 2003. She is a licensed massage therapist and her interest in natural healing led her to explore ITP and include it in her work. She founded ITP Columbus in 2004, which continued for many years. She has designed and taught ITP workshops and planned numerous conferences with longtime friend, collaborator, and ITPI president Pamela Kramer. Christina lives in Columbus, Ohio, with her husband Jim.

Pamela Kramer is President of ITP International, a nonprofit organization that stewards ITP and the work of its founders, George Leonard and Michael Murphy. Pam is an ITP Mastery teacher, is on the faculty of Esalen Institute, and presents workshops at venues in the US and abroad. She is engaged in training ITP teachers, forming ITP groups, and bringing integral principles and practices to the workplace. Pam is an executive coach and consults with organizations and their leaders in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Christina and Pamela’s new book Living an Extraordinary Life: The Magic of Integral Transformative Practice is available now.

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Check out the companion interview and past episodes of Innovating Leadership, Co-Creating Our Future via Apple Podcasts, TuneIn, Stitcher, Spotify, Amazon Music, Audible, iHeartRADIO, and NPR One.