bliss Spiritual Co-op

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When we turn our attention inward, withdrawing from the outer world, to focus on our breathing we enter the mind-body where heart and soul can be accessed without fear, favor, judgment or prejudice. So often we keep ‘hidden’ our true feelings and thoughts, wishes and fears, and consequently miss
knowing our truer self or SoulSelf. This lack of experience keeps our identity of ourselves in the grips of the False Self (who I think/fear I am).

Conscious breathing relaxes our fears’ grip on the unknown interior life and gently opens our hearts and minds to making contact with our truth/True Self, our unspoken thoughts and dreams. In this one-hour class you will never be asked to share your experiences, unless you want to, but bring pen and paper to take notes. The Authentic Self is where our autonomous agency, Free Will/Won’t can be found. And because there is no separation in truth/integrity (“Nothing real can be threatened; nothing unreal exists.” From ACIM) we can let the truth come into our hearts and minds without the False Self needing to maintain its defenses against our imagined fears. And remembering that we are the ‘meaning-makers’ in our lives, we retain our ‘authority’ on the meaning, significance, validity of our experiences. Pierre Teillhard de Chardin (1881- 1955), French Jesuit, Catholic priest, scientist, paleontologist, philosopher, mystic and teacher, postulated that we are entering an evolutionary stage in our development as a sentient species that is dominated by consciousness, the mind, and interpersonal authenticity and integration of all previous levels of geological, biological, human and technological activities into a new level of planetary functioning. If this idea resonates with your thinking, feeling, knowing truth, then come join us.

Facilitator: Dr. Diane Hamrick, dr.dhamrick@gmail.com, (843) 209-8347

I came to Charleston, SC, from LA, California in 1970 with a vision of making a difference in a town that I perceived to be 50 years behind in its collective consciousness from what I had experienced in LA.

I completed my Ph.D. research at MUSC where I studied the (calming) of the orienting response (startle response) in children—a neurological requirement for all ensuing learning and successful adaptation. This led to my starting Pie-in-the-Sky, an open-classroom preschool where I could observe the natural learning behaviors in children. The school was a
subsidiary of Further, Inc. that organized and operated the HOTLINE of Charleston, a suicide prevention center.

My private psychotherapy practice specialized in the diagnosis and remediation of Learning Disabilities in children and writing the educational plans for LD children. I became a Teaching Member of the International Transactional Analysis Association (based on Carl Jung’s theory and practices of clinical ego analysis and therapy) and applied TA toward the collaborative practices required for reaching mediated settlements in divorce cases. Parents were better than the Family Courts in prescribing how they were to separate their assets and debts and how best to raise their children after divorce. At the same time, I became involved in establishing Hospice of Charleston, a caring service where people could prepare to make their transition from their life consciously and conscientiously.

I took a sabbatical to study the application of Buddhism in my psychotherapy practice, and, at the same time, I began my study of A Course in Miracles. I realized that all diseases of the mind and body begin in conflict within the mind and body and between egos identified with fear and struggling with the illusion of separation from one’s wholeness while identifying with the unforgiven and unforgiving, fearful, false self (ego identity) and struggling with issues of loneliness, alienation and betrayal incurred along the way. For 10 years I taught a course at the College of Charleston, “States of Consciousness,” that traced how Western thought systems maintained the notion of the separated, rational mind practices that maintained the illusion of
a separated, quantifiable, objective reality; whereas Eastern thought practices of meditation and yoga could lead one to experiences of integration and extended consciousness.

A midlife Vision Quest showed me that the practices of self-analysis in human nature, mediating between the inner reality of mind and body and the outer reality of having to adapt to the man-made reality, were supported with meditation and deep breathing and a prayer life of Serenity and Gratitude that includes the acceptance and forgiveness of our destructive habits (much like the AA 12-Steps) and can bring us to our peace of mind and realization (Wisdom) of our purpose for which our natural lives were designed while we live our brief time on earth.

I have come to consider myself an evolutionary humanist, a more holistic practitioner than the behavioral ego psychologist I was taught to be in my limited training as a clinical psychologist. However, a course in Existential Psychology inspired me to seek my identity through searching and identifying the meaning and purpose for my life.