Systemic and strategic approach and Transformational Breath®: two entry points to modify “the chain of trauma” and transform our experiences.
Marc presented a psycho-corporal approach complementary to the strategic systemic approach called TRANSFORMATIONAL BREATH® ('TBr' in the rest of the text) of which here is a summary:
He uses this technique either in addition to systemic and strategic intervention, or as a personal development tool. This technique is interested in releasing blockages at the bodily level, in integrating blocked or repressed emotions. As a result, the quality of our presence increases in our interactions with ourselves, with others, with the world.
If we accept the following idea: some of the so-called psychological problems are also (and certainly above all) physiological problems; then we can define a “trauma chain”: event external to sensory perceptive apparatuses to reptilo-lymbic brain (simple transmission according to neurosciences) to body. The body can react according to three main categories: flight/fight/freezing. At the end of the chain, the state of the body is then modified following the external event; a number of psychosomatic illnesses can also develop. Some authors also speak of “neuro-muscular tension” created. Modifying these tensions at the level of the body will also change the functioning of the chain and make us live our experiences differently. It is also (via the TBr) is a gateway to the change of experience, in addition to or support of corrective emotional experiences (strategic bringing to life a new external event to remodify what is anchored in the body and the apparatus sensory).
From the point of view of TBr, a fear, for example, will lead to a cessation of breathing, and create blocking points in particular at the level of the diaphragm. This will reduce our ability to use the entire respiratory system, and will then lead to a particular structure of our breathing. It is known that in the West we use our diaphragm very badly, so we limit ourselves. One of the discoveries of TBr is how the way we breathe is a metaphor for how we live our lives. Through the breath analysis tool, we very quickly access information on how the person is interfaced with the world; and this without interfering with the stories we tell ourselves, the body does not lie. For example, a person who breathes mainly at the level of the solar plexus generally indicates a person seeking to control his environment (linked to a problem of self-confidence, fears). She tries to do everything well, by herself. Observing the structure of the breath gives a lot of information. The facilitator obviously checks his assumptions and uses them as leverage to motivate change. In this case, opening the breath more fully will create an experience of letting go, of relaxation.
For example, Marc offers this approach for people who are in the mind, who have trouble connecting to the body and their emotions. Here is the testimony of Me A, entrepreneur. "The first benefit felt is the feeling of better grounding" "I want to talk about an inner strength that develops and brings cohesion, greater confidence" "An alignment that allows me today to gain in authenticity ". Me A was able to change complicated relationships, develop new relational flexibility by modifying her emotional responses. These customers noticed a greater openness in their exchange (linked to the authenticity she was talking about). In this case, the psycho-corporal work made it possible to modify the link between perception and emotion. As a result, she is able to accommodate her emotions, which then modify her behavior and therefore her relationships with others. At the same time, the systemic and strategic approach led her to experience other "external events" to complement and root the new learning.
This approach combines:
- conscious breathing to increase And his level of energy And his letting go, to better feel his emotions,
- an acupressing technique to free yourself from neuromuscular tension,
- affirmations to speak to the unconscious,
- techniques to help move through emotional release,
- the power of intention to direct the person towards change.
It is a self-healing process. That is, the facilitator helps the person find a certain type of breathing pattern. There is no other "will" on his part. The resulting process is up to the person. What we are looking for, for example, as a facilitator is to reproduce the dialogical aspect of life of the type: And be in the will, the energy And be in the letting go. This is achieved on a physical level through a balance between an energetic inhale and a relaxed, short exhale.
Even if the approaches are different in terms of epistemology and the tools used, there are analogies between a TBr session and the systemic and strategic approach. For example at the emotional level: it is a question of welcoming the emotion, of going through it, of integrating it; not letting go to “feel good” and then losing control. The facilitator will help the client to face the fear when it arrives, to bring out the internalized anger, to welcome the repressed sadness.
Take the case of a manager, a leader and decision-making. To increase the "wisdom" of decision-making, to avoid a response dictated simply by ego, or by an emotional reaction, to have the decision made in a space where uncertainty can be welcomed, then the work of release of emotional constraints and self-connection will increase the intuitive side and give more value to the decision.
After a few facilitated sessions, Mr L established in his life a ritual of conscious breathing based on the principles of 'TBr'. He applies this ritual every morning and before going to work. The returns are: greater clarity, clairvoyance and hindsight, greater receptivity and focus for several hours. This is also what we do with generative systemic coaching: both create a space where we can welcome what comes, without falling into our usual survival strategies, in our attempts at solutions (avoid/flee, fight/control , freeze/dissociate) and develop interactional strategies to transform both ourselves and the systems to which we belong.
For more information :
Marc Brunet,
+33 7 87 20 11
S ystemic and strategic approach and Transformational Breath®
"Meditate to create: the impact of focused-attention and open-monitoring training on convergent and divergent thinking."
Lorenza S. Colzato, Ayca Ozturk and Bernhard Hommel Institute for Psychological Research and Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition, Leiden University, Leiden, Netherlands.
Apart from aspects of the benefits of oxygenating the body, self-healing of emotional trauma, the approach has been tested in scientific studies regarding the link between meditation and creativity.
"Transformational Breath is an open monitoring system, vs. a focused meditation system. We have found that in a short amount of time with Transformational Breath such a brain state was reached which increased these performances. This has far reaching interest and applications, from the scientific world as well as spiritual groups."
"The original premise was to find out the differences in the results between focused meditation vs. non-focused (or open-monitoring meditation). We tested subjects who practiced both focused meditation and Transformational Breath. We found that Transformational Breath enhances divergent thinking. Divergent thinking is the most important ingredient of creativity. It refers to the process of generating new ideas, alternative solutions to an open-ended problem, thinking out-of-the-box, seeing connections and associations and coming up with unique ideas. A breath session of half an hour was enough to enhance performance significantly on creativity tasks, which is remarkable. After a vigorous peer-review, our findings have now become part of scientific literature.”
