The research has made increasingly clear the importance of fathers — or the masculine role — in children’s life. But walking the talk of being a good father can look easier than it actually is. Celebrating fathers is a nice gesture by society (and mothers too for that matter). Many however find the terrain to be trickier than the map and don’t find the uncelebrated 364 days so celebratory at times.

Whether male or female, masculine or feminine, or somewhere in between, we’ll take a closer look at what’s needed to be a healthy father, what’s asked for developmentally, and what some of the pitfalls and stuck points are (where masculine values like “freedom”, “autonomy” and “agency” get challenged). In order to turn from dark times to the light side of the Force, we must honor, nurture, and challenge ourselves as fathers to face both our gifts and shadows, and love deeper than we’re accustomed to. This is arguably the secret developmental gift of fatherhood. Ultimately, bringing the father archetype not just to our children, but to ourselves helps us lead by example and find unknown wells of strength and grace. Come celebrate this upcoming Father Day with me (a new father myself) by giving yourself the gift of awakening the Father within (while I squeeze in as many Star Wars references as I can at the same time).

Meet Your Practice Leader

Kevin previously was the Director of Training and Development for Integral Coaching Canada and was faculty there for 8 years while maintaining his own successful coaching practice. He recently took a short- term “early retirement” for 4 years in the form of recuperating from a Traumatic Brain Injury. Prior to that he was also at UC Santa Cruz for the last 15+ years teaching Integrally-informed somatic arts in Warrior Yoga, Meditation, Acrobatics, and Mixed Martial Arts to students, athletes, and faculty looking to embody new potential and find grace in the face of personal struggles. He also spent 9 of those years teaching yoga to at-risk youth in the public schools and prisons. Kevin co-wrote an article for JITP applying ICC’s approach to climate change. He is currently building a school of practice for those who want to impact wider scale changes in the world. And in one of his more remarkable developmental hurdles he got over his commitment fears and got married to the amazing Tami. He has a rich ILP base especially with many Integral Spiritual Teachers, a Masters in Psychology, a background in ecological design, and a firm commitment to finding practical applications of “Integral” that reduce suffering and increase humor.