WHY MEN'S WORK?
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For generations, men’s role in the culture was clear and well defined: lead, support, provide and protect.
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But as society has changed, and gender roles have undergone a revolution, many men feel confused and uncertain about their place in the world.
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Masculinity, once defined by nobility, strength, courage, and perseverance, has come under attack.
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In response, we’re being told we must change. We need to be softer, gentler, less aggressive, and more in touch with our feelings.
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Yet at the same time, the challenge to "man-up" and the pressure to succeed in a fiercely competitive world is as strong as ever.
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These mixed messages, and a generation of boys raised without strong role models, have left men in a crisis. We're falling behind at every level of education. There's an epidemic of addiction to drugs, alcohol, and pornography. Suicide rates are at disturbing levels. Too many men are living aimlessly without purpose or meaning, feeling lost, isolated, lonely, and disembodied.
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Now more than ever, men need brotherhood, support, and accountability.
And places to unburden our shame, feel our pain, express our fear, and reclaim the power and goodness of our true masculine essence.
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The anger and frustration in the culture is a call for us to stand up and show up in a new way.
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Powerful men and healthy masculinity are essential to a balanced, thriving, and peaceful society.
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This "new masculine" is not a repudiation or denial of our ancestral traditions, but an integration of old and new: strong, wise, loving, tender, fierce, powerful, and creative.
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It's time, once again, for men to take responsibility for our lives, to align ourselves with our deepest truth and good intentions, and bring our gifts to the world in humility and service.
Questions? Email assistant@davidsutcliffe.com
ABOUT THIS WORKSHOP: ​
If you want to see meaningful change in your life; if you want more capacity for your work and relationships; more emotional freedom, less numbness, more enjoyment of your world, greater integrity and connection...
It’s an opportunity for deep, life-changing work that’s approachable.​​
​“This workshop helped me get behind my insecurity and into something way deeper within me. David's facilitation was exactly what I needed.” ~ Chase Reeves
Eli Harrigan
Working with Dave has changed my life. I have more confidence in myself, more connection to the world, and renewed faith about my future.
Marc Lemoine
The workshop was structured in a way that felt safe but definitely took me out of my comfort zone. The activities facilitated vulnerability and deeper connection in a profound way.
Harry Sherwood
Raw and real. David’s workshop helped me feel safe enough to face the parts of myself that I have been shying away from.
What happens when you unearth the anger you’ve buried for years?
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I used to think I was too “spiritually advanced” to get angry. Anger was something for uncivilized people, like eating at McDonald’s.
In truth, my anger was always there. It was buried deep within me. And the more I ignored it, the more it festered.
Growing up, I learned it wasn’t safe for men to express anger. Showing anger got me sent to detention or therapy. So I repressed it and deluded myself into thinking it was gone.
At a recent men’s retreat with David Sutcliffe, I finally faced my anger head-on.
Eleven men and one giant foam pillow sat in a circle. Dave called a man up, handed him a tennis racket, and invited him to slam it into the pillow over and over again. The only rule was to hold nothing back. You went as long as you could, and you made noise.
On my turn, palms sweating and heart pounding, I stepped up. I was nervous to act out in front of strangers.
I took the stance of a samurai, deeply inhaled, and slammed the pillow over and over again like a man possessed. I rhythmically timed each smash to a profanity and a person in my life. I hadn’t cursed that much since my 9th grade obsession with Eminem.
I slipped into a chaotic, frenzied state. At last, I let my inner wild man come to the surface.
I cursed at my parents.
I screamed at my disappointments.
I raged at the universe.
The anger escalated, broiled, and peaked in a FINAL. PRIMAL. YELL!!!
Then, stillness.
I exhaled long and deep. My shoulders slouched. I dropped the racket. I faced out to the group, panting like a dog. I was exhausted but revitalized.
I didn’t recognize the version of me standing there. It was an out-of-body experience. Who was this guy? I was slightly scared of him.
He was assertive, powerful, determined, and embodied. He took up space and shamelessly expressed.
He is me.
Reconnecting with my sacred anger was powerful, and being witnessed in that moment was even more transformative.
Uncontrolled anger can hurt people, but repressed rage is just as damaging. When I bypass anger, it turns inward and becomes depression, pity, and shame. Or it leaks outward through passive-aggression and resentment.
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Alex Hardy
"I heard about David's workshops long before I felt like I was ready to attend one. The work fascinated me, but it was also very intimidating. The idea of facing the dark depths of my inner self was daunting and generated a lot of resistance.
Having experienced several active duty combat operations, I knew the dread and physical discomfort of preparing for battle. What I wasn't prepared for, however, was how much worse it would be when facing my own demons.
During my first workshop, David's strength and focus caught my attention; I could tell early on that he knew what he was doing. As I observed him working with others, I started to see his gift for both identifying emotional blockages and effectively playing the role necessary for people to break through them. If someone needed to feel heard, he heard them. If someone needed to be ignored in order to fully face the trauma of their past, he ignored them. One by one, the people in the group had an opportunity to process what they were ready to process. Eventually, I was able to face my own pain and feel the enormous freedom on the other side of fear.
One of the most important things to remember when approaching this type of work is that no one else can do it for you. But if you feel called, if you feel the magnetic pull towards this type of inner work, know that David has bravely walked down the path ahead of you and knows how to help."
Kevin Schamuhn
