Breaking Down Brainspotting
I have a more complicated description of brainspotting on my website, and I wanted to break this down a little more simplistically to show how it can be a transformative experience with an example.
Our brain organizes all of our memories and emotional responses in various ways and based on the neural pathways that have been created, the ones we use the most will be immediately brought forth when we are triggered. If something happens that feels familiar, we instantly go to that same reaction. In talk therapy, we can dig deep at understanding the why behind the reaction, and yes, this will help bring all of our options into awareness, but sometimes, even having the logical explanation doesn’t help shift the emotional trigger.
This is where brainspotting can help.
Let’s say your partner has a behavior that irritates you to no end. You logically know why it upsets you, you’ve had the conversation with your partner, talked non-stop with your friends and to your therapist, but ultimately realize that the only way to stop arguing is for you to shift your perspective. However, there is such an emotional charge behind it, that it’s truly difficult for you to change your reaction.
You decide to schedule a Brainspotting with Intuitive Energy Healing session. It may go something like this:
We meet and have a quick overview of the issue. The good news with brainspotting, is that you don’t have to fully divulge all of the details. Just enough so you can experience the energy behind your situation.
You opt for the bilateral music, so you put on your headphones and hit play. The music is playing softly so we can both still communicate.
We have options on how to find an eyespot. In this example, we want to soften and hopefully clear the emotions that are triggered every time your partner does this one certain thing. The emotions can be connected to a location in the body, or by holding the image or hearing a sound of what your partner is doing, or it can be viewed as a movie by watching it happen. You will choose which method that best connects you to your experience and emotional reaction.
We then start the scanning with your eyes to find your activation spot, which is the one that can potentially elevate your emotions most. This activation spot is like taking the highway. Things can come up quickly using these types of spots. This is not necessarily the best route to go if it's too overstimulating. We can always find a resource spot, which is like taking the back roads. It’s scenic, it’s slower, and you still get to your destination. We will work together to find the best eye position for you to hold and begin to process.
While you are holding this spot with your eyes, it’s imperative that you let go of your thinking mind. Sometimes unexpected memories that are not connected to your issue come up, as well as other images, flashes from childhood, or more. I always say “you never know what you are going to pull out of the hat.” So this experience becomes one of pure curiosity and letting go, thus it’s important to let your brain show you what it needs to process via emotions, images, or thoughts so it can allow room for something more peaceful. Your job is to be almost in a meditative curious state of mind. Things come up, you may investigate by feeling into it, or not, and just let the waves come and go. The more that you avoid intellectualizing what’s coming up, the less you interfere with the process.
While you are processing, I am doing intense energy work. Things that are coming up for me can be significantly different than what you are experiencing. In sessions, I can pick up energies from your past that need energetic support or locate areas in your body that need to be cleared and opened so the work you are doing can shift quicker. Past lives come up frequently during brainspotting. We bring into this lifeline a lot of our “still need to work on” lessons from our souls journeys, so I help soften those energies and integrate it back into your being. I continue to do my work while you are going through the ebbs and flows of the process. At the end, it’s like you’ve had two sessions in one, which is why these two modalities combined can be so effective and transformative.
As we wind down the session, we check to see how you are now feeling about the situation. If this has been a long time issue, it may take one or two more sessions to completely shift, and sometimes, the shifts can be felt immediately.
Post session, it is important to be in full awareness of how you are feeling once the situation comes up again, and take a pause to notice the difference of your emotions and also how you choose to respond. The more that you continue to do this, the more the brain will use this new pathway each time your partner is doing that thing again.
When we meet again, the set up will most likely be different and maybe something else is unfolding to help support your original goal. More clearing, more relief, and eventually you won’t even notice when your partner is doing that thing any longer. Happier days to come!
The Health & Wellness packages are a great place to work through a deeper issue to get you closer to who you want to be and how you want to feel. Within your 4 or 8 sessions, you will receive a personalized plan that will include brainspotting, energy work and intuitive guidance.
Please reach out if you have any questions.
Photo Credit: Milad Fakurian via Unsplash
