This appeal to the body’s ‘felt-sense’ is perhaps the most singular and original idea in focusing. The body can be the source of quite intricate intelligence, not merely in the management of its own homeostasis, but also in having an insight into the broader aspects of living. This goes against the current notion of what the body is. But it has never been given the chance. No one has really granted it that sort of intelligence. So that when we first look in the direction of the ‘felt-sense’ it does feel unknown and vague, largely because we are out of touch with our physical being. We have drawn such a wide demarcation between our ‘physical’ and our ‘thinking’ selves that we have cut ourselves off from perhaps the greater part of our being.
It seems as though the body can serve as the first barrier, the first line of defense, against a hostile world. Numb the body and you numb the effects of an unhelpful environment – it is to ‘toughen up’ as they say. The ability to feel pain or physical discomfort is no indication that one is in touch with the body. Beyond such primitive perceptions lay the full spectrum of our wholebody and with it the possibility of a much enlarged sense of self and wellbeing.
The working model of focusing has assumed that the most precise avenue of expression for the felt-sense is language. And this has proved remarkably useful. There is no doubt that when we know what we really feel and speak from the heart we are truly ourselves. This is what invigorates and gives our life movement.
But there are other forms of bodily expression that do not involve language and that are just as passionate and meaningful as words, and sometimes even more so. There’s the whole area of music and dancing. If you have ever watched a couple of Latinos dancing a tango or a stunning Spanish Flamenco dancer you will know what I mean – that wonderful combination of burning vibrancy fueled by controlled passion.
When the waltz was first introduced into Victorian society it was thought to be scandalously outrageous, vulgar and immoral. The wild, whirlwind of the music and the sight of a man holding a woman so close to his body in public was denounced as offensive by the church and all right thinking people. Naturally this was just what appealed to the young of the time whose spirit was busting to get out. Popular ballroom dance-forms in the west have evolved a lot since then. The Rock and Roll era seemed to end the tradition of couples dancing together, replacing this, as today, with individuals doing their own separate thing, although perhaps vaguely connected with someone else somewhere on the floor. And it’s interesting to note that today the dancing movements are free-form; one simply expresses oneself as it comes.
Now someone has developed a therapeutic form of dancing and called it ‘wholebody focusing’. It involves using the felt-sense to discover the style of dance that one’s body wants to express. It is only a little way-out to call it Balletic Focusing; and with it we are back to the pas de deux, only this time the couple are more like a focusing partnership where one person is the ‘listener’ while the other performs; but instead of listening to words, she ‘listens’ to your dance; and she does this with the same unconditional positive regard that you would find in a good person-centred therapy session – without interfering or joining in, she is with you in whatever way you tango.
What is amazing is how strong the guiding felt-sense becomes in this process. It begins to take over; and the more you trust it the stronger it becomes; and the stronger it becomes the more you trust it. Your movements morph into a work of art in which your body seems to work through long held tensions, moving though timeless psycho-physical blockages. It becomes a trance-like state and you only know dimly what you are doing and why. It all takes place below the level of consciousness, but you can feel something deeply cavernous is happening. Consciously, you are only aware that someone inside, some hidden self, is being satisfied and is smiling. Maybe because, for the first time in ages, one realises that one’s being is profoundly physical and, like a child, is delighted at being seen – a healthy exhibitionism.
It must have been at least ten years ago I had a bright idea. I had just come out of my morning meditation and I found myself yawning and stretching. ‘Now there’s a funny thing’, I thought, ‘why was I allowed to yawn and stretch only when I stopped meditating? I must have been sitting still ! That’s what you are supposed to do in meditation, isn’t it? I wonder what would happen if I paid attention to what my body wanted while I was meditating.
I began by giving up the rather up-tight yoga posture and, reclining back in a comfortable chair that gave my body room to move, I began to discover exactly what I have been describing above. I had no idea what to call it. It wasn’t meditation proper and it wasn’t focusing proper either. I decided to call my little private practice bodyminding. I thought this appropriate because it seemed as though I was the body’s minder.
When, a year or so ago, some people at the Focusing Institute in the States came out with Wholebody Focusing I was quite startled. And when I attended Karen’s workshop here in New Zealand last year I found that they had not gone exactly the route I had and there were certain philosophical differences. But they were on the same page as me – a case of simultaneous discovery. Quite encouraging.
And I’m pleased to tell you that Karen will be coming again to New Zealand in March of next year to conduct another weekend workshop of Wholebody Focusing and a five day retreat at Mokihinui Westport – a beautiful spot I’m told.
More information on this at a later date.
[1] To get an idea of the number of published books on focusing go to:
http://www.focusing.org/eShop/10Browse.asp?category=Focusing%20Books
[2] Purton, Cambell. Introduction to the Special Issue on Focusing Oriented Therapy . In Person-Centered & Experiential Psychotherapies. Special Edition. Volume 9. Number 2. June 2010
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