Close your eyes for a moment and relax.   Imagine that we are all part of a clan of cave dwellers.  Your caves may be very different one for the other.  Some are larger than others, some are more crowded and some have only a few other dwellers.  But all of us basically were born and have lived our lives out in our own caves.  No one knows how long we have been living there.  There are myths and stories about a terrible catastrophe in the outside world and our ancestors, who survived this catastrophe came here long ago, before recorded history.  What we do know is that each generation has protected the next generation from leaving the cave.  When a child is born to the cave dwellers, and the child tries to crawl to the cave opening and to the light outside, the child is quickly pulled back and scolded, maybe even spanked.  This is done to protect the child from the dangers outside.  When the child can speak and read he or she is carefully taught the rules of the cave and cautioned to read the writing on the walls of the cave frequently lest he or she be tempted to break away.  The writing on the walls of each cave is somewhat different.  However, the basic messages are to be careful and rules about what you can do and what you can’t do.  Some of the cave dwellers go into the outside world to farm and gather food and water.  These dwellers only go a short distance away.  Although the view from the opening of the cave is spectacular, the dwellers avert their eyes and focus on the darkness in front of them lest they be blinded by the color and light.  Once in a while someone leaves the cave but they are usually not seen again.  Some few have returned and told the dwellers in the cave that the world outside is wonderous.  Come out and see.  But the dwellers have stoned these few foolhardy souls lest the children in the cave be harmed by hearing these fearful lies. 

Imagine your own cave.  Who is in the cave with you.  How bright or dark, how large or small is it?  Glance at the opening to the cave and sneak a look outside.  What do you see?  There might be sky, running water, birds, flowers, sunshine or rain, a mountain in the distance, an apple tree.  As you look outside notice how you feel.  Are you attracted to the light or does it feel safer to stay inside? 

Look at the writing on the walls of your cave and read what it says.  Some of it is very old and comes from time before recorded history, some from past generations, some from elders and wise ones, some from your life experiences and things that were said to you.  Spend some time just reading the writing without judging. 

Now look at what is written on the walls of your cave.  The writing comes from many generations back.  It comes from nationality, religious beliefs, one’s own family heritage and your very own personal experience.  The writings might say such things as “Anyone who has money must be dishonest” or “I can’t sing.” or “I’m too young or old or fat or thin or weak or stupid etc., etc., etc.,

We are all in a way in a cave.  There are many possibilities open to all of us that we do not take.   Instead we spend much of our emotional and thought energy either worrying about what we fear or feeling guilty about what we did wrong, or being resentful about some past hurt.  We criticize ourselves or we criticize others.  We determine what we can and cannot do based on our self-talk.  The cave has writing on its walls which keeps us in our place.  We constantly consult this writing to find out what we can and cannot do.  Our job today is to learn more about the world outside the cave, the writing on the wall of our own caves and some ways to change that writing so we can reach out to that beautiful world of possibilities. 

.My first experience with combining our knowledge of the brain and the methods from Energy Psychology came when I watched the DVD on CMR (Cellular Memory Release) developed by Luis Angel Diaz.    Diaz describes how early childhood experiences create patterns in our adult lifes which keep us locked into irrational and destructive beliefs and emotions.  He uses a variation of Energy Psychology to heal these patterns.   His work, to me, was and is truely inspirational.

From the start, my career took me into working with trauma.  As a result I investigated every possible kind of therapy that could speed up the process, make my work easier and make treatment easier for my clients.  I also worked with clients who had Multiple Personality Disorder diagnoses (now called Dissociative Identity Disorder) and, as a result, became very aware of the of the body-mind cross-over.  

Perhaps as a result of this experience which rocked my original perceptions about who we are, I began exploring the works of authors who were writing about living well.  I explored Depok Chopra, Larry Dossey, Joan Borysenko, Gary Zukov and many others who wrote about the connection between mind, matter and spirit. 

Then in 1991, I began taking a series of training workshops in what is referred to as Energy Psychology or Meridian Psychology and became more and more intrigued by this connection between our thoughts, our minds, and our bodies.  The basic conclusions that I came to from all of this reading and my own experience in my life and as a clinician are these:

1.  Our beliefs shape how we behave to a great degree.

2.  Our behavior tends to reinforce our beliefs

3.  Many if not most of our beliefs are irrational.

4.  Our beliefs, rational and irrational come from a variety of sources including traumas,  childhood                   experiences, racial memories, myths, repeated childhood messages spoken and unspoken, religious                      teachings etc..

5.  These beliefs are encoded at a level which cannot effectively be reached by logical thinking and mental                  exercises no matter how hard we may work at changing them and however much we know they are                        illogical.

6.  We form a belief system whose parts hang together and reinforce each other.

7.  If our belief system leads us to be unhappy and dissatisfied our health is adversely affected as are our                    relationships.

8.  Our attitude in the world has an impact on those around us and at some level on the  whole world.

9.  If we can change our core beliefs at the body-mind level to positive joy inducing beliefs,  our health will                 likely improve, as will our quality of life, our relationships and by extension our world.

10.  This change is worth accomplishing for myself and for my clients and others.

11.  The movement of the human spirit is towards growth and happiness and we will move in that direction                  naturally if blocks are removed. 

12.  If we operate from our true values we will be true to ourselves. 

13.  When we operate from fear is when we cause problems for ourselves and for others. 

14.  When we look for what we want we find who we are.  Our wants are God given and help us to find  who                we are and what we are to do in life. 

In my own life and in my  work with clients and I come up many times with good intentions that don’t work.  What is the missing piece?  I believe that CYM may have some of the answers.  This, LIKE ALL LIVING THINGS, is in process always.  Tomorrow you or I may come up with another more effective way to reach those hidden controllers which keep us from being truly at peace tight ourselves and with each other.  Until then this is my best attempt. 

WHAT IT IS AND WHAT IT IS NOT

CYM holds that our behaviors are derived from early experiences to which we react because they have not been correctly assimilated. The process may be remarkably rapid and does not necessarily involve suffering in the process of change. 

With trauma resolution the experience such as a rape or a car accident is stored in the nervous system and becomes “a touchstone, a primary self-defining event in ... life.”   The next event which is similar is stored and links up with the original node forming a “neuro network that will be pivotal to the definition of ... self-worth.”  This may be formed very early and is crystalized when language is sufficient to formulate a self-concept.  With CMR the event may not be traumatic.  It may be rather repetitive, unspoken messages which nontheless are imprinted not in the conscious awareness of the person but in the background, whispering at a level subliminal in its impact, like the message of a commercial heard over and over and we find ourselves buying the product apparently out of the blue.  An example of this is the experience one may have from one’s ancestors – possibly unspoken but deeply heard that one is inferior or different.  So many of us are immigrants and immigrated under circumstances which left our ancestors wounded.  We may at some level carry those same wounds, never addressed and stored without the warning of traumatic pain.  Instead we may only feel some vague unrest, dis-ease which leaches the joy from our lives and places shadow over our days. 

Therapy is generally is focused on reducing the negative emotions, thoughts and behaviors.  CYM is focused on that but also on then allowing the true spirit to come forth and enjoy life.  For therapy generally the common belief is that  change is of necessity a long and arduous process.  I do not believe that is always the case and I do believe that the more we know and develop our knowledge, the faster and more efficient the process will become.

Introduction

Guided Imagery -- The Writing on the Wall