Life can be painful and very challenging at times. It can feel like we are constantly battling with problems and difficulties, both within ourselves and in our circumstances. We might also be searching, not content with things as they are.
Whatever the exact nature of our struggles, the Living Inquiries offer a radically different approach to them. Designed to unravel the knots of thoughts, feelings and bodily sensations that often seem solid and impenetrable, the inquiries are dynamic, organic and deeply personal. No two sessions are alike, and yet there’s an underlying core to the work that remains consistent.
In sessions, we learn to gently allow our thoughts and feelings to be exactly as they are, and to look and feel deeply into what we are experiencing. By asking a few simple questions and using our capacity to notice, an effortless unravelling happens. This produces a profound release from the emotional and sensory grip of our histories and the ‘stories’ about ourselves (and others) that may be adversely affecting us.
Change rarely happens overnight. There’s no quick fix here: the Living Inquiries offer a much more precious opportunity – to become truly intimate with every aspect of ourselves and with life as we experience it. To begin with, we highly recommend working with one of our certified facilitators who can hold the space and guide you deeply into inquiry. If you are willing to look – and to keep on looking – you’ll develop the skills and capacity to inquire on your own, as well as with others.
We work with people from all over the world on a wide range of issues including, but not limited to:
Fear, phobias, anxiety, stress and worry
Depression, guilt and shame
Trauma and PTSD, including collective and ancestral trauma
Feelings of isolation, loneliness, mistrust and lack of safety
Emotional wounding, including childhood issues such as abuse and neglect
Relationship issues with partners, family members, friends and co-workers
Destructive patterns and behaviors
Boundaries and control issues
Lack of confidence, low self-esteem and comparing self to others
Self-judgement and criticism
Compulsions, obsessions and addictions, including perfectionism and pornography
Feeling driven and unable to slow down or switch off
Confusion, overwhelm and difficulties with decision-making
Body image and food issues
Climate change anxiety
Internalised and externalised oppression, including racial and gender biases
Health, illness, pain, ageing and death
Spiritual seeking and the search for awakening and enlightenment
By inquiring directly into the nature of your experience, beliefs, patterns, and conditioning often unravel and profound changes can occur. Naturally, we do not offer or guarantee specific outcomes or results. As with other mindfulness-based practices, we do not give advice, nor do we attempt to change or manage your beliefs or behaviors.
If you’d like to learn more about the Inquiries, you can watch videos here, read articles on our blog and listen to audios here. If you would like to have a chat with one of us, you can find our details here. We’re always happy to talk one to one via email or by phone, Skype or Zoom.
The Origins of the Living Inquiries
Scott Kiloby created the Unfindable Inquiry, the original blueprint for the Living Inquiries, informed by self-experimentation, and his study of a number of practices and the work of other teachers, including Greg Goode. Since 2011, early iterations of the inquiry process have been gradually honed to include a much more body-centred, trauma-aware approach. Fiona Robertson, Julianne Eanniello, Colette Kelso and Lisa Meuser have been central to the evolution of the inquiries as we currently practice them. The Living Inquiries are now a robust and comprehensive form of inquiry that includes the deepest exploration of mind, body and soul. The process is, in itself, living – it is dynamic, flexible and organically evolving in response to our collective looking.
Scott has now moved on to other ventures and we wish him well. The Living Inquiries community continues as a group of facilitators committed to embodied inquiry and ongoing deepening. Our year-long training programme, (currently on pause for 2020-21) run by Lisa Meuser and Fiona Robertson since 2015, continues with trainees from around the world. The LI community works as a collective, consensus-based organisation.
Being engaged in our own personal inquiry lays the foundation for our work with clients. We all continue to inquire into our own beliefs, triggers, traumas, conditioning and histories, and know what it is like to traverse this sacred and sometimes terrifying inner terrain. You can hear us talking about our own experiences with the inquiries here.
Our Code of Ethics
Our Code of Ethics describes the ethical standards to which certified Living Inquiries facilitators adhere. Facilitators endeavor to conduct themselves with honesty and integrity at all times. Our overall values are:
To respect and protect the privacy, confidentiality and dignity of our clients.
To treat all our clients with respect, fairness, compassion and sensitivity, and without discrimination on any grounds.
To communicate promptly and appropriately with our clients, ensuring they have all the information they require to explore the Living Inquiries for themselves in whatever way they choose to do.
To maintain and develop our skills and expertise as facilitators and to engage in ongoing inquiry ourselves.
To operate within the bounds of our own competence, recognizing when a client would be better served by another facilitator or a different modality.
To conduct ourselves with integrity, honesty and professionalism.
To read our Code of Ethics in full, download it here.
If you would like to know more about the Living inquiries community or the way that we work, you are welcome to contact us. We also have a complaints procedure. For more information, please email Fiona Robertson or Wayne Hayden-Moreland at [email protected]
Disclaimer
This website is for educational purposes only and is not intended in any way to be a replacement for, or a substitute to, qualified medical advice, diagnosis or treatment, or as a replacement for, or a substitute to, psychological advice, diagnosis or treatment, or therapy from a fully qualified person.
If you think you are suffering from a medical or psychological condition, consult your doctor or other appropriately qualified professional person or service immediately. The Living Inquiries Facilitators are not, unless otherwise stated in their individual biographies, physicians, mental health or addictions counselors. They do not give advice about how to live one’s life. They do not employ psychological techniques to improve one’s thinking, personal story or belief systems. They assist people in seeing through their identity, not constructing or changing it, as mental health counselors or therapists do. Their work is similar to that of a practitioner, rabbi, or priest providing religious, spiritual, educational, or pastoral services. The Living Inquiries are based on eastern religions such as Hinduism and Buddhism, not western psychology, science, medicine or addiction counseling.
We are not responsible or liable for any action made by a user based on the content of this website. We are not liable for the contents of any external websites listed, or for any actions made by a user based on the contents of these external sites, nor do we necessarily endorse any product or service mentioned or advised on any of these external sites. Any data or information is provided for informational purposes only, and is not intended for any other commercial or non-commercial purposes. We will not be liable for any errors or delays in the content of this website, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon. By accessing our website, you agree not to redistribute the material found therein, unless appropriate rights have been granted. We provide links to select sites for your convenience only. We do not necessarily endorse or recommend the services of any company. We shall not be liable for any damages or costs of any type arising out of or in any way connected with your use of our website. By using the site, you fully agree to these terms.
“There’s simply nothing like this approach out there. Conventional psycho-therapy quickly reaches a dead-end, as we’re told to just “bear the situation” or “pat myself on the back for doing something good” etc. Whereas the Living Inquiries lead us far beyond the limits that the mind perceives of reality, to a level where everything changes. This facilitation skillfully meets me where I am and totally expands my view of the ‘problem.'” J.M.
“I’ve done dozens of therapies but this is different – it’s a peeling away of a painful way of being in the world.” G.K.
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“You might think you do an inquiry session just one time (or a few sessions perhaps) just like any old-fashioned therapy. At least that was what I thought, but for me it didn’t stop when I was done with my sessions. It continued and still does.
These sessions made me realize that life in general is in fact a lifelong exercise and really a ‘Living Inquiry’ (what’s in a name?) in which nothing can be missed or left out. It doesn’t need to be different, either, it’s good just the way it is. Because I am it! I am that life but I just forgot it along the way. Distracted by being in pain I just didn’t see it and now I do! It’s so much more loving than how I used to live my life. In fact, I never talk about ‘my’ life anymore because I feel alive – but I don’t see any separateness between life and my life. It’s just me and turns out I am more than my thoughts. What a relief! Yeah, I’m really happy. I remember that again. This insight restores all of my past defects (addiction, anxiety in general) and what do I get back? Lust for life. To quote Iggy Pop, I got lust for life.” P.V.
What If?
What if I just let go of all my “this is what you need and here’s how to do it”?
What if I stop fixing, organising, helping?
What if I stop pretending there’s anything wrong here?
What if none of this is mine?
What if I’m heartbroken, ripped apart by the sheer beauty of it all?
What if I’m absolutely as I’m supposed to be?
What if all of this, every last part of it, is totally fine?
What if it’s okay to move on, to leave it all behind?
What if there’s nothing to resolve, sort out or understand?
What if it really is alright, just like this?
What if there’s no effort required?
What if there’s nothing other than this?
What if there’s no reason to develop or change one iota?
What then?
Fiona Robertson
Photo: Helena Weaver
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All photographs by members of the Living Inquiries community.
Watercolours by Helena Weaver.
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The Living Inquiries have been developed by Scott Kiloby, Colette Kelso, Fiona Robertson, Julianne Eanniello, and the other Senior Facilitators.