Biodynamic Terminology Part 3

Embodiment. Also embodied wholeness. The conscious experience of deeper levels of order and organization occurring in and around one’s body. It is associated with the felt sense of wholeness. May be used as a synonym for the term midline. See wholeness, phenomenology of the body and midline.

Five Stages of Biodynamic Perception. The gradual generation of a direct perception of stillness and Primary Respiration. The biodynamic process of building and supporting a safe container for holding the whole and its differentiation in the practitioner and the client. The five stages of biodynamic perception are:

  1. Orienting. A practitioner learns to orient to one or all of the six embodiments (see six embodiments). This includes the initial generation of a perceptual container for stillness.
  2. Synchronizing. A practitioner learns to synchronize his or her attention with Primary Respiration through one or all of the three embryonic fulcrums (see three embryonic fulcrums).
  3. Attunement. A practitioner learns how to cycle the movement of their attention through the four zones of awareness (see four zones of awareness). This includes moving attention towards the client and away in the tempo of Primary Respiration.
  4. Disengagement. The practitioner recognizes when the autonomic nervous system of the client has stabilized and is available for the repair function of Primary Respiration.
  5. Ignition. See ignition, five ignitions, Primary Respiration, stillness and zones of awareness.

Fluid Body. The first body of wholeness in the embryo. The natural world found in the body. 99% of the molecules in the human body are living water. The totality of biological water whose holistic form is constantly changing shape in and around the physical body. It operates morphologically on the principles of buoyancy, density gradients and both structural (directional waves and currents) and unstructured flow (multidirectional). Its morphology can be clearly palpated as well as its electrical charge, heat and micro-currents. It is a carrier of Primary Respiration and its morphology is enhanced by Primary Respiration. See three bodies, morphology, three laws of fluids and topography.

Five Ignitions. There are five categories of biodynamic ignition that may be perceived by a practitioner:

  1. Developmental. Conception, heart, birth and death. These are described in various biodynamic writings generally associated with aspects of breathing, dynamic stillness and heart rate variability.
  2. Metabolic. Primary Respiration has five phases in its ignition process specifically related to therapeutically relevant events that repeat within its 100 second cycle. They are spark, ignition, permeation (these three aspects describe events in the expansion phase of Primary Respiration), augmentation and stillpoint (these two aspects describe events in the contraction phase of Primary Respiration).Gentle attention is placed on the phase changes of Primary Respiration for developing better discernment of ignition and related therapeutic processes. Heat is the fundamental perception of the activity of ignition at a metabolic level. Other events such as taking a deep breath usually indicate synchronization with secondary respiration and/or a phase change of Primary Respiration.
  3. Environmental. The world of nature constantly generates ignition related phenomena that can directly impact the continuum of a biodynamic session. Biodynamic practitioners need to be mindful of the world of nature participating in the session while practicing. In addition, any man made events such as noise from a phone ringing in the office to a car horn blowing outside of the office can impact a session or not and therefore are considered to be ignition events which cause a shift (transition) in the practitioner’s attention and possibly the client’s.
  4. Cultural/Spiritual. Cultural rituals focus on regressing a patient symbolically to the time of their embryonic development or the origin of the universe for the purpose of igniting an original wholeness.
  5. Self-Ignition. The practitioner consciously synchronizes his or her secondary respiration with Primary Respiration to build potency. See ignition, Primary Respiration, potency and biodynamic therapeutic process.

Four Stages of Heart Development. The human heart develops in four distinct stages morphologically. They are:

  1. Transparency. The heart begins as a group of blood islands in the region of the neck. Water flows through these natural perforations.
  2. Stretching. The blood islands gradually condense into a tube that is stretched down and elongated by the developing respiratory diaphragm.
  3. Twisting. The heart tube has the atria at the bottom and ventricles at the top. It must twist in such a way that it turns itself upside down as a growth movement.
  4. Ballooning. The heart stabilizes posteriorly allowing for dilation and ballooning anteriorly.

Fulcrum. A temporary point of organization for structure and function. See midline, automatic shifting, embodiment and wholeness.

Healing. A timeless process. It is usually associated with spirituality, meaning and wholeness. For example, a person diagnosed with cancer may experience healing by understanding the higher or deeper meaning of their disease without the cancer being in remission but remission may happen. The pathways to such meaning are numerous and unique to everyone. Furthermore, healing may or may not include a spiritual practice but can be enhanced by such or by others in support of the person through prayer and so forth. Likewise, it may or may not be enhanced by the biodynamic therapeutic process. Thus the biodynamic practitioner cannot know what the client needs for their healing but establishes a container for such a possibility to happen. See biodynamic therapeutic process, container and wholeness.