Story of Amir Carmel and the Inner Work-Out
The Inner Work-Out is a space for personal growth and human connections, so we want to share our personal stories and moments of growth with you.
Amir founded the Inner Work-Out last year, and when looking back at his biography, his experiences in the army paved his path to initiating the Inner Work-Out.
“Looking back, my experience in the army can be divided into two parts. The first part was all about being part of a team, of something bigger, knowing each other without words, and feeling that we are having the same heartbeat almost…
I joined a special forces unit after highschool. Very quickly into the training, our team became very close, not necessarily through opening up verbally, but because we saw each other in very difficult situations, we supported each other when we broke down, and we hugged each other when we slept at night outside because otherwise, we would freeze. Through these experiences, we became very close to each other… By entering this collective mindset, I started doing things for the whole, and it didn’t matter who does what as long as we as a collective are doing good. Looking back at this time, it was almost a spiritual experience of being part of something bigger than myself.
At some point, I left my original team and went through advanced training to become a team leader and officer, which also marked the beginning of the second period in my army experience, this time it was almost the opposite of the first. I became much more aware of the bigger context I was operating in, as I was interacting more intensively with the other side, in the conflict. Seeing the people on the other side, literally eye to eye I realized that there was no chance of building a connection, that this human being on the other side had so much hatred and fear, and that we both could never connect as equals. No matter what I did in the role that I was fulfilling. This experience was very painful for me, realizing that there is a person my age, the age of my parents or siblings and we just can never connect.
The combination of these two experiences: the deep connection on the one hand and the inability to connect on the other hand was profound. Even more was the tension between the two, which became the driving force that has led me since then. Later when I studied psychology I came across peer-based coaching methods and it blew my mind. Everything I was looking for was there in this very simple workform: the deep connections, the total equality and mutual support, and the potential to be who we really are with each other. Looking for ways to bring these qualities to the world, and make them an integrated part of our lives has led me to create the Inner Work-Out: a space for meaningful connections, a gym dedicated to the practice of connecting to yourself and each other.
… Amir shares more about his life story and the Inner Work-Out in an episode of the Gedankendealer podcast, which can be found on Spotify, iTunes, and Youtube!