|
|
| I came across this article I wrote six years ago when I was a fourth year student of the Core Energetics Practitioner Training Program. It reminds me of how much this work has continually changed my life for the better. Enjoy! |
I knew two things when I started working with a Core Energetics therapist.
I was very unhappy and I had many physical syndromes. “Syndrome”: a euphemism for “we don’t know what the hell’s wrong with you or how you got it.” I had lots of labels with three initials, TMJ, PMS, CFS, chronic LBP (low back pain) and PIA (pain in ass.) In addition, I had migraine headaches, and all kinds of diagnoses that end in “itis”: plantar fascitis, bursitis, maybe even, arthritis. Every morning I woke up in pain and every night I went to bed feeling hopeless. I joke about it now, but I was having real symptoms and real pain. Was it psychosomatic? Yes! Was it real? You betcha!
At the time, I was searching for answers. I didn’t want to go the “anti-inflammatory” drug route. I tried chiropractic, vitamin supplements, energy work, all of which helped to one degree or another, at least for a time. But I was still suffering and I knew on a very deep level that it was related to emotional pain. I wanted relief!
I first discovered Core Energetics, while reading Barbara Brennan’s Hands of Light. I saw a drawing of a client working on a roller, (a piece of equipment used in CE therapy.) The drawing showed a gray energy being released as the client worked. As soon as I saw it, I knew it was what I needed. I found a Core therapist in Philadelphia, Karyne Wilner, who is the Director of Education at the Institute of Core Energetics East, as well as an International Director. I started working with her regularly. Within six months, most of my symptoms were relieved. I was beginning to become conscious of defenses I had created both physically and behaviorally to protect myself from deeper pain. Of course, I still get occasional aches and pains, but they usually are a signal that I need to become more conscious of my inner dynamics. Now, I have many tools and support with which to do that. Sometimes they are simply a signal to rest, and take loving care of myself.
Two years into therapy, I started training as a Core therapist myself, at the Institute of Core Energetics East in New York. It was a natural progression in my healing career as a nurse and hypnosis counselor. I had the pleasure of working with and studying under founder, John Pierrakos, M.D., before his death in February 2001. I am now in the fourth and final year of my training, and working with clients and groups, with supervision. I have found my passion! It is using Core in my life to bring me closer and closer to my authentic self, experiencing pleasure and fulfillment, and helping others do the same. The more I learn about the Core process, the more I want to share it with others.
Core Energetic addresses the individual on five levels: body, emotions, mind, will, and spirit. Though we begin with the body, the levels overlap at various stages of therapy. Based on some of the work of Wilhelm Reich, Core presupposes that feelings flow on energy, carried through the body on the breath. That energy, which is meant to flow in the healthy person, is sometimes blocked, split, or leaky in an effort to prevent the feelings. This process of blocking energy and the flow of feelings starts very early in life, when the child perceives needs not being met. It may be created to stop the flow of painful or “parentally unacceptable” feelings, but in turn, it blocks the flow of the creative life force within the individual. The child finds many ways to block this flow: breathing shallowly, or holding the breath, chronic muscular contractions, along with psychological defense mechanisms, all of which become unconscious. Much of the body-therapy consists of breathing and physical exercises designed to release these blocks, or charge and contain energy. Supportive counseling helps to process and integrate what the body reveals, bringing greater consciousness.
There are spiritual presuppositions as well, based on the Pathwork, a body of material, channeled through Eva Pierrakos, by an entity known as “the Guide.” The child comes into the world as pure light, the Core, the Higher Self. The child brings needs into the world, as well. When these needs are not met, there is an organismic reaction of terror and rage. This is the development of the Lower Self. The child learns quickly that this Lower Self reaction is unacceptable and must negate this part of himself, in order to survive and keep parental love. A third layer, the Mask, develops to hide both the Lower Self and the need. The Mask consists of the defenses the child uses to protect himself. The Mask blocks the flow of the child’s true essence, both Lower Self and Higher Self. It goes unconscious, leaving the individual cut off from his true essence and identifying
himself with the Mask.
The work of Core Energetics is to confront and penetrate the Mask, energize and release the Lower Self in ways that are harmless. The goal here is to free up the flow of energy into and out of the Core, which is the connection to God and all that is. The vast amount of energy that is released enhances the ability to experience pleasure, creativity, connection, and fulfillment.
It’s important to honor the creation of the elaborate defense system that helped you survive. This work requires a willingness to look courageously and gently at parts of yourself, you may not want to see. It also encourages and empowers you to claim your higher-self qualities and align with your higher purpose. The benefits are great, as you work through your body, bringing greater energy, consciousness, and choice to the life you are creating. Core Energetics is about accessing your deepest truth, moment by moment.
| | |
Comments