I say – out of the Shadow and into the Light!
Why? Well, as we all know the healing journey is a very personal one and sometimes doing it alone doesn’t get us past the chaos, overwhelm and discomfort of reaching the next step. My focus is to walk with individuals who are ready to go the whole way. That means open to the possibility of growing beyond what you currently believe you can be, growing past the very edges that you think you are. It also means that you will be faced with the dark parts of yourself, the parts you don’t want anyone to know, the parts that sometimes you even hide from yourself. Even though it will be uncomfortable in the shadows, I will be there with you holding space when necessary or offering tools and techniques that re-connect you to your own innate wisdom, to your own personal power. This is your journey of healing and your journey to step into the possibilities of your own human potential.
Main Principles of body-mind therapy
Body-mind:
The body-mind represents the innate wisdom that is housed in the physical body. It contains emotions , physical sensations and all the subtle imprints of our environments that are recognized well before our logical mind has the time to process and name them. It is through our conscious awareness of the body-mind and surrender to its’ wisdom that we are able to heal, integrate and express our true and authentic Self.
“Every muscular contraction contains the history and meaning of its origin” – Wilhelm Reich
Characterology:
This concept was formulated by Wilhelm Reich and indicates that, as an individual developing, we create ways of protecting and defending ourselves from pain. This can be seen in muscle tension or rigidity and is also referred to as body armoring. The armoring is the foundation of characterological development. Reich has identified 5 main character body types that are used in assessment.
Energy:
Our body is an open system that is continually taking energy in and moving it out. When there is a block in the system we may see this as muscle tension, stiffness, or pain that can be physical, mental and/or emotional. Body-Mind therapy at the most basic is about opening these blocks to have more flow, to be able to integrate unprocessed material, and bring about more harmony.
“How energy flows within our system is directly related to how we connect with the world
and how much joy we experience” – Sara Kinakin.
Flow:
Biologically speaking energy flows in and out of the body through a charge and discharge process. Ideally one would have an equal charge and discharge that relates to the event that is experienced. Unfortunately, our human condition is one where we all have experienced unpleasant events or circumstances that we don’t want to engage with. This creates a block in the flow like debris in a river, that slowly over time collects more debris. This lack of flow inhibits our ability to experience joy in our daily lives.
4 Key areas to connect
In the therapeutic process we are always working to establish flow and cohesion in and through the head, heart, genitals and feet. The more flow, connected and coheret these areas we are, the more available we are to be present and experience all that life is.
Tension, charge, discharge and relaxation
Each session aims to create more flow, and personal awareness of the body-mind by following four principles (tension, charge, discharge and relaxation). [see description below]
What does a session looks like?
We begin the session with identifying the tension. This is what is most alive in you, when you arrive. It could be emotional (i.e.: just can’t shake a feeling or sensation); it could be mental (i.e.: you keep re-hashing a situation or event), or it could be physical (i.e.: you have body tension, an ache or pain).
All of these indicate a block in flow, therefore we will use different approaches to open the flow, addressing what has blocked it in the first place. Some of the approaches used are: Gestalt; EMDR; bio-energetic postures; breathing techniques; visualizations; eidetic imagery, and enactment, all depending on what seems most appropriate in the moment.
This therapy is centered in the body (soma). The initial focus of healing is based in reconnecting the emotions, the mind and sensations to our body. Whilst this is occurring we also focus on strengthening the connection with the body-mind and learning to surrender to its’ innate wisdom. This allows the body-mind to naturally find a way to resolve deep rooted patterns of behaviour and/or trauma of an event.
