Nick Lewis
Director of Training www.nlpsuccesssystems.com I can’t really put into words how useful the course was for me. Here we go!  I attended the 3 day Enlightenment Intensive facilitated by Shivam O Brien and the Authentic Self team on high recommendation from a personal friend. Sceptical of the proclaimed results, I packed my bags with an open mind heading for the country manor in deepest Wales. What followed a thoroughly warm reception was 3 days of the most advanced personal development I have EVER attended, period. Having been involved with the Enlightenment path and personal development for over 20 years, the 3 day claim seemed beyond belief. Well let me tell you - this course delivers. If you are looking for more fluff and plasters to cover the cracks this course isn’t for you. If you are after real results to apply in the real world, then go for it. Arriving as a 20 a day firmly addicted smoker I dreaded the course rules, however the way the whole course is delivered they where easy to stick to. I believe as I contacted my true self/identity whilst on the EI these changes have become PERMANENT. From attending this amazing experience I am a better parent, and an overall better person. In an inexplicable way all of life has improved 1000 fold. Being a leading training provider in personal development I have had the pleasure to work with some of the very best trainers in the world. Shivam is at the top, his knowledge and style will assist you in achieving your true potential. It is my intention now, to attend the next EI to work on the next question, I am eternally grateful to all at Authentic Self for their passion, courage and determination in opening up these experiences to the world. The world needs it! Why do you want to attend The 3 day Authentic Self EI? Because you don’t have the rest of your life to hope in vain! Jerry Hyde Psychotherapist (lapsed)  "Over twenty years I've done over three and a half thousand hours of workshops, trainings and personal development work. Not one moment of this came close to the power, beauty and transformation that I experienced in three days on Shivam's EI. It also challenged me more than anything else, including three Vision Quests and a burial. It drove me half mad, I hated and raged against it and then on the third day I realised I was God." Halimah Davies Biodyamic farmer After the 3 day intensive I sat in a train and looked at love bursting through the surface of every thing and being, whatever the surface, however cold and hard, bursting bubbling weeping, love was bubbling through in the cracks and the corners, splitting through the surfaces, however sad or grief-ridden love pushed and pulsed, bubbling up, unstoppable, uncontainable, inevitable. The intensive took me on a journey to the centre of the universe and showed me the unknown. Now that I know what lies behind fear, gravity no longer keeps me bound to that unknown dark centre, I have been initiated into my own being, into the greater part of myself and now compassion replaces fear as the new foundation to that bursting rippling love. Thanks and Love to Shivam for his delight in our abundance
Stephen Moss. Management Consultant London.
Personally, I felt a tremendous build up of a vibration and energy over the days and had a number of profoundly moving and beautiful experiences of 'being'. Thanks to Shivam for holding the space so wisely and clearly for this to happen.
Claire Heron Cumbria Enlightenment Intensives satisfy my hunger for communion - with my Self, with Others and with Life. They provide a space, The more Intensives I do the more I carry the benefits into my daily life. My inner contentedness keeps growing and my relationships are an absolute joy. Before I did any EIs there was always a part of me hoping to find happiness through external things; relationships, work, creativity. Now I find happiness bubbling up through me from within and pouring out in a celebration of life This gives me the freedom to appreciate life and others exactly as they are without needing them to be different in any way for me to be happy. I have been on EIs run by several different people, and I really appreciate Shivam’s particular style. For me his particular gift is in just being himself. He is very clearly not trying to be spiritual or good or a teacher. He is just being himself and this helps me to just be myself too. He holds the space with a wonderful mix of wildness, passion, humility and simplicity. Magical things occur. Glorious Truths are revealed.
Colleen Sullivan Gloucestershire
“I looked into the eyes of the divine where rivers flowed
There I drowned in the amniotic fluid of remembering” “Shivam O‘Brien walks in giants’ steps with wildness and grace” He is an attentive and informative teacher who creates a safe space for magic, growth and authenticity to happen. Polly O’Keefe NLP practitioner  I've spent thousands of pounds on personal development, healing and spiritual growth. Taking the Enlightenment Intensive weekend facilitated by Shivam O'Brien was ultimately one of the most powerful experiences I have had to date. And pound for pound the best value!
I found the weekend extremely challenging, but the process itself dragged me to the delicious edge of self-realisation in a way I have not encountered before or since. On this occasion I did not leap into the ecstatic precipice of direct experience because I was simply not ready for the way this weekend could have totally changed my life. At one point in the process I literally could not tell the difference between my own physical being and other seemingly solid objects. I was not frightened; I was simply absorbed in the vastness of everything. That colossal and beautiful realisation of oneness was more than enough for me on that occasion and in retrospect I know I have never looked at the world in the same way since.
For me the Enlightenment intensive had unexpected benefits that have lasted long after the weekend was actually finished. About a day or two after I returned home and became reabsorbed by the usual responsibilities of work and play, I awoke one morning from a beautiful sleep with a fully formed poem in my head. At that point I was writing bits and pieces of poetry but the experience felt a little like opening a vein every time I sat down to write. Since the Enlightenment Intensive, every so often something beautiful arrives in a daydream or a lapse of concentration like an unexpected gift in the mail. I'm not exactly sure what changed that weekend, but I feel the entire process has lifted a veil somewhere in my subconscious. I have never thought about creativity in the same way since. Instead of battling with hard work and perseverance I have become an observer. Instead of acting and doing I simply wait patiently for something to occur. This unexpected benefit has been absolutely priceless in the course of my own personal development and I remain eternally grateful to Shivam for providing the space to allow such magical transformation to come into being.
Shivam O'Brien is quite literally one of the most charismatic and authentic teachers I have ever met. I refer to him as a teacher because of the profound wisdom he carries with him, although I am aware he may or may not describe himself in such a way. At any rate I would quite happily walk to the other side of the earth to hear this man talk about spirituality. He is the authenticity and awareness he searches for and is more than capable of guiding others safely to that wide and crumbling road of self-discovery.
Ronnie Aaronson Psychotherapist, Bristol Enlightenment Intensive can be a life changing experience and at the very least is a practice which enhances mindfulness and tips you into a different state of consciousness during the course of the weekend Karen Fernandes Shiatsu practitioner, Liverpool
From his knowledge & life experience, Shivam somehow has the ability to transform you to somewhere beyond the EI experience to another place altogether. A place of such depth that you could drown, if it wasn't for the fact that he's been to places even deeper, ready to catch you, if necessary, and offer a softer landing spot. Sue Hardiman County Council Co-ordinator
Mr O Brien with his warrior mane and gentle heart holds the space with strength and compassion, sitting in between the two plains with one ear to the heavens and one ear to the ground. His presence is the hand out stretched across the river drawing us onwards. He knows every inch of the river and instinctively knows the place your spirit will cross. In my experience he is an expert facilitator and has an exceptional aptitude in creating the right environment to allow enlightened experiences to flow.
Yes I was present in that small hidden valley, cradled by the mountains, lulled into a place of safe keeping by the song of the river. For three days the question 'what am I' resounded through my mind seeping into my very essence. The well of resistance held me for but a brief time as I dissolved into the intensity of the moment. The doors of my heart flung open and the thaw of a thousand winters took place within. At first the flow was but a trickle which becamr a gush as realisations began to flow and become unstoppable. Flickers of infinite understanding sent me soaring to new heights. For a moment every sinew of my body sighed in tune with the cosmic breath.
Johannah Proctor Theatre creator and dramatist
There is nothing else quite like an Enlightenment Intensive. It has a tried and tested formula but EVERYTHING depends on the Master facilitator of the particular group. In my experience Shivam O'Brien cannot be beaten. He is extremely focused and intent on everyone in the group getting the most out of their own individual 'experience'. He can hold the space of the group unlike many others which allowed me to feel completely safe. I felt very supported and encouraged...like a gentle but powerful energy pushing me from behind. He understands clearly the objective and quietly and gently reiterates the point to steer us in a particular direction. This is the penultimate and I felt Shivam was always there for me on my journey. Fantastic and rare opportunity!
Elaine Bennet Arts facilitator, Manchester My experiences of a three day EI. Well, nothing I could write would ever come near. Nor could I truly say it is intense now as it was then. What does however remain with me is an all pervading residue - an overflowing reservoir of being truly alive, protected and fully present. Belonging fully in my body, the world, the universe and beyond, and total clarity and knowingness extending much father than tentative belief systems. A reaching into the place where the world is breathing. Witnessing extraordinariness of the ordinary as the mysteries of the universe unfurl, scented by the lingering inescapable vibration of that which brings all things into being. – in fact, Kabir says it so much better, for “he saw it for 15 seconds, and it made him a servant for life”. On a more practical note, Shivam holds Enlightenment Intensives within severaldiffering environments. It might be a 16th Century farmhouse in Wales or in a great Mongolian Ger set in the wilds of a remote Welsh valley. Each gives a different flavour to the contemplation and is as selective to an individual as a savoury or sweet. But, whichever chosen, the openness and nourishment of being supported by a well trained and experienced master and monitors provides the basis of a trusting relationship which lifts one up when one falls, and holds steady in a shifting and unravelling world. Jay Keshava
Glastonbury
To be invisibly yet firmly held by the ravagingly magical presence of this incredibly wild haired, beautifully humble, ancient hearted mad mystic and fiercely loving warrior of truth is a deep privilege. I would want only to do an Enlightenment Intensive with this guy. There is only Shivam. Summer Intensive 2008
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