Exercise: Working With A Body Symptom
Working with a Body Symptom
The aim of this exercise is to give you a taste of being able to ‘work on yourself alone’ (Mindell) to unfold the message in a body symptom.
The premise here is that the body is a wise integrated system that sends signals for you to bring to your conscious awareness. With this awareness you have the opportunity to change some behaviour and so follow more closely the flow of your own life’s unfolding journey.
Steps
1.Take a few moments to check into your body. Notice where there is pain or tension or sensations that you would like to explore further. Pick one symptom or sensation to follow.
You are now going to work as your own therapist.
2. Ask yourself about the body symptom.
Find out how you know that you have the symptom. Do this carefully following the phenomenon present in the symptom as fully as possible. Try not to describe the symptom in intellectual or diagnostic terms but simply as an experience e.g.
“I have a pain in my hip that is sharp and dull at the same time. It is constantly present, persistent and intruding on my hip. Or if I had a headache I might say “I have a pain in my head like and explosion” rather than saying “I have a headache” because that does not make the phenomena on the headache explicit.
3.Amplify the symptom as fully as possible. I.e. make it more in your imagination. In my example I would make the symptom intrude even more, make it more dull and sharp.
4.Explore it further with questions such as “how does it move? ( in my example how does it intrude? Here the word I used is repeated) you might like to use your hands to demonstrate and amplify the movement. (e.g. I would press on a pillow with a force that is relentless and intruding)
Or what does it look like? (this gives a broader experience of what is behind the symptom) (e.g. I might say it is sharp like a pointy knife, but also broad like a wooden hammer) This could be explored further.
5. Become the pain maker i.e. the one who is making the pain to you. This requires an imagination to be able to shift your focus (Shape shift as in the exercise in nature).
You might ask yourself to give another part of yourself a feeling of the symptom. The victim of the pain and the pain maker become a polarity.
6. Work with the polarity until a resting point is reached, and the message from the pain maker is clear. E.g.in my case the pain maker may press on my arm and say: “I am going to press on your like this with force and sharpness until you change what you are doing. You sit too much and do not rest enough”
- To integrate the message from the pain maker will usually bring up an edge. This is something uncomfortable for you to do.. Notice it, recognize it and stay close to it.
In my example I might argue with the pain maker and say ‘I have lots of work to do.’etc.
- Try to go into new territory e.g. for my case to stop sitting and crossing my legs, and to get up move around more and to work less and rest more is not how I see myself. It requires that I do something different.
- How can this information be integrated into your daily life? (this is an integration activity) In my case I see that I need to exercise more, take more regular breaks in my sitting and work activities. It also requires that I relax with my work more.
Working with the body is a physical experience that gives a feeling- a somatic experience. This is usually easier to recall than cognitive insight on its own.
Try doing this for your self and with others. It is fun and can bring important changes to your life.
Should doing this exercise bring up questions or issues for you please do not hesitate to contact us by email : admin@metaviision.com.au