30 tips in 30 days: #23.

I want to talk specifically about men’s support groups. Since I first heard about “male liberation” and men’s consciousness raising in the 1970s, I’ve participated in lots of men’s support groups. I’ve seen the best and the worst.

At their best, men’s support groups offer a safe place for men to cease their macho acts, drop their ego pretenses, stop living in their heads for awhile, and practice being in their hearts with other men. Most men have never had a chance to feel all their feelings. A good men’s group, like the i-groups in The ManKind Project, helps us men face our shadow selves and do deep personal growth work, so we outgrow the drive for male domination.

At their worst, men’s support groups turn into closed fraternal lodges for bragging, drinking, talking sports, and bashing women. Men stay in their heads. The only emotions welcomed are anger or mirth. If a man brings his grief to such a group, too often he’s told to “man up,” to get over it. Rather than work through his pain and heal his wounded heart, the man just get more shielded. Such groups are better than nothing, but they do too little to help men mature beyond the ancient habits of alpha male rule.

Emotional healing is not easy, but the rewards are tremendous. The process takes time, as my life proves, yet progress is possible and inevitable with clear intentions. Our emotions reflect all our thoughts and affect what we attract into our lives. So long as you remember the natural law that every action causes an effect, that everything you think, feel, say, and do changes yourself and our world, I am sure your emotional choices will make global sense.

If you wish to help create a quantum shift into global consciousness on our planet, please share with others this excerpt from my book: GLOBAL SENSE: The 2012 Edition: A spiritual handbook on the nature of society and how to change the world by changing ourselves

If you wish to read Global Sense, please visit Amazon.