Extracts from verbatim interviews

 

“Someone looking from the outside-in would say nothing has changed. You are still with the same husband. You are still in the same job, you are still parenting the same children. You are still in the same house and you have the same car. On the face of it nothing has changed. But my attitude to it all has transformed…”

 

“I was coming out of a 17-year relationship and feeling deeply confused and very sad, but a few days after doing the weekend I went to see this person, and we had a deep heart-to-heart the nature of which we never had in 17 years. Our relationship shifted from that moment on and has never been the same: there is love and respect I don’t believe I would have ever had for him without More To Life, and I don’t believe we could have gone on to create an extended family in the way we have. Now I use the programme for more creative purposes – to see how I can create more vitality in my life, and it still continues to be a life-transforming experience…“

 

“I was so struck by the presence of all those people and the huge waves of compassion that everyone feels, the unconditional love & support, so by the end of day one you all know you can say anything in that environment. It is so lovely to have all walks of life, a whole cross-section, all ages, both sexes, like a little slice of humanity, all prepared to listen and forgive no matter what you have said, forgive and help you understand that it was OK. You feel more free afterwards in everyday society because it doesn’t matter what a person is like, you know you could be close to them, whatever they are like…”

 

“The compassionate surroundings with people hearing and seeing and expressing themselves to a big number of other people, including even shameful things they may have discovered about themselves is immensely powerful and liberating. Also the incisive support from the trainers. They just spot something you may be telling yourself that isn’t true, and you get to look at it, and understand why it is not true, and then it is gone forever. It makes you feel more part of humanity, part of life, and its huge diversity. It is a fabulous thing to experience, and something I am left wishing the whole world could experience, it is so wonderful, and so unique…”

 

“More To Life is fantastic for the mind-body-spirit triad thing. I was a very heady person and working in a very heady environment and I now see very clearly that I need to look after my body. I am not a particularly sporty person and I had no particular proclivity that way but I now I see that I do need to walk, or swim, or cycle, and if I don’t my body really tells me “no”, and I hear it now…”

 

“One person, when the trainer was asking questions, I was predicting her answers, and I found I knew what she was going to say because I identified so closely with her and how she was. I found this a very revealing experience. I have had five years of therapy and read loads of books, but my friend who introduced me said “this is experiential” – and that word, I somehow knew that’s what I needed. What you hear is so real, you have not read it in a book, and I have a tendency to intellectualise. So for me, although listening to people does facilitate general compassion, what it really did was help me be more compassionate toward myself, because I see that I am doing exactly what they are doing. I am taken out of my head and into my body, it’s a very embodied, visceral response…”

 

“I have changed enormously since doing more to life and what my friends tell me is that when things happen I have a way of looking at them and dealing with them – I don’t get so upset, thrown, disorientated, or challenged as I used to do – well, I do get challenged but I have a base to stand on, that I didn’t have. It’s like I have solid, firm ground to stand on so that when things happen I have ways of dealing with them and I don’t get knocked off…”

 

Extracts from verbatim interviews with participants of the More To Life Weekend by psychotherapist Helen Slater in a study for Leeds Metropolitan University.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The More To Life Weekend

 

The More To Life Weekend is a powerful learning experience which reveals the hidden creative potential in every life situation. It teaches you a new way of seeing and a new way of being that allows you to get more out of your life in every way.

 

 

There is a creative energy at the heart of life which flows through us when we are open to it. The course teaches highly effective and simple practices that will help you do this in your life every day, so you bring your best self forward, create more of what matters to you, and contribute more to the people who matter to you.

 

HOW IT WORKS

 

The More To Life Weekend does not try to “motivate” you to try harder, or achieve more. Instead it shows you how to free yourself from habits of thinking that get in the way of your ability to respond to life.

You may already be aware of patterns of behavior and limiting beliefs about yourself and others which may be stopping you from being all you can be. They have been at work in you since childhood, to the point where they seem to be part of you.

 

 

The course works by helping you understand and challenge these beliefs and correct them according to what your adult self knows to be true. The result is a deeper self-awareness and the clarity to make choices that reflect your real wants and goals.

 

The techniques involved are simple, and always under your control. And once mastered, they can be applied in every situation and any encounter, from your family life to the workplace.  What you learn is summarized on a set of free CDs for you to keep and use, and practice groups are available to help you deepen your skills over time. The tools of this course will continue to deliver profound benefits for as long as you choose to apply them. You will be able to:

• clarify your decision-making and stay true to yourself in everyday life

• make creative choices in situations where the options seem limited

• practice self-forgiveness and resolve conflicts in your relationships

• connect with your deeper purposes, and express them through what you do

• keep generating new possibilities for yourself and others

 

WHAT THE COURSE IS LIKE

 

 

Life today is full of pressure, with less and less time for personal connection. This course is structured to give you time: time to connect with yourself, time to reflect on the way your life has developed, and time to listen and learn from others.  Part of the weekend is spent just listening to the life experience of other participants. With expert guidance from two uniquely committed and qualified course leaders, you learn from  one another’s stories and apply their learnings to your own personal circumstances.

 

 

Another part is devoted to practicing the tools and skills of the course – you do this at your own pace, with help from members of the Support Team if you want this.  Finally you will also have time to develop new intentions and purposes for your life, with concrete tools to support you in achieving your personal goals.

Participants say that the shifts of perspective they experience during this weekend course continue to serve them in every significant aspiration they pursue.  It will deliver a new vision for your life that will enrich your sense of purpose, transform your personal effectiveness, and generate a new and lasting sense of inner happiness and peace.