Andrey Ermoshin - Things in The Body

Psychocatalysis of awareness of the space of sensations reveals three areas of this «psychogenetic’ world which is parallel to the material world.

Three areas of self-awareness

The world of phenomena that opens up when referring to the “reality of sensations’ is rather rich. It consists of in-body sensations, sensations of an integral body, the “landscape’ sensations.

We will mainly be talking about in-body sensations. To begin with, we will mention the «boundary’ and «over boundary’ sensations, for example:

Someone is holding his shoulders up.

«What do you have on your shoulders?»

«A stone.» (or «a bag’, or «a log’, or «a pole with two buckets’, or

«my mother’, etc.)

(This is a state of neurotic, psychopathic responsibility, or concern.)

One more dialogue with another patient – a young woman.

«Who are you?»

«A pineapple.»

«Where are you?»

«On a plantation.»

«Is everything all right?»

«The peel’s damaged».

These are some more examples:

A man stretches his arm along the sofa, which he is sitting on, as if embracing someone invisible. You should ask him:

«Who is there?»

His answer can be:

«A cat. (or «my friend’)

«What for?»

«For calmness.» (or: «to reinforce my position.»)

A man is walking late at night. His right hand is clasped.

«Is there anything in your hand?»

«A gun.»

«Will you shoot it?»

«No.»

«What will you do with it?»

«Throw it away.»

He throws it away and starts to observe “an arsenal of weapons, both modern and ancient, including axes, etc., falling out of it. How about his left hand? Quite primitive tools like cudgels and stones are falling out of there. Disarmed, he continues his way under the highest protection with his hands lightweight and free.

The subjective space of each person, as it is described in this book, is saturated with different things and essences. Each of the elements of this internal world is «alive’ only because of a certain energy current, formed and fed by its carrier.

Perhaps, that is what Jung called « the semantic field 19 19 Jung, C. G. Synchronicity: The Collection – Moscow: Refl-Buk, K.: Vakler, 1997. », Menegetti – the psychosemantic field , Arnold Mindell – «the field, the area in space, within which the force lines operate 20 20 Mindell E. Psychotherapy as a spiritual practice. – M.: Independent firm «Class», 1997. », Vasily Nalimov – « the Semantic Universe 21 21 Nalimov V. V., Drogalina J. A. The reality of the unreal. Probabilistic model of the unconscious. – Moscow: World of ideas, Akron, 1995 .»

This work is focused on the phenomena of a person’s self-consciousness of their own mental space, namely, their in-body space. Knowing about the possibility of talking about «hallucinations’, somatopsychotherapy prefers to be interested in what «subsidizes’ their being, what charge is in the body consciousness. «Where is the feeling that makes you get armed?» (The feeling of fear in the stomach). «Where is the feeling that makes you shoulder the burden?»(The feeling of guilt in the chest).

Correlations

Here are some examples of correlation between a person’s awareness of the ‘body composition’, their own holistic image and “landscape’.

A woman feels that the cause of her deathly fatigue, which she complained of initially, is her greed. It comes out in the image of her gnarled hands with claws running into a bag, tied on her wrists, which turns out to be empty. She realizes herself as a rat, carrying everything into her hole.

Another woman has not left her house for fear of peeing in public for about eight years. In her stomach there is the sensation of a hot heavy lump, pulling together all her forces. The rest of her body is completely devastated, cold, and trembling. She feels like a fluffy animal-marten, locked in a cage.

A young man of twenty years old, suffering from inability to satisfy his sexual needs and experiencing failure in dating girls, feels on the hand a bracelet with spikes inside it which hurt him. It is the image of the painful circumstances that do not allow him to obtain the necessary warmth. He says, «I’m freezing, I’m cold!» In his chest there a is a black cloud with the solid black ice in it.

There are also natural correlates of good states that occur at the end of the work. They are usually characterized by a feeling of lightness, loss of body boundaries, merging with space: water, air, etc. BEST, which we have already mentioned, also encourages the identification of these «missing links’ in imaginative perception, both internal and external {«boundary’). («What are you lying on?» – «On the sand.»).

«Who are you?» and «Where are you?» are proven work approaches. But they are not presented in this book. They are additional to the question" What do you feel?». Further we will discuss the approach which I consider to be more effective and shorter. As I will not have the opportunity to illustrate the" Who are you?» and «Where are you?» approaches, I will give one of the examples of this kind of work, not only with diagnostic, but also therapeutic parts.

Escaped from captivity

Patient L. M., born in 1953, hesitates for a long time before starting to tell. “You do not understand… people have this kind of attitude! I fall asleep every time with one wish – not to wake up again.”

She feels as if lying on her stomach with a granite seven-story building crushing her. Her body is flattened, arms and legs do not even move, but her head is able to rotate. What is underneath her? Also, the stone. Her head is in abyss and at the bottom there is a river. The cliff is 30 meters deep. She is in constant stiffness. No medicine can help her.

«When you are clamped down, what do you feel?»

«Complete despair. I have been in this state for several years.»

She recalls the circumstances when she was «crushed by a granite rock’: «I worked at school and always wanted to do my best. (I had studied in a boarding school, and our director who loved and respected very much, used to say: whoever you are – a cleaner, or a minister – you must do your best. I forgot many of her words, but I remember those ones.) With no experience I had to be a class teacher. The result was good. A lot of responsibility. At the same time, I was studying in the university, my daughters were small… and suddenly – a conflict situation. The school has been allocated one place at a seaside resort. My daughter was in the school council. I knew how much she was doing there… Then the question arose, who would go there. They chose the director’s daughter. I started to argue. But the director said to me, «Resign, or we will crush you.» I started to work in a college. I thought it was a promotion. New environment, new job. I was always self-confident. But after some time, I faced the fact that… I must go to a lecture, but I do not remember anything. I was stressed.

After a month I resigned again. Doctors, pills. Even eating was hard. I did not talk. Just slept. My husband was surprisingly tactful. I started talking and smiling. Only a year later I felt better. Since then, as soon as there is a stressful situation, I change my job. I have changed ten places already. I don’t work anywhere for more than six months.»

Back to the actual. It is impossible to stay in the rock any longer, it threatens death. The patient thinks what to do, so do I. Maybe she should call for help.

«Did you try to call for help?»