Caitlin is a world-renowned Costume Designer whose work in film, opera and theater has appeared in venues including feature films,  the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Metropolitan Opera. Rod is a wildly talented actor whose work has been described by the New York Times as “dynamite,” “Physically precise and emotionally surprising,” and “kaleidoscopic”.

From Oct 18, 2011:

Hey Everyone;
Several months ago, we sent out an email entitled ‘Transformation (and Handel) Rocks’  – explaining our upcoming project and including some pictures – well…

We are very excited to now announce the launch of our music video!
(Click on the photos below to view larger versions.)

This is a music video featuring the work of the great Baroque composer George Frideric Handel (Georg Friedrich Händel- in German)  and 19th Century Norwegian composer Johan Halvorsen – and largely inspired by the fact that in the 1960’s Jimi Hendrix randomly discovered he was actually living in the house that had been Handel’s home 210 years earlier.  Working with young classical musicians whose world is deeply informed by the modern music of hip-hop and rock, yet equally informed by the music of the 18th and 19th centuries that they practice and perform everyday, we set out to make an MTV style video that addressed the juxtaposition of a great composer, the ghost of a 19th Century adapter, and a modern world where young musicians (and rock legends) keep Handel alive and relevant today.

It’s called ‘The Handel-Halvorsen Passacaglia’ and is a duet for cello and violin. It can be viewed in high definition (which on this project is really best):

Please click ‘Like’ if you like it and forward the link to your friends!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxO3CAAuh8k

We also just want to reiterate what we said before: In the Transformational Time and Project Management Workshop in May 2011, the Kanes posed the essential point that ‘passion’ – what inspires you, what moves you, what stops you in your tracks with awe – is often what we shove aside, in favor of the more reasonable items on our ‘to do’ list.

This video for us is a very real example of what can happen when you give your passions a chance, even when they are absolutely absurdly unreasonable, and, instead of operating from what you know, allow the universe to support you.

Thank you, again, Ariel and Shya for your amazing insight and completely unique perspective on life, and to everyone in this community.

Thanks!

Rod and Caitlin

Humor, passion, fun…what does this all have  to do with the projects on your to do list?  A whole lot more than we all thought.  Here are a few things we discovered:

1. If you stop expressing your passion for the things you love, your whole life gets smaller. AND all of the things you’re doing become mundane.  Life becomes about your laundry, rather than the colors and fabrics that inspired you about that clothing in the first place.

   Example: Ed is passionate about mountain biking. Mountain bikes can be expensive, it can be dangerous, time is precious…but by “unreasonably” going for his passion, he becomes more productive, effective & satisfied.

2. When you invest in yourself, the people around you get to share in your brilliance, and so do you!

   Example: Sandy got passionate about her business plan for the new shop she’s going to open in Germany.  Not only was she able to outline every detail of this idea that had only been a fantasy for the last 8 years, she was able to connect with people in the process and share this passion. This engaged their excitement and passions, as well.  She was able to explore the possibilities for her life, community and future.

3. Discovering your passion allows you to connect with a purpose in life that is bigger than yourself.  It pulls you out of your daily complaints, worries, fears and takes your attention off of yourself.  The shift from self-conscious to self-aware can happen in an instant.

   Example:  For Joe, working on cars is not only his profession, but a life-long passion.  Lenore, Joe’s wife, shared about how wonderful it is when he comes home after a long night of working in his garage.  She experiences his passion for how intimate he is with every detail of his work and what a thrill that connection is.  That transfers to how he interacts with her and, needless to say, she loves it.Passion is passion and it always creates intimacy if you share it.

DISCLAIMER: This is just a brief, spontaneous list of some of the things we are thrilled to have discovered.  But, like reading the menu in a restaurant, eating the dish is a whole other experience. Sooo….

We invite you to join us for the next workshop:

Intimacy
Dates: Friday – Sunday, June 10th, 11th & 12th, 2011
Time: Friday, 7pm-10pm, Saturday & Sunday: 9:45am-6pm
Fee: $425
Location: 630 Second Avenue at 35th Street, NYC
Register

Looking forward to meeting you,
Val, Ed, Sandy, Lenore, Stefanie, Joe & Karen

We had such an easy workshop this weekend. It was so cool for me to see how much I was habituated to working on myself that my mind kept wanting to come up with some problems, so that I could get up in front of the group and create some drama. With a room full of 91 participants you really have to get into action if you want to speak, but none of my “problems” were real enough to act on.  So I just kept pulling myself back into the moment, getting used to the fact that I don’t need fixing and I didn’t need to create a drama to get something out of the weekend.

Before the weekend I was very upset and thought everything was going wrong. I was having a hard time finding a shop (I am planning on opening a shop and haven’t found a suitable place for it yet), my teenage daughter wasn’t liking me, I wasn’t making money and everything felt heavy. Well, when I got home my daughter was fun and sweet, new possibilities showed up for shops, I got a job offer for doing a translation for the next day and things were sooo much more fun.

As I am part of the team that sells books at the workshop, I found myself near all the flyers.  I noticed that I kept looking at the flyer for the “Transformational Time and Project Management” workshop in New York. I also kept putting it back thinking “Nah, I can’t allow myself that.”  But I’ve been wanting to do it for years.  Then my friend Menna spoke about her first workshop and how she knew right away that she wanted to go to Costa Rica and that’s what she did. There was something in the way her eyes were sparkling and the strength she and her husband Arthur have from going for what they want – be it a workshop in Cambridge, a book contract, anything – that I just knew “I can do that too!” And now another friend Stefanie is inspired by me – Wow!

And one more thing inspired me: My boyfriend’s parents Henning and his wife Brigitte came to the weekend and are now both signing up for Costa Rica. They said they had discovered that THEY create their circumstances – not the other way around.

I would love for you all to be inspired to come and join us, especially if you live as close as New York!!! If we can have 91 people at the workshop in a city as small as Hamburg I wonder how many people we could be in such a BIG city like New York!

Love to you all!
Sandy

Ich genieße heute all die Self Express Emails und muss da einfach mitmachen!

Wir hatten so ein leichtes Workshop dieses Wochenende. Es war toll für mich zu sehen wie sehr ich daran gewöhnt bin an mir zu arbeiten, dass mein Kopf ständig Probleme finden wollte, damit ich aufstehen konnte um vor der Gruppe ein Drama zu produzieren. Wenn der Raum mit 91 Teilnehmern gefüllt ist, dann muss man sich richtig in Bewegung setzen wenn man reden möchte. Aber keine meiner “Probleme” waren echt genug, um dafür aufzustehen. Also brachte ich mich einfach immer wieder selbst in den Augenblick zurück, gewöhnte mich daran, dass es nichts an mir gibt an dem man arbeiten müsste und ich brauchte auch nicht ein Drama zu kreieren, um etwas vom Wochenende zu haben.

Vor dem Wochenende war ich ziemlich schlecht drauf und dachte, dass alles falsch läuft. Ich hatte Schwierigkeiten einen Laden zu finden, (ich beabsichtige einen Laden zu eröffnen und habe bisher noch keinen passenden Raum dafür gefunden), meine Teenager Tochter mochte mich nicht besonders gerne, I hatte kein Geld verdient und alles fühlte sich schwer an. Nun, als ich nach Hause kam war meine Tochter lustig und nett, neue Möglichkeiten für Läden hatten sich eröffnet, ich bekam ein Angebot eine Übersetzung am nächsten Tag zu machen und alles machte sooo sehr viel mehr Spaß.

Da ich im Team bin, dass beim Workshop die Bücher verkauft und da ganz nah an den ganzen Flyern stehe, hatte ich bemerkt, dass ich immer wieder den Flyer für das “Zeit und Projektmanagement” Workshop in New York in die Hand nahm und wieder weg legte mit dem Gedanken “Neeee, das kannst Du Dir nicht erlauben!” Aber ich wollte ihn schon seit Jahren machen. Dann sprach meine Freundin Menna über ihr erstes Workshop und wie sie gleich wusste, dass sie nach Costa Rica fahren wollte und das dann auch tat. Irgendetwas in der Art wie ihre Augen funkelten und die Stärke, die sie und ihr Mann Arthur daher haben, dass sie sich für das einsetzen was sie wollen – sei es ein Workshop in Cambridge, ein Buchvertrag, alles – sagte mir, dass ich das auch kann! Und jetzt wird auch noch Stefanie Ehrle von mir inspiriert – Wow!

Es gab da noch etwas das mich inspirierte: Mein Schwiegervater Henning und seine Frau Brigitte waren am Wochenende dabei und melden sich jetzt beide für Costa Rica an. Sie sagten, dass SIE ihre Umstände schaffen – nicht umgekehrt.

Ich würde mich freuen, wenn Ihr Euch alle dazu inspiriert fühlen würdet und mitkämt, besonders wenn Ihr so nah wohnt wie New York!!! Wenn wir in so einer kleinen Stadt wie Hamburg 91 Teilnehmer haben können, dann frage ich mich wie viele wir wohl in einer großen Stadt wie New York haben könnten!

Alles Liebe an Euch alle!

Sandy

Hearing that Sandy is coming inspired me so much. She is so busy and short of time and is opening a new business soon, which will be a huge investment, but if she can do it – I can do it!?  I immediately booked my flight and just registered.   And it feels so good!   I even have the impression, that my crowded desk lightened up.  The course starts, when you register, isn’t that amazing?

All those endless possibilities that life offers to us, including these great amazing workshops of Ariel & Shya, I don’t want to loose it, I want to use it.  ??Join me!  ??We just had this wonderful workshops here in Hamburg, Germany; so fluid, rich and full of transformation, and this continues in my life.?  It’s not just magic happening during a workshop, it follows me in my day to day life and it feels better than ever.??  I’m very much looking forward to see many of you on that week-end in New York (April 30th, and May 1st. Of course I’m also staying for the Monday Night Alive.)

Lots of love and excitement from Hamburg,
Stefanie

heute morgen hörte ich, dass Sandy Saffeels aus München zum Kurs “Transformatinal Time and Project Management” nach New York kommt.  Seit Wochen denke ich darüber nach, dass ich da ebenfalls hingehen möchte, aber dann hat mir mein vernünftiger Kopf dazwischen gefunkt und das Verlangen weggeschoben. Dieser Gedanke: “Du kannst nicht gehen, du hast zuviel zu tun und zu wenig Zeit.”
Das ist wirklich so lustig, oft wenn mir Leute sagen, weshalb sie nicht zum Workshop kommen können weil… (fügt irgendeinen vernünftigen Grund ein), dann denke ich in meinem Herzen, dies ist genau der Grund, weshalb sie kommen sollten.
Und ich mach es genauso! Yeah, so viel zu tun und so wenig Zeit, es ist wirklich Zeit für den Zeit- und Projektmangement-Kurs!
Zu lesen, dass Sandy kommen wird, hat mich so inspirieret. Sie ist viel beschäftigt und knapp an Zeit und eröffnet bald ihren neuen Laden, was eine große Investition darstellt, aber wenn sie es kann – dann kann ich es auch!
Ich habe sofort meinen Flug gebucht und habe mich soeben angemeldet. Und es fühlt sich so gut an! Ich habe sogar den Eindruck, dass sich mein vollgehäufter Schreibtisch aufgehellt hat. Der Kurs beginnt, wenn man sich anmeldet, ist das nicht erstaunlich?
All diese unendlichen Möglichkeiten die das Leben anbietet, einschließlich dieser großartigen unglaublichen Workshops von Ariel & Shya, und ich möchte das nicht verlieren, ich möchte es nutzen.

Kommt mit mir mit!

Wir hatten gerade diese wunderbaren Workshops hier in Hamburg, so fließend, reich und erfüllt von Transformation, und dies setzt sich in meinem Leben fort.
Es ist nicht einfach nur Magie, die während eines Workshops geschieht, es folgt mir in mein Alltagsleben und es fühlt sich besser an denn je.

Ich freue mich sehr darauf, viele von euch am Wochenende in New York zu sehen (30. April und 1. Mai. Und selbstverständlich bleibe ich auch für den “Lebendigen Montagabend“.)

Ich komme Donnerstag nachmittag an und reise am Dienstag nachmittag wieder ab, es wäre großartig, wenn jemand einen Platz für mich zum Übernachten hat, lasst es mich einfach wissen.

Ganz viel Liebe und Freude aus Hamburg

Stefanie

I had an interesting experience today that I thought you might appreciate. Completely by accident I have started cleaning houses for people to make a little extra money. I am enjoying it because it is flexible, and I make much more money than I ever have before! I started with one person and the word spread and now I have 5 clients.

I clean for a law office once a week and the secretary is the one who pays me. Today she called me sounding quite frantic. She said, “Can you clean my house this afternoon, my mom is sick, my boys are coming over tomorrow, I haven’t cleaned in at least a month, I haven’t put away any of my laundry and my dishes are overflowing. I feel so completely overwhelmed!” So I agreed to go over and put her laundry away, etc. When I went in, it wasn’t such a cluttered house, but it was a bit overwhelming because there was a pile of clean laundry 3 ft high on the floor and the rugs needed badly to be vacuumed. But because it wasn’t my mess, and I was getting paid to do it, I just set to it. I would have thought it would take me 5 hours to do everything. But I just kept doing one thing after another and within 2 hours the house looked much better. I realized that Jennifer had probably been worrying about it for hours or even days, and it only took 2 hours! It made me realize how energy zapping my own procrastination is. So many things that I could just do, and then forget about, linger on for days.

Also, lately, I have been taking reiki classes, and I would like to become a yoga instructor. This experience made me realize that I can be a healer in many other kinds of situations. Making my client’s house a place she would like to be in made me feel good and like I was making her life just a little bit easier.

Kirsten

I want to share a story with you that happened yesterday. For 8 weeks I work for company that does IT and logistics consulting. On Monday I got a proposal for a project in the German army and yesterday I got all the attachments for the proposal that said what to do in this project. I was really overwhelmed when reading all the 30 attachments and noticed that it is a project that is worth about 7 million Euro (9 million $). I was so impressed that I did not know how to start and I couldn’t do anything to bring the project forward. When I came home I felt sad and I talked with Dorina, my girlfriend, about what happened at work. I told her about my fear, that I cannot handle the work and that the project is too big for me. What Dorina told me was just brilliant. She said, I should just start working and structure all the work, because than I can see where I need help and can ask colleagues to support me. That was what I did this morning. I just took the biggest attachment with the most requirements, read through it and made a mind map on my computer to see what the work is all about. After having done this, I’m very clear about what to do next and made some appointments with colleagues that will support my work. It just took a bit more than one hour to have all the work structured and it was so easy. Now I know what the next steps are and it seems that the “problem” of really complex work isn’t a problem anymore.

It is really like Ariel and Shya say, if you can see something, like my fear that I cannot handle my work, and if you don’t judge it, it disappears. My fear is really gone and to work in this project is a lot of fun this morning.

Thank you all and especially thank you Ariel and Shya for all the support. I couldn’t do this without you.

Love and a big hug,
Norman

I want to share some exciting news with you.

After working over 13 years mostly as an actor, I got a new job in Europe’s biggest and most beautiful Spa and Treatment Center near Cologne. The name is Mediterana. For the opening of a new Indian section at the end of August they are building a new team called ‘The Buddha team’ that I am part of. I will be responsible for reception desk, looking after guests, special happenings in the saunas and meditation.

I am also still working on stage; I am playing a very nice part in Pippi Longstocking in a beautiful outside area in the countryside. I auditioned a lot this year for theater jobs and got the most brilliant feedback ever since.

When the possibility of working in the spa showed up, I first hesitated to go to the interview because for working there you usually need in advance a certificate in life-saving, which includes among others 82 feet of diving.  My brain told me that I would never be able to do that: staying under water to swim that distance.  Then I saw that I told myself a lot of stories before that were not true – for example that I can’t ride a horse (something I did almost every morning in Costa Rica this year).  Not to mention that I have to be on stage with Pippi’s horse “Little Old Man” this summer.

So I decided to not listen to that garbage, went to the interview and the most amazing thing happened: When I was there, they told me about the new Buddha-Team that they are going to create, and that they want me to work on that one.  As opposed to the other teams, the Buddha team is not working at the swimming pools and I don’t need the life-saving certificate to get started.  If necessary I can get trained for the certificate during work and I am looking forward to swim 82 feet under water one day.

After I came back from the interview (which, by the way, went very well and lasted more than an hour), I got a phone call and a theater in Kassel (155 miles away from Cologne) offered me two very interesting parts in a play and a musical show for four months.
The next day I got the offer to play a tour around the Christmas Season.

But I decided to go for the new experience in the Wellness Center. I am very excited, because the people there were so much a YES to me and I am having a new possibility in earning money and starting something new and totally different.  I am sure, that this will support me in life and also my acting carreer that I am not giving up.

Thanks everybody and especially Ariel and Shya for for showing me that there are always so many more possibilities than I think.

I am looking forward to seeing a lot of you at the Art of Relating Workshop in September in Hamburg. When you know that this is something you want to do and are not signed up yet – do it! Come! Give yourself the gift!

Love,
Arne

I would like to share what happened last week for me in my new job.

As some of you might know, I had the opportunity to change jobs on July 1st within the Procter and Gamble Company to become the assistant of the Global Human Resources Director at Wella, the hair care company.  That itself is already thrilling, but also my first project was to organize the global leadership team Meeting (24 people) for 3 days in a very nice hotel near Frankfurt, Germany.

The intent was that the new global Wella director would meet all of his leadership team members (Wella country leaders, head of external communications, chief of supply chain management, etc.) so that they could define how to work together in the future to archive their goals.

So my first project was to find the hotel, organize an event agency to have some teambuilding activities, put presentations together, organize prizes for a little award ceremony afterwards, organize and coordinate shuttles, prepare logistic stuff (beamers, loudspeakers, laptops, videos), and much more .

And what shall I say? It was a full success!

After the 3 days, they called me and I entered the conference room. I thought, they had finished and I could pack everything together. But everybody was still seated and then Sonja, my boss, said  “and now a big applause for Hilli, who organized everything so perfectly”. The crowd gave me standing ovations! Then Kevin, the new Global Wella director, said that I did an amazing job. It was incredible that I have been there for only a few weeks now. I did so much to make this event a big success and “although you are here for such a short period of time, you handled everything like a total Pro!” I took a bow and said “Thank you so much. It was my pleasure and I had a lot of fun”.

Additionally Kevin gave me an envelope with a personal letter of him, saying thank you again:  “I liked the venue very much and you handled so many details to make this week a big success. All the logistics were handled with perfection.”

The next morning I had another email from my boss Sonja, saying “Thank you again for the perfect organization and your always open and friendly manner. I am so happy to have you in my team!”

I felt so connected to everybody and also received very nice emails from the participants, being back at home. It was a great start to work there and to get to know the people.

But without transformation and all the skills I learned through Ariel and Shya, it would never have been possible.  Share transformation, it makes a difference: for yourself and for other people!  Thank you Ariel and Shya and Thanks to all of you for being in my life!

Love,
Hilli