The Surrender Process

I have always loved being in the water; there's something very womb-like about it. Especially floating; it's like going home. After I float for awhile, everything seems more vivid, the colors, the smells, the sounds. Over the last half century of New Age exploration, there have been a number of processes that include water. The first one that comes to mind is f rebirthing. Developed by Leonard Orr, the process came out of his own unique experiences. He had been in a funky place emotionally, and found himself taking more and more baths. One time, after being in the tub for about an hour, he was overwhelmed by a flood of emotions. He processed them as best he could, and found that he felt much much better afterwards. And so he continued the process, getting into his bathtub of hot water for hours on end. Ultimately, he had a life changing experience in which he re-lived his birth. The catharsis was so powerful that he continued his self exploration, and began sharing what he experienced with others..

The rebirthing model spawned a number of variations on the water theme. One was holotropic breathing, developed by Dr. Stan Grof, who brought legitimacy and a wealth of information into the model. Sessions are usually at least 2 hours, during which loud evocative music is played. Each person has a partner; one person lays down and has the experience, and the other is there to serve as witness and protector. Deep, rapid breathing is encouraged; each session begins with the participants taking long deep breaths for as long as they can.

There is a form of water based massage that I am very impressed with that I would like to share. It is known as Watsu, short for water shiatsu; it was developed by. The client floats, and the therapist uses the water to hold the person in a suspended space. It is done in a pool where the water is at body temperature, and about 4 feet deep. It is a beautiful form to watch.

At the 1998 Somatics Conference sponsored by the Association of Humanistic Psychology, in Arrowhead Springs, California, there was a huge pool the size of a football field, and it was pretty much room temperature. The high point of the conference for me was being able to spend time each day in water. I began finding my own way to surrender and let go. I have always been a water person. I swam in high school and college, and was a lifeguard at a popular ocean beach on Long Island for over 10 years. A few years ago, I realized that the way we swim is so linear. Lanes are always used in pools, so everyone basically swims back and forth is straight lines. Well, I began playing with dolphin swimming, jumping, twirling, going down, with no regard to speed or distance. Then I got some rubber swaths that I could Velcro to my thighs to keep me afloat, and I began just moving my body however it wanted to, stretching all my muscles. It was a very slow process; I would let my body find just the right shape that it wanted to be in. I believe that this work is similar to the teachings of the mudras. In India, mudras are very specific hand gestures that invoke very specific energy states. Very often when I am dancing or doing the water work, I will find a spot where it feels like my body becomes some kind of transformer/receiver, and I could stay in that pose forever. The water provides an antidote to gravity. This was the beginning of the spaciousness project. I found that this play brought me into my self in a very profound way. It was an avenue into my depths, into the core of my beingness. I would feel so centered, that the conference workshops became almost irrelevant.