four Orientations
Ways at going about change, growth, healing or emergence. The Top-Down orientation approaches change from the starting point of the thinking mind moving down to the rest of the person (body/emotion/spirit/heart/relationships). Bottom-Up, as you might have guessed, approaches change from the body as a starting point., e.g. ‘go for a run first (bottom-up) and if you still feel depressed when you get back we can talk about it (top-down).’ Then there’s Inside-Out, which is expression, expressive arts, painting, dance, singing, toning, vocalising, movement, sculpting, music-making, free-association journaling, doodling and also dreamwork. Finally, but not exhaustively, then there is Outside-Thru, which acknowledges, influences on an individual, such as ancestral legacies and intergenerational traits, also deep cultural messages and archetypes, social context, family systems and ecological niche. This is akin to looking at the human experience through a biopsychosocial matrix. To read the full article subscribe to my substack.
way of dark and light
The way of affirmation and the way of negation have been known by many names: Via positiva, by way of affirmation, of positing, naming, the kataphatic, way of light, of recognition. And Via Negativa, by way of negation, taking away, nada nada, to let go, to detach from what is not, the way of darkness, stripping back, the apophatic. The two paths have at times been set in opposition but I humbly suggest that they work best together. In order to make room for what we truly want (positiva) we need to let go of what we don’t want (negativa). To read the full article subscribe to my substack.
Scrub and rinse
Whether you’re ending therapy or intending to continue after a brief pause, there’s immense value in taking a break from the work, the scrubbing, the digging, the critiquing and to rinse it all off, clear out the rubble and test the changes, or indeed just live and have some new experiences. To read the full article subscribe to my substack.