Breath and Body Work – A tool I use with some clients within my therapeutic work.
I am a psychotherapist and feel very privileged doing the work that I do. My work as a counsellor has enabled me to meet, support and work with some extraordinary people. My work has also invited me to reflect on, meditate on and consider how disconnection and connection with ourselves, the “Self” (Who are you? What makes you “you?”) and our environment impacts each and every one of us, society, the world and the planet we live on. There are times when we will feel very connected to ourselves, the “Self” and the earth and there are other times we will feel very disconnected. Clients feeling disconnected may present with issues such as depression, anxiety and stress (to name but a few) Happiness, true happiness comes from knowing yourself, the “Self” and feeling connected to the earth.
I believe that if each and every one of us were to become curious about our own connections and disconnections we would relate to each other and live our lives so very differently. This, in-turn, I believe, would have an impact on society, the environment and the planet we live on. I believe that the most important relationship is the one you have with yourself. And when you know yourself and live your life in a way that is true to your “Self” this creates a positive ripple effect which will start to impact those around you. They, in-turn, may then become curious about themselves and cause more positive ripple effects, the movement of positive ripples and their effect is infinite. I believe, each and every one of us are connected to a web that stretches out across the world. A web that connects us all.
When I reflect on a counselling session that I have had and think about my clients, I often reflect, meditate and consider how unique, different and similar to each other we are and how connected to each other we are, even though sometimes we lose site of this. Clients that find themselves in my therapy room normally have done just that, lost sight of this (it may ,however, take some time before they become conscious of this) And at the same time I find myself considering how disconnected with ourselves we are and how perhaps this disconnection with ourselves has perhaps caused us to disconnect with the earth that we live on, the planet that sustains us, which keeps revolving and sustaining us regardless of our disregard for it.
“We live on a blue planet, that circles a ball of fire, next to a moon that moves the sea”
And you don’t believe in miracles? (source anonymous)
I believe by reconnecting with ourselves, perhaps we will reconnect with the earth, a longing for that reconnection, I believe, is buried deep within each and every one of us. I believe that we need to reconnect with ourselves in order to truly connect with the earth and my hope is that by doing this work on ourselves we will stop taking this amazing blue planet for granted, without which we would cease to exist.
Coronavirus perhaps is a stark reminder of how connected each and every one of us is with the other and how this connected web stretches out across the whole world. The paradox is, at the time of writing this March 2020, most of the world is on lockdown, or at least heading that way and most of us are practising Social Distancing, to keep ourselves, our countries and each other safe.
This crisis is devastating and extremely tragic, the impact and the enormity of this Pandemic will have a lasting impact on us for many years to come. I have also found myself reflecting on Shamanic philosophy. Shamans describe tipping points, which I believe this is, as times that are full of possibility. I have reflected and meditated on this philosophy at various points in my life over the last few years. First, I noticed a lot of resistance to this possibility and now I find myself fully embracing and embodying it.
If any of this resonates with you, or perhaps even if it doesn’t you may want to consider embarking on a course of psychotherapy, or you may be curious enough to play the video, found on my website, www.findingyou.co.uk (Video coming soon) which invites you to tune into yourself for a few minutes using your breath and asks what do you notice? The breath is the first Spirit you connect with when you are born and from that moment on, the breath that gives us life works so automatically that we take this Spirit, this Life Force that flows through our bodies pretty much for granted. The breath can be used as a tool to connect with the “Self”, cleanse, balance and heal the body, curious? perhaps give it a go. Self-care which is “part and parcel” of the counselling process, invites you to figure out what you find useful, what helps you and what does not.
