Why holding a safe and sacred space is important for inner body work
Holding space, or creating a container for someone carrying emotional or physical pain, can be very helpful. When a client is struggling with unresolved trauma, experiencing deep sadness or physical pain, holding a loving, nonjudgmental, and empathetic space will enable the client to feels safe and contained.
struggling with unresolved trauma, experiencing deep sadness or physical pain, holding a loving, nonjudgmental, and empathetic space will enable the client to feels safe and contained.
To hold a safe container for my clients I revert to the Hakomi Principles, which help keep our sacred space. These principles can help anyone to hold space for a friend, spouse, family member, and others. The principles are:
1. Mindfulness - Helping the client organize their experience and emotions via richly non-verbal intuition in a deeper state. This helps to move beyond our normal, habitual thoughts and reactions. Mindfulness allows the essential, or core, self to be present and centered. It brings forth wisdom that transcends the limitation of our historical experiences.
2. Non-Violence – Promote and provide a safe, non-forceful, cooperative exploration through honoring the sign and singles of the body’s organic process, especially those that manifest as “resistance.” Respecting and supporting such occurrences allows to befriend them in a willingly way and harness them for the wisdom they contain.
3. Mind-Body Integration – Affirming that the mind and body jointly manifest and reflect the beliefs we hold about ourselves and the world, which in turn will organize how we experience and express ourselves in all walks of life.
4. Unity – Assumes that as people, we are living, organic systems that are integral wholes, composed of parts, which also participate in larger systems. The interdependency of all levels of the system: physical/metabolic, intrapsychic, interpersonal, family, cultural, and spiritual are all welcomed and observed.
5. Organicity – Assumes that when all parts are communicating within the whole, the system will be self-directing and self-correcting, and will have an inner wisdom of its own. During body therapy, the clients’ organic unfolding is supported toward wholeness, and trust that this is the direction that their system will naturally seek. Rather than imposing their own agenda, the therapist works cooperatively with the client’s system.
Mindfulness, Non-Violence, Mind-Body Integration, Unity, organicity
Incorporating these principals in the Inner Journey Body Work allows the client to dive deep into body experiences and memories, while feeling safe and contained. Thus, allowing healing through a more relaxing whole body experience.
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