The Home of Steven Barnes
Author, Teacher, Screenwriter


Monday, January 30, 2006

Full Disclosure: ITP

About ten days ago, a student attending the April Path workshop in Portland sent an e-mail asking if Scott and I had heard of George Leonard's ITP, a whole body-mind discipline created in the early 90's, which includes visualization, affirmation, and the "ITP Kata," a series of movements designed to nurture the body in advanced, balanced fashion.  Encouraging their students to add martial arts, weight training, aerobics, advanced meditation, and more, Integral Transformative Practice does bear an eerie resemblance to The Path as Scott and I have designed it, and Leonard and his partner Micheal Murphy (founder of Esalen) have   impeccable credentials.  Leonard, a 5th degree black belt in Aikido and former editor for Esquire magazine, is a gentleman and a scholar, and I am delighted t have come across his work, which I promise you will influence my own.  His book "'The Life we Are Given" is simply excellent.  I hope there are another thousand teachers like them toiling away right now with similar creations.  The Path is getting wider...and I love it!

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