The following article appears on pp
6-7 in the City Lights section of the Jerusalem Post on Friday,
November 22, 2001
"Of all the fears we have today, it
is the imagined ones that pose the most danger."
The room, a rented hall in downtown
Manhattan, is filled with New Yorkers - people who have come to
learn about fear – a fear new to each and every one of them, and one
that has been threatening to disrupt their lives.
Shaul Lev, a gentle-looking man
whose disarming laugh and soft manner cannot conceal the intense
energy that simmers beneath the surface, begins with an exercise:
"Imagine you are in a forest…going
for a nice walk, having contemplations, being at peace...and all of
a sudden, a lion appears in front of you. You turn around to go, and
a snake is there, right in front of you, ready to bite. You look to
your left and there is a straight drop. You look to your right, and
there is a straight rise, insurmountable. What do you do?"
People raise their hands to give
various answers: ‘Freeze’… ‘Don't move’… ‘Play dead’... ‘Go towards
the snake and when he tries to bite you, duck."
When they have all finished, Lev
gives them a mischievous smile and says, "Well, you are all wrong.
The answer is: Stop imagining!"
Of all the fears New Yorkers have
today, says Lev, a founder and coach with the Israeli company,
Position Purple, it is the imagined ones that pose the most
danger.
There are many types of fear one can
have, and some are important – even life saving. But our fear can as
easily take over, causing us to go through our days in a quiet panic
that robs us of our energy and stamina. Should a real emergency then
arise, we may find ourselves without the necessary strength and
ability to deal with it.
Position Purple (Emda Sgula)
is an international team of trainers that develop programs,
workshops and technologies to assist people in areas of
self-development and leadership.
Shortly after the Sep 11 attacks,
Lev flew as the Position Purple representative to volunteer his
services in New York to those whose lives had been dramatically
affected in so many ways. For 13 days he met with community and
youth groups, teachers, psychiatrists, employees of various
businesses and members of the general public. Position Purple
programs are normally for a fee, but for this initial visit, Lev
decided to set aside this aspect and simply give of his time and
resources.
"When I first heard about the
attacks, I remembered how in 1995, when the suicide bombers had just
started exploding buses [in Israel], Mayor Giuliani came to
Jerusalem and rode the buses in order to pass a message of support.
One of the first reactions I had now was - now it's our turn to send
a message of support to New Yorkers. It was an opportunity to pay
back.
Lev’s help and generosity has been
well received. In a letter of thanks, wrote Amy Liszt, a coordinator
at the Harriet Tubman Charter School in the Bronx, "…your words were
comforting and encouraging. You…helped us improve our ability to
teach and lead (and challenged) us to redirect our fear and anger as
we begin to see this horrible event as an opportunity for growth."
Lev has 12 years of experience
training people in crisis situations, and a lifetime of experience
living in a country under constant threat and attack. Being in New
York, however, has been as much a learning experience for him as an
opportunity to help.
"We (Israelis) are better immune to
cope with this situation; more tough and rough. What we need to
discover is that we have earned it after many years, and in no way
you can (teach) that in one week. What I am actually discovering is
that we need to find a different way to approach the people here.
It's not just giving our experience, because…sometimes our
experience is working against us, and we need to find out and learn
about the way people here think, rather than confront them with our
way of thinking."
A few weeks later, Lev returned to
New York for a second visit, meeting with interested parties and
promoting programs that have been put together specifically for New
Yorkers. These programs are now offered for a fee.
One is called a "Strengthening
Kit", a series of seven meetings designed both to better equip
people for handling crises and to enrich their lives.
Another is "Readiness Training
for Parents" a 3 hour course to prepare parents for what their
children may need and experience during a time of crisis.
"What we are meeting today here,"
said Lev, "is a circumstance where something terrible and dramatic
has happened and caused the collapse of many things inside of
people, such as the ability to trust. There is a huge amount of
uncertainty and lack of confidence, (and) knowing that New York is a
target, makes people weaker to function both at work and in their
personal life."
One concept included in the "Strengthening
Kit" and a foundational one in the Position Purple, is known as
"The Story You Tell Yourself". This teaches people that they have
the power to choose how to perceive and remember an experience,
"telling themselves the story" of what happened, and thereby
determining if it will have a positive or negative effect on their
lives – regardless of the situation.
To illustrate the concept, Lev asks
participants in a workshop to think of the most traumatic thing that
has happened in relation to the attack, and then gives them the
tools to be able to balance the effect in themselves, and thereby
minimize the damage.
As an example, one woman in a
workshop told of how she came late to work at the WTC on the morning
of September 11, and saw the first airplane hitting the building.
After being in shock, she began to run, and then at one point
stopped and thought of her friends in the building. Using her mobile
phone, she called the office manager and told him what she had seen,
urging him to get the people out of the building. His response was,
‘we’ve heard about it, but are continuing business as usual.’ The
people stayed. This woman revealed to the other participants how she
could not overcome her feelings of guilt that she had not succeeded
in saving her friends.
Lev then pointed out that what this
was failing to remember was the simple fact that she had tried.
She had done what she could, and it would have been much worse if
she had done nothing at all. By helping her to create a new ‘story’
out of what happened, Lev helped the woman to find a place of
strength inside that she could lean upon, rather than allowing a
constant weakening because of what had not been.
Position Purple is six years in
existence, begun when a group of friends decided to join their many
talents to create a brand new domain of training. Amongst
themselves, they are skilled in security consulting, education,
movement and dance, physiotherapy, astronomy, and leadership
training. Drawing on the members’ diverse experience, they develop
their own unique technologies and offer courses for both individuals
and companies in areas such as teamwork and leadership training,
decision making, coping with fear and emergencies, stress relief and
balance through movement and sound.
The name itself is quite
significant. Purple is the meeting place between the colors blue and
red, which represent two functions in a person: their active,
outgoing, developmental side, and their inward, reflective,
nurturing side. For true wellbeing there needs to be the right
balance of both, and many of the activities and courses of the
Position Purple are aimed towards helping people to achieve this
important balance in their lives. Position refers to the stance one
takes from which to set one’s mind, targets, goals. A strong
position gives one the necessary power to see things through, and to
achieve success.
Another is the Garden of Qualities,
hundreds of them, each painted on a stone, where people walk and
choose the qualities they wish to strengthen in themselves.
The team deliberately call
themselves coaches, not teachers, because the emphasis is that the
participant teaches him or herself, with the coach there to make the
ecology safe, and to offer assistance and guidance. Most of the
learning is done through practical exercises and infield training.
By working on one’s own and in teams, people are able to learn by
discovery and to create their own successes that will be long
remembered and implemented directly into their lives.
Position Purple has 64 trained
coaches in 13 countries around the world. Here in Israel there are a
total of 13 coaches, one of which is the author of this article.
I flew a few years ago from my home
in the States to experience a Position Purple course, and was so
deeply affected that I moved from New York to Israel in order to be
part of its future development. I think what caught me the most was
the way in which each instructor brought his or her own special
brilliance to it. It left me feeling inspired about my own
uniqueness, and reminded of the great value in each person’s life
and what they have to offer. And now I have the opportunity to help
others make that same discovery.
Currently Position Purple is
offering many and varied courses worldwide, both for individuals and
companies.
In Israel there is an upcoming
course on "Coping with Fear", which helps people to face
their fears through drawing on their inner strength.
Other courses available are "Spark"
training for teachers and others who work with groups of people; "Finding
a Better Inner Balance" between the two inner parts of oneself,
to strengthen from within and better achieve one’s goals; "Inner
Harmony Through Movement and Sound", a special course just for
women; and "Creative Retreat", a five-day course, which takes
place fully in nature.
In New York, there are "Strengthening
Kit" training sessions available for both individuals and
groups. To find out about Position Purple events happening
world-wide, interested parties may write to
israel@position-purple.com and as well, may visit the website at
www.position-purple.com
Contact Position Purple in Israel:
Tel 051 626 222 email
mailto:position@netvision.net.il
Joy Pincus is freelance writer and
editor living in central Israel. She was the assistant editor and
staff writer for Women’s International Net Magazine online, and is
also a coach with Position Purple.