Parents Unleashed:

It's a unique kind of struggle. It's hard for other parents to understand, it's hard for friends and even family to understand and often its hard for us to understand.

It's lonely, exhausting, relentless.

We struggle to stay calm when the kids are out of control. We grit our teeth through the meetings. We learn to take deep breaths when fear of the future wakes us in the night. We try our best to hold it together but when do WE get to scream and cry and stomp our feet? When do WE get to be the big mess? And who will meet those places in us with support and compassion?

That is the intention for this group.

There is a particular spark that ignites when people who share a similar journey come together to support each other. We need other parents who get it. We need to sit around the fire and share our stories, our truth, our tears, our rage, our hope. This group will run for six weeks to develop and deepen the relationships and the experience. We will use Core Energetics* as the modality (see below) in order to move quickly past the armor that we wear every day, and into less familiar terrain. We might find fear, anguish, joy, rage, judgment. Whatever we find, we will hold it, explore it, honor it and transform it into a more spacious and compassionate energy we can use for ongoing healing.

*Core Energetics

Description: Does it sometimes feel like you are a walking knot of tension? Clenched jaw, tight shoulders, back pain, throat in a vice? Did you know that these phenomena are rooted in chronic, primitive, unconscious tension patterns in your muscles and fascia? They were created by a very small you in childhood as a way to stem energy flow. Their job was to prevent the expression of feelings that were too risky to feel in the presence of those you needed in order to survive. These patterns still inhabit your posture, your musculature, your fascia, your nervous system, your voice, your choices and your view of the world. You are not alone. We all did it.

Because they saved us, these patterns of tension (also known as defensive body armor) are extremely precious to us, and however much we want freedom and healing, we do not want to let them go. Our mind can say YES! but our body holds on for dear life. This armor has become deeply unconscious, automatic, rigid, and impacts every facet of our lives.

Core Energetics, developed by John Pierrakos, M.D. in the 1970's, was designed specifically to physically, emotionally and mentally crack open this armor. Then, what has been locked away can be illuminated, explored and revolutionized.

Techniques like stomping, hitting a large foam cube, jumping, putting the body into positions to trigger spontaneous movement and expressive sound are utilized, as is the innate power of the group. These techniques move the mountains of our defenses and blow the dust off of parts of ourselves that have been keeping us stuck, small and bewildered.

Once the defensive armor begins to give way, the hard work begins. You are then faced with all of those big feelings that have been there all along, 'underneath' the armor, waiting. You might find pain, grief, rage, bliss (so much of what got stifled in childhood was bliss!). Whatever you find, you will get a precious chance to look at it and talk to it and hold it all with love. The result is the transmutation of those blocks - the armor, the stickiness and the rigidity - into energy that can be utilized to support flow, connection, love, compassion and creativity. We are all rivers, endlessly seeking to reclaim our path after the storm.

*Workshop is limited to 12 participants. Be sure to register in advance!