Heartbeat Nurturing Therapy

Introduction

I began working with my early memories of infancy and birth
because of symptoms of physical pain that were long term and chronic,
and were seriously blocking my ability to function and enjoy life. I
learned peer counseling in my 20's and it has been a wonderful help all
my adult life. I learned to focus on the earliest memories in counseling,
to get the most effectiveness from my sessions, because those early
imprints form the root of all later issues.

I began to experience physical sensations and feelings arising
from my body during sessions, and images of my experiences of birth
and pre‐birth. Although I knew that everything we have experienced is
recorded somewhere in our brain, I thought it was not possible to
remember such early moments. But there they were, clear and strong. I
felt feelings of my heart and neck being pushed and compressed, and
feelings of the numbness and disassociation typical of anesthesia. My
body was shaking and moving of its own accord. Deep feelings of
vulnerability and fearful shock, and also abandonment came through
and released as tears and sounds.

Always after these sessions, I felt a renewed energy and different perspective on life. When I discovered that being held and role‐playing the early events increased the effectiveness, I used many of my sessions doing that technique. 

Gradually over time, my persistent fear of the physical world and reluctance to be embodied have been fading and changing to joy and peace in being alive. Also my personal intimate relationships have shifted from being full of fear, control and
attachment to much more love, freedom and personal empowerment.

Heartbeat Nurturing Therapy addresses the pain that many of
us experienced as infants in our birth process, and also the lack of skin
contact and breastfeeding from our mothers after birth. Our birth is the
primal imprint, the initiation moment on which we base our beliefs
about life. Unsatisfied needs for oral stimulation and closeness can lead
to overeating, smoking, relationship problems and other addictions
later in life.

In this form of therapy we can offer new imprints of love and
nurturance directly back to those younger parts of ourselves. This frees
us to create more mature and satisfying intimate contacts with others.

This book outlines a simple and deeply therapeutic practice that
can be done with friends or lovers, or as a solo practice by yourself. It is
a way of loving yourself and others deeply; reaching into areas of the
most basic infantile needs and giving nurturing. Since the practice is so
simple, anyone can do it, and people can easily exchange sessions with
each other as a conscious form of nurturing and sharing.

Within a spiritual and intentional context, we act as healing
channels to help release this pain and create new healthy imprints in
the psyche. A version of inner child therapy, this process works with
accessing the infant self and memories still stored in our deep
subconscious and cellular memory. By using ritual, hypnotic induction,
massage, touch, sound and spoken words, we open a direct channel
back to that time and those experiences around birth. We seek to fill
some of the unmet needs of that time, and create new and healthier
imprints and neural pathways.

This book is intended as a basic introduction to some ideas and
practices that can be deeply satisfying and healing when trading
therapy with friends and lovers. I use the words "counselor",
"therapist" and "giver" interchangeably in this book, and these terms do
not imply any level of training.

You may have many of these skills already, and be able to skip
through a lot of the chapters. If you are completely new to any of this,
then give yourself a while to learn and practice, and don't expect to do it
perfectly at the beginning. Making mistakes is part of the learning
process. Do be aware that this is a powerful therapy technique that can
and probably will bring up deep and old issues. Get support from
experienced counselors if you run into problems.

Professionals may find this technique to be useful and integrate
it into their practice, if they are free to actually be physically close to
their clients. A person trained to give these sessions is affectionately
called a Mamadevi or Papadeva, (Sanscrit: deva means diety) and they
may offer these as part of a tantric healing ministry or as a part of being
a sexual surrogate. Often this is prohibited by law for professionals,
since they risk their clients becoming confused with transference
(attachment), or feelings of being sexually abused. This technique is
most effective and least confusing when done between people who are
trusting of each other, and not exchanging money for the service.

This is not a thorough guide to all the details of working with
the emotions that may arise while doing therapy. Each chapter could be
expanded to its own book, since the topics are so broad. I will give you
an outline of the basic technique, and ideas for several ways to use it, as
well as the background skills needed to use the full technique.
Information has been included on many relevant topics, with
ideas about how to approach them therapeutically. We will explore the
need for healing and the negative effects of common western birth
procedures. For those who are new to therapy or counseling, the basics
of how to do emotional release work, peer counseling, inner child work
and role‐playing are explored. You’ll find an explanation of the process
of deep relaxation, hypnotic induction and regression, and spiritual
invocation.

Various practices are recommended in learning these processes,
and each one is highlighted so you can easily find them. The practices
can be done in pairs or on your own in many cases. If you are interested
in learning more about the skills involved in any of these, see the
Resources section.

This book assumes that if you are practicing giving this therapy,
you feel that you are able to hold loving space for another person to go
into and through some very strong feelings. This service can have very
lasting and profound effects on the lives of those who receive it. I hope
you practice this and teach it and share it widely, because now we need
all the love and nurturing we can create to spread out blessings through
our world.
May you know deep peace within.
Amara Wahaba Karuna