Process Work

Process Work is about following the flow of Nature. Most of us want to create change and follow Nature into what we feel is right for us. This is an important aspect of change. But we don’t always have the luxury to make this kind of change. When confronted by disturbances or chaotic situations like illnesses, addictions, relationship tensions or conflict, or distressing world events, memories, compulsions, things beyond our control, we need new tools and ideas to follow Nature. At these moments we tend to feel it better to not follow Nature. This is like swimming against the current of a river.

Consider a woman who was a top executive in her company. She complained of being alone; the only woman at her level. She had no close personal friends. I met her in a seminar working on symptoms. She had breast cancer. She was afraid and questioning what her next move should be. I asked her about her job and she said that as a woman she had to be tough and firm to make it in her world. Following Nature for her was being tough and making it in her world. But, Nature also created a tumor in her breast which made her question her future. I thought there must be something about what Nature is doing in her breast that is also asking to be followed. I wanted to find out about her subjective experience of having breast cancer. There are many associations that came to mind but her experience would help us follow the flow of Nature in her. I asked her how she knew she had a tumor and she said  she felt a lump. When I asked her what it felt like she said it was soft. A soft lump is different from a hard lump.

When she showed me what the lump was like she glided onto the floor becoming a soft pool with her body. The other people in the group spontaneously went to her and held her. The tears that followed were about feeling that she had no place to be soft, to feel herself in contact with others and to let down the “toughness” she felt she needed for her job. The rest of the session we found ways she could bring her softness into her relationships at work and be more vulnerable with people close to her.

Following the flow of Nature means tracking the signals of the experience and allowing them to reveal their message. Often the outer situation changes or having a new understanding of the deeper message allows a person to be closer to who their essence and find ways to change themselves and the world around them.