Inner Healing: Your Body is the Tool
By Dr. Debasish Kundu
Some of the most powerful and important techniques for healing the body, mind, and spirit are discussed below. For people who are trying to heal a debilitating chronic illness, the use and eventual practice of one or more of these Inner Healing techniques can be a very important part of a healing program. Diet, stress reduction, avoidance of toxic substances, etc. are extremely useful and can provide enormous healing benefits.
Like many powerful healing and transformational tools, body-oriented techniques focus on reconnecting, embracing and integrating all aspects of ourselves. These aspects include physical experiences (e.g., chronic disease), psychological/emotional experiences (some of which may not be fully resolved), and possibly energetic or spiritual experiences. Such a process, while difficult on occasion, can be tremendously healing.
Body-oriented healing and transformation techniques primarily use experiences in the body as a way to begin the reconnecting, embracing, and integration process. The movement of energy and the experience of emotions can play a very important role, but experiences in the body, and its structure & movement are a common starting point for the processes.
Physical and psychological healing benefits can be significant. This is nothing like looking for a supplement or herb to heal a particular ailment, but rather a process that can help promote deep “to the core” healing (especially when used in conjunction with other holistic healing techniques). But like most things in the world, such a process is not for everybody. It is a process, and as such, there will be times of significant change as well as some times of uneven change/healing or frustration. Persons with a deep desire to heal or transform and with at least a small sense of adventure are best suited to this process.
Working with a practitioner/teacher on a semi-regular basis and attending workshops whenever possible is the best way to pursue these healing and transformational processes (if onsite, intensive programs are not possible). While individual sessions can be very healing, emerging oneself regularly in the processes can help keep the healing and transformation process moving.
Holotropic Breath Work
Holotropic Breath work helps the breather go into a non-ordinary state of consciousness. The use of non-ordinary states of consciousness are seen in almost every culture. In such states, healing and reconnecting with various aspects of life are possible. One might experience a release of physical or emotional tension, deep relaxation, joy, or other experiences including transpersonal experiences.
According to experts, there are fourteen aspects of a Holotropic Breath Work session which work together to help create a successful session:
- Accelerated breathing
- Evocative music
- Trained and experienced facilitation
- A safe setting or container for the work
- Partnership of participants
- Preparatory information
- Focused energy release work
- Fasting at least four hours before the session
- Open body position of the breather
- Guided relaxation
- Mandala drawing
- Group sharing
- Community support
- Silence during the workshop
The training for the breath work facilitators is fairly extensive. It requires hours of preliminary work as a participant of Holotropic Breath Work sessions (breather and sitter). Residential theoretical and experiential modules and private consultation are also required. Finally, a two-week training seminar is required for certification. This makes me feel confident about the dedication and training that the Holotropic Breathwork facilitators have.
Those participated in such programs have found the focused energy release work to be extremely helpful when it feels like the energy/feelings are “stuck” in a certain area of the body and the breathing and music cannot seem to change this situation. Such bodywork has, at times, helped me feel much better and more relaxed after the session.
It is advisable to do the process in a small group setting. Openly sharing your own process with others in a very non-judgmental and caring atmosphere can be very healing. It can also be a very good way to meet others who are using holistic healing techniques.
The evocative music (especially Eastern Classical either vocal or instrumental) is a big help for going into a non-ordinary state of consciousness. We trust this makes it possible to more easily get in touch with other aspects of our story such as the birth process and trans-personal experiences.
It can be slightly easier to find a breath work facilitator with Holotropic Breath Work because it is relatively popular (as breath work techniques go), there are a lot of trained facilitators, and can be easily located in your area.
Integrative Breath Work
Integrative Breath Work is very much like Holotropic Breath Work in that the breather goes into a non-ordinary state of consciousness where some aspect of healing and transformation can occur. It seems that the main difference is that other therapies and holistic healing techniques (e.g., yoga, bodywork, meditation, traditional psychology techniques, nutrition counseling, shadow work, Twelve Step meetings, etc.) are used along with the breath work to help people integrate their breath Work experiences.
Radiance Breath Work
Radiance Breath Work is another healing and transformational process in which all of the tools and techniques used work together to promote healing and deep transformation.
The program includes Breath Work and a short healing breath Work /presencing program, Movement Therapy, and Body-Centered Psychotherapy. One may find it difficult to understand how a process which includes “psychotherapy” would be useful for a person with a chronic physical disease such as asthma or arthritis. These techniques are not used to treat those diseases, but it has my experience and the experience of many others that the deep healing which can come from such a program can have a significant positive impact on chronic physical diseases.
The Healing Journey Is Into the Body, Not Out of It!
In our years as body-oriented psychotherapists, we have been privileged to be with thousands of courageous people as they have journeyed through deep and life-changing transformations. Although these changes have been infinitely and intricately different, they have had one element in common: They were accomplished by journeying into the body, not out of it. Each person tuned in to his or her bodily experience, amplified it through breath and movement, and flowed with the emerging waves of energy. The results have often been miraculous, and always wondrous to behold.
Vivation
Vivation is different than the other breath work techniques since it is not a “cathartic breath work” meaning that there is generally not a huge release of emotions. It tends to be gentler than the other breath works. There may be crying at times, and in some cases physical vocalization, but it is not as common as in the other breath work techniques.
Instead of a release of emotional energy, Vivation Professionals helps the client focus on inner feelings using some very simple, yet effective techniques and then lovingly accepting and embracing these feelings. Often what is felt emotionally and/or physically are suppressed feelings which cause energy blockages within the body. (Such energy blockages can contribute significantly to the development of a number of chronic and some acute diseases.) By using the Vivation process to embrace and integrating the feelings, the energy is released and changed. As the session continues, more and more feelings are felt and integrated leading to the deeper healing of the body, mind, and spirit.
The focus is not on “getting rid” of the feeling or “bad” emotion, but on deeply feeling, embracing, and integrating it, thereby transforming the energy around that suppressed feeling.This type of process can lead to a more permanent healing and transformation as the emphasis is put on activating the feelings, feeling them deeply, and then significant emphasis is put on integrating the feelings.
Vivation is more gentle than the other breath work techniques (usually) and can therefore be used by nearly everyone.
There is a emphasis on the eventual learning of the Vivation process on your own so that you can exchange sessions with other experienced persons. There is also a goal to use the Vivation process to your benefit at times during your daily activities. This is similar to the way practitioners of mindfulness meditation sometimes practice during daily life to enhance their well-being and spiritual growth. The facilitators are clear that it is very important to get a significant number of sessions to practice feeling, embracing and integrating before trying to do the process on your own.
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About the Author
Dr.Debasish Kundu is a former Director General of Mooreland University, U.S.A. and a Visiting Professor of Khulna Homeopathic Medical College and Hospital, Khulna 9100,Bangladesh, he has authored numerous books and articles on topics incl. Aids, Foster Children, CAM and Homeotherapeutics. He is a practicing Spagyric Homeopath and his work address is G-2, Vikram Vihar,493/B/18, G T Rd(S),Howrah-711102,India, Ph.00913326411689, Telefax.00913326381116, e mail: drdkundu@hotmail.com. Visit www.moorelanduniversity.com or http://homeopathyunlimited.web.officelive.com/ for more information.
