EMDR stands for Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing, an information processing technique created by Francine Shapiro. Here is a brief description offered from her book, “EMDR.”

“All humans are understood to have a physiologically-based information processing system. This can be compared to other body systems, such as digestion in which the body extracts nutrients for health and survival. The information processing system processes the multiple elements of our experiences and stores memories in an accessible and useful form. Memories are linked in networks that contain related thoughts, images, emotions, and sensations. Learning occurs when new associations are forged with material already stored in memory.

When a traumatic or very negative event occurs, information processing may be incomplete, perhaps because strong negative feelings or dissociation interfere with information processing. This prevents the forging of connections with more adaptive information that is held in other memory networks. For example, a rape survivor may “know” that rapists are responsible for their crimes, but this information does not connect with her feeling that she is to blame for the attack. The memory is then dysfunctionally stored without appropriate associative connections and with many elements still unprocessed. When the individual thinks about the trauma, or when the memory is triggered by similar situations, the person may feel like she is reliving it, or may experience strong emotions and physical sensations. A prime example is the intrusive thoughts, emotional disturbance, and negative self-referencing beliefs of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).”

There is a great deal of research that demonstrates the effectiveness of EMDR especially when it is used in the treatment of PTSD and traumatic memory. We are all equipped to handle disappointment, illness, the aging process and even the loss of loved ones. We experience a grieving process and most of us are able to recover and adapt to changed circumstances. However, there are some traumatic experiences such as rape, war trauma; torture and the witnessing of violence that overwhelms our capacity to process information. War veterans or victims of violent crime that suffer from PTSD will have recurring flashbacks of violent episodes that they experience over and over again and as if it were happening right then in the present. EMDR uses eye movement or other bi-lateral stimulation to help the client process these memories. Some people think that information is being moved from short term memory to long term memory and brain scans clearly show that that the frontal lobe; that part of the brain where we examine and make sense of our experiences lights up after an EMDR session.

From a mindfulness point of view, EMDR is an amazing tool that allows us to “witness” or observe a traumatic event from a place of curiosity and equanimity and create a sense of spaciousness around it. There are several mindfulness principals that come into play in EMDR as well as in Integrative Breathwork and the process can be very similar. When a client is processing something during Wave Work their eyes are spontaneously moving back and forth under the eye lids and there appears to be many natural forms of bilateral stimulation that people use to maintain perspective and emotional balance in life such as tapping, dancing and listening to music. EMDR is also a useful tool for what practitioners call “small t trauma;” those embarrassing and painful childhood memories which, although not life threatening, continue to hurt our sense of safety or self worth. EMDR can be effective treatment for some phobias such as fear of heights or fear of flying and it is used to help people prepare for surgery or to alleviate test anxiety.

What is Integrative Breathwork:

Integrative Breathwork is the application of mindfulness to a wonderful transformational work called “Wave Work.”

Several years ago when I was grieving the loss of a friend I received a gift of an hour and a half Wave Work Session. I drove to the home of Dayashakti (Sandra Scherer) in the Berkshires on one of those early spring days that felt, easily interchangeable with a day in late fall. I was grateful for the clear crisp air, the long drive and for the sense of being " fully present " that can sometimes come with having the rug pulled out from under you. The session seemed to go on for hours as I witnessed waves of grief, fear, anger, (sometimes all three at once) that seemed to rise from my belly and wash over me in waves, gradually intensifying and then cresting and shifting into periods of relief, insight, new understanding, sometimes moments of profound spiritual joy, on the other side of the wave. “Nothing to do but breathe and watch, nothing to push away or to make happen, " I was told as Dayashakti reminded me that my body, my " Being" knew exactly how to do this. The grief would return to me for a long time to come but I left feeling connected with myself in a way I hadn't felt in many years. I also knew I had found a safe and powerful tool for healing and for emotional self care that would be part of my life for many years to come.

I met Dayashakti again later that summer when she did a Wave Work presentation at a One By One Conference I attended at Hampshire College. This time I had the opportunity to learn how to be a guide for somebody else in addition to having another amazing personal experience of my own. The technique is simple but profound. The client lies down comfortably with a neck role under the head and perhaps a pillow under their knees to take pressure off the lower back, and is instructed to breath naturally with an open mouth and to bring their awareness inside the body and to " just watch" . They may become aware of sensations in the body such as warmth, cold, tingling, aches, etc.; or of emotions, memories or thoughts. Whatever is there is welcome, is given space and is witnessed without judgment. The role of the "guide” is to be a container, to be fully present and to gently encourage and remind the client that it's okay to be with whatever comes up. Clients are asked to briefly report out what they are experiencing once in a while as it tends to help focus the work, not because the guide needs to know the content of what is happening.

After that workshop I assisted Dayashakti on several Introductory Weekend Workshops at Kripalu Yoga Center in Lenox, Massachusetts and completed a Ten Day Level I Training. I began offering Wave Work in my psychotherapy practice about ten years ago. Wave Work was created by Dayashakti out of the wisdom and experience of her more than thirty five years as a student and teacher at Kripalu Yoga Center. It is a sacred and beautiful work with tremendous potential for developing what I call “Emotional authenticity” and for healing old and unintegrated wounds. As a long term meditator I have found myself talking more and more often, about the principles of mindfulness to my clients and offering basic meditation techniques when it seems appropriate. After completing a ten day meditation retreat at the Vipassana Center in Shelburne Falls, I was struck by the similarities between Wave Work and Vipassana meditation techniques. Wave Work is based on the deeper teachings of Yoga and like many other spiritual disciplines and meditation techniques it includes the development of a "witness;" a secondary awareness and the ability to be grounded in the body and fully present in the moment. By observing the movement of energy ( prana) as it rises and falls away with each breath it becomes possible to accept, even befriend, the transitory nature of life. We can face and endure difficult and painful experiences when we know they are just passing through; that nothing is solid state or permanent. Most importantly we learn not to label or to judge our experiences. We see that it does not make sense to identify our "Self" our “Being" with sensations, feelings, memories and thoughts that are just passing through.

Under these conditions it can begin to feel safe to allow old patterns of defense, fear, anxiety, physical pain, even deep traumatic memory to break up into manageable pieces, to enter the field of awareness and be carried through a process of transformation. It is not so much that we get rid of or even " let go" of old unwanted patterns; rather, there is an actual "energetic shift" an integration, that takes place in the physical, emotional, mental and causal bodies. When doing on-going Wave Work with clients I ask them to establish a regular mindfulness meditation practice because, in addition to it's own benefits, it greatly enhances and speeds up the healing process. I've seen clients make progress with the use of Wave Work that is quite amazing and find it a particularly powerful technique for working with PTSD, anxiety, grief and even substance abuse.

What I love most about Wave Work is the non-intrusive nature of its application. Both client and guide learn to trust and honor the inherent intelligence of the breath , the universal energy, which is always right there and knows exactly how to proceed and at what pace. As the memory of the old wounding that we carry around in the molecules of our body begins to dissolve, there is the awareness of a new spaciousness inside. As we learn to allow more and more prana, divine energy into our being, there is the possibility of recognizing our interconnectedness with all beings and of developing a loving relationship with our own true nature.