Hi All,

With SER I and II plus our 2 day SER Seminar coming up next month June is our SER Month!

SomatoEmotional Release I 

20 – 23 June with Maggie Gill 

 SomatoEmotional Release II 

 20 – 23 June with Stan Gerome

 SER Seminar on Dialogue and Imagery

 25 & 26 June with Stan Gerome

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Here is an article by Stan that we thought you might find interesting….

Dialogue, Imagery, CST & Synchronicity

By Stan Gerome LMT, CST-D

It appears that the flow of Synchronicity – experiential coincidences with meaning – abound in the use of Imagery, Dialogue and CranioSacral Therapy. Carl Jung, the eminent20th century psychiatrist, and Wolfgang Pauli, Nobel prize winner in physics (1945), both realised the importance of this concept. Their relationship, which began as doctor-patient, developed into a lifelong friendship that united the two worlds of psychology andquantum physics. Together Jung and Pauli recognised synchronicity as being a level of reality where matter and mind are undifferentiated.  Here is a present day example: a former US soldier attended an intensive therapy programme for Vietnam veterans at the Upledger Institute clinic in Florida. Deep into a multiple hands CranioSacral session he saw himself walking through the jungle feeling kill-crazy, tired and confused. Through eyes burning with hate he saw a hole in the ground. Aware of the possibilities of mines, he cautiously approached the hole and peered deeply into the darkness. “That hole is a mile deep,” he said, yet his instincts knew there was someone at the bottom. As his eyes adjusted to the darkness, he saw the vague outline of a young blond soldier. Fear struck at his core because he knew he had to save his comrade.

Without thinking twice he began to work himself downward, straddling the round walls that surrounded him. Inch by inch he slowly sacrificed himself to the depths of the earth until he eventually reached the bottom. There, injured and dying, was his fellow veteran. Placing him on his back, he began to carry his injured brother back towards the top. After some time he saw the first welcome ray of light. Too weary to carry his new friend any further, the soldier began to push him upward towards the dim light. Step by step, higher and higher, light growing brighter, they neared the top. Breathless and exhausted, he made one last effort and pushed the wounded soldier through the opening in the earth and into the light of day. He saved his fellow warrior. After a period of silence the veteran opened his eyes, looked at his therapists and said “I felt like I just went into purgatory and the young blond soldier was me.

Following this and subsequent sessions the personality and pain symptomology of this man changed drastically. Even his sense of humour, which had been repressed for 30 years, began to emerge. He took off his sun glasses so that people could see his eyes. He no longer felt threatened by those around him. His physical and psychic life had been totally modified. It was a tremendous synchronicity.

What is happening when we employ imagery, dialogue and CST?

When imagery, dialogue and CST come together, we seem to enter a level of consciousness where physical and psychic reality meet.  In this case it allowed the Vietnam veteran to bring forth images from his non-conscious that saved hime from purgatory.  A profound decrease in physical pain and freedom from emotional guilt ensued; in essence his reality was changed.  Jung called this transformative experience a ‘synchronicity’, a change in the psyche that produces a change in physical reality.  As Jung also pointed out “it is the nature of synchronicity to have meaning and in particular, be associated with profound activation of energy deep within the psyche.  It is as if the formation of patters within the unconscious mind is accompanied by physical patterns in the outer world”.

It appears that the flow of imagery is a way for unconscious information to emerge into consciousness. An open dialogue with these images (finding out what they need and want to bring to us) can induce incredible change – a psychophysical restructuring. F. David Peat, an investigator into quantum mechanical structure and quantum theory says, “it is as if this internal restructuring produces external resonances, or as if a burst of ‘mental energy’ is propagated into the physical world.” This restructuring goes on to affect not only the individual but his relationships with family, friends, society, the earth, the universe and the creator. It is a kind of inner atomic explosion. But from where do these images unfold?

A reductionist might say they unfold from a network of chemical and neurological functions in the brain. Jung, however, hints in his writings at a deeper psychic where matter and mind are not separate and an ordered intelligence exists. He termed this level of reality the ‘psychoid’. Peat explains the psychoid as containing matter and mind yet going beyond them. These ideas may seem quite abstract. Yet they are also where Heisenberg, founder of Quantum Mechanics, believes the universe may have had its beginnings, where even fundamental particles themselves are
‘realisations of underlying abstract symmetries’.

What practical purpose does all this have?

Imagine that a client, John, goes to a CranioSacral therapist for the treatment of back pain. Using the arcing technique (a way of finding active lesions in the body), the therapist finds a spot at T6. He asks if an image wants to come forward from that spot. John says, “Yes, I see a stone.” Does the stone have a colour? ‘Yes, it’s black’. Does this black stone have a shape? “Um, it looks pretty round.” How big does this black, round stone look? “It looks to me about an inch in diameter.” Does this black round one-inch stone have a name? There’s a quietening in the sessions and John softly says “Grief”. The image has now been personified. It has shown us its size, shape, texture and even given its name. The image now has all the elements that something in material existence has – even a life of its own. The therapist then asks permission to speak to Grief directly. Grief says, “Yes that would be OK.” Grief, how long have you been in John’s body? “A long, long time.” How did you get in there? “John put me here.” Does John know he put you there? “I don’t think so but I tried telling him.” How did you try telling him? “By making him uncomfortable at first then turning into pain.”
John knows you are there now. Grief, do you have a reason for being there that you would be willing to share with us? “Yes, I’ve protected him for a long time from events in his life that he couldn’t acknowledge at the time.” How does it feel to have John acknowledge you now? “It feels good.” What would you like to happen next? “I’d like to be free.” What would you need in order to be free? “I need for John to feel me as grief.” Turning the dialogue back to John we ask if its OK for him to feel grief. John says yes. As he gives his permission he begins to see a series of unpleasant past events that caused him a great deal of emotional pain. With these memories comes a corresponding softening of tissues at T6 as well as sighs and tears. This softening of tissues is the dissolving of an energy cyst, a place where energy is stuck in the body. As the tissues relax, John’s back pain also releases. The result is synchronistic. Through his acknowledgement of his grief John has allowed a change in the energy of his psyche, which also altered his physicality. We then ask Grief if there is anything else he needs right now. Grief says no. Asking John if he needs anything, John says, “I’m grateful for the information Grief has shown me”. They thank each other and the session closes.

Small subtle releases may affect the whole body–mind function

Edward Lorenz, a researcher in weather patterns, offers a parallel known as the butterfly effect. He describes weather patterns as being so sensitive that even the slightest variable, such as the flapping of a butterfly’s wings, might affect tomorrow’s weather. Peat uses the ‘straw that broke the camel’s back’ analogy when describing small loads of weight that may eventually cause drastic effects resulting in the collapse of metals.  Dr H Peters, a biologist who explores phosphorous and plankton levels in lakes, believes that small modifications in a lake’s normal phosphorous levels, such as may be caused by fertilisers and pollutants, can change the entire ecology of the lake. And John E Upledger DO OMM, who has expanded the common mechanistic view of cranial osteopathy to include the release of emotions and blocked bodily energy, constantly says that less is more when dealing with changes in the craniosacral system.