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ARC Bodywork: A Return to Consciousness
“How does this part here,” he asked, hand upon my shoulder, “feel about that?” A strange question I thought, but not so strange as the fact that I could answer it. I was in the midst of an ARC Bodywork session and it seemed only natural that I let my body answer. “Uhhhh …” I sighed, sinking into the part, “it doesn’t like it.” My answer came as a shock and yet on a deep level, it felt true. My ARC practitioner had just asked my shoulder how it felt about a certain relationship I was in and my shoulder had exposed my deepest feelings – feelings of which I had not been fully aware. “What doesn’t it like about it?” he queried further. The answer was immediate: “it doesn’t like carrying the weight anymore.” No wonder I was experiencing chronic pain in my shoulder. I was involved in a relationship where I was not only being held responsible for all matters – financial and emotional – but where I was in denial about it. That is, most of me was in denial, my shoulder, it appears, was all too aware of what was happening. The session continued as my therapist facilitated dialogue between my shoulder and, well, me. By the end, I had a desire to approach the relationship in question differently – in a way that suited all my parts and a plan to carry it through. Several years later, I too became an ARC practitioner, working with the various interconnected parts of my clients (and the various parts of myself).
To continue reading go to http://www.thearcinstitute.com/articles.htm
Making the Invisible, Visible:
Equine Guided Development™
I went to an ARC practitioner the other day. She was as you would expect: gentle and patient; centred and well grounded; non-judgmental and quick to notice any incongruent behavior on my part. It was a satisfying session. When I left I scratched her nose and offered her a carrot. My ARC practitioner, you see, was a horse.
I wasn’t expecting an ARC session when I went out that day. My intent was to interview Carla Webb, a natural horsemanship coach/trainer and wellness coach, who recently combined her two talents into the relatively new field of Equine Guided Development™ (EGD™). Carla will be joining Heather Faris and I as a guest facilitator in The Essence of ARC workshop we are teaching in Abbotsford, BC, this May.
I arrived at Carla’s farm early that morning with some trepidation. My last experience with horses had found me trotting up a trail in complete mortification: my tube top had vibrated down my nine year old chest and I was at wits end trying to stay on the horse let alone pull the top back up. Moreover, trotting up and down like a Singer sewing machine with a belly full of popcorn is just not pleasant. Add trail-raising dust that clogs your nose, coats your mouth and dries your eyes and monster kamikaze flies to the mix – flies, by the way, you cant swat because you are hanging on for dear life – you get the picture: I hated horseback riding and, by extension, horses. Yes, I had some trepidation. To continue reading go to http://unbridledpotential.wordpress.com/ (September 2009)
The Community Within
My relationship with who I am, is as dynamic and challenging as my relationship with friends and lovers, perhaps more so. I say this because within me lies a community of parts – different aspects of who I am – all with different needs, perspectives and truths. Single parts may overwhelm me and, at other times, compete with one another to be heard but collectively they make up who I am with Self, my internal witness, in leadership.
To continue reading go to
http://www.risingwomen.com/sept2006svensson.htm
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