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Beginner's Mind, Body Harmony, Feldenkrais

by Simon Cribb

1) WHAT I TOOK TO THE WORKSHOP...

I was tired; the demands of a busy Physiotherapy practice, an expanding Feldenkrais practice, and a nest full of young cubs, had begun to take it's toll... Subtly and gradually, something had gone missing in my life; something that had failed to regenerate over a two-week Christmas holiday.

It had been replaced with a dull physical aching.., nothing to worry about, just a touch of the old Ross River (virus) visiting... and yet it greeted when I awoke in the morning, and when I lay down to sleep at night, in fact pretty well any time I surrendered to parasympathetic mode. It was my process... that part of me that is interested only in being, that part that feels like the human organism waiting.., waiting... waiting silently to evolve.

And if you are the proud owner of one of these you may have experienced how it becomes a little impatient with consistent neglect; how disturbances start to occur in the regimented plans you have for life; and if you have a lot of yourself invested in the physical channel, the wake up calls may start to manifest in your sphere of greatest attachment... as physical symptoms! The dreaming body had wound it's great coils gently around my core ...and started to s-q-u-e-e-z-e; causing my dulled consciousness to sluggishly realise it was time to come up for air.

So, having read a leaflet about the coming Body Harmony workshop, and having noted that it's originator, Don McFarland, had studied with Ida Rolf and our beloved Moshe, (amongst numerous studies), I felt an attraction that compelled me to act. ( On re-reading this, I don't think Moshe would have approved of this reckless metaphor; but today is day seven of a Body Harmony Workshop and the precise science I have so lovingly cultivated in my consciousness appears to have come a little loose around the edges... mmm, feels like a little more space to breath in here. )

2) WHAT I FOUND THERE...

My arrival at the Workshop was greeted with a slight ripple of ?excitement from the organising staff, and I came to suspect this had nothing to do with me being a Feldenkrais Practitioner ( which seemed to be unknown in these parts ) and everything to do with being a Physiotherapist - here was a denizen of the lunar landscape of conventional therapy (con)descending to visit; I seemed to be received graciously and attentively, as if my visit was an occasion of honour, and perhaps a little apprehension. Although I soon came to see that graciousness was a state of being that this work seems to unfold in it's students.
If I wanted some evidence that this work had something to offer I had to wait no longer... the seminar leader -Duncan Hogg - moved through the room with an ease of bearing that immediately attracted my practiced eye... it took me only seconds to realise that I was looking at a man who had greater access to physical awareness than I had; this was not the front of a Seminar Leader, it was the economy in motion of an initiate.

Duncan asked us to express what we wanted from the seminar, and I asked for inspiration, recreation, regeneration and a way of working with tissue that was highly efficient , economical of my efforts, and profound in it's results... Duncan lit up when he heard that word "efficient", and I knew that Moshe's finger prints were on this work. I was reassured again by a brief mention of "Beginner's Mind", Yes, that was exactly what I needed, I had come to the right place.

Body Harmony uses a ten-session structure, based on the Rolfing model ( If your Felden-anarchist has got worried about " ten sessions" or "structure" just suspend judgement as if you were working...) The first three sessions address the superficial tissue, the following four the "core" of the body, and the final three are for integration The sessions are designed around the specific needs of the client, with the session structure serving as an entry point rather than a rigid procedure. The sessions may evolve into a spiral that leads to session one on a deeper level once session ten is complete.

We began by observing the way of standing and moving of a volunteer, in relation to session one: Breathing and The Chest. and the line of enquiry had a familiar ring to it: Observe your own breath and poise. Observe the pattern of the clients breathing from the front, back, and sides. Is there any sense of effort? Where might the effort be coming from? What can the client tell you about what they sense? Is one side of the rib cage shorter than the other? How do the lines of fascia flow ( compare left to right ) Where is their weight distributed ? etc.

So, we began to explore the phenomenon of touch, and I was entranced... " The best state for a bodyworker is Wonderment" ( McFarland )...and that's where I was. In Body Harmony the tissue is approached with infinite respect for its intelligence, the hands are brought to gently contour to the client with a quality of listening and timeless patience, supporting and blending with the life of the tissue, sensing for it's secrets, exploring "tissue parameters" with the lightest of touch, feeling for the lines of least resistance and following... following and waiting. And "every place you touch has an inherent directionality to it" ( McFarland ), you simply follow the path of greatest ease, allowing the body to experience itself- letting go follows: a tribute to the quality of your presence. The practitioner's organisation and touch is a suggestion to the tissue, and therefore the practitioners field of awareness encompasses the self and the client.., your breathing and her breathing slowly moulding... the minute shifts in your centre of gravity transmitted through effortless hands to her body. And by the way( as Moshe: would say ) the limitations of the practitioner act to restrain the client - sounds like some "intention without ambition" would be useful around here. Once you have arrived at sympathetic resonance, deliberate suggestions are tactfully introduced into the tissue. Less is more - the lighter and more attuned your exploration of the tissue is, the deeper and more profound the changes.
Duncan explained all this as he gently demonstrated on a volunteer, and I was impressed with his ability to sense the subtleties of the client's organisation, and verbalise these perfectly as he worked, in a way that passed no judgements but only opened possibilities. There was no sense of a body of theory being translated into practice; this work seems to dwell in the domain of the senses, and is communicated more by the teachers way of embodiment than by his words. His actions and words were simple and lucid - an economy of explanation you might say.

The emphasis was on waiting for permission from the tissue before going deeper or further. Duncan explained this as he eased through several tissue layers ( "Layers" it turns out refers to neurological gradations of letting go, rather than anatomical tissue layers). Also, the emotional character of the tissue is considered. Areas where fascial glide seems restricted and where emotion seems latent in the tissue are referred to as emotional cysts. "Each tissue layer has it's own identity and the password is AWARENESS " (McFarland). With awareness you follow the spiral of the fascial web and support it in it's unwinding. Simultaneously you search your own body for holding patterns (parasitic movement), and the moment of the practitioner giving up a useless tension, which is expressed in the quality of your breathing, is acknowledged by a letting go in the tissue of the client.

Withdrawal from the interaction is done with the same level of care and gradations of touch, with awareness of when the tissue field is demanding your continued presence and sucking you hands inward, and when the energy has moved on and your contact is relinquished. Care is taken to ensure that the tissue is not abandoned or left incomplete and unsatisfied.

The whole process may last an hour or so, and leaves the client with a visible sense of peace and obvious organisational changes - the resemblance to, and differences from, Functional Integration are striking. I would say that we are dwelling here in field theory (and I do not pretend to be well informed about the physics of this) rather than the neuro-organisational metaphor that I have learned to view the Feldenkrais work through. The underlying implications seem to be that reality is a field of awareness, and when a consciousness comes into contact with a greater field of awareness it perceives it's own constrictions, compressions and limitations and starts to expand and give up holding patterns ( both physical and metaphysical ) reorganising to resemble the greater field. Therefore a minimal of physical intervention (effort ) is required, and the practitioners quality of being is the active ingredient. The intentionally of your touch exerts a "gravitational" pull , and this is where the changes occur from! " Don't leave yourself outside the equation " ( McFarland ). Why is this all so familiar, and yet so refreshing? This feels like The Elusive Obvious revealing itself.

The group worked together, one on one, over the next few days; and the quality of teaching was such that, from the outset, even the complete novices were working with a focus and gentleness that yielded immediate results for their subjects.

3) A SESSION RECEIVED

The sessions are similar to an F.I.(Functional Integration). I was fully clothed and lying supine on a massage table. My recollection is hazy as I quickly succumbed to a pleasantly opiated (endorphinarted?) state. Duncan had asked what I requested from the session , and I had asked him to create more versatility and self-expression in the organisation of my chest. We loosely followed the session-one structure, exploring the flexor surface of my chest and abdomen with a touch that was enquiring and delicate. We chatted about my past and aspirations, and laughed a lot. I took a number of deep spontaneous breaths as I experienced the way I had been living in myself, and expanded to more fully inhabit the tissues of my front . I realised I had been almost totally absent from the tissue here, and never experienced it as fully alive. The session concluded with very light holding of several "balancing" points, similar to cranio-sacral work.

Afterwards I felt lighter and more fluid, and perhaps an increased capacity for joy. Thirty-six hours latter I had a short-lived and violent attack of diarrhea, which I experienced as process, rather than through the common interpretation of "virus"; I felt as if my intestines were rearranging, areas of ballooning and constriction changing tone and returning towards their intended shape. The great serpent stirred in it's sleep, took a full breath, rearranged it's coils, and settled in comfortably with a slow smile. I knew I had been deeply touched.

4) WHAT I CAME AWAY WITH...

It is one week later. Something has returned to my life... A lightness of being; a sense of clarity of intention that I did not know was absent. My parenting seems to have expanded; I listen to my children more fully; I am more supportive of their reality, and less inclined to resolve issues by force. My wife and I find ourselves in a period of deep love and connectedness. Our love making is a celebration. She says I have let go of something in my face, and it is becoming.
When I do A.T.M. (Awareness Through Movement) I find myself listening to my body with fresh awareness, and breathing my way into a state of deep sensuality.
When I work, a new appreciation and respect for the life of the tissue is present. My F.I.s are more creative, and old cases are occurring as new possibilities. "Beginner’s Mind" is present.
The bone-deep hunger of my process is a little appeased, but only on the condition that I return to explore further. I think I may be in love with a new journey. There is a youth and vitality about this work; it's author is still living and teaching; It feels like the possibilities of getting close to the source; a deep refreshing drink from the well-spring.
If you ask " Is it enriching to a Feldenkrais practitioner ?", the answer is "definitely ". If you ask " How can I possibly afford another expensive addiction ?" I can only quote that master of late twentieth century philosophy - The Nike Corporation - " Just do it! "



The Significance Of Being In Low Potential

by Duncan Hogg

A low potential energy state may be described as a state of receptivity, a state where you are receptive to your environment. In terms of practicing Body Harmony, or any therapeutic modality, being in a low potential energy state allows you to listen to your client, uninterrupted by your own thought processes.

To further communicate the reality of this, the person walking through the rain forest, breathing and allowing themselves to be affected by the beauty of the natural environment is in low potential, while the person walking through the same environment with their shoulders tensed obsessing about the cost of admittance, and wondering about the call they should have made may be said to be in high potential. (They are not really walking through the same rain forest, but it appears that way.)

Don't let this example of high potential taint your idea of its value and necessity in any way. Active and passive rub shoulders constantly. It does however appear fairly common that people at times do not receive themselves, other people around them, the air in the atmosphere, the messages their body communicates, the intuitive information available constantly and so forth. Allow me to change track for a moment.

Recent studies have cited that neural circuitry by-passes the neocortex and goes straight from the eye or ear to the thalamus and then to the amygdala (the emotional brain). It only constitutes a small portion of the total sensory information, however it does exist. In practical terms this means that, based on a relatively small amount of sensory information, a person’s brain circuitry will loosely correlate or match with any emotionally charged memory from the past (held in the tissues of your body) and initiate a response based on the perceived threat to their survival. It's certainly not a bad thing, its evolutionary value appears self evident.

What is important to understand is that decisions are being made within 12 thousandths of a second of receiving the information, before we would experience having a chance to think about it and respond in a more informed and potentially more appropriate way. This is really OK when you are jumping away from a snake or a falling tree, when time to think may be too much more time than you have. When you find yourself feeling the same way towards someone's expression of affection, or a family gathering at Christmas, (or any other situation where you genuinely feel threatened for no apparent reason) some overview and experience may be required to release yourself from the fight or flight response activated by an adrenal surge. (One thing worth bearing in mind is that the amygdala is more fully formed at birth than the neocortex and the prefrontal lobes. It stores or has direct access to the emotional experience of life before words and thoughts can be associated with them, the stages of infancy and early childhood. It can become very obvious during a Body Harmony treatment when these life stages are being accessed.)

Back to low potential. Erasing trauma from the body releases the emotional scaring left by the event. Essentially we are looking at biochemically erasing energetic configurations stuck in the body to the extent that the emotional brain no longer has something to refer to from those old configurations. This is the process of Body Harmony. In order to release such issues though, we require our clients agreement, - the consent of their tissues. We need to create an environment within which we can practically support our clients to explore through their issue, rather than another ride on the healing loop (yes, this is a form of avoidance) working around the issue. We are working towards our client being able to completely renegotiate their relationship to the event held in the tissues that, up to this point, has been successfully integrated into the unconscious landscapes of the body. And this is where an good overview of what supports a client into a state of low potential to the issue with which they are dealing is so important.

Clients may be doing their very best to avoid an issue that they really do want resolution from. Their emotional brain may have made a strong match with the situation that exists between themselves and the practitioner, - the practitioner may remind them of a family member, school teacher etc and they are aroused by the association. In this case they will be in a state of low potential to their own unresolved experience, literally being affected by the association. We are looking to create an environment where our client can affect the issue, rather than have the issue affect the client. What this means in practical terms is supporting an awareness within our client as to the means used to reaffirm an original trauma, shallow breathing, jaw tightening, shoulder(s) tensing, agitation and uneasiness, day dreaming, going unconscious on what is being said etc. If our clients can become aware for themselves, then they re-enter a realm of choice, and are able to make associations to who they are in present time and the nature of the circumstances that exist now. These are happy clients!

This distinction has been of value to me: Is my client in low potential to (ie being affected by) their history or are they in low potential to their awareness. Awareness is a very effective element (due to its non-judgemental nature) to assist the process of healing.

Unlocking Body Thoughts

By Frank Bronson

His first words were "Oh my god! This is real"

My friend had just encountered his first experience of having his body thoughts read and released. It had taken him several years and much prompting for him to come to this session.

As an old business colleague, he never understood why I left a successful business career to practice and teach Body Harmony until I finally convinced him to try a session.

His experience was identical to the one which drew me into the field. I sent him to the friend who had originally "worked" on me. In the course of the session he had his body thoughts read and the practitioner told him things about himself that no one else in the world was supposed to know. In fact, no one could possibly know about these events in his life because he had never told anyone about them.

Having been "blown away" by a similar experience many years ago, I at first thought it was magic, this ability to read the thoughts and memories of the body.

Once I began to explore it, I discovered it was not only real, but readily accessible to everyone. It is not a psychic exercise available only to the clairvoyant. It is a practical physical process available to all. Reading the body is much like reading a book. You just have to understand the writing.

With practice it becomes extremely easy to see in the body the events that shape a person's life. In fact, once you start looking and opening yourself to receive information, it becomes extremely difficult not to see it. Bodies (especially the feet which are the gossips of the body) have been so neglected and overlooked that they respond with great enthusiasm when someone speaks directly to them. They cannot wait to tell their story, their entire story, and they have no withholding or secrets when they talk.

Being able to contact a person's body thoughts, including your own, offers benefits on many levels. By responding appropriately to body thoughts you can change lives. The body will tell you how to communicate effectively with a person, what words to use and actions to take. It will tell you how to reach that person and get your message through. It will tell you how to release unhealthy and restrictive thoughts from the body. It will tell you what action is appropriate in every circumstance for your own success and happiness. In short, it will tell you whatever you need to know.

Your body is the physical representative of your soul. Everything that has ever happened to you exists in your body. It is a storehouse for all your victories, successes and triumphs as well as your injuries, failures and traumas. All of these events are thoughts, which are stored in the body. By affecting our bodies, they affect our lives. Until released, incomplete traumas and memories from your body will be limiting factors in your life. Even some scientific circles are now acknowledging what bodyworkers have known for many years; memory resides in the connective tissues of the body. This is the magic that allows for contacting the body's thoughts and unlocking its restrictions.

Many traditional forms of medicine and psychotherapy now acknowledge the importance of bodywork or physical therapy in releasing the memory of traumatic experiences from the body. This is especially true in cases of abuse and incest. The mind may choose to forget or ignore traumatic events, but the body never does. Until memory is physically released from the body, a person is never truly free from the effects of such an event.

The tissues of the human body cannot tell a lie. It is not possible. The mind, however, is another story. So often when I work with people I get two answers to the questions I ask. One from their mind, via their mouth, and the other from their body. I trust the body's answer. The mind is able to devise an elaborate defense system of thoughts, rationalizations and avoidances. The body cannot. At worst bodies can honestly believe a lie the mind has told them over and over again. They cannot tell a lie. This is where physical problems arise in the body. Either the mind has overridden the body and convinced it to do something not in its best interest, or the body has decided to believe in a lie the mind has devised.

The cause always comes down to a thought and the effect is always seen in the body. This is why releasing body thoughts is such an effective process in the realms of healing and personal growth. The human body has an innate ability to heal itself, to live in the glory of the now and to reclaim its original birthright of unlimitedness. All it has to do is release the restrictions and limitations imposed on it by thoughts and belief systems.

The process is actually very simple. It only requires that the mind is diverted long enough for the body to take over a function as it was designed. Have you ever wondered why you do not have everything you want in life, whether it is on the physical, material, mental, emotional or physical level? If so, take a look at your belief systems and thoughts. All limitations start with a thought. If you have worked on the thought process for years, as many people have, then why does the limitation still exist? Because all limitations share a common process which exists in the physical body as well as the mental body. The belief of a limitation becomes ingrained in the body and will remain there until it is released.

Fortunately, the process of unwinding and releasing thoughts and limitations from the body is quite easy. For any given limitation or negative thought there is a corresponding physical restriction somewhere in the connective tissue of the human body. The body is usually only too happy to tell you where the spot is and direct you in how to release it. When these restrictions are released, people experience a state of freedom, a flowing moment to moment state of pure unlimited divineness where they can realize all their dreams.

The process I use in contacting and unlocking body thoughts and restrictions is known around the world as Body Harmony. It is a simple, yet radical, profound and effective form of healing and living. The "secret" to the work, if there is one, is in the magic of touch. If you touch with awareness and sensitivity, with respect and openness, the body will talk to you. You must let your hand mold into the tissue of the person's body. Let it become a part of their body. Ask nothing from their body. Using your hands, simply be there for their body, asking it what you can do for it to support it and help it unwind. Most bodies have been neglected so long they are thrilled to have someone to speak to. And in such a simple thing as touch there is magic which borders on the miraculous. It is a touch that can set you free.

The human body knows how to heal itself. If you are willing to listen, truly listen, the body will direct you. It will tell you the exact physics required and how to apply them. If you follow its instructions, the body will release the thoughts and limitations it has laboured under all its life. In the process, both you and anyone you work with undertakes a journey into the magical realm of healing.

The information is there for anyone willing to listen and serve. It is present in your own body and with everyone you meet. All you have to do is listen. If you listen, the body will tell you its secrets. And having told them will be free to move on.

Floatation Therapy And Body Harmony

by Peta Jacobs

Imagine floating weightless, feeling warm, safe and deeply relaxed and receiving gentle, non-intrusive bodywork at the same time. This, my vision, is now a reality.

Wellspring combines the benefits of flotation therapy and Body Harmony. It is an experience which clients describe as exquisite", "profound", "extraordinary", "unlike anything I have experienced in my life".

FLOATATION THERAPY was discovered in the 1950s when space scientists were trying to simulate weightlessness when training astronauts.

The benefits of floating have been well documented. It is a quick, simple way of attaining very deep relaxation and it helps a wide variety of conditions. Blood pressure and heart rate drop and oxygen intake improves. It also helps to alleviate pain and stress, leaving you feeling renewed.

BODY HARMONY, the other part of the Wellspring equation, is a hands-on healing treatment influential on physical, mental, emotional and spiritual levels.

Working with the individual's uniqueness in that moment, it recognises the client as the expert on themselves. Observing and listening with every sense, the practitioner follows the body's guidance to release stories and imprinted traumas from the tissues, emancipating its historical limitations.

Don McFarland, the founder of Body Harmony, is certified in over 80 different bodywork systems across the world and has synthesised the elements he found most effective. He is continually adding to his repertoire so Body Harmony is perpetually evolving.

HOW WELLSPRING CAME ABOUT

I was an experienced 'floater' when I encountered Body Harmony and immediately saw the potential of giving Body Harmony in a flotation pool. Don McFarland's descriptions of group Body Harmony sessions in hot springs fuelled my desire to combine the benefits of both Body Harmony and floating. The supporting buoyancy of flotation would allow me to work in water one-to-one with my clients. The notion was enticing and insistent.

The results of experiments in local flotation tanks were exciting, inspiring and beyond my expectations. I knew I had to have my own pool and had one custom built.

The Wellspring float pool is larger than other floatation tanks and is not enclosed, being housed in its own tranquil room. We observe stringent water hygiene regulations. The strong solution of mineral salts means the water is sterile (like the Dead Sea). A small amount of disinfecting chemicals is added, the water is filtered thoroughly, and is treated with an energy balancer and cleanser after every session. The salts make the water extremely buoyant so even non-swimmers bob on the surface. They are also beneficial to the skin and prevent it from crinkling in the water.

Safely supported, your body has unrestricted opportunities to unwind through every plane. Our bodies remember everything which happens to us. Memories of trauma and difficult experiences can cause compression in the body tissues which leads to restricted function and mobility at many levels in our bodies and lives. The fluid working environment gives access to complete liberation and unwinding of compressed tissues. The conductivity of the water enhances the communication between the tissues and the practitioner. It enables effective work on fine and minute levels, the most subtle levels are the most profound. Gentle techniques, unique to this environment, have developed and by its nature it is a continually evolving form of work.

Traditionally, water is healing and is inherently relaxing, and we have evolutionary and gestational origins in water. Two-thirds of the human body is composed of fluids and naturally responds well in water.

STRESS

It is well documented that an individual's state of mind and life condition are key factors to his or her own inner healing abilities. Being over-stressed creates imbalances which can lead to a variety of conditions and can hamper the body's attempts to maintain homeostasis and good health. A major feature of the Wellspring therapy is profound and total relaxation. Sessions have a lasting impact on stress-related conditions and sense of well-being.

My Experience - ANNIE

I was very skeptical about the benefits of floating in a tank of water but my first experience in Peta's pool changed me - not only my viewpoint, but myself as well.

All my stresses and strains filtered away. The nerve ends of my skin felt the warm water in an acute sensation of all-over touch, like liquid velvet. My arms and legs stretched out in a star shape and slowly one arm freed itself and began to move of its own accord. Peta discovered a build-up of tissue under my collar bone (probably where it was broken before I could crawl). But it felt that this arm was symbolic of the right side of my body having other more obscure reasons to want to free itself.

When the session was over I felt as though I had been on holiday. In fact I was still on holiday, lasting well into the next day when I was supremely confident and successful at an important business meeting.

Each session is different, each having its own benefits. The most dramatic is connected to an intestinal problem I have been experiencing for some time but only recently took medical advice, when the doctor booked the earliest hospital (several months ahead). My body writhed and moved in the pool quite dramatically and it felt as though a loop of intestine was unwinding, releasing a constriction. Through the following week my symptoms went back to almost normal and now I no longer have any.

Also, a patch of eczema I have had on my neck for years has been eradicated.

My Experience - WILL

I approached the Wellspring therapy without any real idea of how I would react. I had already received Body Harmony for fatigue and asthma and thought the treatment, in the main, successful. Certainly, my tension was removed enough for me to enjoy several good night's sleep. I wanted to pursue release of tension and a general sense of panic within me so readily agreed to treatment in the pool.

No amount of explanation could have prepared me for my experience. I closed my eyes and, very quickly, all sense of time and space faded away and I felt, rather, that I was floating in space. I never knew where Peta was, though I always felt a reassuring contact.

My body began to move, and gentle hands moved with me, assisting rather than guiding. My body, especially neck and shoulders, was unwinding, unravelling tensions and traumas that seemed so old and hidden. I allowed this movement to continue, witnessing rather than initiating and, suddenly, a wave of grief passed over me and for a period, I don't know how long, I shuddered with that grief, as if weeping silently. Again, I could feel the contact of those reassuring hands. After a while, this unravelling receded like the tension in a clockwork motor and only stillness and calmness remained. I hung in space and a distant voice called me from deep within it - Peta was calling me back. I was unaware I had reached so far inside myself. I have never experienced such detachment before or since. I felt, quite literally, that a load had been lifted from my shoulders.

I have tried to make sense of my reaction to this treatment and can only conclude that my tension was a result of the various traumas in my life that had not been absorbed and released. In any event, my conclusion was that the "making sense" of a cure is not so important as enjoying the benefit of it.

My Experience - IAIN

I have had a stammer for as long as I can remember. During a brief consultation I talked about my stammer while Peta observed how my body responded to my words. She explained that she was noticing the places which would be most appropriate for her to start working. We adjourned to the flotation pool. The first session was very energetic. I found myself unwinding in ways I had never thought possible. I had a marvellous feeling of freedom and unrestricted expression. I became conscious how I had compressed and shortened myself trying to please and fit into other people's requirements of me. All of which was now being let go.

The results of this treatment were immediate. Although I still stammered it was not as often. I did not care as much about stammering and I did not have the same feelings of being rushed. Stammering no longer held a grip over me. I could now skip through it rather than plough through it.

The second treatment was very different. I wanted to commit myself to a deeper level of work to move forward with my issue. Once in the water I was a lot calmer. I wasn't unwinding physically nearly as much as before. Instead, I lost track of time and my surroundings and I knew intuitively that what I was 'dealing' with was on a much deeper level. At the end of the session I had a profound feeling of calmness and ease.

The people around me have also noticed that I stammer much less now and that when I do stammer I come out of it much more quickly. I have changed. I will continue to work on this with Wellspring.

My Experience - MICHELE

I had been a grateful receiver of Peta's Body Harmony work for some time when I became aware that I needed to go deeper into myself to truly heal before I could move my life forward. At this time Peta was developing Wellspring. First I had to overcome my deep fear of dying by drowning before I could bring myself to go in the water.

As my first session began, I realised my apprehension was actually because I was handing over my control to the unknown, not something I felt comfortable doing. Within minutes, it was like I had been transported to a place where calmness seemed to take over my body. The fact that I was in water was now irrelevant, my fear had vanished and I felt totally relaxed.

I was aware that even though I appeared not to be moving, deep within my body things were happening, muscles releasing something they had held on to for as long as I can remember. All the time Peta was there supporting me. I had never felt so safe and secure.

All of a sudden things became clear - I was not really able to live life fully because of my need to control everything. Wellspring opened the gate for me but the decision was mine whether to go through. I chose to go forward. Peta is now helping me to work through what is on the other side. The gate would have remained shut had it not been for Wellspring.

The Body Harmony® Experience

What Is Body Harmony?

by Lee Kuntz

Body Harmony is an open system, integrating both traditional and esoteric bodywork methods from around the world, with a singular focus: a gentle, sensitive, non-invasive touch and a personalized approach to each client and each client's issues. Body Harmony sees the client, not the practitioner, as the true source of healing, and sees the client's way rather than the practitioner's way as the path to that healing.

Our bodies are living, moving, and breathing storehouses of all of our life's experiences on all levels -- physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual. Positive, loving, joyous, and successful experiences expand our bodies and free our movements. Physical and mental traumas, judgments and limitations (both self-imposed and imposed by others), stress, and suppressed emotions compress our tissues and musculature, limiting our healing potential and the realization of our dreams. Our minds may choose not to remember past traumas, but our bodies never forget, and our bodies do not lie. Body Harmony honors and celebrates these truths of the body.

By listening to the body and following each person's own unique path to healing, Body Harmony allows the body to unwind, relax, and release past traumas, no matter what their origins or symptoms might be. When compressions and restrictions are removed from our bodies, so are the limitations that placed them there -- the "I cant's", the "you cant's", and the "who do you think you are's?" With these releases, the body comes into the present moment, and we experience more movement, freedom, vitality, and power -- the power to make real the dreams that our limitations had held from us.

Body Harmony imposes nothing and incorporates everything to empower the client on their path to life without limitations. By honoring the body as the ultimate truth-teller, Body Harmony is one of the most powerful tools available for empowerment and personal effectiveness in all areas of life.

The Benefits of Body Harmony Individual Sessions

Body Harmony sessions support each client's self-awareness and self-direction in healing, growth, and life effectiveness. A session typically begins with a discussion of the client's issues and goals, followed by an analysis of body posture, movement, and function relative to those issues and goals.

The client and practitioner then join together in an exploration of the best ways to allow the body to release the limitations standing in the way of resolving the client's issues and achieving their goals. The work is subtle yet powerful, simple yet profound.

Body Harmony sessions are for anyone wanting greater effectiveness and joy in their lives.

The Benefits of Body Harmony Courses

Introductory courses cover the elements of touch; the development of sensitivity and intuition; awareness of movement, posture, and presentation; working with the body's energy field and tissue layers; and basic techniques to remove compressions and restrictions. Courses are "hands-on", with students learning to both give and receive sessions.

Advanced courses cover specific topics such as working with joints, healing scars, and eliminating self-sabotage, and present additional hands-on, energetic, and intuitive techniques.

Body Harmony coursework is not a substitute or replacement for any techniques you may already know; you can use Body Harmony to enhance and empower whatever work you already do.

Body Harmony courses are for bodyworkers and breathworkers of all backgrounds, health care professionals of all sorts, healers and shamans, and anyone wanting to experience the joy of self-discovery and personal transformation. No previous background in bodywork is required.

Additional Note:

This sweet and gentle soul has graduated into another realm. We miss him but we see his fingerprints all throughout Body Harmony. The world is a better place for his visit.

Approaches

To Empowerment

by Duncan Hogg

    The business of being a Body Harmony Practitioner means essentially that we acknowledge and validate every individual's ability to source their own healing.

My definition of healing is resolving an undesirable situation in a way that is in alignment with the integrity of the individual(s) involved.

This means that the client may come upon solutions that up to this point were not seen, felt or considered possible.

Integrity is a word that may also require some defining. To me a person's integrity is who they are, their inherent potential - very distinct from the roles they play or the things they do.
As a point of interest it may be valuable to consider how often you are related to as a role and how often you are related to as a person...

In my experience as a practitioner, it is when I am able to treat a person's body with respect to their integrity that they access their ability to heal themselves. They are able to acknowledge from a much broader perspective the nature of a situation and their role in bringing that situation into reality.

God knows I do not believe anyone really enjoys feeling like a victim of circumstance, even though some make a life out of it (probably due to a lack of apparent options).

The effectiveness of Body Harmony as a healing modality comes from a fundamental recognition that any issue - emotional, mental, physical or spiritual (and any others I have missed) is an issue of temporary disconnection from one's integrity. What is possible is obscured by an experience of overwhelm or disassociation from yourself, the issue feels bigger than you are, more than you are capable of dealing with.

In the pursuit of creative dreams and lives lived to the full, when overwhelm arises, taking effective action starts to diminish. No wonder though, we cannot see a clear path to the fulfillment of what we want. Body Harmony is a process that aims to create an environment most conducive to re-establishing a sense of integrity and possibility.

A practitioner's role begins by listening to our client, not advising them.

Appealing To your Client's Integrity...

How you approach a client determines the success you will experience in gaining the consent of the tissues of the body. All issues have physical components of tightness, rigidity, compression etc in the body. A practitioner's role begins by listening to our client not advising them. I know I don't want or need someone else's ideas about what would be a good thing for me, I want someone to listen to me. Suggestions about what may be beneficial for me are easily received once this initial criterion is met.

Appealing to the client's integrity begins by listening to them through our own bodies and multitudinous senses. Trusting our senses and releasing any desire to go into agreement with the issue at hand is also a necessity. Listening to the body with awareness, patience, respect and interest gives the body a chance to go about its business of release. Trust the messages of the tissues and avoid the desire to diagnose or interpret (yourself or your client!!). The process responsible for fixating a particular outlook may now start to dissolve. We drop back into a view point, the place of multiple possibilities, releasing our congestive point of view. The options appear when our client finds themselves in a process of unwinding, a physical, palpable experience of decompression that biochemically dissolves the roots of unsupportive perceptions of oneself and our environment, and connects us back to a fuller sense of ourselves, unburdened by unnecessary psychological and emotional weight.

Anything you can do (and be) to genuinely support their life's expansion is an act of grace

Getting There

Learning to trust someone else’s integrity as a practitioner is an ongoing process. It beings with it a recognition of potential. I have to review my estimations of what I think people are capable of on occasion. What I had experienced of people had certainly influenced my judgement of their abilities and these ideas necessitated that, from time to time, I had the notion of saving my clients, rather than serving them. When I use the term "going into agreement with" (my client) it generally refers to me accepting that the current limitations they are experiencing are more than they are capable of dealing with. "There, there - you poor thing" " let me help you" Mr Duncan, the caring guy to the rescue, the knight in shining armour. "Let me ease your suffering...."

Taking pity is not equanamous with empowerment. The impetus to do something with somebody rather than listen to their body can be a compromise of their integrity. As the famous therapist Fritz Paris said "Every time you do something for someone that they could have done themselves you weaken them." Practitioners are human too and learn from their mistakes, and the practitioners who've shared their experiences with me have interesting tales to tell.

Clients grow through being able to direct their own healing process, bringing forth creativity into manifestation to bring the full fruits of life home. Anything you can do (and be) to genuinely support their life's expansion is an act of grace.

There is something worthy of mention here too. I have watched myself and many other people become addicted to making that connection as if it is, in itself, a means to an end. While in all cases I have experienced making that connection during a Body Harmony session to be a deeply pleasurable and gratifying experience in my body, I believe that the real healing comes in being able to relate more effectively to a situation that previously was excessively traumatising, anxiety producing, overwhelming or apparently useless. believe that people learn to trust themselves through feeling a desire, or having a vision or intention and bringing that into reality.




The Benefits of Taking A Teaching Session
by Carla Sridevi Cohen

It has been 24 hours since I completed my most recent teaching session with Don. The bones in my head are still vibrating and shifting, my upper back is exploding with energy, the chakras in my throat and heart feel even more expanded than they were. I am also experiencing a natural internal cleansing with a Body Harmony induced colonic! Even though I have been around Body Harmony for nearly a decade, I am still in a state of wonder, amusement and amazement over the levels of healing that happen in the course of a session.
Several months ago the Body Harmony Teachers in Los Angeles hired Don for a morning of concentrated work with "The Zone." The class was a lot of fun, particularly because of the advanced level of everyone present. An added bonus was that Duncan was visiting from Australia and chose to join the Los Angeles Teachers in our quest to understand, experience, find and navigate The Zone.

Although I have accidentally stumbled in and out of The Zone more times than I can recall. To me, it was a random occurrence that could not be recreated through anything in particular. I wasn't even sure if The Zone I was referring to was the same Zone everybody else was talking about. The day we did our class with Don, I started to understand that the zone could be entered on a regular basis and I began to realize the depth of the significance of The Zone.
During the class, Don asked for a volunteer and I claimed the table before anyone else had a chance! He gently seated himself and respectfully and consciously put both his hands on my left shin. The electrical current in my body instantly got heavier in that location. Within a few seconds I felt his hands connect energetically with each other and then I was aware of his total presence connecting with me--emotionally, physically, spiritually, mentally.
The place where his hands were exploring began to expand and expand and expand. I felt safe. I also felt exposed, vulnerable, excited and scared. I experienced all of him working with all of me. It felt like he touched this little teeny rivulet in my body and found the entrance to a stream, then a gushing river of energy. Every physical aspect was being addressed and included as well as every energetic aspect. There was a merging...
Now The Zone was no longer something you slip in and out of by accident, it's something tangible, re-creatable expandable. As a result of that experience, I was determined to take some private teaching sessions so that I could embody The Zone.
I went in for the first of two private teaching sessions on The Zone. Although my mind wanted to learn, my neck and head were in so much pain that by the time I reached Don's apartment I had convinced myself that I was going to lay down and receive a session. Thankfully, Don being the Master that he is, didn't buy into my subconscious attempt to limit myself. What a rip off that would have been!
As we stood at opposite ends of the room we studied each other's bodies and gave feedback. Of course, it didn't take more than a minute to realize we were looking in the mirror. The more Don gave me feedback, and I gave him feedback a sense of awakening grew within me. I began to realize that the pain I had been experiencing was related to a fear of being judged. The pain started to lighten up a bit. Although Don had been a friend and a teacher to me for many years, whenever I was about to work on him I would get nervous. Gently, he said "I'd like you to work on my head and neck in the same place where yours hurts."
He laid down on the table and I started to move toward his head with my hands and I stopped. I gathered myself and started toward his head again, this time I followed through. "ahh..your touch is exquisite. I know what's going on with you, your battling inside. Your bones know this..You know this deep inside...But your outer sleeve is fighting with your insides." Tears of recognition seeped out of my eyes. Thank God he saw this. Relief... It felt so good to have someone else recognize it and not judge me for it. I could let go of my self induced cage now.
I felt myself let go. Every piece of his tissue was so alive, so responsive and so anxious to bring me in. "Try using the heals of your hands more" he said. "Am I giving you too much feedback?" "No" I said. "I came to learn."
I could feel that my body wasn't completely at ease. Just as I had the thought to adjust, Don made a comment about how important the sits bones are. Yes, that was it. I needed to move forward a tad on my chair.
"Can you let your left wrist be softer?" The electricity started to line up between my hands and take over both of our bodies. Wow, I could feel his root chakra, his spine, his heart and lungs. It was all very fast. His jaw was moving and vibrating and and could feel pieces of tissue realigning and letting go. Too fast for me. The all encompassing quality of the electricity and the feeling of working in liquid space fascinated and scared me. I remembered Duncan, Linda, Don talking about going to the edge. I tried to find it and slipped out of The Zone.
Within moments I was back in, merging with the boundlessness we call Don. Then I was out again.
Don got up off the table and we explored the changes in our bodies together. He asked me to lay down and went to work on my throat. "They say the throat is the window to the intuition. Your throat could be a lot more open." As he worked I felt something like a shield leave my navel area. I felt like I was being scooped out. It was pleasant and scary at the same time. "Oh, that wrist. You silly fool, how could you neglect it" he said aloud to himself. Then he started working on my left wrist. "There is so much more than what is getting through" he said. Uh oh. More power in my left hand. Holy smokes! There was so much there already. As he worked I felt the wrist let go and a piece of tissue that was holding onto the rear of my right shoulder blade snapped. I felt much more freedom in that shoulder. Then my neck started to let go even more. I got up off the table and walked. I felt taller. Don looked taller. My head was more relaxed and he looked more relaxed. I knew I had let go of more than I could have imagined. "Your touch is great.Your doing some really nice work. Try to stay in the Zone. You have a tendency to go in and out." He was right on.
I left feeling empowered and happy. Now I had a greater sense of where to go.
Two weeks went by and I could hear him talking to me while I was doing sessions. I felt enthused by the previous experience and hungry to know more. I came back for another round. This time I had no major pain in my body. My right buttocks muscle felt a little tight into the right side of my back.
"Where do you want to work?" he said. I told him I saw something in his right shoulder running across to his left hip. "Relax your knees. I'm not trusting you to see me when you're cut off." Boom. I realized that I had a habit of locking that back right muscle when I was listening. "Thanks" I said.
The more I watched his body, the more I wanted to know why he had most of his weight on his right leg. My weight was on my left. Were we mirroring or was this something else?
"I didn't realize that I had more weight there. Thanks." He walked around the room and I told him I wanted to work on his left knee. "That knee has been having a problem with its mechanics lately. Thanks."
As I touched his left heal and knee I again felt the sensation of the electrical currents lining up. "Wow that's exquisite. You really took in that last session and are running with it." The tissue on his heal jumped into my left hand and his body started gently rocking. There was a pop inside the tissue just behind the knee and then the liquid feeling came.
"This is knit picking but you are at that level where it's infinitesimal. Can you make your exploration in even smaller increments?"
Wow more energy, More vulnerability and a greater connection. Don started moaning in pleasure and his whole body was turning and unwinding. My left hand started shaking. I stopped. "You were really there, right there and then you got worried about me and you stopped. "Yes, sorry" I said. "I am confused about this talk of the edge. Taking the touch to the edge."
"You don't have to go anywhere. Let the edges grow." Ah...I really get it now. The light bulb! "Thank you." The hand that was behind his knee now knew that it didn't have to "do" something to get to the edge. It just had to allow. Suddenly everything opened up and this time I didn't go anywhere or try to stop it or help it.
Don got up and walked and we shared feedback and then he got back on the table and laid on his side. I returned to that knee, only this time I had more access to the back of the knee. It took a few minutes for me to get in contact with all of his body, but when it happened there was music in the air.
I felt his spine expand and the fluid behind his knee increase. I could feel his heart, lungs, kidneys, spine and more. Our knees popped off some kind of tissue like a rubber band at the same moment. Within seconds I felt his chest expand and let go. There was an explosion of energy where my throat and heart chakra connect. The vertebrae in my spine adjusted. All the while I had gone beyond what was familiar and safe. I was in The Zone. The sense of liquid the sense of electricity lining up. The complete lack of control and complete vulnerability. The merging. I had it now. This was magic in the best sense.
"Is there anything you want to do to bring this all together?" Don asked. "Yes, I want to work in your right armpit." He suggested I try using my elbow to access the area. Oh my God! I could feel The Zone with my elbow. I felt a little shy in that armpit. There was so much intimacy.
He got up off the table and there was this big grin on his face. He looked so balanced and so at peace. His weight was more evenly distributed. I was very altered. I too felt more balance and more peace. The pain in my lower back and buttocks had disappeared.
It was the most intimate and profound session I have ever experienced. Don's blue eyes seemed to sparkle with appreciation and pride. It was the paternal Shaman seeing the apprentice move into the world he had been trying to unveil. I felt a deeper connection to Don than I have ever experienced. Gratitude. Empowerment. Don helped me to find, navigate and stay in The Zone.
The Zone is worth the quest.
Last night I dreamed that two Swans came out of my throat and two doves came out of my nostrils. It was a beautiful dream. Birds are messengers. The number two signifies balance to me. The doves are peace and the swans are grace. What more can a Teacher want.
Such a good reminder that true giving and true receiving are exactly the same. My quest continues, but now it is accompanied by knowing. the world.