Description
The po – the corporeal soul and spirit of the Metal Element – is the least understood of the five spirits, and yet it may well be the most important for healing and transformation at this time on the planet. In addition, the po soul and its accompanying lower soul, the zhi – the ancestral will and spirit of the Water Element – are often misunderstood and neglected in modern acupuncture practice. The focus of this talk will be on the po and the zhi and their relationship to practitioner self-care and health. We will look at how neglecting the needs of these lower yin souls can result in self-sabotage, self-deprivation, addiction and the unconscious repetition of inherited response patterns. Conversely, we will discuss how attending to this aspect of our being opens us to a boundless source of wisdom and power, and ultimately allows us to manifest more fully our work as healers.
Drawing from personal and clinical experience, ancient Chinese texts and modern research in epigenetics as well as the wisdom of ancient alchemy, we will explore how we can transform the “lead” or unconscious expression of the lower spirits into the “gold” of self-awareness, vitality and self-empowerment. You will receive concepts, tools and practices that can be used for your own self-care and offered to your patients before, during and after pregnancy.
Learning Objectives
By the end of the seminar, participants will have:
- an understanding of the significance of the lower spirits in practitioner self-care,
- an understanding of the relationship of the lower souls to self-sabotage, addiction and other self-limiting choices and behaviors,
- an ability to recognize symptoms related to inherited trauma and behavior patterns,
- an introduction to basic skills and tools for working with the po and the zhi and potentially interrupting the transmission of self-destructive unconscious patterns, and
- a set of tools and practices to begin shifting patterns in their own self-care that can also be offered to patients.
Lorie Eve Dechar's intuitive work as an alchemical healer, mentor, and teacher is supported by a strong foundation of theoretical understanding and clinical experience, including thirty years of Chinese medical practice, twelve years as a senior faculty member at the Tri-State College of Acupuncture in New York City as well as years of teaching at conferences, institutes, and retreat centers throughout the United States, Canada, Israel, the U.K, and Europe. Lorie is the author of Five Spirits: Alchemical Acupuncture for Psychological and Spiritual Healing. She holds a Master's Degree in Acupuncture from the Traditional Acupuncture Institute in Columbia, MD, 1985. Lorie has trained in Jungian and Gestalt psychotherapy, is a certified Focusing-oriented psychotherapist, and has become recognized as a modern interpreter of classical Taoist practice. www.anewpossibility.com