"Reaching In and Reaching Out," a gentle workshop with a flavour of Radix was a delight and a surprise to deliver.

We were at Keele University, not far from Stoke on Trent and Newcastle under Lyme, for the Institute of Transcational Ananysis (ITA) annual conference - a gathering that had a nice balance between personal warmth and professional zeala nd gravitas.

I have been going to ITA conferences on and off since 1982, and in recent years have taken it on myself gently to evangelize - sometimes with Michael R -  on behalf of the body and its wisdom and vitality to this world of predominantly talking therapists.

The workshop came to focus almost entirely on Reaching In.  Somehow, we never got to to the Reaching Out part.   

On the surface it was very quiet and undramatic.   Just as well, in a smallish room with no mats or cushions, though it did at least have a carpet.

Solo pulsation with an emphasis on following breath and attention inwards.  Then, when it came to working in pairs, something a bit magic and mysterious happened.

A simple exercise - you could call it “assisted curling” - led to a shift of atmosphere,  and some participants to talk about experiencing - “peace,” “safety” “ a foetal place,” “a place I haven’t been before.”   Others found no words in the place they came to.

I don’t think I have found the words  either.   Anyhow, these moments, where contact with the body (and the spirit?) outstrips the mind, are the ones that keep me  fascinated and engaged in this way of working.   That something lively, present, felt and shared - the essence of Radix work.

I have  come back fired up to put more energy and promotion into  both the London Radix Workshops and the Embodied Therapy - Trauma Training Programme - with its empahsis on "Somatic Learning"  that I am developing for later in the year.