Wholebody Focusing Relazionale

TABLE OF CONTENTS

What is Relational Wholebody Focusing?
Benefits of Wholebody Focusing
Is Wholebody Focusing right for you?
The Wholebody Focusing method
Relational Wholebody Focusing
Exploring the relationship: sharing a Heartfelt Conversation
Learning Relational Wholebody Focusing
Keeping in touch

Benefits of Wholebody Focusing

Developed by Kevin McEvenue, Wholebody Focusing combines elements from the Focusing process and the Alexander Technique, an educational method which is used to mitigate and solve physical issues caused by poor habits in movement and posture.

The Alexander Technique is based on the notion of experiencing the body as a whole: to retrain automatic patterns of posture and movement, the practitioners must be fully aware of his or her actions and spatial orientation.

Wholebody Focusing is based on a similar notion of wholeness, which serves as the basis to explore the so-called Body Wisdom – our deep and vibrant vital energy, the inner force that knows what it takes to recover from trauma, ease inner tension and face the sticky situations in life.

Wholebody Focusing offers invaluable insight to people who long for a deeper connection with their true self. Experiencing wholeness in your life is a remarkable spiritual experience holding tremendous transformative power, on many levels.

Wholebody Focusing helps you:

Is Wholebody Focusing right for you?

As with Gendlin’s Focusing process, Wholebody Focusing helps you to reconnect with an innate human ability. Anyone can learn and practice the method. Given the experience-bound nature of the process, it is especially suitable for people who are familiar with Focusing and subtle energy perception.

Wholebody Focusing can also provide meaningful support to people suffering from psychosomatic symptoms or behavioural disorders associated with physical factors. The process promotes the development of a positive experience of the body as an essential part of being, thus fostering a friendlier, welcoming approach to the physical dimension of self.

Wholebody Focusing can be practiced alone, with a partner or as a supporting element of professional therapy and physical work.

The Wholebody Focusing method

The Wholebody Focusing method is based on the notion of Body Wisdom. The body is a complex system, resulting from the bulk of a person’s experiences: life situation, trains of thought, emotions, behavioural patterns and the conscious and unconscious mind.

Identifying the models and patterns that affect our life paves the way to transformation and healing. The process and practice of Wholebody Focusing fosters clarity and understanding of such patterns, thus contributing to the healing process.

The Wholebody Focusing process consists of six steps, which naturally transition one into another in the flow of experience.

In the first step, the Focuser seeks a profound connection with his or her Self and the surrounding environment, entering the so-called Grounded Presence state. The second step is the awakening of the Body Wisdom, i.e. paying attention to the inner self, guided by the spontaneous movements of the physical body.

In the third phase, the Focuser makes space to allow the felt sense to emerge, refraining from judgement or exerting control. As the felt sense emerges, the Focuser investigates its meaning and significance whilst maintaining full awareness of the whole Self. The exploration of the felt sense generates shifts (changes) in the flow of the Focuser’s vital energies.

As a last step, the Focuser explicitly accepts the shifts and lets their vital energy resonate throughout the whole Self to embrace the change.

Relational Wholebody Focusing

A Relational Wholebody Focusing partnership does not include a focuser/listener relationship. Instead, the partners act as peers and both contribute to the creation of a shared space (called the “we space”). Such space is in fact an energy field encompassing the wholeness of the Focusers and the surrounding environment – i.e. both the physical space and the subtle energy.

This method explores the relational element of the partnership as it develops in the shared moment. As such, Relational Wholebody Focusing is especially suitable for:

Exploring the relationship: sharing a Heartfelt Conversation

Relational Wholebody Focusing is an experience-based method that fosters a multi-faceted exploration of the we space. In their research, Karen Whalen and Kevin McEvenue noticed that the energy field originating from the partners fosters the creation of a deep empathic connection (called Heartfelt Connection), which influences the quality of the shared space.

This discovery led to a new form of sharing: the Heartfelt Conversation.

A Heartfelt Conversation taps into a higher form of wisdom that flows through the focusing partners. It is about creating a tender loving space where a deep shared connection is converted into mutual enrichment, support and spiritual healing.

In a Heartfelt Conversation, both the focuser and listener actively contribute to the dynamic flow of energy in the we space. The listener does not “mirror” the focuser’s experience but instead shares how such experiences resonate with him/her, his/her views of the world or his/her circumstances.

The conversation develops and flows naturally, in a dynamic process of mutual exploration. Attentive listening to the whole Self and the shared space is key to accessing a broader and deeper sense of wisdom and vitality which accounts for more than the sum of its parts.

At the end of the conversations, both partners are fully aware of the value of the shared experience within the context of their self-development. Such awareness is converted into a positive attitude that helps avoid and resolves conflicts, builds

Learning Relational Wholebody Focusing

While Focusing is practiced worldwide, Relational Wholebody Focusing and Heartfelt Conversation are still recent. As one of the first Italian trainers of the method, I am passionate about raising awareness of its transformative potential in my community and abroad. I have co-developed the first Relational Wholebody Focusing training course available in Italian and also organise courses and workshops in various cities in Europe from time to time.

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