DMP sessions are not always about dealing with difficulties. They can also be a time of self reflection and personal growth.
Self-perception is rooted in how you feel internally, along with the beliefs and experiences that shape your life, and the feedback you get from the external world. Self reflection – evaluating the world and examining your place in it – is a continuous process.
In this gentle and beautiful exploration, we were guided by the wisdom of the body to lead the mind to what it wanted to show us. With me holding space, observing and reflecting back, the client engaged in an embodied inquiry and found a way to relate to a part of themself they had previously been unfamiliar with.
These are their words, used with permission
CAR DMP
Shirley is guiding me through my body looking for areas of tension, looking for areas that are asking for attention. My shoulders and neck are really tight. I try moving them around to loosen them and I start to yawn. My voice joins in so I’m consciously letting go of tension. I become aware of the area between my shoulder blades. I can see myself sitting, looking out through glass in this area. There’s a hint of red frame and I realise that that ‘me’ is sitting in a red car that’s mostly windows. The car sinks down my spine, losing colour and definition, until it reaches my pelvis. By now it’s like a 3D silhouette in dark grey. I move my hips around, imagining warm oil in my pelvis. The car slips and slides around. It isn’t happy. I bring it back up my spine to my shoulder blades again and it regains definition, with a ‘me’ sitting looking out of the windows again. ‘Car me’ isn’t interested in ‘this me’. She doesn’t want to communicate. She’s just watching. ‘This me’ tries to sense how ‘car me’ is feeling but the glass gets in the way. ‘This me’ manages to wind down the window. ‘Car me’ still isn’t communicating. ‘This me’ can sense that she’s quite ok as she is, just watching, not involved in anything, not needing anything, just watching. There’s a lack of feeling in her but she doesn’t feel a lack. I search for a word to describe her – Disinterested? Uninvolved? Emotionless? Shirley suggests Detached and it’s a Eureka moment. ‘Car me’ is the one who stops emotional me getting lost in my emotions. She pulls me back from the brink when I’m overwhelmed. She gives me a bit of distance from the intensity of my feelings. She’s my balancer, the Yin in my Yang. I wouldn’t want to live in her world all the time – not enough joy in it! But I am so grateful for her presence. She keeps me sane!
