RH Episode # 18 - Dr Paris Williams, The Human Metamorphosis
04/28/20 • 66 min
This week we have a discussion with Dr Paris Williams. We discuss the transition that took Paris from world champion hang gliding athlete, to the depths of an intense personal inner transformation and awakening that led him on a journey of exploration of the human condition.
Paris attained degrees in ecology and psychology, specializing in humanistic, existential, transpersonal, somatic and ecological approaches to understanding human nature and healing, becoming a registered Clinical Psychologist and Hakomi Teacher. His exploration led him to conduct research on extreme states, trauma recovery and deep personal transformation, as a result he published the widely acclaimed book, Rethinking Madness.
The podcast theme revolves around human metamorphosis, interwoven with a message of hope for those people who suffer and struggle with self definition and purpose. This is one for both the athletic and general community. It speaks to power of coming to understand the deeper existential truths of the self that impact our enjoyment of the outside world, our place in it, and our impacts on it.
Many of us get stuck in our struggles or find ourselves falling down in life, however what we can fail to realise is that the fall is often a stage in a metamorphosis. The first stage in an important process of transmutation that can move us directly into our own power.
Paris uses a metaphor of the chrysalis in the stage of a caterpillar becoming a butterfly. In the chrysalis stage, the bulk of the caterpillar’s pudgy mass is recycled into the adult features that are meshing together inside the tough shell of the chrysalis. The interior is, at this stage, mostly a nutrient soup, feeding the embryonic imaginal discs as they complete their delayed development into butterfly.
In our lives we can go through a similar experience of inner transformation that will first expose us to our own darkness. It's very easy to get stuck in these first intense stages as we hold on for dear life, when often what is required is a letting go.
In this sense depression and anxiety can be seen as part of that chrysalis, two of the drivers that can alert us that something is not right. When we are in the depths of despair, it is often hard to see it as movement of hope and opportunity.
This podcast shines a light onto the darker areas of the process that illuminates a path of hope, not just for the benefit of humanity, but also for the planet we live on and the impacts we have on it when we are not fully awake in life.
Life is for living and living is for life!
Thank you Paris.
Links -
https://cncl.info/
www.rethinkingmadness.com
Grants Website-
https://www.inconvenientminds.com.au/
This week we have a discussion with Dr Paris Williams. We discuss the transition that took Paris from world champion hang gliding athlete, to the depths of an intense personal inner transformation and awakening that led him on a journey of exploration of the human condition.
Paris attained degrees in ecology and psychology, specializing in humanistic, existential, transpersonal, somatic and ecological approaches to understanding human nature and healing, becoming a registered Clinical Psychologist and Hakomi Teacher. His exploration led him to conduct research on extreme states, trauma recovery and deep personal transformation, as a result he published the widely acclaimed book, Rethinking Madness.
The podcast theme revolves around human metamorphosis, interwoven with a message of hope for those people who suffer and struggle with self definition and purpose. This is one for both the athletic and general community. It speaks to power of coming to understand the deeper existential truths of the self that impact our enjoyment of the outside world, our place in it, and our impacts on it.
Many of us get stuck in our struggles or find ourselves falling down in life, however what we can fail to realise is that the fall is often a stage in a metamorphosis. The first stage in an important process of transmutation that can move us directly into our own power.
Paris uses a metaphor of the chrysalis in the stage of a caterpillar becoming a butterfly. In the chrysalis stage, the bulk of the caterpillar’s pudgy mass is recycled into the adult features that are meshing together inside the tough shell of the chrysalis. The interior is, at this stage, mostly a nutrient soup, feeding the embryonic imaginal discs as they complete their delayed development into butterfly.
In our lives we can go through a similar experience of inner transformation that will first expose us to our own darkness. It's very easy to get stuck in these first intense stages as we hold on for dear life, when often what is required is a letting go.
In this sense depression and anxiety can be seen as part of that chrysalis, two of the drivers that can alert us that something is not right. When we are in the depths of despair, it is often hard to see it as movement of hope and opportunity.
This podcast shines a light onto the darker areas of the process that illuminates a path of hope, not just for the benefit of humanity, but also for the planet we live on and the impacts we have on it when we are not fully awake in life.
Life is for living and living is for life!
Thank you Paris.
Links -
https://cncl.info/
www.rethinkingmadness.com
Grants Website-
https://www.inconvenientminds.com.au/
Previous Episode
RH Episode # 17 - Interview with Shawn Smith Athlete Manager
This week we have an interesting interview by Grant Giles with Shawn Smith, athlete manager and chief editor at Triathlon news website www.trizone.com.au.
In this podcast Shawn speaks openly about athlete management and shares the benefit of his experience.
We speak to the do's and dont's of building and maintaining athlete/sponsor relationships, and the importance of an effective coherent support team.
We also cover some ground from each stakeholders perspective, and the importance of gluing the whole thing together, so it becomes an add for all concerned, rather than a drain.
Shawn shares his advice for budding athletes and their support network, and we speak to the power of patience and resisting the temptation to bite off more than you can chew.
Many athletes rush the brass ring. There is often this propensity toward "making hay while the sun shines". We speak not only of the damage that this limited thinking can do to an athletic career, but also how that thinking and action can stunt your growth as an athlete. A stable financial career requires stability of mind and action, with a long haul overview being the path to longevity as an athlete.
Often the crush to make the bucks leads an athlete to a feast or famine mentality, that can mentally cloud an athletes path. This mindset often leads to rash decisions in the spur of the moment that make their development patterns messy and unsustainable.
Obviously an anxiety around the length of ones career leads to a perception of lack, however that perception is the same perception that rides an athletes back at races and makes it difficult for them to focus. Pressure wears many masks!
Shawn pulls the thing apart for you so you can get a bird's eye view into the blurry world of keeping everyone happy including yourself.
If you are an athlete, a coach, a supporter or part of an athletes family or support network, this one is aimed at you.
If you simply love the nature of sport, here is a view you don't often get to see from the sidelines.
Grants Website-
https://www.inconvenientminds.com.au/
Next Episode
RH Episode # 19 - Mark Turner - Fear and Doubt in High Performance Programs
This week we are talking to Mark Turner who has just finished a stint as Triathlon Scotland high performance coach.
In this podcast we wanted to open a non judgmental discussion about the nature of high performance sports programs and what can be done to remove the toxic elements of doubt and fear.
All sports programs, even down to the grassroots level, suffer from some degree of politics and conflict. Often we find that doubt is a personal driver that infects the collective. Doubt is the cynical thought process that leads to protective beliefs, and limits the expansive lateral thinking that leads to a well oiled collective machine that creates athletic success at the end of the chain.
Psychological safety is a big component within a well functioning collective. In this podcast we discuss the power of vulnerability, authenticity and honesty as a route to making a sustainable change to the high performance model, in order for us to best serve the purpose at the end of the chain; great, well adjusted, fully developed athletes that are capable of performing at the top level with a background of solidity and solidarity.
There is something in here for everyone, coaches, athletes and administrators at all levels.
Grants Website-
https://www.inconvenientminds.com.au/
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