Body Work
My Jungian supported body work is best described as a movement meditation. This hybrid body work grows out of my own Jungian training, Traditional teachings with respect to ritual and dance, and my own ensouled process. Through simple and safe movement, we employ our bodies and seek to amplify and experience an emergent unconscious process. As body work analyst, I facilitate and witness a simple yet profound practice that expands and grounds my analysand's consciousness and perceptions. We learn through authentic body movements to surrender to the impulses that move us, to witness, appreciate, allow, and accept our bodies as a medium of creative and soulful expression. This type of Jungian supported body work can augment more classical talk therapy approaches, expand our appreciation of body, mind, soul and move toward integration. I have found this type of movement meditation helpful for creative inquiry, physical exercise, journeying, spiritual exploration, emotional release, mindful meditation and more.
In my Jungian supported body work, for each session, we work together with analysand material to decide on an intention, select a symbol, or invite the images from a dream into the shared field. My training in myth, comparative religion, fairytales, dreams, and ethnology assist us in choosing the focus for the movement. Universal themes often help to set the rhythm and frame for the very personal session. Then, once we have warmed up the work space, both the room and the body, you would be invited to close your eyes. This inward focus assists in learning to listen to your body. Inward listening waits for the impulse to move. The analysand follows that until it leads to another impulse and so on.
Movements may be micro or macro. For example, one simple but effective exercise involves the intensely focused movement of opening and closing the hand. While it might feel contrived or awkward at first, soon one learns the difference between a performance complex and authentic movement. One learns to open to the experience of the body informing the mind rather than the typical dynamic of the mind informing the body. As analyst, I track the movement, gently direct the analysand back to the intention if the movement gets stuck or caught in a reiterating pattern, and generally contain the space for the amplification and experience of the emergent unconscious process. Typically, the movement itself can last anywhere from 20-30 minutes. While we do not interpret the movement, as witness to the process, I offer a debriefing space for more conscious exploration, questions, observations, and insights. All in all, my Jungian supported body work it is a bit like dreaming on your feet.
