This is a really interesting topic for me.  We are members of a tribe in our natural state, and this does create a natural urge to fit in to our community, and within reason this is a healthy trait as being a loner is not a great place to be.

Probably a better question to ask yourself is the degree to which you lose your true self in the process and compromise your own realness and authenticity.  It is my belief that if this is too compromised (in order to fit in), then you will in fact achieve the opposite, as at an energetic level, people will be unable to connect at a humanistic level as you, in its extreme level, have become unhuman, an actor or a charade of sorts.

About Mark Taylor….

Being Your True Self

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Never being afraid to try new things, I went to an Ayshuasca Ceremony recently.  A friend of mine had participated in one when he was travelling in South America and recommeded it so when the opportunity came along I jumped at it.

You can find at all about it on the web, so I won’t go into detail here.  I found it a profound experience and did some great healing both on a physical and emotional level.

Physically, I can honestly say that I have a body free of pain after a lifetime of pain.  I don’t attribute all of this to the ceremony but it seemed to be the final piece of a large puzzle.

Similarly on an emotional healing level, I went very deep, very very deep and it was a supportive environment that allowed me to do this.

So good stuff.  On another note, I put in my application for Pathways to Manhood for October and looking forward to becoming a facilitator as well as doing my own initiation (the one I never had!)

About Mark Taylor….

Ayahuasca Ceremony

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Although I will be keeping myself open this year, I do have some things bumbling on the horizon which I will share with you as they come to fruition.

First up is a 8 day yoga retreat with Glenn Ceresosi a well respected Iyengar Teacher and I know him on a personal level.  Glenn is known for breaking through boundaries and after 5 or so years of yoga, I am looking forward to using this time to go much deeper.

Then in March I am off to Adelaide to do a shamanic, Peruvian Ayahuasca ceremony.  I have been fascinated by this since a friend came back from South America raving about it.  Through some connections I made last year, I have somehow come across a group that have invited me to join them.  Not for everyone, and I am sure some people will have alot of preconceived ideas as it does involve some mind altering concoction.  Nevertheless, I am sure you will be interested in what happens!

I have also committed in October to become a facilitator in the Pathways To Manhood program, something close to my heart.  It will be a 5 day program, which will be the first step to being able to help young men make the transition to manhood and also connect with their father on a more meaningful level.  If you haven’t read “manhood” by Steve Biddild then it comes highly recommended; it explains alot of how society has created the men of today ( and many of their issues!)

Finally, I will going back to Acting, joining “The Actors Pulse”, not that I have any illusions of live performances, more as a environment to continue to build on my ability to be aware of, connect ot and be able to express emotions.

I am sure there will be some other spontaneous stuff that happens and of course, everyday life provides plenty of opportunity to learn and grow!

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About Mark Taylor….

My personal development plans for 2011

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I recently went to Peats Ridge Festival, which was great opportunity to try some new modalities in the personal development space.  The timetable was extensive with workshops all day long including all types of yoga, meditation, tantra, dance etc.  The “healing haven” program is below for you!  There was all another area for more dance orientated workshops which is below as well as a whole eco living suite of workshops.

So if you want to go on  a workshops frenzy there is a plenty of choice.

I particularly liked the kundalini dancing.  Not being a great natural dancer (especially sober!), loosing myself in the music at 10:30 in morning was liberating.  I seemed to be in a bit of a kundalini mode as I enjoyed the kundalini yoga too, and it was quite different to other forms of yoga I have done before with more of a focus on energy generation.

Laughter yoga didn’t do it for me.  The idea is that you do a number of forced exercises (i.e. pretend to be a lawnmower) until you eventually can laugh spontaneously which is a good for you.

Of course Peats ridge is not just about the workshops, so other aspects I really enjoyed included racing around the water pistol area (always good to act like a 5 year old.  Going mental in the sugar shack int he afternoon, a Xavier rudd type session in the chai tent, random drumming, a fantastic dance with young aboriginal kids; two cute gals singing open mic from a caravan and having the time of their lives  and best of all simply going with the flow, losing track of time and remembering spontaneity and lightness.

About Mark Taylor….

Peats Ridge Festival

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For those of you in the alternative / personal development scene, you may well know that 2012 is being voiced as the day of reckoning when there will be a seismic shift in consciousness.

I don’t have a strong opinion on that side of things, although I have noticed a continual but gradual increase in openness and acceptance of many streams of personal development.  I also sense an underlying but not necessarily conscious dissatisfaction with the way society is progressing and the ongoing breakdown of things that keep us grounded and essentially happy.
Having said that, I have yet to see much movement in the mainstream corporate / business / government environment; a few pockets here and there, but self interest, money making, and ego building are still the major drivers from what I observe!
For a 2012 type shift to occur it will take society leaders to embrace and drive the change, and it still feels a way off to me.
So, my forecast, is for more of the same with a incremental increase in importance v other more capitalist drivers…

About Mark Taylor….

Personal Development Forecast 2011

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By: Janardhan McIntosh – Prema Shanti Yoga and Meditiation Retreat

There is no separation between your everyday life and your spiritual life, they are one and the same, you integrate your spiritual values and ethics into every aspect of your life, eventually it becomes seamless, do not confuse spirituality with prayer, meditation, going to church, or reading spiritual text, these are all tools that enable you to progress along your spiritual path. Your spiritual journey is this life in this present moment, it is your awareness of this realization that you are constantly working on, and reinforcing, it’s called CIA i.e.  Constant Integrated Awareness, of the divine into your every moment, this will happen naturally once you consciously decide to know the truth about the reality of who you really are beyond the delusion of body consciousness, and establish a working relationship with the divine.

What time is required for a spiritual journey?

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By: Janardhan McIntosh – Prema Shanti Yoga and Meditiation Retreat

Meditation is awareness, it is experiencing the natural state of the mind without thoughts, anything you cant stop from doing is called an addiction, we are all addicted to thinking, Meditation is transcending the normal chatter of the mind, to experience the mind as it is, stillness of the mind occurs when thoughts slow, and you experience your own innate sense of well-being, it is a sweetness that has to be experienced not described.

Meditation helps one on many levels, the benefits of meditation include, reducing blood pressure, stress hardiness, increased harmony in all areas of your life, it also is a discipline that requires patience and persistence. When the mind chatter slows, your intuitions become stronger; you feel what to do instead of thinking what to do. Your life flows more easily with increased confidence and clarity.

What is meditation?

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By: Mark Taylor – Managing Director – Keys To Success Club

It has certainly been an interesting six months since my last post.  Sometimes in life you need to go backwards to move forwards.

The two things that I’ve learned in the last six months is the importance of staying in your truth and secondly the importance of letting go.

Staying in your truth

The key question here is how often do you really stay in your truth?  To be able to stay in your truth represents the greatest challenge as-in means not only do you have to really know who you are and what you stand for, but you also need to be prepared to show this to the world whilst of course respecting others in the process.  You also have to face some real insights to yourself that Are not always pretty.

Letting go

I’ve had to face some major challenges in the last six months with certain elements not going according to plan.  In some of the instances I’ve had to face up to full accountability which has been painful at times and a great way to depower the ego.

Letting go does not been becoming a vegetable.  It is more about keeping things in perspective and being much more flexible with the ever changing landscape that we find ourselves in.

 One of the end results of this journey for me is that I have to really connect well with my heart not with my mind.  Whilst it has had been one of the most difficult periods for me, as I have really let myself be totally exposed and vulnerable at times, I am full of optimism because I now feel I can release my full power through better connection with myself and others around me.  Will let you know how I get on!

Living in the truth

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Check the latest personal development news, tips and insights by getting your free copy of Success Insight – June 2010

Success Insight 2010

• It’s time to wake up.  Some inspirational lifeprinciples for living from the founder of Wake Up Sydney

Success Insight 2010

Success Insight 2010

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What is so bad about this?  Well, what goes up  must go down and overall the net is further down, especially as allowing our addiction to have its way when we, from our intellectual perspective, know it is the wrong action, further diminishes our overall self worth.

Secondly, with repetition, the pleasure derived from our addiction diminishes, so we constantly look for bigger hits to achieve the same result which can escalate very quickly from a minor addiction to a major addiction.

There is a great quote from the movie Candy which sums this concept up well.  “ When you can stop you don’t want to, and when you want to you are not able to”

So, the secret here is first of all to have high levels of awareness for when your actions are tipping into addictive in nature, and then look to the real root cause and addresses this… of course follow the Buddha philosophy you would find a place where you were free from aversion and desire and then you would be free and happy no matter happened to you.

In the event that this nirvana is not yet in your grasp, look for the cause of your happiness and try and take some positive action to resolve the issue or change your perspective on the situation, or just go out and do something positive (even if it is the last thing you might feel like doing).

How to cure and addiction

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