When “Work on the Self”
Becomes Self-Involved
____________
On the surface, it is all about doing the things you want to do,
creating positive experiences for
yourself and empowering you.
It’s about what you want,
who you are,
battling your inner demons,
finding your inner child,
manifesting your dreams.
But once that’s all said and done, transforming your life is not about you.
The growth and development that opens the world up for connectedness and meaning is more than a self-centered pursuit of perfection.
In order to be able to…
- Navigate the complex challenges of life, adulthood and relationships…
- Resolve conflict to deepen, rather than severe connection…
- Genuinely collaborate with others and deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us
…You need to develop the capacities and constitution to play with others and be an agent that transforms others, not just yourself.
No podcast, self-help book, instructional video can do that for you.
Transformation is not a skill to perfect, it’s a process of becoming.
To transform and to be transformational, you have to move past collecting tools, and fundamentally shift your perspective on yourself in relation to the world.
This is similar to becoming a parent, moving to a new country or getting a pet:
You can read every parenting guide or watch every travel vlog and these can offer you useful things to look out for and notice tendencies in yourself that might have been habitual for years. But knowing all those things doesn't mean that when push comes to shove, you’ll recognize what’s needed in the moment and to act on them.
In that same vein, if you want to become someone who lives a good life, full of meaning, purpose and belonging, it isn’t enough to create a checklist of the best things to do in every possible scenario.
Now that you’ve woken up to the ways you might need to grow, you’ll need to enter an ecology of practices in fellowship with others to grow together towards being better persons.
Of course, you’ll need to practice and be fluent with skills. But you also need to be in scenarios which challenge your assumptions, beliefs and identity in order to bring those skills to bear.
TIAMAT is not a single technique.
It’s neither therapy nor a self-help hack.
It’s a living ecology of practices
for becoming more human, more whole, and more alive.
“When you are in a state of egocentrism, you are not properly seeing the agent-arena relationship. You are projecting your needs, fears, and biases onto the world, mistaking your salience landscape for reality itself.”
-Prof. John Vervaeke,
Cognitive Scientist & Philosopher
Awakening From The Meaning Crisis
The Good News Is...
…by integrating theory and practice, anyone can transform their life and step out of self-destructive loops, no matter where you are in your journey through life.
You can be more present in relationships old, new and yet to be.
You can create the conditions that invite flow into your projects and communities.
And you can become so tuned in to life that you’ll be resilient to conflict; able to stay oriented towards a good life and create actionable steps to realizing that life with those that matter to you.
But in order to walk this path, you will need to understand…
3 Pillars of Transformational Growth
1) Structures such as theory of mind help you track the relationship between your personal experience with those of others.
2) Dynamics between yourself, others and the world to intervene on your cognition, consciousness and character.
3) States of consciousness can help us to orient towards something greater than ourselves with virtue and virtuosity.
What's in a name?
Tiamat is the name of a Mesopotamian goddess of primordial chaos
—the saltwater sea that mixed with freshwater to create the gods.
We thought that was pretty cool.
It’s also an acronym:
The Integrative Approach & Methodology
of Active Transformation.
Let’s break it down:
The Integrative Approach
TIAMAT is the fruit of over twelve years of interdisciplinary research and field practice, developed through collaborations across:
- Theatre and actor-training
- 4E Cognitive Science and Jungian psychology
- Eastern and Western philosophical traditions
- Depth Psychology and Relational Practice
- Movement, voice, mindfulness and play
It’s been attended by 200+ participants across a diversity of cultural, spiritual, and professional backgrounds.
TIAMAT is animated and evolves by folding in the personal, cultural, and relational contexts of everyone who enters it—including you.
& Methodology
TIAMAT is built on an ecology of practices—a dynamic network of tools that develop cognitive flexibility, emotional depth, and relational intelligence.
Through cutting-edge 4E cognitive science, we integrate four domains of practice known as DIME:
Dialogue: Speak your bodymind—and listen for what’s beneath to build collective flow and insight.
Imaginal: Use the power of story, symbol, and myth to shift perception and open new possibilities.
Mindfulness: Cultivate awareness from the inside out. Interoception and presence become avenues for transformation.
Embodiment: Somatic awareness becomes the ground for meaning, action, and change.
No single domain is a cure-all. But woven together, they form a resilient, adaptive ecology for transformation—one that meets the complexity of living life with clarity and care.
of Active Transformation
Transformation in TIAMAT isn’t passive.
It’s not received—it’s participated in.
We believe:
- You’re not broken—
but you’re likely not yet who you could be.
- You’re not insufficient, you’re unfolding.
- Growth is relational, symbolic, and embodied.
Which is why:
- We won’t tell you who you should become.
- We won’t promise you a fixed outcome.
- We will invite you to be an agent in your own becoming.
Enriching your spiritual life
I hope you are beginning to see how personhood through play is possible for anyone so long as theory and practice are held in dialogue with each other.
With TIAMAT’s ecological approach, you will regain balance in your life and practice to move beyond yourself and the current cultural malaise.
It will require you to be at your growth edge but is well worth the time and effort.
But once you take your first steps, I think you’ll find that:
- Your relationships benefit from deeper presence and connectedness.
- You can hang out with someone at a cafe and explore the depths of each other’s experience, uncovering new insights together.
- Your everyday encounters with your environment feel more colorful with opportunities for joy at every turn.
- You can move past the unpleasantness of a conflict and realign towards reconciliation.
- Your relationship with yourself will be kinder, more inquisitive and less punitive and judgmental.
At this point, words reveal motivations, the world becomes a playground and you become who you are.
Which is pretty meaningful.
TIAMAT doesn’t give you an ideal to chase.
It offers a context in which your deeper self—the one already whispering under the noise—can emerge.
Testimonials
“I left with new tools and new lenses to understand my life.”
– Michaela
“It’s a system, yes—but it’s also a space. You’re not forced to become something. You’re invited to uncover what’s already within you.”
– Ellie
“TIAMAT helped me feel safe to express and show up how I am.”
– Qi Ying
Ready to Begin?
TIAMAT isn’t one thing. It’s a journey, an invitation, and a practice.
You can start with a drop-in, or jump into the full training path.