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Principles of The Colwell Practice — theoretical foundations

⚠️ Important distinction. This page is named “Principles of The Colwell Practice” because that is the title Julie Colwell uses in the manual (Appendix III). It is NOT the same as the EPI Guiding Principles (which are constitutional statements about the fellowship’s identity). These are theoretical principles — descriptive claims about how the brain, emotions, state, and reality actually work. They are the worldview the practice rests on, not the rules the fellowship lives by.

When confusion arises, the disambiguation in glossary applies.

What this is

A set of theoretical claims about psychology, emotion, brain function, and the nature of experience that underpin every tool in The Colwell Practice. They are filed here as a tool because they are operationally used — each principle has a list of which tools operationalize it.

The manual organizes them under nine thematic headings, each holding several statements. Each statement is followed by a tool list (what practices that principle operationalizes).

The nine themes and their statements

1. Wholeness means experiencing all of ourselves. Healing means accessing and expressing all Levels of Consciousness (LOC) while cultivating expanded levels.

  • We are perfect just as we are. There is nothing wrong with us. We all come in as essence, pure divinity. Our natural states are the states in which we thrive (Creative Brain), supporting our “higher” selves: Neutrality, Acceptance, Appreciation, Love, Joy, Peace. Tools: daily-meditation, manifesto, Manifestation of What We Love.
  • Being a whole human means being capable of expressing every level of consciousness on the Inner Map, from Shame to Peace. People aren’t good or bad, divine or monsters. We’re all capable of every atrocity and every act of divinity. Wholeness means experiencing every aspect of ourselves fully. Tools: inner-map.

2. There is no there out there; we are the source.

  • We create from our state. We are constantly attempting to predict reality from our past experiences. States from Reactive Brain are particularly quickly accessed because of their survival value, though we can also predict from Creative Brain. This results in a feedback loop where we experience what we expect. Tools: Noticing; Self-hypnosis (hypnotic-inductions).
  • Every moment is an expression of the level of consciousness we are currently occupying. Every person is truly doing the best they can, from whatever level of consciousness they are at. Tools: inner-map; Loving Yourself.
  • So long as we can incorporate feedback, we can continuously learn from the next experience. Tools: openness-to-discovery-scale.
  • There are many ways to impact what state we’re in. Placing our awareness on our sensations is the most powerful and direct way we have of impacting our state. Tools: Presencing, Noticing, sew, Shift and Anchor, Climbing the Ladder (see inner-map), Energy Release, Moving Emotions Process.
  • Humans are highly skilled storytellers and self-hypnotizers. Tools: manifesto, Practicing Self-Hypnosis (hypnotic-inductions).
  • Human empathy means we draw each other into our individual realities. We are hard-wired to be impacted by each other’s levels of consciousness. Tools: Control vs. Influence.
  • Emotions are “positive” or “negative” from the perspective of energy cost. “Negative” emotions use up energy through stress chemicals and resistance. “Positive” emotions generate energy through health/rebuild and flow.
  • Thus, negative emotions aren’t to be avoided. Once triggered, we support them to flow through with attention, breath, movement. Tools: sew, Moving Emotions Process, Tonglen, Climbing the Ladder (see inner-map).
  • Every emotion has a function (but no emotion “means” anything). Every state on the Inner Map has a function — to ensure survival or to support thriving. Tools: inner-map (and the Functions of Each Level of Consciousness table).
  • We code the meaning of the stream of experience that is life through our states. Because of State Dependent Learning, whatever state we’re in connects us with memories from those states. Tools: inner-map, Shift and Anchor Process, Climbing the Ladder.
  • Perceived threats to survival can lead to emotional overwhelm — disconnecting from our experience — and so an inability to fully process our emotions. Unprocessed emotions stay lodged in our cells; being “triggered” means those old emotions come forward into awareness. This is a perfect opportunity to process completely. Tools: Moving Emotions Process; Energy Release; Tonglen.

4. Becoming conscious means becoming capable of choosing instead of reacting.

  • With awareness, we can choose on which level we want to focus and from which level we want to behave. Tools: manifesto, Shift and Anchor Process, persona-to-essence, Climbing the Ladder.
  • Thus the ability to SHIFT OUR STATE is key to all of this work. Tools: Get to the Shore, inner-map, Shift Moves.

5. Reactive Brain (RB) and Creative Brain (CB) are two discrete entities. Understanding the function of each (RB survival, CB thriving) allows maximal functioning and allows for choice.

Reactive Brain (Below the Line) is characterized by a perception of: Competition, Separateness, Scarcity, Contraction, Stress, Force, Resistance, Mundane, Hierarchy, Survival, A hostile universe.

Creative Brain (Above the Line) is characterized by a perception of: Collaboration, Connection, Abundance, Expansion, Health/rebuilding response, Power, Magic, Flow, Co-creativity, Thriving, A friendly universe.

Tools: Noticing, persona-interviews, Telling the Story.

6. RB = hierarchy, CB = Co-creativity.

  • Hierarchy is an instinctive response from Reactive Brain. It looks like “Power Over / Power Under.” Tools: Triangle work (karpman-triangle); inner-map.
  • Co-creativity is an instinctive response from Creative Brain. It looks like “Power With.” Tools: creative-brain-communication.
  • Hierarchy and Co-Creativity do not co-exist. Hierarchy is in the energetic field of “Force” (Below the Line, RB). Force generates counterforce; resistance. Co-creativity is in the field of “Power” (Above the Line, CB). In Power there is no resistance, just ease and flow. Tools: inner-map.

7. When in Reactive Brain, we’re accessing rigid emotional states (aka “personas”). When in CB, we’re accessing fluid, flexible, creative states (essence expression).

  • We created personas as defenses against overwhelming emotion, modeling them after how those around us handled those emotions. The birth of every persona can be traced to an important life event. Tools: persona-interviews, persona dolls.
  • Every state (Shame, Guilt, Despair, Sadness, Frozen Fear, Agitated Fear, Anger, Pride) has its own personas. Many diagnosable symptoms are actually personas — fixed states of consciousness — and so can be interfaced with that way. Anxiety, depression, addictions, anger issues, etc., can often be tracked through the experience of personas. Tools: persona-interviews.
  • Relating to these personas allows for empathy and compassion (from self, from others), and ultimately the ability to control what they do.

8. ALL conflict comes from Reactive Brain. All conflict can be resolved by shifting to CB.

  • The survival focus of Reactive Brain is highly compelling. Tools: Triangle work (karpman-triangle).
  • Hierarchy wants to control; co-creativity works through influence. Hierarchy’s hallmark — Control — leads directly to Resistance. Co-creativity works through natural empathy, so generates no resistance.
  • All conflict can be resolved by moving into Creative Brain. Once we access expanded states of CB, we can reconnect to ourselves and others. New solutions are possible, as is the answer to “how can everybody get everything they want?” Tools: creative-brain-communication.
  • Thus the ability to SHIFT OUR STATE is key to all of this work. Tools: Get to the Shore, inner-map, Shift Moves.

9. Evolutionary Power is stepping into our co-creative potential!

  • The universe is constantly giving us signals that, if followed, will take us into alignment with our true selves. We live in a friendly universe. Any sign of contraction (tension, anxious thoughts, illness, conflict, banging into things, being “out of time,” negative feedback, not breathing, “it’s not funny,” etc.) is a signal that we’re in Reactive Brain. Expanded sensations signal we’re in Creative Brain.
  • Relationship offers the perfect set of circumstances for moving out old energy from our bodies. The enhanced energetic field from connection pulls old energy that has accumulated in our cells to the surface — the perfect opportunity to clear with awareness, breath, and movement.
  • Being in flow means following “what wants to happen.” Like an underground river, flow is ever present. Tuning into and following flow uncovers magic. Tools: inner-map, Shift and Anchor Process, Climbing the Ladder.

How to use this page

The page is not a daily-use tool. Most practitioners will never read it directly. It is filed because:

  • Each tool’s “why this works” lives here. When a tool page references “because we create from our state” or “because every emotion has a function,” the canonical theoretical claim lives on this page.
  • For people studying the practice deeply — peers apprenticing, members holding ongoing Guide–Traveler relationships, the team itself — this is the reference document.
  • It explains the model. When someone asks “why does this work?”, this page is the structured answer.

Disambiguation — three “Principles” in EPI

Reminder, because the naming is genuinely confusing:

  • guiding-principles (Guiding Principles) — 22 constitutional statements about EPI as a fellowship (peer-led, donation-only, no professional class, refer out, etc.). What the fellowship holds structurally.
  • EPI Foundational Commitments — 4 personal declarations members make in practice (live Above the Line; SEW + unarguable; cocreative; 100% responsibility). See epi-foundational-commitments.
  • Principles of The Colwell Practice — this page — ~25 theoretical claims about how the brain, emotions, and reality actually work. The worldview the tools rest on.

Facets served

All six. By design, the theoretical principles undergird every facet’s tools.

Effectively every other tool page in the wiki. The theoretical claims here are the “why this works” underneath any specific practice.

Source and attribution

Primary source:

  • raw/The Colwell Practice Immersion Manual-v3 with cover.pdf, Appendix III (Full Description of the Principles of The Colwell Practice), pp. 120-126.

Lineage: Julia Colwell, PhD. Builds on the work of David Hawkins (Map of Consciousness, named directly in “all states in Reactive Brain line up from physiological mobilization to immobilization”), Gay & Kathlyn Hendricks (most of the worldview’s vocabulary), Bruce Lipton (“We can consciously regulate our molecules,” though that quote appears in sew rather than here), and the broader polyvagal and interpersonal neurobiology literature (named in the manual’s Introduction, p. 6).

Status notes

canonical — minted 2026-05-25 from the Colwell Practice Immersion Manual v3 (Appendix III). Filed as a tool rather than a new page-type because:

  • It is operationally used — practitioners reference it when asked why does X work.
  • Each statement comes with a tool list — it is woven into the tool library directly.
  • Creating a new page-type for it would be schema sprawl; the tool type is broad enough to hold it.

The team may want to confirm this filing decision and the page name. The name “Principles of The Colwell Practice” preserves Julie’s naming for the document; it could alternatively be filed under “Colwell Practice Theory,” “The Worldview Behind the Tools,” or similar. The current name has the advantage of being verbatim what the source calls it, which is useful when team members are cross-referencing the manual.

Referenced by

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