What
applications
Holistic Manual Therapy
There is no aspect of our health or life which does not relate to each of the others. One of the most powerful ways in which we relate to the world and to others is Touch. We know without thinking that Touch is so much more than physical; a pat on the shoulder, a firm handshake, a deep hug, or a punch in the arm… these interactions are layered with thoughts and feelings, memories and associations, pain and pleasure, love and connection. Touch is powerful, and Conscious Touch has tremendous capacity to transform.
Our unique system of touch-based therapy is built on a solid foundation of modern and ancient massage modalities, Eastern, Western, and in-between, with integrated perspectives of many varieties of Energetic Anatomy Theory as well as many varieties of Western Anatomy & Physiology, even passing into the cutting edge of the intersectional nature of the Fascial Network, Neuromuscular Integration, and Body Consciousness. But what ties it all together is the simple understanding that Health is Ecological.
The human body is not an assembly of parts to be repaired or replaced when they break. The Whole Being grows from a seed, both a product of the soil it grows from, and from the adaptive process of passing through the various challenges of life. Understanding this, we can address not just the mechanical condition of tissues in the body, or their physiological function, but we can also see how they produce our posture and inform our movement, and how our posture and movement affect the physiological and mechanical actions of the body. We can see how our emotional experiences and relationships shape our body, and how the shape of our body influences our feelings and relationships to the world around us. We can see how the way that we attend to life, in body, mind-heart, and spirit flows through the story of our life like water through a river.
Our touch-based therapy takes all of this into account and creates a safe, sacred space within which you can lay down the burdens of life for a time, where a knowledgeable and caring therapist can help you connect with and reconfigure your body, heart-mind, and spirit alike. All within the process of Conscious Touch, Guided/Induced Meditation, and Loving Care and Support.
What does this process look like?
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You will meet your therapist and discuss your immediate needs as well as your greater life context
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The therapist will conduct a thorough intake and establish the basis on which all further work will hinge: Consent
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When you are ready, you will be escorted into the therapeutic space where every detail will be attended to in the interest of allowing you to Let Go in a meaningful way
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Your therapist will take responsibility for your care, and will apply Conscious Touch, employing whatever methods are most appropriate for where you are in that time and place
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After taking whatever time is necessary to transition back from that sweet space, you and your therapist will share revelations, and make plans for ways that you can support your ongoing care at home and in your life
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This process is collaborative, and in-session work is only a process of facilitating change in your life, you will take as much away as you are willing to build on this foundation, which can be further supported with Life Systems Engineering as described above
Intrapersonal Offerings
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Life Systems Engineering
Living is adaptation. Growth and change are happening at all times, and they are happening in response to the challenges we face in life, whether we choose our response or not. When the changes are conducive to more overall stability, integrity, and capacity, they are considered health-supporting adaptations; when the changes resolve a short-term challenge to the detriment of our ability to face future challenges, they are “maladaptive” and ultimately compromise our health.
If you are not consciously engaging in this process of adaptation, you are entirely relying on blind fortune for your future health and prosperity.
Cultivating conscious engagement in your life will not guarantee that you live forever, or never get sick again, or get all of the things that you think you want out of life. It will allow you to participate in this adaptation process, and it will allow you to navigate your path with intention. Where before you may have tripped on roots and turned your ankles in potholes, you will instead cultivate the ability to read the contours of the ground and place your feet deliberately. Regardless of how successful you are, you will have been the one walking the path, instead of blundering in the dark.
Our unique system combines a deep understanding of consciousness/mindfulness with a methodical ecological/systemic approach. We create structures to help you examine your life and come into relationship with its various aspects, and help you see how all of the parts relate. From this expanding awareness, we cultivate tools for conscious living, while supporting you in choosing your own course. Along the way, we assist your experimentation to identify the ways of adapting to produce a lifestyle which is satisfying and which promotes a robust, resilient, and radiant state of health.
Which sort of traveler are you? Do you know where you want to go and how you want to get there… but just haven’t yet? Do you know where you want to go, but don’t know where to start? Do you feel lost, and you aren’t even sure where you want to go? We can meet you where you are today and provide the support you need to move into what comes next.
What does this process look like?
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Your engineering consultant will meet with you and discuss your motivations, values, and conduct a thorough intake of the sectors of your life
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Based on this analysis, you will dictate which areas are most important to you to address, engage with, and change consciously
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Your consultant will help you create a strategy for making these engagements so that you can start small, and build that momentum into full, conscious relationship with your life
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Over the course of 6 months, you will meet with your consultant regularly to track progress, review and revise objectives, and integrate new practices as appropriate
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At the end of the 6 month window, you will review the progress, consider the new position, and decide if you want to continue with the guided work, or if you are ready to take the process out on your own
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There are various levels of access to your consultant available, depending on your needs
Interpersonal Offerings
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Heart-Based Relating
Life is Relationship. Our other offerings work on this fundamental principle from the perspective of the individual, but one of the most obvious versions of this are our personal relationships with friends, family, and the realm between and beyond. We derive fundamental nutrition from touch, friendship, intimacy, romance, and sex, but our modern social and cultural structures can be very challenging to navigate. This is particularly so when we form deep, personally significant relationships without the full potential of our conscious awareness. We are often given only a bare minimum of teaching about how to form such a relationship, and most of that is laden with the cultural baggage of those who came before us.
The most intimate relationships in our lives may be romantic, may be sexual, or may be something else entirely, but we are perfectly aware of the simple truth that they are a core part of our lives, our identities, and our health! Being able to navigate these relationships is a skill, and one that can be cultivated and refined.
Our system of heart-based relating combines three core elements:
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Nonviolent, Compassion-centric Communication
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Conscious Touch-Literacy Development
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Agreement-Based Relationship Building
The most destructive elements in a relationship revolve around unexamined, often unspoken expectations, unreasonable demands, and the decline of loving presence which can accompany the common process of just taking for granted what we have. By coming (back) to our partner(s) with a foundation of love, treating everything we have as a gift, asking for what we feel we need, and being able to accept what our partner is able to offer, we have the ability to take the burden off our relationship, and share in the journey as equals.
Integrative Alchemy collaborates with Satori Lux to work with couples (2-on-2 and 1-on-1-on-1-on-1), with polyamorous polycules, and with groups to cultivate these core skills and relationship styles.
Extrapersonal Offerings
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Home Systems Design
Who and how we are is a primary influence in the shape our lives take, but there is no aspect of the web which is unrelated to the rest. We can do the internal work and work in our relationships, but if our home spaces are not conducive to the same health and growth, it is like driving with the emergency brake engaged. The complexity of the health of our home is no less complicated than the health of our person, and the two are significantly entangled.
With our professional guidance, you can engage in your home spaces to build an ecological relationship which matches your values and your internal progress towards radiant health. Our specific areas of expertise are as follows:
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Permaculture-based evaluation and design of sites before a home is built, to understand the environmental dynamics of the property, energy efficiency opportunities, and interface with architects and contractors for maximum benefit
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Permaculture-based evaluation and design of existing home properties to make meaningful minor changes, or significant redesigns of the property to create mutually beneficial, productive living systems, improve efficiency of movement and energy around the property, and make home property designs more conscious
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Resource management consultation for convenience, efficiency, waste reduction, and optimized utilization
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Land Stewardship mentality and skill cultivation, to learn more about the living creatures you are sharing your home with, and cultivate healthy relationships with them, available as private or group seminars
Whether you want to grow your own food, beautify your surroundings, come into relationship with the plants and animals around you, or just reduce trash generation and create more local ecological benefits, we have professional engineering consultation with permaculture design certification to help you build a healthy, abundant home.