The Spiritual Workout Way

I had the privilege last night of doing the first of three-in-a-row Spiritual Workouts with a new audience in Los Angeles. (New audiences are one of my primary intentions for 2011!) Toward the end of the class and in a couple of lively conversations afterward - including a protracted one with my friend, George, who had attended the class himself - a subject came up that often comes up with people who are new to this work and it goes something like this: What is the next step? What can I do between now and the next class? What's the format?

(If you have not attended a Spiritual Workout before, the format is that after a brief three-minute or so "warm-up" that I lead, nothing happens until a hand goes up and someone offers up something s/he is dealing with and we are off and running. And hands always go up. So the content always varies while the concepts remain constant.)

My response to the person in class who asked the initial question about what's next was, essentially "whatever makes sense to you." We hadn't been working on his particular issue(s) in this particular class, so I didn't have any sense of what would help him, specifically. And I'm not a big fan of generic "assignments" because I am a big fan of what's happening in people's real, actual lives and how might one or more of these concepts help them. So I asked him, "What do you want?" That's because everything stems from that place and while it's a simple question, I know people often struggle with it. My point was that any "homework" would come from what it is he was wanting and that there was no value in my suggesting something - anything - that might or might not have been relevant for him.

But in conversations afterward, with others, where it became clear that this approach is somewhat unconventional - or perhaps even radical? - I noticed a lot of resistance in me. Resisting and resisting what George was attempting to get me to see: that people want steps, they want direction. And then, after years and years of doing this work and hearing from others what George was saying to me last night, I finally got it. To do any of these things - things that he was saying very successful author/teacher/speaker types like me apparently all do - I finally got it. My HUGE resistance to doing what he and others were suggesting is that it abdicates responsibility on the part of the person doing the asking. "Take responsibility" is one of the 15 Spiritual Workout concepts and it is also a pillar of this work. If I start leading you, you are following me and making me responsible for your journey and your process. Not at all interesting to me! Not at all! Telling me what you're wanting and where you're struggling and asking me to help guide or walk with you, well now my resistance is gone and I am right there with you.

So I will still sit silently when class begins and wait for you to get us going. I will still offer specific homework to anyone who asks, based on who you are and what you are wanting. And now I will be a little bit better at explaining - to anyone who wants to know - why I insist on doing it that way. Thanks, George.