Conscious Body Stories
GLENDA'S RASH: Nice ~ Straight Talker
Glenda’s red rash covered her chest, and neither she nor her doctor had a clue about what was causing it. She needed to uncover the specific energy that was calling to express.
Glenda was exceedingly nice and never spoke a harsh word to anyone. As we explored her rash with Conscious Body, an unknown aspect of her personality appeared. It protested, “I can’t stand Glenda’s husband coming into the bedroom. Their relationship has deteriorated, and yet he expects to have sex whenever he wants. I feel like yelling, ‘Get out of here.’ I feel like pushing him away.” We took these cues from the body and moved from dialogue into physical expression.
Glenda actually pushed against a pillow and yelled at it as if it were her intruding husband. This let the disowned self, an angry straight talker, express its thoughts and feelings. We strategized how Glenda would claim her boundaries, and the rash went away the next day.
When Glenda landed on the particular issue of anger at her husband in the bedroom, she was directly at the bull’s-eye. She had found the energy that could heal the symptom.
MARTHA'S ARTHRITIC HANDS: Caretaker (Cares For Others) ~ Cares for Self
Martha suffered with arthritic pain in her hands. As a dental hygienist, her hands were her livelihood. Familiar with Voice Dialogue and Conscious Body, Martha quickly found the self behind the symptom in session.
“I’m tired of taking care of everyone. Family, clients, friends—they all ask for help. I feel like a train with so many people on board, they’re falling out the windows. I’m so laden I can’t stay on the tracks anymore.”
“Perhaps there’s another part of you that would handle these people differently,” I suggested. “Would you like to meet it?”
This new part said, “I know exactly what to do. I would not take care of all those people. They’re grownups, let them fend for themselves. I want freedom. Rather than being the train that carries all of them, I would get a massage and enjoy myself.”
Martha had unearthed a part of her that she dearly needed. She began to have the capacity to make choices about how she wanted to use her time—sometimes she would care for others, and other times she would care for herself. Martha’s arthritic pain cleared up in two weeks.
TOM'S STOMACHACHE: Inner Critic ~ Inner Ally
Tom’s aching abdomen often woke him in the middle of the night. In an attempt at self-healing, he monitored his diet and ruled out the possibility of indigestion. He wasn’t terribly stressed, so he ruled out an ulcer. What could it be? He decided to do a Conscious Body session with his stomachache, and it wasn’t long before an image arose. “Someone is wringing a washcloth really hard. They have strong hands, painfully strong, almost mean. These hands are tightening and clenching as if they are trying to hurt me.”
“Can we talk to the hands?” I asked. Tom agreed, and the hands spoke.
“We're nasty, and that’s our job. We squeeze the life out of people. Tom is a weakling.”
Recognizing the voice of an Inner Critic, I asked this part, “Do you criticize a lot of things about Tom?”
“Damn right,” it answered. “Tom is no good. He doesn’t make enough money. He is not making a contribution to society. He is losing his hair and he doesn’t look that great anymore. If he doesn't do or say something right, or interact with people in a certain way, I criticize him for those things, too. Just like his mother did. She criticized and laughed at Tom.”
“Is there anything else you criticize about Tom?” I asked
“Do you have all day? There’s so much wrong with him, I could go on for hours.”
So I listened. When the Critic finished, I explained to Tom that he needed to begin to work with this voice in himself, this Inner Critic. He could begin to hear the voice of the Critic during the day and he could write down what the Critic said to him. He could then look at that list and realize that those statements were not the truth, they were the words of his Critic. After this session, Tom’s stomach pain went away and he began to sleep through the night.