We had the honor and pleasure to contribute to the Barrett Values Centre´s International Conference on the topic of Building a Values-Driven Society in Stockholm, June 11-13, 2014. We were there to give two workshops, presenting Co-Creative Process Inquiry (CCPI) as a new developmental approach for organizational renewal, and how to apply it when opening up for deeper collaboration (regarding the purpose of societal change). Our last presentation was on a slighton balancing the feminine and masculine essences within and without so we can work and lead our lives in a balanced way. We need to activate different ways of getting knowledge - from our body, spirit and of course from the higher mind. Because of the shortage of time, we were not able to explain much so we decided to do a meditation to facilitate a personal experience of it. Based on the positive, heartfelt feedback we got, it was exactly what the conference participants needed there and then.
Here is some of the content we were planning to share:
We are honored to be here to talk about the feminine essence in leadership and today´s society. We didn’t know what this topic would require from us to go through before we can come and talk about it. We are still at awe about it´s depth. The root cause for us to start digging deeper into this topic was the awareness that it is hard for women to truly co-create together especially in serving a higher purpose and we started wondering reasons to it.
We realized that the masculine part in us is fearful for the creative power within the feminine and it is trying to take power over by controlling it. We also understood that most of our cultural institutions are created and run from a masculine perspective – be it the family, church, politics, decision-making, organisations etc. But we are burning out the life force within ourselves and now we are doing it to the planet earth.
What to do to turn this around?
We need to accept ourselves and our state as it is. This is not only our individual creation – it is a strong collective pattern that is in our heritage from thousands of years back.
We need to have the will to become aware and change and heal ourselves step by step.
1) The way we work is through being present to Inner Self. Everything you need you find inside yourself.
2) When we talk about the feminine essence, it is not related to being in a female or male body – it is an essence that is present in both sexes. This essences carries our emotions, creative gifts, intuition, symbolic thinking, the caring & nurturing instincts, imagination, openness and receiving.
We would like to now guide you through a short meditation where you get to be present and become aware of the state of your own both feminine and masculine essences. They effect everything we are and what we do and how we do it
Think about the leadership you see in your work and in the society around you, what do you see?
Most of the leadership in the world today operates through the ego-driven masculine essence, and this applies to both men and women. In practice it means power structures created to over-control people and systems, greed for more & more, exploitation of resources, short-term profit at any cost. We have all seen this in the CTT reports.
This over-control creates a twisted situation where the wounded feminine thrives on hurt feelings, manipulation, revenge, being a helpless victim disregarding the responsibility: for your own thoughts & feelings, deeds, the common good – the whole is compromised and scattered into pieces. This can also be seen in the western style of raising children, leading to kids not wanting to grow up and be independent. If we take a look at our intimate relationships, we often see two separate, ego-driven individuals who are isolated from each other, burning themselves inside-out in work-life trying to earn more money, and surviving raising kids on top of that.
If the other person starts to develop and rise to their power, it is a threat to the other leading to attempts to bring the down the one moving forward.
It is not that long ago, that we had world war II. We are just beginning to understand what a huge extra wound it has created on our emotional heritage. In our home country Finland, small children were sent away from their mothers to Sweden while women were forced to carry the responsibilities that the missing men were leaving behind. We all have to do the healing & forgiveness work towards our ancestors, who did their best in the circumstances – it forced almost everyone to act against their inner truth & values, and we are still “harvesting” the results of that in today’s patterns of being & working – we “perform” as if we didn’t already have enough.
There is little or no space for real values work, which is by the way feminine by nature. It is the sap that flows within the tree. This essence keeps the life force flowing and it is the heart connection that gives meaning to everything we do and everything we are. In our work we now see a lot of empty people, who have been forced to act against their deepest values. We are all as values coaches supporters of this life force.
How do we heal the dynamics between these essences? It needs to happen first within ourselves, then in our intimate relationships and in our workplaces etc.
This is the core question for humanity today.
We need to start fully respecting both essences within ourselves – after that it happens automatically in our surroundings. As we all know values work happens deep within.
We see a world war 3 going on as a representation of this theme. The wounded soldier is defending his borders and it only creates more pain.
If we ask for the feminine essence to guide us, what would She say?
· Be merciful to yourself – then you can be so for others
· Take time to listen to inner wisdom and ask for guidance. The feminine essence is open to receive.
· Plant seeds of compassion, gratitude and unconditional love. What you plant will multiply.
· Have courage to dig into your own shadow and learn from the uncomfortable feelings. Accepting your own fears, hidden shame, unresolved guilt and unexpressed anger are gateways to transformation. Knowing yourself and developing from your hurts is true leading by example.
· The healthy feminine essence is able to create & co-create in a way that automatically serves the whole and what nurtures life.
The feminine essence is the resonance we feel in our hearts and bodies when things are flowing and we are connected to our truth, which is the only place from where the sustainable future unfolds and everybody wins.
Read more about Cultural Transformation Tools (CTT) at www.valuescentre.com, #CTTValues
Here is some of the content we were planning to share:
We are honored to be here to talk about the feminine essence in leadership and today´s society. We didn’t know what this topic would require from us to go through before we can come and talk about it. We are still at awe about it´s depth. The root cause for us to start digging deeper into this topic was the awareness that it is hard for women to truly co-create together especially in serving a higher purpose and we started wondering reasons to it.
We realized that the masculine part in us is fearful for the creative power within the feminine and it is trying to take power over by controlling it. We also understood that most of our cultural institutions are created and run from a masculine perspective – be it the family, church, politics, decision-making, organisations etc. But we are burning out the life force within ourselves and now we are doing it to the planet earth.
What to do to turn this around?
We need to accept ourselves and our state as it is. This is not only our individual creation – it is a strong collective pattern that is in our heritage from thousands of years back.
We need to have the will to become aware and change and heal ourselves step by step.
1) The way we work is through being present to Inner Self. Everything you need you find inside yourself.
2) When we talk about the feminine essence, it is not related to being in a female or male body – it is an essence that is present in both sexes. This essences carries our emotions, creative gifts, intuition, symbolic thinking, the caring & nurturing instincts, imagination, openness and receiving.
We would like to now guide you through a short meditation where you get to be present and become aware of the state of your own both feminine and masculine essences. They effect everything we are and what we do and how we do it
Think about the leadership you see in your work and in the society around you, what do you see?
Most of the leadership in the world today operates through the ego-driven masculine essence, and this applies to both men and women. In practice it means power structures created to over-control people and systems, greed for more & more, exploitation of resources, short-term profit at any cost. We have all seen this in the CTT reports.
This over-control creates a twisted situation where the wounded feminine thrives on hurt feelings, manipulation, revenge, being a helpless victim disregarding the responsibility: for your own thoughts & feelings, deeds, the common good – the whole is compromised and scattered into pieces. This can also be seen in the western style of raising children, leading to kids not wanting to grow up and be independent. If we take a look at our intimate relationships, we often see two separate, ego-driven individuals who are isolated from each other, burning themselves inside-out in work-life trying to earn more money, and surviving raising kids on top of that.
If the other person starts to develop and rise to their power, it is a threat to the other leading to attempts to bring the down the one moving forward.
It is not that long ago, that we had world war II. We are just beginning to understand what a huge extra wound it has created on our emotional heritage. In our home country Finland, small children were sent away from their mothers to Sweden while women were forced to carry the responsibilities that the missing men were leaving behind. We all have to do the healing & forgiveness work towards our ancestors, who did their best in the circumstances – it forced almost everyone to act against their inner truth & values, and we are still “harvesting” the results of that in today’s patterns of being & working – we “perform” as if we didn’t already have enough.
There is little or no space for real values work, which is by the way feminine by nature. It is the sap that flows within the tree. This essence keeps the life force flowing and it is the heart connection that gives meaning to everything we do and everything we are. In our work we now see a lot of empty people, who have been forced to act against their deepest values. We are all as values coaches supporters of this life force.
How do we heal the dynamics between these essences? It needs to happen first within ourselves, then in our intimate relationships and in our workplaces etc.
This is the core question for humanity today.
We need to start fully respecting both essences within ourselves – after that it happens automatically in our surroundings. As we all know values work happens deep within.
We see a world war 3 going on as a representation of this theme. The wounded soldier is defending his borders and it only creates more pain.
If we ask for the feminine essence to guide us, what would She say?
· Be merciful to yourself – then you can be so for others
· Take time to listen to inner wisdom and ask for guidance. The feminine essence is open to receive.
· Plant seeds of compassion, gratitude and unconditional love. What you plant will multiply.
· Have courage to dig into your own shadow and learn from the uncomfortable feelings. Accepting your own fears, hidden shame, unresolved guilt and unexpressed anger are gateways to transformation. Knowing yourself and developing from your hurts is true leading by example.
· The healthy feminine essence is able to create & co-create in a way that automatically serves the whole and what nurtures life.
The feminine essence is the resonance we feel in our hearts and bodies when things are flowing and we are connected to our truth, which is the only place from where the sustainable future unfolds and everybody wins.
Read more about Cultural Transformation Tools (CTT) at www.valuescentre.com, #CTTValues
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