CHRYSALIS
A semester-length immersion in three modules
EMBODIED PRESENCE • REDEFINING SELF-LOVE • UNSTUCK
Ralph De La Rosa offered this series of courses over many years. These courses were originally offered in a weekly format, with the intention that each week be taken in slowly and practiced over time. Participants were encouraged to work with each practice daily for seven days before moving on.
As Ralph would say: If you forget, fall behind, or step away for a time, that is part of the practice. When you remember, simply begin again.
The courses below are shared in the spirit in which they were taught: as invitations to practice, reflect, and build a compassionate internal relationship for the benefit of all.
These teachings are not a replacement for professional mental health care.
We encourage all participants to proceed gently, to listen to their own limits, and to seek additional support when needed. Participation is undertaken at one’s own discretion and responsibility.
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EMBODIED PRESENCE: Week 1
The journey begins with attending the soma, the body: the nexus of our psycho-emotional-spiritual lives, the seat of intuition, the storehouse of all unprocessed and unresolved wounds and frustrations — a largely ignored facet of our existence and yet literally the most sophisticated entity in the known universe.
The journey begins with attending the soma, the body: the nexus of our psycho-emotional-spiritual lives, the seat of intuition, the storehouse of all unprocessed and unresolved wounds and frustrations — a largely ignored facet of our existence and yet literally the most sophisticated entity in the known universe.
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EMBODIED PRESENCE: Week 2
If we accept the well-established notion that the body has self-healing propensities that emerge in the presence of certain conditions, then what are those conditions? And how can we bring them into the sphere of our daily practice? And — here’s a curious question: Why is it that the concepts of spirituality and healing always seem to go hand and hand? This week, we go further into the deceptively simple intention of relaxation as an exploration of embodiment, presence, and possibility.
If we accept the well-established notion that the body has self-healing propensities that emerge in the presence of certain conditions, then what are those conditions? And how can we bring them into the sphere of our daily practice? And — here’s a curious question: Why is it that the concepts of spirituality and healing always seem to go hand and hand? This week, we go further into the deceptively simple intention of relaxation as an exploration of embodiment, presence, and possibility.
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EMBODIED PRESENCE: Week 3
It is not just us and what we experience. It is us, what we experience, and how we relate to that experience. This week, we deepen the exploration of the Healing Formula (presence + warmth x generosity) and focus on relating to our experience with warmth. In this module, we use the breath as the vehicle of warmth; sending breath to the contracted regions of the body. This lays the foundation for future work within our emotional worlds.
It is not just us and what we experience. It is us, what we experience, and how we relate to that experience. This week, we deepen the exploration of the Healing Formula (presence + warmth x generosity) and focus on relating to our experience with warmth. In this module, we use the breath as the vehicle of warmth; sending breath to the contracted regions of the body. This lays the foundation for future work within our emotional worlds.
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EMBODIED PRESENCE: Week 4
“The owls are not what they seem.” —David Lynch
We live in these subjective worlds, but we actually have no idea. This course discusses inviting curiosity rather than certainty. Learning to notice perception as perception, interpretation as interpretation, and to gently question the stories our mind automatically believes or creates.
“The owls are not what they seem.” —David Lynch
We live in these subjective worlds, but we actually have no idea. This course discusses inviting curiosity rather than certainty. Learning to notice perception as perception, interpretation as interpretation, and to gently question the stories our mind automatically believes or creates.
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EMBODIED PRESENCE: Week 5
There’s a reason why they say breakfast is the most important meal of the day: We can feel the residue of our first meal well into the day. Same thing with the mental impressions we take in. Mental impressions are a form of nutrition as well, and they matter. What you mentally consume first thing in the morning can alter the rest of your day, and the 5-3-1-1 practice is my favorite way of meeting that truth with intention.
There’s a reason why they say breakfast is the most important meal of the day: We can feel the residue of our first meal well into the day. Same thing with the mental impressions we take in. Mental impressions are a form of nutrition as well, and they matter. What you mentally consume first thing in the morning can alter the rest of your day, and the 5-3-1-1 practice is my favorite way of meeting that truth with intention.
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EMBODIED PRESENCE: Week 6
As we pivot to the next series, we begin to deepen many of the concepts that we’ve been working with. We also begin to turn away from being self-concerned in our practice and process and begin considering the well-being of others. This lays the groundwork for the heart-awakening of the next course.
As we pivot to the next series, we begin to deepen many of the concepts that we’ve been working with. We also begin to turn away from being self-concerned in our practice and process and begin considering the well-being of others. This lays the groundwork for the heart-awakening of the next course.
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UNSTUCK: Week 1
Radical nonpathology — the notion that, at our core, there is nothing wrong with us. Neuroscience has shown that everything about us is oriented towards safety, good feelings, growth, and belonging. The confusion begins when these basic needs and drives are betrayed and violated.
Radical nonpathology — the notion that, at our core, there is nothing wrong with us. Neuroscience has shown that everything about us is oriented towards safety, good feelings, growth, and belonging. The confusion begins when these basic needs and drives are betrayed and violated.
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UNSTUCK: Week 2
There is who we are, who we fear we might be, who we strive to be to avoid being who we fear we might be, and who we resort to being when our hurt and shame gets triggered.
We are a self made of non-self parts.
This multiplicity of self is what allows us to offer ourselves the kind of empathic attention that invites clarity, resolve, and growth.
This week we go further with understanding manager parts and what they need from us in order to loosen their grip.
There is who we are, who we fear we might be, who we strive to be to avoid being who we fear we might be, and who we resort to being when our hurt and shame gets triggered.
We are a self made of non-self parts.
This multiplicity of self is what allows us to offer ourselves the kind of empathic attention that invites clarity, resolve, and growth.
This week we go further with understanding manager parts and what they need from us in order to loosen their grip.
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Firefighters
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Exiles
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Exiles
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UNSTUCK: Week 6
If we don’t feel like we belong, we begin to settle for the gratification of validation, a very tenuous and conditional situation that is sure to fail at some point. If we can get neither belonging nor validation, we feel unsafe, go into survival mode, struggle against ourselves and fear anything that puts our validation on the line. Thus, the inner critic steps in to protect us. The inner critic is ultimately on our side, trying to keep us safe and is doing so erroneously.
If we don’t feel like we belong, we begin to settle for the gratification of validation, a very tenuous and conditional situation that is sure to fail at some point. If we can get neither belonging nor validation, we feel unsafe, go into survival mode, struggle against ourselves and fear anything that puts our validation on the line. Thus, the inner critic steps in to protect us. The inner critic is ultimately on our side, trying to keep us safe and is doing so erroneously.
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