Focusing: A Technique for Body Based Emotional and Physical Healing

In service to my on-going interest in the interface between physical and emotional well-being, I’ve recently been exploring a body based emotional practice called Focusing. Focusing was developed by psychologist Eugene Gendlin who was a graduate student of Carl Rogers (famous in humanistic psychological circles for developing person centered therapy).  He was interested in understanding why some clients were more successful than others in the process of psychotherapy. Through some pretty thorough research, what he discovered is that it was not the method of the therapist that mattered as much as it was the ability of the client to pause and look inward. From this, Gendlin developed the “philosophy of the implicit” which suggests that the body implicitly carries more than the brain can process.  Gendlin discovered that if a client was able to bring attention to what is actually happening in this moment in the body, they were freer to access their inner intelligence and experience lasting change.

At last!  Researched substantiation for my belief that interfacing with the mind alone doesn’t produce as much lasting change as when the body is brought into the process (I knew I was in this business for agood reason).

What does it take to access implicit bodily knowing that can be such a powerful source of change? From my perspective? Bodywork received from an attentive practitioner given to a receptive participant can do it. Conscious forms of movement (dance, continuum, yoga  - done with awareness) and many other body based practices can also take us to present moment bodily knowing. Focusing was the process that Gendlin developed to help his clients access this inner intelligence.

But, Focusing isn’t just about success in psychotherapy. There are many uses of Focusing, from decision making to working with addictions to helping heal a physical illness or pain. I’ve found it to be an enlightening meditative practice that allows access to my inner awareness and peace.


It’s useful to have an educated partner present when practicing Focusing.  I enjoy helping to facilitate this process with others and am happy to do this as part of your session. Just ask. But, you can also do this practice by yourself.  I’ve been using the practice regularly on my own and have found it to be a great way to start my day or to bring clarity to nagging or unclear feelings or sensations.

Here are the steps to one of my favored version of the practice:

1.    Decide how much tine you have to spend (it may only be 5 minutes or could be an hour). Get quiet and comfortable. Close your eyes.
2.    Bring you awareness inside and just notice what you feel there - especially in the center of you - in your belly throat and mouth/jaw. Notice the sensations - and they are always there. If you can’t feel anything, then just work with this step before you move on.
3.    Ask yourself, “What wants or needs my attention right now?” and wait for the answer.  It could be a difficulty or happiness.
4.    If it’s not already clear, locate what wants your attention in your body. What for instance is the physical sensation that accompanies that emotional feeling?
5.    Imagine that you are sitting down next to this feeling or physical sensation like you would sit down next to someone who you care about and who you’d really like to know better. Greet the sensation/feeling with interest and patience. Let go of any agenda to get rid of it or change it (as we so commonly tend do with our pains).  Instead, try to get to know it, from it’s perspective. Even, if at first, this seems uncomfortable or ridiculous.
6.    Describe the sensation/feeling the best that you can. Go back and forth to check to see that the description (words or image) fits perfectly. It may for instance be something like “a throbbing pulse” or a “ red searing spot” or “a cortisol drip”.  When you get the description just right you may notice the sensation increases or relaxes.
7.    Sit with it. Or, maybe ask it: What’s so (put description from above- like “red searing”) about this? Maybe ask it what it needs. Wait for the answer and receive the information, feelings or images.
8.    Check to see if it’s okay to stop (there may be something more that wants to come through). You may need to assure a part of you that you’ll be back again.
9.    Acknowledge what came. Don’t skip this part- it’s important!


For more information check out Ann Weiser Cornell’s Book called “The Power of Focusing” or Eugene Gendlin’s “Focusing” .

And, if you try it, I’d love to know how it goes!
  

Sunshine on My Shoulders Makes Me Happy

For those of you that know me well, you know I LOVE THE SUN. In addition to the antidepressant effects of sun exposure, I’ve recently learned that sun exposure is also our primary mechanism for making vitamin D in the body.

So, what's important about Vitamin D? Vitamin D has long been known to be important for bone growth and development in children and for normal bone health in adults.  However, recent evidence is showing that Vitamin D supplementation may be helpful in the prevention of a number of diseases.  If you are interested to know more, read The Scoop below. If not, read the parts in bold.

The Scoop: Nearly a half century ago it was discovered that people living in the northeast U.S. had twice the risk of dying of cancer than Southerners! More recently, strong evidence has emerged for sun exposure to reduce the risk of prostate, breast, colon, ovarian, esophageal, stomach, pancreatic, rectal, kidney, uterine, lung and bladder cancer.  There is also a great deal of evidence that higher D3 levels also combats several types of autoimmune diseases  (Inflammatory Bowel Disease, Multiple Sclerosis and Type I Diabetes). Moreover, vitamin D seems to regulate immune cell function.  Finally, Type II (classic adult onset diabetes) has also been linked to low levels of Vitamin D in the blood. In short, there is significant evidence that higher levels of vitamin D in the blood protects against most cancers, several autoimmune diseases, osteoporosis and Type II Diabetes.

The only sure way to know if your Vitamin D level is optimal, is with a blood test called 25-OH Vitamin D level. The normal range is 20-100 mg/ml (50ng/ml is recommended). Short of this, I have heard a naturopath friend say that nearly everyone in the northwest who she has tested is deficient in vitamin D. We just don’t’ get  a lot of sun exposure. 

While our primary and best source of vitamin D is sun exposure, supplementation might be an important addition in the winter months. This is especially true for all of us living in the Northwest -  it’s kinda dark around here. And I have to say the obvious, anyone with a history of melanoma, please do not use sun exposure as a means of raising your vitamin D level. For everyone, it's best to use your trunk and legs to make vitamin D (rather than face, hands or other body parts that have often sun exposure).

In short, a little vitamin D supplementation won’t hurt.  Especially
because its so hard to OD on the stuff with oral supplementation while
living in a cloudy climate.  We make 20,000 IUs just from 20 minutes of
summer sun exposure, while high dose supplementation would be
considered only 2,000 IUs. My blood levels were tested and I am low in vitamin D. I’ve been taking 5,000 IUs a day of Pure Encapsulations Vitamin D. I also really like the idea of using plain old cod liver oil to get vitamin D. With this, you also get the benefit of essential fatty acids in a digestible form.

Humanity

This helped me to feel part of a large human family...check it out: http://www.6billionothers.com

Inflammation and Fatty Acids

Now, I’m no nutritionist, but I have been taking a class at Bastyr U - the naturopathic school in town and probably the healthiest university on the planet. Forget bake sales. They sell homegrown leafy greens at lunchtime to raise money.   Feminine hygiene dispensers? All organic cotton. Lots of yoga. Not only this, it’s a treasure trove of alternative health information. While munching on my homemade, vegetarian, organic lunch purchased in the cafeteria, I was reading a journal - the Naturopathic Doctor News and Review and came across some great information for those of you who might be dealing with issues of chronic inflammation. 

 

Dietary fat has a direct relationship to how much pain and inflammation occurs in the body: An underlying factor in chronic pain is inflammation. Prolonged inflammation damages tissues, raises awareness to pain, disrupts metabolism, and wreaks havoc on general biological systems. In short, chronic inflammation often results in chronic pain. Over consumption of omega-6 oils and under consumption of omega-3 oils promotes unnecessary inflammation contributing to pain and chronic disease. However, the average American consumes far more omega-6 oils and under consumes omega-3 oils. Good news is that there is some empirical support beginning to emerge related to the efficacy of balancing fatty acids through supplementation with fish oil (in one study, 595 of participants were able to stop taking their anti-inflammatory drugs!). Even some conventional Docs are getting on board.

 

The Details:  How does this work?  I’ll try to make it simple for those of you who are interested (for those who aren’t skip ahead to The Bottom Line).When the immune system is challenged (by injury, stress, infection, etc.) fatty acids are released from cell membranes and converted into eicosanoids. If you can successfully block the conversion of essential fatty acids to certain eicosanoids you can block inflammation. Over consumption of omega-6 fatty acids increases the production of an eicosanoid that increases sensitivity to pain (a functional response when there is injury, but not so helpful if one does not exist).  Consumption of omega-3 fatty acids on the other hand, is the building block for EPA, an eicosanoid that reduces sensitivity to pain, relaxes blood vessels, and supports the body's natural anti-inflammatory response.  While both of the messenger molecules produced by omega 3s and 6s are essential, it is the balance that is important.

 

What to Do? The ideal balance can be achieved through supplementation of omega -3 fatty acids through fish oil and reduction in dietary omega-6 fatty acid.  Before the turn of the century, no significant source of omega-6 oils existed. Our bodies haven’t really adapted to easy access to refined vegetable oils. Omega-6s are found in processed foods with vegetable oils, such as corn, soy, safflower and sunflower. Also, interestingly, farmed fish, livestock and poultry that are fed cornmeal and soybased feed have increased omega-6 content (farmed fish - bad, grass fed cattle-good, “marbled” beef- bad, free-range hens -good).  Given the high amount of omega-6 in processed foods, vegetarians need to be careful too.  

 

As far as omega-3 goes, fish oil is much more readily converted to EPA than flax oil (only 10% is converted to EPA). But beware of fish oil, which can have high levels of mercury and other toxins. That's why I recommend Nordic Naturals, which according to my naturopath, has been tested to be pretty clean. It's available at Medicine Man pharmacy in town or check online for the best price.

 

Recommended anti-inflammatory dose is 3g of EPA+DHA daily.  You can also talk with your naturopath about measuring fatty acids in your blood if you are interested to know if this might be an issue for you or if you want to check dosage.

 

The Bottom Line: Inflammation can be modified through attention to diet.  Decrease omega-6 consumption (modified vegetable oils, farmed fish, grain fed cattle and poultry) and increase consumption of omega-3 with fish oil (I recommend Nordic Naturals fishoil).  3g of EPA+DHA is the recommended dosage.

 

 

 

 

The First Entry

Welcome to my newsletter!  I’m excited to finally have a venue to share with you some of the  interesting, inspiring and health enhancing tidbits that are lingering in my head and also that I come across. 

 

What to write about for the maiden voyage? There are so many choices.  Though I’m bursting with information, I’ve settled on something simple. A poem.  This poem speaks to one of the intentions of my work - freedom.

Be Ground.

Be crumbled, so wild flowers will come up where you are.

You have been stony for too many years.

Try something different.

Surrender.

-Rumi