by Kylie Devi
The words “personal potential,” “self-help” and “personal growth” are sometimes used interchangeably, and have been an increasing part of mainstream culture and discourse. In my experience with exploring my own personal potential, I came across many different types of seminars, workshops, spiritual teachings, and tools to uncover the truth of who I am and to live more fully and vitally. After I took the Satvatove Foundational course I felt strongly that there was something very different about the culture of Satvatove that allowed me to go deeper than at other personal potential seminars. The element that made the difference for me was the rigorous and imperative focus on transformative communication.
There are many fundamental elements in transformative communication, such as empathy, empathic and reflective listening, fine tuning the messages we give with our body language, our voice, and the way we pay attention to others. In the seminar I spent three days really understanding where I was at with that, and determining where I wanted to be. My experience in spiritual retreats and other personal potential gatherings has been that I would very excitedly gather in new tools, exciting revelations, and peak experiences. Then when I would go home and reintegrate with my life, my new habits would slip back into the older, more worn out methods of living. This would frustrate me and I would go to more and more seminars to recreate those experiences, attempting to understand what I had missed or why I was not able to create a more sustainable effect in my life.
What I realized after attending the Satvatove Foundational Seminar, and going back into my life and creating profound results and sustainable change was that the tools of transformative communication gave me the understanding and confidence to truly listen to others. Furthermore, I was now in a position to present myself in such a way that others understood me. This sincerely bridged the gap for me in experience, because without those powerful tools my previous experiences with exploring new avenues for personal potential quickly faded until forgotten. I was simply not able to convey the experience to others in a way that integrated realization into action, revelation into change.
Another aspect of the Satvatove transformative communication model that created a more powerful experience for me is the idea that language reflects consciousness. In the seminar room there is an enthusiastic focus on the nature of the human experience as being primarily spiritual. Within this framework, the communication exercises that offered empowerment to me became more alive. When seeking advancement in the area of personal potential, often various learning models will offer spiritual awareness, or communication tools, but seldom are both seen in one seminar room. That for me was the true difference in experience, and why I was seemingly able to create sustainable and noticeable change in my life. Understanding the spiritual nature of experience, and how language and communication both inform and are informed by this process, is a powerful paradigm for personal potential, interpersonal relations, and profound growth.