Design Your ILP – Integral Life

Design Your Practice

Integral Life Practice is based on several crucial and unique principles. It’s modular, scalable, customizable, concentrated, distilled, and based on the cross-training principle. All of which is to say, ILP is quintessentially Integral.

The modular aspect of ILP means establishing your ILP requires at least one practice from each of the Four Core Modules: Body, Mind, Spirit, and Shadow. A “module” simply represents a general area of practice—but it’s up to you what specific practices you choose in that area. In time you may want to take up additional practices within the core modules. You might also consider practices from auxiliary modules such as Sex, Work, Relationships, Ethics, etc. You may find that you already have practices in some areas. If so, adding them to your ILP can be as easy as situating them within an Integral framework. We’ll walk you through this process shortly.

The scalable nature of ILP means time need not be an issue. You can engage your practice for as much or as little time as you have available—from a short practice to a session that lasts for an hour or longer. Being busy with life shouldn’t stop you from having a life practice.

All of the information and tools presented in this overview come from the collective experience of ILP practitioners. As you begin your ILP, you’ll have your own experiences and insights, which we invite you to draw upon as you design your own personal practice. This ILP design process will help you get started, regardless of how many modules you choose to engage and how much time you have available.

Now let’s look more closely at these 5 steps for designing your ILP.

Step #1: Assess Your Current Situation

What are you already doing that can be considered a practice? What do you value in your current practices? What are your strengths and weaknesses?

In this first step of your ILP design, scan your life to determine what practices you already have. Keep in mind that some practices, such as yoga and martial arts, apply to multiple modules. Ask yourself whether, through these practices, you are touching base with all levels of your being—body, mind, and spirit—as well as your shadow.

Which current practices, if any, fit within the Four Core Modules? Which fit within the Auxiliary modules?

This assessment will help you incorporate any current practices into an Integral framework.

Step #2: Identify Gaps

What areas of practice do you need to add or begin to have an integral practice?

Locate any imbalances in your list of current practices. Compare what you are already doing with the practices offered on the Practice page. Where are the gaps? Which of the Four Core Modules have you been overlooking? For instance, a meditator who tends to avoid physical exercise might benefit from some weightlifting. Or, someone very physically active, regularly engaging in rock climbing, tennis, and yoga, might enjoy spending an evening or more a week in silent contemplation.

Based on your assessment of your current situation, you can note the areas where you believe practice gaps exist, and where you would like to add new practices in order to create a more balanced ILP. The point is simply to identify whether you’re somehow touching in—at a minimum—with Body, Mind, Spirit, and Shadow. These are the required modules for any ILP. Optionally, you can also circle any Auxiliary modules to which you might like to give some attention.

Step #3: Choose Practices

Put together all your practices and make at least an experimental commitment to stick with them for a specified time.

Now that you’ve located the gaps in your current situation, you are ready to fill those gaps by adding new practices from the Practice page. It may take some trial and error to find the right practices for you—and these can change as you progress. But one important thing to keep in mind at the outset is that more is not necessarily better. Integral Life practice is not totalistic. The point is not to add practices upon practices until you get sick of practicing. Having too many practices can actually be counter-productive.

That’s why we’ve developed a modular approach. Above the list of practices on the Practice page you will find a number of buttons to help you find the right ones for you. You can sort by module type (Body, Mind, Spirit, Shadow, Relationships, etc.) or content type (full-length practices, short practices, guided meditations, etc.) These categories will help you to round out your ILP and help you “touch all the bases” in your practice. Remember, even just one practice in each of the Four Core Modules will cover all the important bases.

Also remember that ILP is scalable, which means you are free to shorten or extend the length of your practice sessions as needed. Here again, more is not necessarily better. In meditation practice, for example, it’s far superior to commit to 5 minutes a day—and to actually follow through—than to commit to 60 minutes a day and fail. Your ILP will grow much more quickly if you schedule short, manageable amounts of time, than if you over-commit and give up in frustration when you can’t meet your goals.

On days when you’re pressed for time, the Short Practices are a fantastic way to go. You’ll find that even just touching in with a practice area gives rise to a sense of wholeness throughout your being. Of course, if you’re able to devote more time to practice, that’s great too. Many people find that they cycle—as their lives cycle—between periods of more practice and periods of less. People also cycle between different kinds of practice. So there is nothing fixed about these initial choices. Start in whatever way you feel works best for where you are right now.

Step #4: Now Practice!

When it comes down to it, ILP is about actually PRACTICING! This involves discipline, persistence, patience, and hopefully quite a bit of fun.

The secret of Integral Life Practice is actually doing the practices you set for yourself. To accomplish this, many people find it helpful to track their practices. Tracking is a way to keep yourself … on track.

Some people find that keeping a practice diary or log is helpful, especially at the beginning. You might also simply record your insights and ideas in a notebook, as they arise. These are just ways of gently monitoring whether you’re keeping up with the practices you’ve committed to. They will also serve to remind you of where you’ve been and where you’re going. If practice tracking doesn’t appeal to you, don’t worry. For some people, it’s just not their style. The most important thing is your practice itself. Jump in! Make the most of this precious opportunity that human life affords us.

Step #5: Join or Form an ILP Group

Your Integral Life Practice will eventually transform from being a series of special activities to being a seamless aspect of your everyday life. As the awareness that you develop through ILP seeps into your work, your relationships, and the way you feel from moment to moment, you’ll realize that your life has become an Integral Life. A supportive community can not only accelerate this transition, but also inform your ILP at every step. Group interaction helps avoid pitfalls such as ignoring the shadow, breaking commitments, getting caught in an inflated sense of progress, and robotically going through the motions. Many people find that their practice benefits from the visibility and accountability a group can provide. Not to mention it just feels good to practice in the company of others.

On the other hand, if you’re a lone wolf, then lone wolf away! You can still practice ILP as you see fit. Just be sure to follow all the other steps. Everything else is the same, so no worries. If you ever decide you want to touch base with a community, you can always do so.

An ILP community can take many forms. It could just be one good friend—a “practice buddy.” Or it could be a large network, serving an entire city. Ideally your group will have several mentors or teachers due to the unlikelihood that any one person could ever guide you in all areas of human growth. The best support system involves people who are willing to share their own experiences and listen to yours, people who can sustain you during breakdowns and invigorate you during plateaus. Practicing together forms the basis of an Integral culture—a culture that honors the greatest spectrum of human capacities.

Evolving Your ILP Over Time

As your ILP evolves, you will likely find the need to let some old practices go, and take on new ones. It takes courage to adopt new practices. A new practice is always a mystery. “Will I like it?” “Will it work?” “Will I look funny doing it?” When committing to a new practice, try it for at least two weeks. At the end of that time, revisit your ILP Blueprint. Check in and reflect upon how your ILP is going. Have you moved closer towards your ILP vision and goals? How well did you fulfill your practice commitments?

Next make any needed adjustments. Engaging in a new practice often incites resistance. After all, as we grow we push the edge of our comfort zone. This can challenge the part of us that tries to maintain the status quo. It’s normal and natural to feel emotional resistance. Simply acknowledge your reactions and continue to practice. These are often the most fruitful times for growth. If resistance continues to be a problem, ask an ILP friend or mentor for their perspective. It may be that the practice truly isn’t right for you. Listen to your friends, mentors, or teachers, and then use your own best judgment to decide.

And finally, remember more is not necessarily better. Integral is based on what’s essential—it’s not meant to be totalistic. Be sure to have at least one practice from each of the Four Core Modules, and of course add more if you wish.

Also note that we publish brand new practices every week. While we caution you to avoid committing to too many practices and risk overwhelming your regular routine, you might nonetheless want to give these weekly practices a try. You could perhaps include a “wildcard day” in your ongoing regimen, allowing you to broaden your horizons a bit more, experiment with new practices, and keep your ILP integrally informed as you design the practice that’s right for you.

Good Luck!

There’s an old story told in practice circles. The great golfer Ben Hogan was asked by a journalist what made him so good at the game. Hogan answered, “I’m just lucky, I guess.” “But you’re well known for practicing all the time!” the reporter said. To which Ben replied, “Well, the more you practice, the luckier you get!”

This certainly applies to Integral Life Practice. It’s not that practice causes enlightenment or greater awareness or a more fulfilled life. But it does make you just a little bit luckier, if only by bringing your being into greater harmony with the universe, God, or grace. While there is certainly a results-oriented side to ILP, which is perfectly legitimate, there is also a sense in which we practice… just to practice—for no other reason than because it feels like the right thing to do. And this just so happens to make us luckier in terms of results.

It’s in this spirit that we wish you good luck! And we hope that your ILP brings much love, joy, and fulfillment to your life.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why should I be interested in ILP? What makes it different from all the other approaches out there?

ILP combines and integrates the best of hundreds of approaches to self-growth from across cultures and time. It was designed specifically for modern and post-modern life by distilling the most essential aspects of practice into the most readily usable forms. Moreover, ILP is based on exclusive Integral technology, which represents the most leading-edge map of reality and human awareness available.

Why do you recommend beginning with four core modules?

These four dimensions of practice (Body, Mind, Spirit, and Shadow) are particularly high-leverage. Coupled with a caring intention and a life of ethical practice and service, we believe that, practiced simultaneously, they will generate the most dramatic and rapid growth. Also, they focus on the individual—starting with you! As you begin to get grounded in the Four Core Modules, you can expand your practice to your relationships, work, and other dimensions of your being-in-the-world.

What is the difference between “Practice” and “practices”?

By Practice we often refer to the global intention to practice. We sometimes refer to this as capital “P” “Practice”—the intention to bring awareness and care to every moment of our lives through every inner and outward act, and also to cultivate ourselves, continually deepening, opening and expanding awareness, care, and compassion as a foundational intention and way of life. We often contrast “Practice” in this sense to the relative, specific “practices” we do, like strength training or meditation. We also think of “Practice” as the ever-present Ground and Goal of existence, while “practices” are the path to that Goal. Each is an important bottom-line of ILP, all are necessary, and they interpenetrate, but it is valuable to distinguish them.

What are the fruits of practice?

By practicing, we grow in horizontal health (becoming as healthy and full and functional as we can at our current level of development), vertical health (growing to higher or deeper levels of development more quickly), and essential health (becoming more consistently aware of and alive to essence, or ever-present suchness). In addition to improving our vertical, horizontal, and essential health, practice frees up energy and attention, enabling us to grow continually in our awareness and care, for ourselves, those close to us, and ultimately the whole conscious Kosmos.

I’m struggling with sticking with my practices. How do I remain committed and motivated?

Among the many ways to generate, refresh, and renew your commitment and motivation, the following deserve special mention:

Identify the practices you can commit to doing daily or every other day, and others you can commit to doing weekly. Then write out and sign a written contract with yourself to formalize your practice commitment.
Don’t overreach. Try to limit yourself to choices you have a realistic chance of sustaining as permanent lifestyle habits (rather than a short-lived burst of “New Year’s resolution” type activities).
Build self-awareness and discipline by monitoring your practices weekly or monthly using the Practice Diaries provided in the My ILP Handbook.

One of the most powerful ways to generate support is to create relationships that help give you visibility and accountability. You can create this by finding a buddy, coach, or a group and by entering into a contract of mutual practice support. Integral Institute offers mentoring services and phone-based practice groups. You may also want to consider starting an Integral Practice Group in your area so you can meet face-to-face.

What makes a practice or group of practices "Integral"?

For a practice or group of practices to be Integral, it must be “integrally-informed,” which means engaged within the context of the Integral Framework as applied to your life and consciousness. It should also cover at least the Four Core Modules, which represent the most distilled and condensed areas of practice, plus Auxiliary Modules as you see fit. Integral does not mean totalistic; more is not better. Integrally informed is better. It’s better to chart your practice—which on the whole can be quite simple—with a more comprehensive and inclusive map.

Also, note that there is a difference between integral practice and practicing integrally. You may be interested or already engaged in practices that aren’t necessarily “integrally-informed”, but nonetheless create a tremendous amount of growth and value in your life. If those practices are working for you, keep doing them! Just try to situate those practices within the overall ILP approach we are describing here, and you will likely find that they become even more efficacious for you.

Why is the mental “Framework” important? Why not just meditate and do the other ILP exercises?

The Integral Framework is essential to Integral Life Practice. Without a good map of reality and consciousness, the effects of merely practicing just don’t stick. Integral simply points out dimensions of your being that are already there—but if you don’t know they’re there, there’s not much you can do about them. Integral is a psychoactive framework precisely because it activates and orients consciousness around the latent possibilities of your awareness, well-being, and transformation. It’s powerful in itself, but as a part of an ILP, it contributes to a radically effective overall practice formula.

Sometimes ethics and service are mentioned as fundamental, but when only the Four Core Modules of Integral Life Practice are mentioned, they are left out. Why?

Ethics and service are essential to practice from the beginning. They are also the fruition of practice, but they often do not give rise to personal “practices” we can intentionally schedule at certain times of the day. Primarily for this reason, we focus on the 4 modules—Body, Mind, Spirit, and Shadow. However, ethics and service are no less fundamental, and we highly recommend you choose them as an auxiliary practice.

You list practicing in relationships, work, child-rearing and other areas of life among the “auxiliary modules” of an ILP, but not as “core modules.” Why?

The most efficient way to establish an Integral Life Practice is by taking on practices in the four “core modules.” Focused work in these areas is likely to give you the most significant effect for the time you invest. At the same time, the core of all practice is the intention to bring awareness and care to every moment of life, and thereby to deepen, expand, and grow in both awareness and care. This is why ethical living and service inevitably follow from a core commitment to Integral Life Practice. Areas of life where we focus significant time and energy become important arenas for practice, so most of us practice actively in our work and relationships. However, the form of practice in these areas varies significantly among different individuals, and many people do not take on specific practices relative to their work and relationships. A simple practice design is important. This is most effectively accomplished by focusing on the Four Core Modules as well as ethics.

How do I know when it’s time to change or update my ILP?

A creative tension exists between two apparently contradictory truths: (1) For a practice to bear fruit, it is necessary to maintain it over time, despite difficulties and resistance; and (2) For your practice to remain dynamic and evolving, it must periodically be refreshed and redefined. When you feel an impulse to change your practice commitments, use your deepest intuition to discriminate whether that impulse is (a) primarily an expression of resistance to sustaining practice over time, or (b) primarily an expression of your practice having outlived its usefulness and the need for you to take on new, fresh, and/or more advanced forms of practice. Make a formal decision once you’ve checked in with your wisest inner knowing, and if you’ve decided to make a change, embody it by making a new practice commitment and sustaining it.

I’m very busy. Why should I focus on several practices at once? Won’t this be overwhelming? Wouldn’t it be better to solidify one practice before adding another?

The Four Core Modules are essential to make your practice stick. And in fact, on your busiest days, you can do an entire ILP in as little as five minutes, using only the short practices. Cross-training is a key principle of ILP; your total capacities will develop faster and more effectively by engaging multiple practices rather than doing one or two in isolation. For example, research indicates that meditators progress faster if they also do strength training. We think you’ll find that a well-designed Integral Life Practice, rather than an isolated practice of meditation, exercise, or psychotherapy, will maximize your growth. This is why Integral Life Practice is the simplest and easiest practice you can do to wake up.

How do I know I’m doing my practices correctly? Do I need a teacher? How do I find teachers for various practices?

What is the role of a teacher in ILP? Can one person master and teach all the modules or does ILP require multiple teachers?

There are many kinds of teachers, mentors, and therapists. An experienced practitioner can act as a mentor or coach, helping you make choices and sustain commitments. A teacher who has mastered a particular discipline can embody its maturity and guide you through the stages of mastering it yourself. For most people, a professional coach or mentor, experienced in ILP, can be a powerful aid to practice.

In the past, Integral Institute and Integral Life has referred to “Integral Transformative Practice.” Now it’s talking about “Integral Life Practice.” Why the change?