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Shawn Phillips and Rob McNamara have developed a unique and integral method of strength-training, called Focused Intensity Training (or FIT for short). Designed to provide a more integral approach to physical training, one of the unique aspects of FIT is its conscious engagement of gross, subtle, and causal bodies. Weight training is often considered a strictly physical practice (gross body), but Shawn explains how the intentional generation of felt energies (subtle body), and "feeling to infinity" (causal body) can radically increase the effectiveness of something as apparently simple as picking up a weight and then putting it down.
Members of the integral community who have attended Integral Life Practice seminars give rave reviews about the transformative powers of Focus Intensity Training—watch this series of videos and you too will learn the principles required to integrate your contemplative practice with whatever exercise program you may be engaged in....
Shawn is a big dude who likes to lift heavy things, and has the audacity to call it a spiritual practice. We tend to agree, which is why we've identified his Focus Intensity Training program as a "Gold Star Practice" in the ILP Starter Kit. Here he explains how strength training can offer us an ideal (and even enjoyable) physical practice.
Ken has often used the term "Centaur" to describe the full integration of mind and body that occurs at the integral stage of development. Shawn tells us how Focused Intensity Training can be a powerful tool for this integration, a practice for gross, subtle, and causal bodies simultaneously....
Here Shawn and Rob explain two crucial sets of polarities in FIT strength training: intensity vs. surrender and focus vs. reception. Understanding and engaging all of these dynamics maximizes the effectiveness of the practice, making rest and recovery just as important to a proper workout regime as the exercise itself....
Rob details the four elements in the Core Execution Cycle of FIT practice: grounding, charging, focusing, and recovering. Each of these steps are crucial to help get the most out of your physical practice—which in turn helps bring you closer to the Centaur stage of true mind/body integration—and are generally applicable to any exercise routine, whether yoga, jogging, aerobics, or strength training....
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