I recently took part in the Hoffman Essentials weekend and what I experienced was life changing. There was a huge release of tears and laughter.
If healing is what you’re after Hoffman could be your way home…
What is the Hoffman Process?
- A self-development programme that cherry picks the best of the healing modalities and tools from the west and east.
- It’s intense and condensed. And a little secretive so that the person goes through an experience.
- Usually a week long retreat at the institute in Sussex. I did the 2 day virtual version.
What do you do?
- You become an archaeologist of your own past. Digging it up to uncover the patterns that no longer serve you.
- Think: Gestalt, NLP, CBT, mindfulness, bioenergetic and psychodynamic work, journalling, meditation and guided visualisation, as well as physically expressive exercises.
“Many participants see the Hoffman Process as the transition point between their life as it was, and their life as they would like it to be.”
Hoffman Institute Website
What did I learn?
- The route to compassion is buried in our childhoods where we learnt to survive and cope by adopting patterns.
- Patterns can cause severe long term consequences and we can become enslaved to our past. As adults we still view the world from the lens of our childhood.
Oh how I’ve been enslaved!
I’m so tired of ‘just getting by’. I want to flourish and not be blocked by all this fear inside of me!
Hoffman showed me that this ‘just getting by’ is a learnt way of being and therefore it can be unlearnt.
We can live a life free from our patterns.
The patterns aren’t us.
It’s only in the last 50 years that we’ve discovered ‘Neuroplasticity’.
Humans can actually develop new neural pathways in the brain to think, act and feel differently in response to life. This shift changes our entire consciousness.
To be able to spot the patterns in real time as they come up is life changing.
Pattern Example
When I’m feeling ‘uncomfortable’ I drift into fantasy. The fantasies withdraw me from the present and carry a hefty charge of self-pity.
I ask myself: what is the pay off in my fantasising?
The answer:
As a lonely child self-pity gave me something to latch on to and filled my emptiness. And the fantasising gave me relief from the unhappiness I lived in.
So the fantasising served a real purpose and helped me to survive. Tracing it back to my childhood I could see exactly how it helped and how the pattern has been repeated throughout my life.
However, present Will is in his room, he’s 26 and trying to read a book so as much as I appreciate this pattern I can let it go in the act of seeing.
The seeing depersonalises it and instantly the emotional charge attached to the pattern is dimmed. The experience becomes fleeting.
I continued to read my book. Sending the signal to my inner child:
‘It’s okay. Reality is safe now. I’m here.’
Should I Apply?
If you’re ready and willing to change the Hoffman process is the real deal.
I’ve heard so many celebrities say that the Hoffman process changed their lives.
And I now truly believe them.
To apply for the process you have to answer a whole host of questions designed to get an idea as to whether you’re ‘ready’ for this type of inner work.
Price
Hoffman Essentials weekend: £195
Incredible value for money!
The full retreat is £3,500
Far too much for me but there’s ways around this. You can get a reserve place for a price drop and go on a payment plan.
After doing the 2 day retreat I’m unconcerned with the money it will cost.
It’s an investment into the core of my wellbeing.
What else is money for?
Click here for the Hoffman Institute website.
Will Adolphy - Psychotherapist & Coach 