Awakening to the truth about intimate relationships

If you’ve been struggling to find a love that lasts and been disappointed in intimate relationships, by unfinished business, unresolved resentment or debilitating grief, do not despair. There is a way back to clarity, peace of mind and the confidence to try again….
 

Tribal beginnings

Turning to our ancestors will shed some light. When human beings lived in tribal culture the tribe gave our lives stability, meaning, and sense of belonging. Good relationships between intimate partners were matters of tribal importance because they were essential to its survival. So tribal elders played a role in matchmaking young couples and provided emotional and spiritual guidance if it was needed, or asked the shaman to journey for healing for them. Love was expected to grow after commitment, romance and then children (in that order) and children received a balanced upbringing from the whole tribe.

In society today most intimate relationships start with exploration, then romance, strife after the honeymoon period, then commitment or not, and the end. We all seem to manage the first three stages but struggle with commitment and endings.

Research by shamanic practitioner, Paul Hayward shows that the rise in failing relationships is directly related to our loss of tribal community. Given the wide variation in the modern and ancient ways of starting a partnership it’s hardly surprising.

Clearly it’s not possible or desirable to return to tribal living but we can still tap into some of the resources and wisdom our ancestors used and do our best to foster community in the places that we live.

 

What are Beautiful Relationships?

Today’s shamanic practitioners carry on the tradition of those tribal elders and shamans of old. And Paul Hayward is a shamanic practitioner with a calling and a message.

During his workshops Paul facilitates the ancient techniques of journeying to the ancestors for advice and insight, for couples or singles seeking solutions to problems in love and relating. He calls this pioneering work Beautiful Relationships.

 

Healthy Relationships

Paul says, “All relationships are beautiful in that they offer us the possibility of valuable teachings, but not all relationships are healthy”.

A healthy relationship is a secure place where we feel rock solid, where both parties are totally authentic, supportive, open, and respectful. Having the character traits of integrity, honesty, compassion, appreciation and gratitude are vital; and as Kahlil Gibran puts it, “Let there be spaces in your togetherness”.

Paul’s says that with all this in place you’ve got a strong foundation but it will still only give you a comfortable relationship. The key to a healthy relationship is mutual spiritual nourishment.

“A healthy relationship is where both people are nurturing each other’s spiritual development so they can ripen together naturally like seasoned fruits. It is a haven from which we can be fulfilled as human beings,” says Paul.

 

Settling for unhealthy relationships

In ancient times the more children the more chance the tribe had of survival. So our physiology is set up to attract the healthiest breeding partner – hardly very romantic.

Two hormones are responsible for sexual attraction: oxytocin, the bonding hormone, and pheromones that cause sexual arousal in others. Pheromones contain information about our personal gene pool. And women naturally prefer the scent of men whose immune system genes complement theirs because children born from this union would inherit a doubly strong immune system and a therefore a higher chance of survival (1).

Studies show that physical appearance and behaviour are irrelevant (2).This explains why some women seem to make surprising partnerships with unattractive men. So those physiological drivers that once ensured our survival may now be misleading us in our choice of partner.

“This is one of the reasons why people stay in or return to unhealthy or abusive relationships,” says Paul. Of course there are other reasons for example, we often seek the familiarity of people who have the traits of our parents (even if those traits are unhealthy) and being traumatised can lead us into re-enactment as an unconscious way of seeking closure. This is why it’s so important to have a healthy relationship with ourselves before starting a relationship with someone else.

 

The first journey on the workshop

Is for an answer to the question:

“How can I enjoy a healthy relationship with myself?”

One participant said,“I was told to stop trying to find a partner to fill the hole of love that I craved and instead focus on loving myself”.  Self love is the missing element in many relationships. When we view our inner world with compassion and accept our shadow parts we are creating a fertile ground for healing ourselves. And when we truly love ourselves and do not need a relationship to feel fulfilled then any intimate connection can be a beautiful play and overflowing of love on one another.

 

The purpose of relationships

Assuming that we have a healthy relationship with ourselves, it’s time to look at what we’re getting into. The true purpose of relationships is to help each other grow spiritually. In the classroom of daily life we learn what we need to develop so that we come to fruition as souls. Or not.

 

Into the Crucible

It’s in the time-scarce stress of daily life that many relationships become unstuck. Rather than thanking our partner for, bringing up unwelcome feelings, and taking the cue to look at ourselves, we lash out and blame them for our discomfort. So, it’s back to working on that healthy relationship with ourselves again before we can come back to the love.

 

The real meaning of love

Even though the Ancient Greeks gave us – eros, storge, philia and agape, modern Western culture, is still hung up on the childhood fairytale and is rife with romantic motifs – hearts, flowers, and Valentines Day. It’s hardly surprising that the myth of romantic love is alive and well: that when we find that perfect someone we will be complete and we will love each other forever.

 

But for those on the spiritual path Paul’s definition will ring true. “Love is selflessly supporting another’s journey through life even if you have to live separately.”

M. Scott Peck backs Paul up when he describes love as “The will to extend one’s self for the purpose of nurturing one’s own or another’s spiritual growth (3).

 

Love and the mystery factor

Love is the cornerstone of any good relationship and physiology creates the attraction. But these factors are not enough to ensure couples get together. So what’s missing?

 

Paul says that when you are in love, your heart, soul and spirit produce a composite vibration he calls ‘our unique love song’. “which can only be heard by someone vibrating in the same way, inviting them to ‘sing back’. This is our ‘call’ to find the special person who at that time is optimally placed to enter with you into a mutually nurturing relationship – when it happens we are ‘in love’.”

 

So Spirit may be responsible for that other-worldly feeling of craziness that takes over when we fall head-over-heels-in-love.

 

Ending Relationships

Any suffering holds an opportunity for spiritual learning. Sometimes the learning is that the pain could have been avoided and the relationship saved if both parties had declared their expectations at the outset. For example checking you shared the same values and priorities in life.

 

Relationship endings are more painful if we don’t see the teachings inherent in them. And the problem gets worse if we get into another relationship without assimilating the teachings from the previous one, because we will face the same problems again, and again until we get the lesson. This is why some people fall into unhealthy patterns in relating.

 

On the workshop you can start to gain insight into these patterns. It’s an opportunity to learn how to make more discerning choices in the future and when you are ready spirit will guide you to someone who can share the next level of learning with you.

 

Benefits

So what are tangible benefits of the Beautiful Relationship workshops?

Steve D from Nottingham said, “I’d rate the workshop 9/10 because only four days after the workshop I met the woman who I am now entering a relationship with. There’d been no one serious for about five years previously! If you are serious about getting into a relationship, go on Paul’s workshop. I never imagined it would be such a transformation”.

 

Intimate relationships are a crucible for spiritual development. They are such powerful healing fields because we can only get these teachings through our intimate interactions with others. Sometimes it may feel like we are burning in the furnace, but in the safety of a healthy relationship – this will be purifying and transformative. Beautiful Relationships workshops help us harvest teachings and understanding lacking in unsatisfactory relationships and bring us a sense of positivity, resolution and peace.

 

For more information see www.beautifulrelationships.com or email info@beautifulrelationships.com or cliona@divinefeminineawakening.co.uk.

 

References

1. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142405274870468190457631324357 9677316.html
2. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-70897/Why-ugly-men-attract-prettiest-women.html

(3).The Road Less Travelled p69