ChoicePoints April 2004

"Telling ourselves the truth is an act of courage; telling our truth out loud to other people is an act of transformation."  Louise LeBrun

This issue released: Wednesday April 7, 2004

Spotlight On - people, products and pronouncements
Today's Thought
Coming Attractions!
Quick Updates
Did you know? - arcane tidbits for fun & frolic
Thought Waves

Spotlight On — Lynette Thayer and Telling Your Story

There may be times when you find yourself curious about our Portals Passages experiences and wonder... 'what difference would it make in my life?' Perhaps it will help to give you some sense of the magnitude of how your life can change in just a short period of time. 'Telling Your Story' is a new business venture created by Lynette Thayer and born of her recently completed experience of the first three program intensives. In her own words, Lynette shares her results with us all!

"In the past year my life has taken on new dimensions. Attending Influencing With Intention was really a desperate measure for me. I knew my life Had to change, and I knew being with Louise and Gwen was a safe place to share that desperation. I had a lot of self clearing to do and Louise and Gwen were right there "making it up as we go along" and layer by layer, it cleared! All I had to do was be willing to let go and trust myself and them. Of course my group was wonderful and as you know, each of you were there for a reason. Letting go is not always an easy task - but what did I have to loose? Allister, thanks for the deep breathing lesson.

Towards the last few days I awoke to a vision of a scrapbook store with a difference: a place where different cultures would be able to come together and people would be able to tell their individual stories in the form of pictures, memorabilia, printed words, creative paper, but it will be theirs to tell. All the details were there -- hours of operation, ages able to utilize the store, and even a draft of the store layout. Up on flipchart paper went a picture of my vision in all its glory, home in my suit case, and up on my wall so I could see it every day. Now, as things go, there have been some turns and there was one valley, but everything happens for a reason.

Today, I am busy preparing the final details for the April 19th launch of

Telling Your Story
10675 Belleville Rd.
Belleville, MI 48111
ph: 734-699-7043
e-mail: lthayercm@aol.com

My Influencing with Intention experience was monumental for me. It changed my life, ...no, it actually gave me my life. I was able to see how one thing led to another. I was able to put into perspective my childhood and the roles people played in it. I was able to identify life for me in "Women In The Neighborhood" and so importantly, what I have to have in order to live. All this in 9 days and within my own comfort zone. Many blessings and thanks to all!"

Lynette Thayer

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Today's Thought

"We must be willing to let go of the life we have planned,
so as to accept the life that is waiting for us"


Joseph Campbell

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Coming Attractions!

We are pleased to offer you the following seminars, workshops and programs. Each one designed to provide thought-provoking and life altering experiences for your on-going personal and professional development.

WEL-Systems Experiences: April to June

Resourcefulness in Action
WEL-Systems Coaching Practicum
April 15 - 23
Igniting the Self
WEL-Systems:NLP Practitioner Certification
April 17 - 23
Influencing with Intention
WEL-Systems Master Facilitator Certification
April 26-May 2
The Power of One
WEL-Systems Change Agent™ certification
May 12 - 13
Communicating with Intention
…creating a context for results
May 27
Self Healing for Mind, Body, Spirit
a Wellness Experience
May 29 - 30
Taking Care of Business
…results, resourcefulness & reality
June 8
Connecting with Confidence
…creating a context for results
June 17
Reclaiming Personal Power
link between self-esteem and personal effectiveness
June 19
Your Self Directed Career
…creating work that works for you
June 22
From Survival to Thrival
…creating, flourishing, growing - with Less Stress, More Life 
June 29


The listing above only shows the first scheduled date. For more details and the complete program schedule, see www.WEL-Systems.com/schedule.htm

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Quick Updates

Catalyst for Change - January 2005

If you are currently thinking of being part of the January 2005 Catalyst For Change experience, please note that our up-coming Resourcefulness in Action (July 15-23) and Influencing with Intention (July 26-Aug 1) programs are your last opportunity in 2004 to qualify for entry. Whether you are a NLP Practitioner, WEL-Systems:NLP Practitioner, WEL-Systems:NLP Master Practitioner or carry a WEL-Systems Master Facilitator designation, these experiences will bring you up-to-date on new information and prepare you for the profound and life-altering experience of Catalyst. There is limited space available in these small group intensives, and Resourcefulness in Action is expected to be sold out by the end of May.

More information on these programs is available at: www.portalspassages.com/programs. If you'd like to explore what other clients have experienced, visit: www.portalspassages.com/Discoveries. As always, we are just a phone call or email away if you have questions or curiosities you'd like to explore with us.


Two New Books from The WEL-Systems Institute

We have sent two new books to the printers and have begun to accept orders as we wait for the production copies to arrive; look for more information to be available next month. The following provides a brief summary of what is to come ...

Those of you who have enjoyed the times when Louise saddles up one of her ponies and goes for a ride will definitely welcome the latest contribution from Louise LeBrun. And those of you who have not yet had the pleasure are about to have the opportunity to partake in the barbecuing of many sacred cows with When the Horse Dies, Get Off... and stop dragging it around!. Whether it is parenting, relationships, the school system or our medical system, you can count on Louise to bring a breath of fresh air to how we view these issues. This is a read that promises to be challenging, humorous, thought provoking, potentially terrifying in its implications and refreshingly candid in an era of stiltifying political correctness. Definitely not to be missed if you care about the quality of your life!

More and more people are becoming aware of the power and potency of The CODE Model™ to help us live more authentic lives, always aware that there is more. Yet many remain uncertain how to work with it for themselves and for others. Many are still looking for that something that will make the difference they seek. In The Alchemy of Energy, Gwen McCauley explores The CODE Model in depth, creating a practical and informative guide for working with this tool for both personal growth and increased effectiveness in coaching others. Drawing on her extensive background of one-on-one coaching, small group and program facilitating, Gwen provides in-depth information, tables and figures that illuminate, compelling stories, and invitations to experience. This is definitely a resource book that will encourage you to press your edges and support you in doing so. If you work with others it is an indispensible guide to making a difference.

Special Offer: Until June 1, 2004,
You can purchase a pre-production copy of either When the Horse Dies, Get Off or
The Alchemy of Energy for the reduced price of US$15.00/CDN$20.00;
after June 1st the retail price is US$21.95/CDN$29.95.
additional costs include taxes and US$5.00/CDN$6.00 shipping/handling charge added for the first book plus $1.00 for each additional book sent to the same address.
Books will be shipped June 15, 2004.

To order your copy, call Toll Free (US and Canada) 1-877-233-2005 or Email Books@WEL-Systems.com


WEL-Systems Change Agent Certification

The modular WEL-Systems Change Agent™ certification series is about to begin again. Our next 2-day The Power of One base module is scheduled for May 12-13. And based on your needs and interests, you select any two 1-day modules from the list below and combine them with The Power of One to achieve certification. Remember that you can enter the program at any point or register for the entire certification:

Taking Care of Business in Changing Times June 8th
Connecting with Confidence June 17th
Communicating with Intention May 27th
Your Self Directed Career June 22nd
From Survival to Thrival June 29th

If you want to become an agent of change in an organizational context -- or if you'd like recognition for who you're already being, and would like more information, visit www.progenerations.com/programs/CA.htm.


Self Healing for Body, Mind and Spirit, May 29 & 30th

This is your invitation to join Louise in a WEL-Systems experience for personal wellness. If you are experiencing challenges of the body, mind or Spirit; and/or provide support services in this area and want a new and powerful perspective, Self Healing for Body, Mind and Spirit has much to offer.

This two-day program provides cutting-edge information from the Quantum sciences as well as a facilitated conversation and guided meditations for accelerated consciousness, mindful living and personal wellbeing.

Providing a WEL-Systems perspective, and framed by the proven processes of The CODE Model™ and Quantum TLC™, participants are invited to sit back, relax and allow the body to do what it's designed to do. We soon discover that the greatest challenge we face is getting out of our own way! Whether your concerns are of the body (physical dis-ease), the mind (psychological/emotional) or of the spirit (energetic), this is the place to be to explore it all! In an Open Forum approach, the invitation is to discover new information, ask the questions that matter to you and allow yourself to be guided through a number of deep, meditative processes to open the flow for wellness. For more information, see the web page: www.tidepoolresources.com/programs/self.htm


Coming to Halifax, Nova Scotia in June 2004

If you're in the Halifax region and want a personal experience of mindful living, Louise will be facilitating Self Healing for Body, Mind and Spirit June 12 and 13. Bring your family, friends and/or colleagues and join her at the Radisson Suites hotel for this rare opportunity to participate in this program with the creator of a WEL-Systems® approach to living consciously! Click here for more information

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Did you know?

That creativity can be "created" in predictable ways?

Last month we were reminded of the power of the individual to create widespread, meaningful change in the world based on their creativity. It got me thinking about what it takes to be creative ...and whether creativity is an innate capacity or something we can develop. Interestingly, I've had Willis Harman's book "Higher Creativity" in my possession for some time and it is required reading for one of our program experiences. In a creative moment, I began to re-read certain sections and discovered (again) that way back in 1961 Carl Rogers had defined 5 conditions for constructive creativity. They are: Openness to Experience [tolerance for ambiguity and ability to receive conflicting information without forcing closure (I agree; I don't believe, etc.)]; Internal Locus of Evaluation [what's 'right' is based on our own evaluation not the praise or criticism of others]; Ability to Toy with Elements and Concepts [ability to play spontaneously with ideas, to juxtapose opposites and elements, to consider improbables]. These must occur where there is Psychological Safety [acceptance of worth, empathy] and Psychological Freedom [permission to be free and responsible, to be afraid, to be wrong, to feel confused].

Where I part company with my friend Carl is that he attributes the last two conditions as being necessary from the outside world. I believe and know from my own personal experience that first these must come from inside. Only when I can accept my worth and feel empathy for myself do I feel true safety in this world. Only when I can allow myself to claim my fear, to make mistakes and to feel confused do I feel free. I know how creative my life has become from creating my own safety and freedom. Where are you in "creating" your own creativity?

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Thought Waves

The following is the third installment of a four-part article that chronicles one person's journey of discovery through the four program levels of Portals Passages - intensives for accelerated consciousness and generative change. Koreen Kimakowich is an experienced police officer, with a long career in working with others in often difficult and sometimes dangerous situations. A Certified WEL-Systems Catalyst and CODE Model Coach™, Koreen shares her evolution with you and invites you to consider the potential for your own. This month, Koreen shares her Influencing With Intention experience.

The Passage Way Back to Me - Part III

Influencing With Intention (IWI) - The ability to stand alone

This is where for me, with the discoveries from ITS and RIA still very fresh, I became a knower of the power of my mind-body. My intellect, while it has a role to play, became for me the 'speaker' of the messages that my body carries and the truth that it offers up for my acceleration of consciousness. My intellect speaks what my body has to say.

Having come to that realization, I began to observe this notion of staying in the tough conversations while at the same time, following my own impulse and ultimately speaking my truth. Following my own impulse and ultimately speaking my truth, is seemingly a simple enough process. Yet, it's one thing to know you have that choice and quite another to actually choose it, out loud where others can now 'hear' your thoughts, once the body has shared with you internally your impulse and your truth. It is in the moment of living - moment to moment - and telling the truth of your experience… that is where standing alone unfolds.

A very effortless, yet telling example of this as you read is to take a moment and ask yourself now, how many times in your daily exchanges with others have you found yourself saying, "yes", when you really meant, "no". In other words, with all kinds of bells and whistles going off in your body saying "whoa, you don't really want to do/be this", you engage in it anyway. This is "biography becoming biology" (Carolyn Myss, Anatomy of the Spirit). You may not associate that stabbing pain in your chest with the overt act of going against the body but I tell you, there is a correlation. It is speaking loud and clear… are you listening?

So with IWI, the self that I had come back to, up to that point, engaged with the other selves, who were also coming into their "selves". At about day three or four, after having experienced the program conversation on Meta Programs and specifically the filters of Safe/Dangerous whereby all of our mind-body processing passes through this filter first, I experienced what I would call my very significant and telling Third Wave.

In this moment where I believed my intellect to be focused, attentive and comprehending the words of the facilitator, in that moment - in one fell swoop! - I experienced an activity in my body that literally had me feel what I would describe as an overwhelming gust of wind lifting me off my feet. Though in this moment, imagine that occurring inside your body! That was me in that moment, and with that wave of energy speaking loudly and truthfully to me, I spoke out loud, with my voice and with language, releasing from my vocal chords were words that startled me. They were my truth in that moment and in all of my moments before and the words were this, "it was no longer safe for me to speak". That was all about the 'knowing' and certainty in my body and yet having learned that it was not safe to share that truth out loud. I had created, and intelligently so, a world outside of me that did not allow for error, or possibly being wrong. Silence again.

The moments that followed were like no other I had ever been given permission to have. I know the second chakra to hold Family Systems, and it is where we find the element of water, water being the healing element. Interesting then isn't it that in my family system, I was to be seen and not heard… and the tears of me gushed from my eyes in those moments. We know voice/sound to be Choice, and we know without breath there is no space - no room - for sound. So in those moments where permission was not required, I fell helplessly and willingly into me… at the very core of powerlessness that I felt about all that I knew, I knew. In the program room, it became an ocean of tears that fell about my feet and around me. And sounds I had not heard myself make came from within me with a force that, without the breathing, I could not have made...creating space. When the processing was complete, I realized the space that was created allowed what I came to know as the 'wind' of me to move about my internal self, the healing element of water… and ultimately the ocean at my feet, the beautiful waves of water, which fell as tears were now mine to dive into and play, and again magic occurred. Another step back into me… and another beautiful element of me returned, and I moved even closer to being authentically my Self.

It became clear that breathing, following the impulse and allowing myself to know the truth of my experience was essential to any and all evolution. In language, outside of the experience I describe above, it is breathing that created the space, following the impulse for me became about sensing the wave and letting it give the message, and then out loud or to my self, be true to the message. The body does not lie. Pay attention to and live out the message, as I did as it presented itself to me in my body, absent of my intellect that runs on many filters and external referencing.

I can say, unequivocally, that had I allowed my intellect to have its way in the moments leading up to my Third Wave, I would not have experienced the freeing of my previously muted voice.

Koreen Kimakowich
December 2003

Part III - Influencing With Intention - will appear in the April issue of ChoicePoints

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