Transformation

Heartwork is a battle with mediocrity — our own first and foremost. The basic unit of our work is the give and take: an abandoned and courageous expansion into the world followed by a voracious and almost vicious contraction that has two functions: to gather energy in and to thrust (pull) us forwards for our next expansion. Such “breathing” engages us energetically and is what prevents us settling into flat mediocrity. However, even give and take can become routine, as evidenced by most “cup of tea” (polite) pushing hands. Our figure of eight is an attempt to prevent the same package of energy being passed endlessly back and forth during pushing hands. We dig as deeply into ourselves as we do into the other. Rather than simply brokering an energy exchange between the other and the earth, or the other and our own skill, we attempt to transform with our give and take. If we at least can become something better in our giving then we have a chance of engaging with the other on a level of transformation rather than just exchange. Real communication has nothing to do with exchange, and all to do with change. Real communication leaves you changed forever. You become a different person and the old you can never be revisited except in memory. Such self-transformations, and the inevitable dangers to our own security, safety and balance, are usually reserved for solo practice or for partner work with friends and trusted colleagues. When we talk of generosity or courage or abandon or openness we mean the willingness to transform whenever necessary. This requires real forgetting of self — only when you forget self can you join with a completeness that makes transformation inevitable.