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This book presents a unique and practical approach to personal transformation called Existential Kink (EK). It challenges the traditional "love and light" self-help paradigm by focusing on the power of the unconscious shadow and integrating it with your conscious self.
Key Concepts:
- The Shadow: Our unconscious desires, often taboo or socially unacceptable, manifest in negative patterns. EK helps us acknowledge and embrace these "shadow" desires.
- Existential Kink: This is the unconscious pleasure we derive from the negative patterns in our lives. EK encourages us to consciously recognize and enjoy this hidden pleasure.
- The Unconscious: A powerful force that shapes our experiences through dreams and synchronicities. By making the unconscious conscious, we regain agency over our lives.
- The Great Work: The process of becoming whole and integrated, merging the conscious and unconscious minds.
- The Seven Axioms: These provide a framework for understanding EK:
- Having is evidence of wanting.
- We can choose to experience sensation as pleasure or pain.
- We can get off on every "stroke" (every event in life).
- Our degree of turn-on or turn-off is based on approval.
- Desire evolves through fulfillment, not repression.
- Shame is the magic killer.
- Truth is sensational.
- The Basic EK Meditation: A step-by-step guide to consciously embracing your shadow desires.
- Projection: We project our inner beliefs and desires onto the world, creating our reality.
- Eros & Psyche: This ancient myth symbolizes our journey to reunite with our divine essence through embracing our shadow.
Benefits of Existential Kink:
- Dissolving Negative Patterns: By acknowledging and celebrating our shadow desires, we interrupt their power to control us.
- Increased Agency: We gain greater control over our lives and become empowered to create positive change.
- Enhanced Magic: EK aligns our conscious will with our unconscious desires, making us more effective in manifesting our intentions.
- Self-Acceptance: We embrace all aspects of ourselves, including the "ugly" and "unacceptable."
- Greater Fulfillment: By owning our shadow, we remove blocks to receiving love, wealth, joy, and other desires.
The book includes:
- Personal stories and anecdotes from Carolyn and her clients illustrating the transformative power of EK.
- Thirteen individual exercises to help readers apply EK principles to various aspects of their lives.
- Practical guidance on handling depression and trauma.
- Information on related practices like Deepest Fear Inventory, The Work of Byron Katie, and Tonglen meditation.
Existential Kink is a bold and unconventional approach to self-discovery and personal growth. It offers readers a powerful tool for unmasking their shadow selves and unleashing their true potential for creating a life of freedom and fulfillment.