I find it important to take my students in year-long classes out of town at least once over the course of the year. It’s much easier to undergo radical change when you step out of your ordinary routine. I get more out of it as a teacher when we’re all away from our safety net, under a strange roof, breaking bread and processing together.

When someone is around the things they know, on their home turf, as it were, it’s easier to not change than it is to change. There are certain types of healing work I will not do in the client’s home, because I don’t want to waste my time or theirs. It takes a lot for someone to surrender on their own playing field. They don’t have to be made to feel crisis, but they’re going to change (heal) more easily if they don’t have the familiar to cling to.

Think of it this way – if nothing around me is terribly familiar, it’s much easier to make course adjustments or even full scale change. The familiar cements us in place to a certain extent, and provides too strong a measuring stick, which allows the ego to resist more strongly. When I don’t have anything around me to root me into the Maya, I am more maneuverable.

So, if you want to make substantial changes in your life, step out of your ordinary routine and space.