Somatic Doors of Perception

Somatic Doors of Perception

The Role of the Client in Bodywork. What is happening inside the client during a session? We know by external signs whether the client is awake and present. We can also tell when the client is sleeping or zoning out. But is there another exchange between practitioner and client: when both are somatically aware of their own bodies. What happens when they both interact from a shared space of somatic awareness? Deane and Jack have known one another since the 1980s. Both have been exploring these questions, each from their own perspective. Recently they have been comparing notes with one another and it would appear that they are witnessing similar surprising results with their clients and students. It seems that many, if not most holding patterns in the body can be released simply by mutual interaction of words and somatic awareness between both persons.

Mutual Touch: The experience of touch: the client from inside and practitioner from outside the body are sharing the same phenomena. The client feels something from the hands of the practitioner; the practitioner feels something from the body of the client. Fundamentally both persons are touching and both persons are being touched. The practitioner is more conscious of giving touch, the client is more conscious of receiving touch... but both are touching. This means that both are participating in a process that only happens... now. Also, both are feeling the effects of the touch.

Deeper Signals: What if both become equal in terms of their ability to touch and feel? Each is aware of the internal sensations in his/her own body that are informing them both about this interaction. Something is shared across skin barriers as the mutual somatic awareness is heightened. The practitioner can heighten the client's somatic awareness by moving the tissue, tapping the tissue, decompressing the tissue, and using words that elicit the client's awareness of what is happening. Each of these probes sends various signals to the client's brain. When the client becomes conscious of these signals the practitioner can feel a response in that part of the body that the practitioner is touching. As this response is felt by the practitioner he/she can then give feedback to the client, which further heightens the client's involvement.

Perceptual Doors: The surface sensations of touch in both persons are accompanied by external and internal perceptions: vaguely described as proprioception, interoception, exteroception, conscious thought, unconscious thought, felt sense, sense of presence, sense of shared presence, and mutual verbal interaction. We are attempting to understand how these messages back and forth change many factors for both client and practitioner. It's as if we are discovering that the mind and feeling awareness of the client is much more significant that mechanical manipulation of the tissue. What are the implications of these surprising results?

Changing the Mind: The hidden truths behind these data could profoundly change the way we understand ourselves and our work. Milton Trager used to say: "You are always working on the mind of the client" and "If you want to change the body, you must first change the mind." Many of us pondered these words as we have worked over the years. It is now clear to Deane and Jack that changing the mind has to do with shifting the client's mind from thinking to feeling what is happening now. The body is the medium, the mind is the message. You will learn various ways for shifting the client's mind by discussing and working with examples of exteroception, interoception and proprioception.

Teamwork: We will explore client-practitioner interactive teamwork through the medium of the senses. Specifically we want to focus on: psychophysical mechanisms like brain chemistry and mind-body communication systems (Deane), and sharing of conscious awareness, personal presencing and spiritual development (Jack). This workshop (Jan.) will lay the groundwork for a follow up class in April, which will address in-depth applications of the principles of interactive somatic awareness for your practice. In that class we will be challenging some of the basic paradigms of mechanical bodywork, namely: the need to overcome clients' bodily resistance, the need to "fix the client," and the primary focus on symptomatic relief. We are hoping to stimulate many practitioners' exploration of these inner experiences in their work with their clients. 


About DEANE JUHAN, MA (by Jack Blackburn): www.jobsbody.com
Since the publication of Job's Body in 1987, Deane Juhan has been a strong influence in the bodywork world. He followed with Touched by the Goddess in 2000.

I first brought Deane to the northwest in 1988 and 1989 for classes he taught on Orcas island. I was surprised at how many persons traveled from afar to be there with Deane. Job's Body had created quite a stir in the world of bodywork...offering a much deeper understanding and questioning of what we were working with. Deane had gone out to the edge of anatomy and physiology and invited us all to journey there with him. Many courageous schools started requiring his book as a primary textbook.

Since then Deane has continued to break new ground and to open up new possibilities for the manual therapies. He has also been at the forefront of legitimizing the bodywork modalities to medical practitioners and the hard sciences.He continues to challenge all of us to learn much more, understand much more, and create much more than we ever thought possible.