The following is an introductory talk I gave in Edmonton to promote an upcoming Foundation training. I cover the basic history of the Bodynamic system and delve into Autonomy and Will developmental phases in a bit more detail.
About a year ago I began recording zoom talks I have with my friend Philipp who lives in Freiburg, Germany. We met about 1.5 years ago in our Bodynamic Practitioner training class which happens in Munich. Recently we both attended the 16th EABP Congress in Berlin, and were both very disappointed with the majority of the keynote talks and presentations. They were boring and predicated on outdated knowledge (referencing Willhelm Reich constantly). The presenters also tried really hard to be academic using all kinds of neuro-speak jargon to impress their peers. The Somatic Psychology field is fairly small and niche but growing rapidly. Philipp and I feel it will be the dominant form of psychology in the future supplanting cognitive based approaches due it's superiority in effectiveness and understanding.
A lama from the Eastern Tibetan province of Golok came to see the great Jamgön Kongtrül Lodrö Thaye. The lama told Jamgön Rinpoche that he had stayed in a retreat hut meditating for nine or ten years, “My practice is quite good now. At times I have some degree of clairvoyance. Whenever I place my attention on something, it remains unshakable; I feel so quiet and serene! I experience a state totally without thoughts and concepts. During long stretches of time I experience nothing but bliss, clarity and nonthought. I would say that my meditation has been rather successful!” “Oh what a pity!” was Jamgön Kongtrül’s response.
We learn as children to ignore any elements of reality that make our caretakers anxious so we can preserve our bond with them. If our own emotions appear to cause stress to our parents then we will unconsciously learn to suppress them compromising our own authenticity. Children then will not learn emotional regulation, but emotional dissociation through ignoring their feelings much like their parents do. Avoiding feelings by either giving up on them or holding them [...]
Recently I had the privilege of interviewing Erik Jarlnaes one of the original founders of Bodynamic Therapy In Los Angeles along with Joel Isaacs founder of Bodynamic USA.
The following six conversation patterns have been identified by communication experts Yvonne Agazarian and Anita Simon as the most important to recognize and change in order to communicate more effectively and authentically. Most relationships end due to a communication breakdown and thus learning these has the potential to dramatically improve your relationships success.
My Bodymap Analysis Recently I had a Bodynamic Bodymap done by Joel Isaacs one of only a few people in North America trained to do them. The process takes about 3 hours as approximately 150 muscles and fascia are tested individually for their elasticity. It is the single most powerful self discovery and development tool ever created. The purpose of the bodymap is to figure out what issues from childhood are holding a person back [...]
Jeff Brown critiques I personally think much of the work Jeff Brown is doing is great. He has an uncanny way of expressing the world of emotions with a great degree of authenticity rarely seen. I appreciate this very much about him and agree with his writings about 90% of the time. Just see my favourite Jeff Brown quotes. However there are times when I think he is off the mark, and so I thought [...]
Favorite Jeff Brown quotes "Some of us cannot preserve our dignity and well-being if we remain connected to one or both of our parents. This is not to say that we don’t do our best to heal and preserve those relationships, but sometimes it is simply not possible and it is not healthy to continue. Unfortunately, many who have made the brave, necessary decision to disconnect are met with a shaming, shunning response from others. [...]
RQ, IQ & EQ – Redefining "Smartness" For many decades how "smart" you were was defined by how intelligent you were based on an IQ test. However many people have known that intelligence tests are very lacking in certain regards. Often people with extremely high IQs have poor social skills. So how smart can someone really be if they have issues interacting with humans? People with average or even low IQs often have a [...]
