Issue #1 Article#2
Body-Speak A reflection by healer,
teacher and visionary Pietro Abela
About ten years ago it began to dawn on me that the physical issues I was
treating as an energy worker masked a deeper emotional layer. There was always
a defensive barrier around the trauma part. The defence parts had two agendas;
they believed that the emotional layer or part caused the trauma to happen, and
were therefore invested in preventing this part from emerging and causing the
trauma to re-occur. As well they made sure that anybody or anything resembling
the original perpetrator didn’t come close enough to initiate trauma again. To
feel that the emotional part caused the trauma is typical of children
especially up to three years old who are wont to believe that external trauma
occurs from something they did. Thus the trauma is personalized, or taken to be
about them. Literally the trauma is energetically internalized in precise
locations of the body according to the nature of the trauma or event, which if
left unattended has the potential to manifest physically.
In Level Three, ARC explores the nature of this emotional organization in depth
and from this we can come to understand how we operate in life and also how the
world operates. ARC basically teaches that if we change our emotional
organization – that is, the way we have come to be internally organized in
order to cope with our perception of life – the physical symptom becomes
unnecessary, because the symptom is sending an intrinsic message that something
in our internal system is not fully serving us.
It is much easier to approach internal re-organization if we divide ourselves
into emotional parts. When I have a client come into my office who is totally
flustered because life is out of control, and I respond to her with the
observation that there is a part of her that is having difficulty coping, the
person invariably feels relief. The relief is in knowing that it is only a part
of her and not all of her who cannot cope, and that maybe there is another part
within her that is fully able to cope well. So to be able to say, “a part of me
feels angry,” or “I have a part that feels disappointed” puts you into a place
of observation. To say “I am an angry person” says to me that the angry part
often takes over and assumes a dominant position. “A part of me feels angry”
says that the part that is able to observe what is going on could be supportive
in some way, and if so your inner reality will change.
When we work with emotional body parts our approach needs to be non-linear. If
the observation part which ARC likes to call the Self, were to ask the angry
part, “What do you think about being angry?” the mind will answer. Ask somebody
that same question and watch how their eyes go up, their head moves upwards as
they “think about it.” Body-Speak – bodywork dialogue – is the ability to talk,
to yourself and to others, in such a way that the body, and not the mind,
responds to the question. ARC teaches that it is in the body that our issues
reside, and it is there that the true answers lie to the nature of the issue,
history and more importantly what is needed to solve the issue. Now ask, “ How does
that part of you feel about anger?” Do the eyes look downward? Does the head
tilt down? These are indicators that the body is being accessed for the
information.
Body-Speak questions need to be slightly confusing. A person’s first tendency
is always to respond from the mind. A non-linear question will temporarily
confuse the mind and the person being asked has no other option but to probe
the body. Let’s say that you feel sad. To ask, “what is sad for sadness?” is
hard for the mind to grasp. But if you move into your body for that answer
chances are a response will be forthcoming.
Once a part has been identified the next exploration is discovering where the
part lives inside the body. Let’s say that you have identified a part that
feels lethargic in the morning so much so it is affecting all other parts of
yourself. We can ask, “So where does that part live?” Once the location is
found you could embellish that with other exploratory questions; “Does that
place within have a certain quality to it, a shape, a colour?” Such
identification gives the location some life and personality. It helps it become
more and identifiable.
An ARC practitioner is versed in exploring emotional parts. Whatever the
response you give he or she will instantly distinguish the charged word in your
response and form another non-linear question around that. The ARC practitioner
does not have a goal in mind. She shouldn’t be trying to lead you up a certain
path. She is trained to follow the client’s process and the order of the responses
given back. This is the quickest way to resolving body-based issues – that is,
by following the client response. It is also the most challenging, because like
it or not, parts within the practitioner sometimes want to take over and lead
the way. We are all subject to being triggered into our own issues however
skilled we are. This is why ARC is so vigilant in teaching how to know your own
emotional parts, and how to instantly recognize when they take over and how to
resolve that issue within ourselves so that we can return to balance – or to
consciousness. This awareness is useful for all aspects of relationship,
whether therapeutic or within the challenges of personal changes in life.
Body-Speak can be applied to yourself. You could write out the part’s response
and then from that feed it another question. Or you could just ask the part
something and see if in time a response to the question emerges. Here are some
suggested general questions that usually produce answers.:
“How does the part feel it is serving you by doing
this?”
“Where did the part learn to do this?”
“What does the part need right now?” And…
”Is there a way for this to be provided for the part?”
“How would it be to just allow the part to be
sad/angry/disappointed?”
“Is there another part that feels something different to how this part feels?”
And as you ask the question place your hand on or over the part location, and
then listen and see what turns up. If no answer is forthcoming you may wish to
ask if there is another part that doesn’t wish an answer to be known. If yes,
then turn to that part and explore that one, because as long as the new part is
in place it will be difficult to gain a response from the former.
Parts are like little personalities all unto their own. As you explore in this
manner you are likely to emerge with a whole family of parts that each have
their own character, personality and behaviourial patterns. For example, you
may have a part that is a perfectionist. It learned to be so because it felt it
had to “get it right” to avoid conflict in the family. This part is driven and
has a tendency towards workaholism, since it won’t stop until it gets it right.
This part may be located in the solar plexus region and you may always know
when the part is present because a burning is felt in the solar plexus area.
Now there is another part that is affected by the perfection part. This part is
sad. It is located in the heart. This part likes to play, but never seems to
get to do so. This is because the perfectionist part always seems to take
precedence. The play part feels its own needs are never met, except when there
is a vacation and then it is let loose. The play part lives for vacations and
then it truly feels fulfilled. There maybe another part that likes to plan that
is related to these other two, and another who likes to daydream in contrast to
the planner. All of these will have body locations. In time it becomes possible
to identify when these parts emerge in different aspects of our day, and to
name them as each strive to take over. This is conscious awareness. Without
this consciousness the parts can run riot and take over our day and even our
lives sometimes without us being aware of it. Even if we are aware of them we
often feel powerless to do anything about them, often because it has never
occurred to us that we can do something about them. Consciousness is like
switching the light on and seeing the scene before you with open eyes. From
here it is possible to make choices from a place of Self. To ask questions such
as “Would it work for me to be in perfection right now? Would another way of
coping be more appropriate to this situation?” This way of self-evaluation has
the potential of maintaining inner balance and of truly meeting your own needs.
I feel one of the potential riches of life can emerge from asking for support.
If you arrive at a place where your personal self exploration seems as if it
can go no further approach one of our ARC practitioners who are trained in
exploring the world of parts and ask for their assistance. These folks put you
in the driver’s seat and navigate you through your inner parts. Yes, like any
journey it will present its challenges, but I also predict you will find it
fascinating and highly rewarding for yourself, and for those close to you who
will also benefit from the changes that occur for you.