S5e5: Ian Salvage – Aligned in the Goodness That I Am

09/22/22 • -1 min

Ian Salvage, beloved Hoffman teacher and coach, is our 100th guest on the Hoffman Podcast. What better way could we celebrate reaching our 100-episode milestone than with this vulnerable, wise, and insightful conversation with Ian and Drew?

Ian completed the Process three different times, the first time when he was twenty-four years old. Listen in to discover why he did the Process two more times.

Ian shares about his journey to healing the ‘shame message that he was bad.” As a child, he felt bad. As he explains, children internalize their experiences. Since he felt bad, he came to believe he must be bad.

One of Ian’s main survival strategies as a young child was to disassociate from his body because the emotions he was feeling were just too big for him to feel. As an adult, he found it hard to be present and connected to others. Ian shares that childhood strategies are very helpful, but as adults, they really get in our way. He discovered had to come back into his body and to know he is safe there. In other words, Ian says he needed to come back into “an adult nervous system.”

In doing the physical work of expression at the Process, Ian heard his body come to understand that he is, “to his bones,” innately good. Through this, he allowed his body to “align and connect to what his intellect thought and knew, to what his emotional self felt, and to what his Spiritual Self is.” Through his work at the Process, Ian’s Quadrinity became aligned in the goodness that he now knows he is. We can all learn a great deal about our own journey from Ian’s very human experience of healing.

More about Ian Salvage:

Ian Salvage holds a Master’s Degree in Counseling Psychology from the Wright Institute and is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist specializing in trauma-informed Somatic Therapy.

Before being certified as a Hoffman Teacher in 2019, Ian began working in the Hoffman Institute’s Enrollment Department in 2011. Ian holds a small private practice where he works with clients remotely from Maui.

You can learn more about Ian here.

As mentioned in this episode:

Two of Ian’s sisters have been guests on the podcast:
Katie Salvage: Episode 4: Katie Salvage
Oliveyah Fisch: S3e14: Oliveyah Fisch – Lean Into Your Courage

Dōjō:
“A dōjō is a hall or place for immersive learning or meditation. This is traditionally in the field of martial arts... The term literally means “place of the Way” in Japanese.” Wikipedia

William Lewis:
Spiritual Teacher, Lightworker and Energy Channel

The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel Van Der Kolk

Quote shared by Ian:
“We are hurt in relationship and we heal in relationship.” – Unknown

Ian completed the Process three different times, the first time when he was twenty-four years old. Listen in to discover why he did the Process two more times.

More about Ian Salvage:

Ian Salvage holds a Master’s Degree in Counseling Psychology from the Wright Institute and is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist specializing in trauma-informed Somatic Therapy.

You can learn more about Ian here.

As mentioned in this episode:

Two of Ian’s sisters have been guests on the podcast:
Katie Salvage: Episode 4: Katie Salvage
Oliveyah Fisch: S3e14: Oliveyah Fisch – Lean Into Your Courage

William Lewis:
Spiritual Teacher, Lightworker and Energy Channel

The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel Van Der Kolk

Quote shared by Ian:
“We are hurt in relationship and we heal in relationship.” – Unknown

Previous Episode

S5e4: Gerald Harris – A Heart-Centered Way of Communicating

Gerald Harris, Father, Hoffman Board Chair emeritus, and Energy Economist is our guest today. Gerald shares his journey from growing up in rural south Georgia to his life today with his sons in Northern California. He shares his Hoffman Journey of transformation. Listen to the end for Gerald’s powerful reflections on forgiveness and transformation.

Born and raised in Hapeville, Georgia until he was six years old, Gerald talks about what it was like to grow up in a village of extended family. His family was poor but he didn’t know it. At the age of six, he and his mother moved to Chicago for work. Suddenly, it was just Gerald and his mother.

Gerald shares how he suffered abuse from his single mother. The Process helped him take his mother down off of the pedestal he’d learned to put her on as a child so he could squarely look at what had really happened in his childhood. He was able to see the patterns he adopted from her and release them through the Process. By completing the Hoffman Process, Gerald was able to heal the pain of his childhood so that this past pain would not affect his sons. Generational healing releases generational patterns and the painful emotions they cause. When patterns are released, our own lives and our children’s lives can hold more Light and Love. Gerald’s world at the Process made it possible for his sons’ lives to be freer of generational patterning.

One of the other places the Process supported Gerald through transformation was in his sense of spirituality. As a child, he grew up Christian. Prior to doing the Process, Gerald was reading Buddhist thought and other kinds of thought as well. After the Process, Gerald came to understand that spirituality is not about any particular religion. He found it is about love, forgiveness, kindness, compassion, and justice. The Process supported Gerald in discovering a heart-centered way of communicating that he uses in all his relationships, both personal and professional.

More about Gerald Harris:

Gerald Harris is president of the Quantum Planning Group (QPG), which he founded in 2009. His company specializes in assisting businesses and non-profit organizations in strategic and business planning using the tools of scenario analysis. He works extensively with companies in the energy sector, particularly gas and electricity. Gerald received his BA in economics from Morehouse College, where he graduated as a member of Phi Beta Kappa, and an MBA in finance and business economics from the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business. Gerald’s first book, The Art of Quantum Planning, Seven Ideas from Quantum Physics for Breakthroughs in Creativity, Innovation, and Leadership, was published by Berrett Koehler Publishing in August 2009.

Gerald joined the Board of the Hoffman Institute in 2007, after completing the Process in December 2002. From mid-year 2012 until April 2022 Gerald served as Board Chair, working cooperatively with the entire leadership team. He now serves on the Hoffman Institute Advisory Council.

Gerald also serves on the Board of Governors of the Commonwealth Club of California. He leads the Technology and Society member-led forum where he produces programs for the Club. He is the father of two adult sons. More is available at his website: www.artofquantumplanning.com.

As mentioned in this episode:

Download The Quadrinity Process paper Gerald mentions: A Path to Personal Freedom and Love.

Projection:
“The process of displacing one’s feelings onto a different person, animal, or object.” – Psychology Today

The Great Migration:
“The Great Migration was one of the largest movements of people in United States history. Approximately six million Black people moved from the American South to Northern, Midwestern, and Western states roughly from the 1910s until the 1970s. The driving force behind the mass movement was to escape racial violence, pursue economic and educational opportunities, and obtain freedom from the oppression of Jim Crow. – National Archives

Next Episode

S5e6: Mike Robbins – Preparing for The Game of Life

Mike Robbins was twenty-five years old when he was injured playing in the Minor Leagues, an injury that ended his dream of making it to the Majors. He’d been playing since he was eight years old, eventually playing at Stanford University. The loss of Mike’s dream was devastating, but, step by step, he found his way to the work he does now as a speaker, consultant, coach, and author. He learned early how to prepare for the game of life. Listen in as Mike shares his hard-earned life wisdom with humility, vulnerability, and candidness.

Mike heard about the Process many years ago, but it wasn’t until he experienced a great amount of loss and pain in a compressed period of time that he came to the Process in 2016. He lost both his mother and sister to cancer and realized that the Process was exactly what he needed to address his grief and the family of origin healing he was looking for.

Through beautiful, generous storytelling, Mike shares stories of great loss while speaking to the power of many aspects of the Process. He talks about the importance of having places of safety to do this kind of healing work to feel safe telling the truth about ourselves and our lives. He considers how to care for all aspects of his Quadrinity and speaks to the nature of growth and being human.

Mike hasn’t pitched in a game for twenty-five years, but he still, to this day, considers himself an athlete. Through this lens, he considers what he needs to do to prepare to be in this game of life.

More about Mike Robbins:

Mike Robbins is the author of five books, including Nothing Changes Until You Do, and his latest, We’re All in This Together. He’s a sought-after speaker who delivers keynotes and seminars all over the world. Some of his clients include Google, Wells Fargo, Microsoft, Gap, Schwab, eBay, the NBA, the Oakland A’s, and many others. Mike and his work have been featured in the New York Times and Harvard Business Review, as well as on NPR and ABC News. He’s a regular contributor to Forbes. Mike hosts a weekly podcast and has given three TED talks. His books have been translated into 15 different languages.

Mike did the Hoffman Process in December of 2016. He has been a personal and spiritual growth student his entire adult life. Mike, his wife, Michelle, and their two daughters, Samantha and Rosie, live in Novato, CA.

As mentioned in this episode:

Baseball: Major League and Minor League

Stanford University

The Enneagram: Type 3

Rich and Yvonne St. John-Dutra
“Founded in 1987 by Rich and Yvonne St. John-Dutra, Challenge Day started as a Bay Area organization. Now Challenge Day serves over 49 U.S. states, Canada, Belgium, and the Netherlands, Challenge Day is on a mission to create a world where every person in our communities feels safe, loved, and celebrated.” Read more...

Elizabeth ‘Liz’ Gilbert:
Mike shares Elizabeth’s quote: “You have to take care of your animal.” Read Elizabeth Gilbert’s article here...

Psychological Safety
“Psychological safety is the ability to show and employ oneself without fear of negative consequences of self-image, status, or career. It can be defined as a shared belief that the team is safe for interpersonal risk-taking. In psychologically safe teams, team members feel accepted and respected.” Wikipedia

Brene Brown‘s new book, Atlas of the Heart: Mapping Meaningful Connection and the Language of Human Experience