The Process of Process

Today's blog is by Martyn Cook, who offers hands-on energy healing and tension-release massage at Healium.

Someone just asked me, "What on earth is process facilitation, and what does it have to do with self-healing?" Well, process could be understood in contrast to content, which would be your story about what you think is causing all that pain or irritation in your life (or in your body). As an aside, the pain in your life will eventually appear in your body: Traditional Chinese Medicine does not consider psychology separate from physiology, so why do we?

Process is the flow of emotions, ideas and energies through a person's consciousness (and through the body), and goes on all the time. In our culture we tend to disregard this inner landscape, and attend almost entirely to what is going on in "the outside world." Only when depressed, traumatised or injured do we experience the insistent intrusion of this inner world.

In our language we speak of a broken heart, a gut feel, or something causing us a "pain in the neck," and these are useful observations about our own personal process. But, for most of us, our inner processes are automatic and below the surface, and we don't know what is going on, nor how to direct these processes more skillfully - until the pain or disease arrives.

Hence facilitation - which is inviting another person to bring a trained eye to our inner goings-on, and elucidate them for us. For the facilitator, it is about helping clients make changes and get the results they desire in their lives. It is about smoothing or easing the way, and offering guidance in what might be effective ways of working. It is empowering and encouraging.

Facilitation is a bit like working with the energy of a lively river - regulating speed and depth of flow, navigating through turbulence, and confronting areas of stagnation and blockage. It works always with the here and now to improve the way the river flows. In contrast, a story (content) is usually about what I believe happened to me in the past, or what I am afraid will happen to me in the future. Both kinds of story leave me feeling powerless or overwhelmed - and tend to repeat over and over.

The main benefit of process facilitation is being able to disengage from these repeating stories. It brings relief from suffering, enhancing your capacity to live more fully and productively, and to have better relationships with others. It is a process of learning to heal yourself. The capacity arises to dwell in two realms at once - the inner realm and the outer realm - which brings a sense of groundedness, calm and confidence. Plus excitement.

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Martyn is currently at Healium on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. To book a session, click here.