The Four Fulcrums of Embodiment – Part 3 of 4

3. Heart

a. The first place of observation is simply the movement of the heart, whether it’s the muscular contractions, the flow of the blood, the biochemical and nervous system relationship or any other numerous movement possibilities. As I begin to sense the movement of my own heart, I can begin to distinguish dozens of different sensations. The next task is to identify how large of an area in the trunk of the body can one actually sense this pulsitory activity. There is a Sufi practice in which the practitioner is trained to sense this heart pulsation throughout the entire body, from the bottom of the feet to the top of the head and out through the fingertips. So this is important to allow the area in which the pulsation is sensed to expand.

b. There is an important place that we observe the heart from. It is called the dorsal pericardium, or the back of the heart. It is here where the nervous system first began to interface with the heart during the embryonic time. This area of the posterior heart and the dorsal pericardium also derives from a different type of mesoderm and the rest of the heart. In the newer scientific model of heart development called ballooning, this is the place in which the balloon is blown up – the dorsal pericardium.

c. Wherever we are seated during a session with a client, but especially when seated at the head of the table, we need to build a perception of the space in back of our body. It is like a shifting fulcrum as we move attention from the dorsal pericardium to the back of the body. This is the ground of establishing a relationship with Primary Respiration as it moves through the heart. Sometimes, it is possible to sense Primary Respiration as if originating from the heart and expanding and contracting out beyond the skin. Sometimes, it is possible to sense Primary Respiration originating from the world of nature outside and intersecting with the heart. But there is a third possibility and it is the experience of the original heart even before the dorsal pericardium. It is the experience of complete transparency when the heart looked like a fishnet and it was surrounded by water flowing through and around it.

d. The experience of Primary Respiration moving through the heart is called transparency. Gradually, the whole body of the practitioner becomes transparent and Primary Respiration is observed to simply be moving back and forth. I like to keep my attention around the back of my body to observe this quality of transparency. Gradually, the next step is to simply make a heart to heart connection with the client. By feeling the transparency of Primary Respiration through my own heart, I place my attention on the heart and trunk area of the client. The electromagnetic fields of both hearts are interacting, just as are the autonomic nervous systems in both hearts. In the literature, it is called interpersonal cardiovascular systems. With this biodynamic practice, we simply become conscious of this pre-existing reality and allow Primary Respiration to be part of the heart to heart connection. Gradually, as the practitioner becomes more skilled with making contact on or around the arteries of the body, then Primary Respiration may be perceived to be moving locally through the arteries.

I will be teaching a course titled CST for Head Trauma at Cortiva Institute in Scottsdale, Arizona in January and February 2016.  Please CLICK HERE  for information on enrolling in this course.  I hope to see you there.