As a former high altitude Navy all weather interceptor I have
seemingly touched the face of God but as a facilitator and coach of Band of
Brothers #11 ~ I have felt the presence of God in bringing five GWOT active
duty veterans with PTSD out of the gray zone of unworthiness into the light of
their own beauty through an intensive heart centered 8 week workshop where
separation and anger were replaced by love and joy: Allen L Roland
The
poem, High Flight, has over the years become a mantra to pilots who have fully experienced the freedom and
exhileration of high flight.
I
reproduce it here as a tribute to, and in memory of pilots of all generations ~ but also as a reminder that we can all
experience that same awe and wonder ~ seemingly touching the face of God ~ by
fully opening our hearts.
High Flight
Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of earth
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I've climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth
Of sun-split clouds - and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of - wheeled and soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence. Hov'ring there
I've chased the shouting wind along, and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air.
Up, up the long delirious, burning blue,
I've topped the windswept heights with easy grace
Where never lark, or even eagle flew -
And, while with silent lifting mind I've trod
The high untresspassed sanctity of space,
Put out my hand and touched the face of God.
Pilot Officer Gillespie Magee
No 412 squadron, RCAF
Killed 11 December 1941
When
we look at God as a loving plan in action ~ an evolutionary process with which
we all participate as co-creators ~ then God becomes internalized and each of
us become aware that we have a part to play in a slowly evolving universal
loving plan.
I
dreamt of being a fighter pilot and through perserverance, effort and tenacity
I achieved that dream ~ but my ultimate dream was to love so deeply that I
would become one with a Unified Field of
love and soul consciousness, that I once fully experienced
as a young child, and through my willingness to go through my deepest
fears and fully surrender to love ~ I am now living
that dream.
Band
of Brothers #11 was the confirmation that I had indeed not only touched the
face of God as a pilot but was now feeling the presence
of God as I facilitated the journey of five GWOT veterans through their deepest
fears to a place of love, joy and gratitude and a new choice in life.
Make
no mistake about it, the healing the Wounded heart workshops are not therapy,
which deals primarly with symptoms, but instead they are cause related and in
essence deal with re-opening of closed hearts through gratitude; seeing your
life as a quest, versus a struggle, and noting how every love relationship has
played its part in that individual journey
to finally find, embrace and celebrate your authentic self as well as the
capacity to fully love and receive love.
It
is precisely the same procedure I have used for over 35 years with hundreds of
individuals and have fully explained in my book ~ Radical Therapy, Surrender
To Love and Heal Yourself In Seven Sessions ( not seven years ) ~ the same
book that all of my Band of Brothers participants read as they complete the
sessions.
The
distinguished Stanley Krippner, Ph,D, correctly defines what I mean by Radical
Therapy in the foreword of my book ~ " The dictionary contains many
definitions for the word "radical" , one of which is "
proceeding from the root, reaching for the center or ultimate source".
This is exactly the approach taken by Allen L Roland's book, Radical Therapy,
an inspirational and radical tool for self healing… the very root of Allen's
therapy involves opening one's heart through a profound surrender to love … These
self-directed activities offer powerful tools that rest upon a key proposition:
Affirming our most authentic feelings, intuitions, and convictions regardless
of the consequences, facilitates self healing. This risk taking inspires
people to encounter their deepest fears, confront their grief, and to discover
the love and integration that those emotions have been blocking."
These
workshops are not for the faint of heart and in many ways they are a boot camp
for the heart ~ for they are action oriented and primarily directed towards
self healing ~ using gratitude as the primary tool in that journey.
Band
of brothers #1 through # 10 were extremely successful with an average self-evaluated improvement in all 21 symptoms of PTSD
of approximately 60 % but Band of brothers #11 was truly exceptional because
of two factors;
1.
Through the kindness and generosity of two people (who prefer to be unnamed) I
was afforded the opportunity to move from Sonoma Valley to Danville and devote
my full attention to this group without any exhaustive travel and financial
distractions.
2.
The Vietnam veterans organization that not only funded this group but also
provided the workshop space and support.
The
secret of my work is that I AM NOT their therapist but instead their COACH who
not only fully shares my life journey in my book but I am the first to share my life chart ~ before each of
them does the same to the whole group. As such, not only do I have the instant
credibility of being an active duty veteran but I am not asking them to do
anything that I havn't already done or demonstrated.
The
group began on August 11, 2012 with five GWOT (Gulf War on Terror) participants
with PTSD who rated themselves an average of 2.4 on a scale of 1 to 10
regarding feelings of love, joy and peace of mind with 1 being the lowest and
10 being the highest.
Seven
weeks later they rated themselves an average of 8.8 regarding feelings
of love, joy and peace of mind ~ a 340% improvement.
Their
pre and after workshop self evaluations of their symptoms of PTSD show the same
scale of improvement particularly in the area of emotional numbing, love,
gratitude, joy and inner peace.
But
two people are worth noting although I will not, of course, use their real
names;
Jake
initially
in the first session rated himself a one ~ the lowest in terms of love, joy and
peace of mind. Victim of an extremely troubled childhood ~ it was very apparent
to me that the only person he had ever loved and trusted was his beloved
grandfather who died when Jake was 21 and deployed in the Persian Gulf.
During
the Gratitude exercise he realized he had thanked less than 5% of the people in
his life who had touched his heart or been there for him ~ and he had never
thanked his grandfather.
I
then took him by the hand and said ~ "grab
my hand, Jake, I'm going to find that lost and alone child within you, who
deeply loved his grandfather, and once you go through your first few fears,
you're going to realize that the real coach is you and then I will let go and
become your lifelong friend."
Jake
took my hand and I helped him realize what an incredible gift his grandfather
had been and how he was still living in his heart ~ if he would but celebrate
him versus grieving his death.
At
that moment, I knew I was in the Unified field of love and soul consciousness, part
of something so much greater than myself and knew that his grandfather was
holding his hand with me.
Jake's
homework was to celebrate his grandfather by being the person he was with his
grandfather and start to celebrate the magic moments they had together. Very
quickly Jake started speaking from his giant heart and he became a self
proclaimed nine ~ on a scale of 1 to 10.
David
reluctantly
joined this group and was originally a skeptic until he experienced and was
moved by watching his fellow brothers share their individual life charts.
He
missed the session where they all meet the child within so I had a special make
up session with David.
That's
when I led him, through a guided meditation, to a beautiful secluded beach
where he saw a little boy playing in the surf and slowly realized that he was
seeing the happy, spontaneous and open child he once was as a youngster ~
and then he embraced that child and began to openly cry tears of joy. I
had David ask the child some questions ~ Can I Trust Allen ? ~ Yes,
He's your guide. What's the most important advice you can give me now ? Trust
your coach and the process. Is there anything else you want to
tell me ? " Don’t be afraid "
It
was after that session with David that I fully realized I was now fully living
my dream and I vividly remembered the same feelings I felt on steam catapult
number one on the USS Ranger when I was
waiting for the carrier to turn into the wind for an early dawn launch ~ Tears
of joy were streaming down my face as I realized that I was now living my dream
of being a Navy carrier pilot. And now
the tears were that I was living my ultimate dream ~ being in service from a
place of love, joy and celebration.
Lawrence, my assistant
from Band of Brothers #8, watched and participated in the magic of Band of
Brothers #11 and in the process healed some unfinished business with his mother
and tapped into even deeper feelings of joy and delight within himself.
Band
of Brothers #11 was my opportunity to live my deepest dream of being in service
and making a difference from a place of love, joy and gratitude ~ especially toward the two people whose unselfish
kindness and generosity allowed me the time to fully devote myself to this
workshop.
Band
of Brothers # 12 has yet to be funded but my
dream now is to take this proven heart centered transformation workshop and
share it nationally so that countless combat veterans with PTSD are afforded
the opportunity to open their closed hearts and begin the process of truly
healing themselves.
Allen
L Roland
Freelance
Alternative Press Online columnist and psychotherapist Allen L Roland is
available for comments, interviews, speaking engagements and private
consultations allen@allenroland.com
Allen
L Roland is a practicing psychotherapist, author and lecturer who also shares a
daily political and social commentary on his weblog and website www.allenroland.com
He
also guest hosts a monthly national radio show TRUTHTALK on www.conscioustalk.net
Without a doubt the most important work I've done in my life. These combat vets have gone to the dark side and most are open and willing for a path to the light ~ even if its through their deepest fears
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