I am extremely excited for you to meet Neil Bjorklund in this week’s Are vs Should Interview Series. Unlike most KEW interviews, I knew Neil prior to having him on KEW. But probably not as well as he knows me, as he is my coach.
I have worked with Neil for a little over a year, doing somatic healing work using the Internal Family Systems (IFS) model. Neil has all sorts of other training in healing past trauma, improving one’s life, and personal growth, but we focus primarily on IFS.
I ‘discovered’ Neil through a haphazard path. As a teenager I read a series of books by Carlos Castaneda and a quasi fictional character named Don Juan Matus. This was my introduction to the Toltec lineage of central American people, but I was mostly interested in the psychedelic drugs. Later I realized that other folks were interested in actual Toltec history and wisdom, and I found work by Gary van Warmerdam, who was a student of Don Miguel Ruiz, author of the Four Agreements. I finally arrived at Neil because Gary endorsed Neil on his webpage.
Though I have always been interested in personal growth, I always considered it to exist only in the world of licensed psychologists and therapists. I didn’t think coaches, healers, helpers, aids, assistants or persons acting outside the realm of the ‘American credentials system’ would be helpful. I had a lot of suspicions and worries about being sold snake oil.
Prior to Neil I had experimented with online coaching, receiving instruction from Mandy Napier whom I interviewed early in 2021. The experienced opened my mind to ‘non-traditional’ lines of healing. My interest in Toltec wisdom coupled with the circuitous path toward Neil led me to seek his help. And I’m glad I did.
Neil’s pathway, however, makes mine look fairly linear. But I’ll let him tell you about that. I’m pretty sure Neil has done and experienced all sorts of things I know nothing about. But this interview gives you a pretty good glimpse in to how he lives his life, the kinds of things he thinks about, and what it means to have a high degree of self mastery.
I’ll stop there and let Neil tell his story. I hope you listen, watch, and enjoy.
Podcast audio download here: https://pdcn.co/e/https://chtbl.com/track/CGDA9D/www.buzzsprout.com/530563/9800295-kew-the-are-vs-should-interview-series-neil-bjorklund.mp3?download=true
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YouTube video here: https://youtu.be/kLo16fVgx70
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