The YouMeVerse E16: Male expression, Desires, Couples Retreats.

The YouMeVerse Podcast

• Jeffrey begins by sharing progress he has made on his book about the inward journey to Self-realization. The book will lend readers an understanding of the major stages of Self-discovery, including transmutation of external conditioning and progression to inward connection to Self and Source.
• Spurred by comments Odette had received a day before, Jeffrey and Odette open the discussion around emotional expression and around the perceived difficulty many men have in seeking emotional support or expressing their emotional needs.
• Odette remarks on the rigid feeling she has experienced using many formal pranayama, or breathwork, practices. She shares that self-guided breath practices with less structure allow her to relax and release in her mind and body more successfully.
• Odette recollects an austere approach to meditation she originally learned that involved the suppression of bodily urges in favor of disciplining the mind. She says she appreciates the intention to strengthen one’s awareness but considers denial of natural urges to be damaging to creative expression and sensual embodiment. She thinks that learning how to relax and release through breath and meditation might be a good first step towards creating safety around emotional connection with self.
• Jeffrey discusses the ego conditioning men often encounter that steers them away from expressing the full range of their emotional experience. He describes how all beings possess both masculine and feminine energies which must be harmonized within. When these energies are acknowledged and balanced, one will naturally and joyously express their true purpose.
• Jeffrey explains how harmful, unloving actions and behaviors arise from unconscious programming/conditioning. The transmutation of this programming removes the illusion of disconnection from Source/Self and others. When connection is realized, harmony, love, and compassion are naturally expressed.
• Jeffrey thinks out loud about how relationships can be used as vehicles for transcending unconscious programming. He notes that intimate relationships are particularly potent opportunities for developing and expanding spiritual awareness. He and Odette discuss how they could structure workshops and other experiences to facilitate exploration of the yoga of relationship.
• Both Jeffrey and Odette invite your questions. Thank you for listening!