Now I by no means have a scientific brain (I’m much more interested in how things relate to each other) but I was fascinated by Dr. Gerald Pollack’s recent talk at the Breath of Life Conference. He introduced us to the fourth phase of water (beyond solid, liquid and vapour) to something he called EZ water (exclusion zone). Although science is not my thing, I am madly in love with the elements (fire, water, earth and air) as the building blocks of life – and often feel the imbalance of these in a session with a client. For instance dehydration feels ‘sparky’, lack of earth often leads to disconnection from the midline, air imbalances often get held in the diaphragms and lack of fire often presents as lack of potency. There is a whole blog just on elemental balance there, but back to water and Dr Pollack... Water is obviously a key element (we are, after all, made up mostly of it) so this scientific discovery feels to have many impacts on our future work, not all of which are at all clear to me yet! This fourth phase of water forms at air/water interfaces. One of the things that struck me was the fact that there is a huge storage capacity in EZ water, much more even than you have in your computer! And experiments show that this fourth phase is charged; and, the water just beyond is oppositely charged — creating a battery that can produce current. A mind-blowing fact is that 99% of our molecules are water! So understanding what charges the EZ battery becomes very important. This is where we begin to realise that we are not that different from the plant world because light charges this battery. Water receives and processes electromagnetic energy (light) drawn from the environment in much the same way as plants. There are other things, other than light, that charge the EZ battery: green juicing, turmeric, coconut water, and earthing. According to Dr. Pollack, there’s compelling evidence that EZ water is indeed lifesaving and my sense is much will unfold in this area in the years to come. Fascinating! You can watch Dr Pollack talking about this here. I love the way that our work deepens and expands with experience.... I’ve found myself over the last few months holding the awareness of a client’s “optimal template of health and wellbeing” whilst in a craniosacral session. I feel that there is a great template that holds all the potency and potential of the client; then life happens and their system gets shunted onto a different template, a false template that is out of kilter with our essence and causes dis-ease. Our job as therapists is to allow enough freedom and space for the original template (blueprint) to be re-membered, in body, in mind and in spirit. It is also often our job to free up some resources for the journey back... Katherine Ukleja & Cherionna Menzam-Sills had a much more eloquent way of addressing this at the recent Breath of Life conference: the forces that guide our formation as embryos are still available to us in our work. They used the phrase ‘our embryonic being’ which really resonated with me personally. It makes me think of the therapeutic power of a seed kernel; all the nutrients needed for growth stored there, a storehouse of vigour and vitality. As the old adage goes “from little acorns do mighty oaks grow.” I believe that we all have the ability to come back to this force of life, no matter what we have been through. I believe this with every cell of my body. I find it very comforting to know that nothing is ever lost: the blueprint is still there for us to access. Life forever throws curve balls, we get hurt, fall flat on our faces, react from wounded places, get ill, depressed, despondent, face traumatic events, lose our centre... the list is endless. Yet, somewhere underneath all of this... is our embryonic being template where time and events have not had an impact, where there is complete wholeness, potential and potency. So how can we shift from our current template back to this place? Sometimes all that is needed is for someone to hold the bridge for you to return; sometimes we need to discharge stuck energy from our body that holds us in the current template – I get the image of fluidity coming into our energetic and body structures, allowing movement, surrender and flow. And with restrictions released, that river of life would automatically be drawn to the Source, that deep well within us that holds our most optimum template of health and wellbeing. May we hold that image in our Hearts as we travel the difficult times. May we find the transformation that our bodies yearn for and may we remember, remember, remember. This blog of ten insights is inspired by the amazing Dr Gabor Mate who I had the privilege of hearing at the recent Breath of Life conference in London this May. #1 We need to look at the whole picture Gabor talked much about the interconnectedness of all things, and how, to understand anything, we need to always look at the whole picture. This is especially true in the realm of mental health. The human essence is basically and primitively an ensemble of human emotions (this statement brings some amusing images to mind!). A great film to watch that depicts this is ‘Inside Out’. #2 The Self is not static We think we can define Self... however the Self changes dependent on the situation/settings we find ourselves in – thus the Self is part of a larger context. It is not separate. What this points to is the multi-dimensional aspects of illness: social, psychological, biological etc. So can cancer be viewed not as a disease of the individual – but a reflection of our society? This is a very interesting question... #3 Developmental trauma happens even when bad things don’t It is possible to suffer from developmental trauma when something is withheld during childhood (love for instance) and not just when bad things happen (the more obvious abuse situations. The impact of the obvious abuse and the impact of the biological loss are indistinguishable in their affects. #4 Attachment is our most powerful biological drive Humans are creatures of attachment; it is our most powerful biological drive – even more than life itself to some extent (just look at how a mother my give her own life to save her childs). Without attachments we just do not live... #5 Diagnosis is just a description, not an explanation One thing that stood out for me is the ridiculousness of diagnosis. It does not explain things; it just describes it! A great way of summing up how displaced we are from the interconnectedness of health and wellbeing, how we look for quick fixes. Most physical illnesses originate in adaptations to early stress where a short term stress can lead to a long term trait. We can see this is certain patterns of multi generation issues. #6 Mental health starts in the womb The development of our brain architecture begins before birth and continues into adulthood... .thus pregnancy impacts on future mental health. The most important environmental factor is the quality of parental attunement: it literally shapes the child’s brain. Being emotionally and consistently available is the biggest gift a parent can give to a child. #7 Women as emotional stress absorbers Women traditionally have the role in a household of the emotional stress absorber for the family. In this modern age women find themselves still performing this role whilst at the same time having an economical role to play. This really resonated with me and explains much of the stress I see in my clients. #8 Children take it all personally When a mother is unhappy a child can only take that personally (it is the narcissistic time of life after all). Our brains cannot make sense of an attachment void. Core beliefs are formed during the early years; there are many adults with the unconscious core belief of not being wanted. #9 The move to a peer-oriented society In the animal kingdom we see how the young imprint and the drive for this. It is no different in the human realm. What is different however is that we are moving away from living in communal tribal groups and are now much more in a peer-oriented society. We do not yet know the impact long term of this upon future generations. Gabor argued that the compulsive use of digital media is all about attachment. Another sobering thought. #10 Building resilience But how do we build resilience? The presence of an empathic witness builds resilience. The roots of resilience are to be found in being understood by another. And there is always hope..there is the capacity for rewiring (neuroplasticity) – provided we provide the right conditions. As Andrew Taylor Still said: "Anyone can find disease- to find health should be the object of the doctor". This was a plea to move beyond the analytic and embrace the holistic paradigm. But why? Well, the more we resonate with the part, the less aware we are of the whole and vice versa. So if we concentrate on the injured or diseased part in a patient, we lose its relationship to the bigger picture. And if we just look at the bigger picture, we are not aware of the injured part. So the challenge to us as practitioners is how do we hold the part and the whole at the same time? How can we find the health rather than merely attempting to confront dis-ease? Yet the holographic principle states that to access the part is to access the whole...hmm an interesting conundrum indeed! So maybe the first challenge to us as practitioners is how do we enter the relational space to become holistic? Maintaining awareness of the three tides at the same time (the ripples on the surface, the deeper water and the ocean floor is a great analogy) would be a good starting point. And the second challenge then becomes - how do we come into contact (touch)? Touch is incredibly powerful – it is our bio-electric searching tool, more powerful than any machine! Touch carries charge even if it’s just projected touch (say touching the cranium and intending touch to the sacrum). Touch is fundamental to the human experience. It is the first of the senses to develop in the human infant, and it remains perhaps the most emotionally central throughout our lives. Research has shown that less than one second of safe, interpersonal touch, such as a hand to the back or the shoulder can influence health and behaviour in remarkable ways. The questions we ask the body through touch are like sonar, we are listening to an incredible amount of information, as we become the fulcrum for our clients. And this fulcrum is loaded with intelligence. In fact the complex matrix of health is profound and unfathomable. It is the quest for health that keeps us alive and steeped in mystery...... This blog is inspired by a lecture by Robert Lever at the Breath of Life Conference 2017, author of 'Finding the Health'. |
May you walk in Beauty
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Copyright of Ri Ferrier 2024
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