Engaging With Your Power
What can occur during the therapeutic relationship is by the second or third session the issue the client was coming in for gets worse or another area in their life flares up. The perception is that the counselling is not working and if they were desiring a quick fix they cease attending the sessions.
The irony is the counselling is indeed working. What is happening is they are becoming more conscious of their concerns, patterns, and behaviours which have been effecting them. Things are breaking down. Toxins are being exposed. The real issue is coming to the surface. What we have been trying to control in our lives is no longer working.
What does this have to do with Power? We often misconstrue control to be power. We live in a society where we have been taught power over versus power within. The breaking down of control is a good sign as it allows us to go inward to witness what requires changing in our lives.
Control is our ego’s interpretation of power. When we hear the word ego we often have negative perceptions of this aspect of ourselves. The real issue is we do not understand our ego’s role and how to effectively have a relationship with our ego. When all aspects of ourself are working in harmony with each other, then we are truly within our power.
Our ego has been created since we were young children and has slowly evolved unconsciously throughout our lives. The personalities or personas our ego creates are usual what we perceive to be who we are. What the ego has been doing is creating defence mechanism for how we cope in situations. How we defend and keep ourselves safe are based on our life experiences. These defensive patterns are unconscious behaviours which can control our choices and decisions.
Thus, when we start counselling the defensive patterns which we are ready to address come to the surface, especially in the first couple of sessions. Since these patterns were created from the perspective of a child or youth, they are no longer effective ways to cope with our adult issues and concerns.
In Somatic Therapy the practitioner assists you to drop your awareness into the place were the concern is arising and together begin to consciously build awareness, relationship and re-patterning to an upgraded way of coping.
The ego, which is supported by the thinking mind or analytical mind, can not do all of the upgrading of the new skills. The ego is the servant of the change and not the leader of the changes. So the ego provides the materials, may even do some of the building, but the overall deep rooted changes occur when our Inner Being is also involved. We can not think our way into new believes, habits or skills. Feelings are required too, especially the higher vibrational feelings.
Think of a time where you were playing a sport or in a creative flow. We call this Being in The Zone. The body, mind and spirit are all One. The thinking or analytical mind is shut off and the observing mind is present. The body flows with the trust of Spirit guiding it. This is True Power where we feel safe to just Be.
So, how does power feel in the body? Think of when you are in The Zone. There is a strength that is flowing from the Centre of you. When it comes to energy, there are three ways energy can be moved - push, pull and allow. When you are in the zone, you are in allow. When you are pushing your power or will onto another you are attempting to dominate another. When you are pulling away from another, you are trying to reclaim your power. How we use our personal power towards ourselves or another is something we have all felt and done throughout our lives usually with very little thought. This unconscious use of power effects our lives in numerous ways.
Being Centred in yourself - Inner Being, Authentic Self, Soul, Unbreakable Wholeness - is where your power flows from.
The ego’s role is to alert us when we are not in our Inner Being. Once alerted, the key is to ground into your body and be aware of where you are centred, either in your heart or in your belly. The heart actually receives before your mind. The belly is where the centre of your body is and in Qigong or Martial Arts is where your dantian is, your life force energy.
Our Inner Being is a feeling state which does not use language. Our Inner Being vibrates at a higher frequency with emotions like peace, wellbeing, joy, gratitude, appreciation, freedom, love, compassion, kindness. Your Inner Being is always present within you. Your inner power evolves and grows from actively engaging in a relationship with this aspect of yourself, which leads the connection with other aspects of yourself.
To build this awareness and relationship there is another aspect of our internal world which assists with this connection called the Observational Mind. This part of us observes ourself without engagement, judgement, bias or interference. She simply witnesses us. If you are engaging with the observations, you are no longer in the observational mind.
From this place of witness we can discern whether we are in our ego or our Inner Being. How? Our ego has the traits of a child or youth’s defensive behaviour - defiant, temper tantrum, wounded, needy, overly helpful, critical, hyper, trying your patience, willful, trying too hard to be a good girl or boy, trying to be perfect.
Your Inner Being is silent, peaceful, joyful, loving, still - simply Being.
During the Somatic meditation I take a client through, you are first guided to be aware of sensations within your body and your breath. Later you are guided to be just Be. From this place of being you begin to observe the qualities of your Inner Being and are guided to nourish and witness your Inner Being.
The meditation creates the space where we can then engage in a dialogue with all aspects of yourself. You remain connected with your Inner Being, thus are in an emotional state of calm. The Analytical Mind can share what the Observational Mind witnessed occurring during the meditation and how this relates to the issues, concerns or behaviours you have been experiencing in your life. Now there is space for the new choices and healthy habits to come in. There is now the opportunity to create a new reality.
Power from within involves trusting the Unknown while at the same time trusting what you know. The act of trust involves letting go of control. The Whole Person approach, which Somatic Therapy supports, allows for the active engagement with all aspects of yourself. Doing so empowers you to transform your life when what you have been choosing to do is no longer working. Consciously allowing your Inner Being to lead the transformation allows for possibilities you would not be able to imagine if you only created change from the ego or analytical mind. The ego and analytical mind can only create from a place of what they know. Thomas Jefferson’s statement, “If you want something you’ve never had, you must be willing to do something you’ve never done.” is true when you are actively trying to empower yourself.
Are you ready to step into your Power?