5 Body-Centered Therapies: A Holographic Paradigm for Understanding REST

Terry Hunt

The recent theoretical developments and research on the interplay between psyche and soma in the healing process must not go unnoticed in the therapeutic use of REST. In particular, the ho 1 ograph i c parad i gm is presented here as a model for understanding the homogeneous benefits of a variety of body­centered therapies, including: massage, rolfing, Feldenkrais, biofeedback, colonic irrigation, chiropractic, acupuncture, osteopathy, and body-centered psychotherapi es. A "theory of cellular consciousness" is suggested as an implication of this paradigm and as a way to fully comprehend the val ue of these therapies in maintaining a homeostatic equilibrium in the body. Particular focus is paid to the author's own work with bioenergetic analysis developed by Alexander Lowen. The principles of charging and discharging, grounding, psychic contactlessness, and the orgasm reflex are each defined and discussed with respect to the therapeutic issues that are involved and the possible value of REST in the treatment of these problems.

Since the earliest research on REST, the problems addressed by the various research methods have consistently stretched the validity of these methods in order to come up with any answers at all. As seems almost inevitable in science, the most interesting problems are just a bit out of reach. The application of the holographic paradigm to the field of REST continues this pattern of stretching the imagination, including the mystical overtones that have so often been problematic and closer approximations of reality in our search and that the limits of rationality stretch rather than rupture as we approach the ineffable.

A few examples are in order. As Suedfeld pointed out in his 1975 paper, "The Benefits of Boredom", the original interest in sensory deprivation was to discover a resolution - the problem, "How are people motivated internally or externally?" The answer - both ways, with individual

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P. Suedfeld et al. (eds.), Restricted Environmental Stimulation© Springer-Verlag New York Inc. 1990

differences - is accurate but disappointing. When Orne (1964) and Rosenthal (1975) later came to the scene and offered quite convincing evidence that methodology was producing as much effect as treatment, interest in REST waned almost completely among experimental psychologists, its early champions. The recent treatment - outcome research is the best theology yet devised for the field, but still we are left wondering if REST was actually the cause or if the follow-up was long enough. My own doctoral research (Hunt, 1980) was then an attempt to understand from a phenomenological point of view how this history could be reconciled with the current condition where the public is now willing and eager to pay to have the REST experience and are delighted with the results!

The holographic paradigm, a metaphor drawn from the physics of light and applied as a model of consciousness, provides both a reasonable and a parsimonious way of looking at our current frontier. The idea was first suggested by Stanford Uni versity neurosurgeon Karl Pri bram in hi s book Languages of the Brain when he concluded from his research on memory and brain functioning that it seemed to simulate the physics of this optical storage system. Simultaneously, physicist David Bohm was developing similar theories from his work on relativity. The Holographic Model

The hologram can be more easily understood by the use of the above diagram as an example. As you can see, one can take a section out of a holographic picture, in this case the robot's midsection, and what you get when you blow the picture back up again is a picture with the whole robot, complete with three-dimensional aspects but with less resolution as if one

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had used grainier film. Thus, quoting Ken Wilber in the introduction to the Ho7ographic Paradigm and Other Paradoxes (1982).

"Each individual part of the picture contains the whole picture in condensed form. The part is in the whole and the whole is in each part -- a type of unity-in-diversity and diversity-in-unity. The key point is simply that the part has access to the whole."

"Thus, if the brain did function like a hologram, then it might have access to a large whole, a field domain or "holistic frequency realm" that transcended spatial and temporal boundaries. And this domain, reasoned Pribram, might very likely be the same domain of transcendental unity-in-diversity described (and experienced) by the world's great mystics and sages." (1982, p.2) When I first uncovered this 1 ine of thinking, my excitement led my

imagination to a rather startling possibility. What if the brain is not the seat of the self after all? Perhaps consciousness is a characteristic of a single cell, the brain being a holographically organized locus of communi cat i on between cells where memori es are d i sp 1 ayed and act i on is orchestrated. Perhaps consciousness does not have matter associated with its existence at all but manifests through living cells and organisms by a method David Bohm calls "enfolding-unfolding universe" (1982).

I suggest that this model be called "the cellular consciousness theory". The nervous system would then be a vast communication system carrying votes (feedback) to the brain and plans of action back to the various cells of the body. Perhaps there is an even more sophisticated, as yet undocumented, message system such as the aura that carries this communication. Body-Centered Therapies in the Paradigm

These imaginings, while outlandish in some ways, have become a focalizing agent to synthesize into one model the variety of therapies that are essentially body-centered. While the ideas can also invoke science fiction fantasies of cloning a person from a finger cell, the more useful implications point to a greater focus on a homeostatic equilibrium in healthy human functioning. People who are too much in their heads or who vote only with their feet are out of balance. A well functioning senate needs a democratically organized body.

A few examples: one can imagine few places where one can find one's own equilibrium more effectively than in a REST environment. In addition,

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floating, by taking the body out of gravity, invites the organism to go on idle far more completely than in any other condition yet devised for the general public. The mind can process any backed up images that are left over from the day while the body is able to, in parallel form, let go of any tensions that are directly related to the mind's productions. Perhaps this is only prophylactic rather than therapeutic. However, a homeostatic system that daily maintains its own equilibrium is certainly in better condition to function in a stressful world, having addressed "dis-ease", rather than awaiting disease.

Massage and therapeut i c touch rank up there as one of the oldest professions and can be strongly recommended for anyone on a regular basis. While on one hand, the muscles are carefully being relaxed by the experienced practitioner, the therapeutic value of simply having loving hands contact a patient may only be accurately estimated through this alternative paradigm. Osteopathy and chiropractic have consistently offered over the last century an alternative point of view to allopathic medicine. Treat the whole person, not just the whole in the person. While the spine is a primary focus of these pract it i oners, the context is the body's organi zat i on and interdependence. Acupuncture and colon i cirri gat ion, controvers i a 1 techniques developed by healers millennia ago, have documented effectiveness through helping the body release stagnated natural functions and activated positive energetic flow. Rolfing and Feldenkrais, although quite different in practice, both seek to ore-educate" the body to move in a more integrated way in a gravity-affected environment. Biofeedback directly tells the ego what the body has been communicating too subtly all along. Using this information, the individual is immediately more integrated. Finally, body­centered psychotherapy, in general, and bio-energetic analysis in particular, suggest that more direct and therapeutic access to the real self is available through the emot i ona 1 1 i fe of the body, rather than solely through the labyrinthian rationalization, attitudes, and motivating factors that seem to originate in the intellect. Ego-Centered Vs. Body-Centered in a Holographic World

The ego mi ght even be thought of as the seat of the false self, grasping at images of who one would like to be or is supposed to be. The ego forms and serves its defensive functions against the anxiety that must follow from a child's earliest realization that the universe is often non-linear, non-causal, non-rational, in fact, indeterminant. In other words, the

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child's world is often terrifying and intolerable in some ways, and simple and wonderful in others. In fact the worl d appears much more 1 i ke a meaningless pattern to a child. Unfortunately, children are generally told the opposite: the world is meaningful and all the information is available if you are just smart (or good, or patient, etc.) enough to find it. This meaningless pattern may in fact be holographic in nature.

The way a hologram works can be described simply but is often quite difficult to grasp conceptually. First, it is lenseless photography, the image appears as if in midair, with three dimensional perspective. Second, what appears on a holographic photograph is a seemingly meaningless pattern that is made up of the interactions of two initially identical laser (single frequency light) light sources. One laser goes directly to the film, the other comes to the film having been disturbed (i.e., its frequency changed into many other frequencies) by the object being photographed. Then the photograph is created into the form of an interference pattern of the original laser light and the diffused laser light. It is analogous to the pattern one sees in a still pond when one throws a number of rocks into the water at the same time.

Seemingly Meaningless Holographic Photograph

~6ser l i ~ht disturbed

by object

undIsturbed ,': , t~~r loser / ~ . ';""';)") oblect to be li9h~ \ .. .'''::':~:-' '':~~''<~' photogr6phed

losee light '?L "', source

The photograph can then be decoded and the pi cture projected for viewing with the original 1 aser 1 ight shined through the film. The holographic theory is that the brain may function this same way. The brain's parallel processing capability combines with the holographic theory to show how a specific memory does not have a location but is scattered throughout the brain. New impulses manifest in slow waves with the potential to carry out the mathematic perception. The magic laser in that case is the old

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nemesis of phenomenological psychology, our capacity for attention. The Implications and the Criticism of the Theory

Without going into a very complex theory too much further, suffice it to say that the implications of this theory extend to every aspect of human life. The suggestion that it invites a paradigm shift is not an understatement. If in fact the nature of reality is itself holographic and the brain functions holographically then we must ponder with the particle physicists whether there can be matter without sUbstance. That is then what the Eastern religions have said, maya; a magic show of illusion.

Needless to say, there are critics of this theory from both the secular and sacred sides. One must not rule out that what appears as illusion in part i c 1 e phys i cs now wi 11 eventua 11 y have a more concrete phys i cal and biochemical basis. On the other side, pop mystics have taken the extremely elaborated hierarchical system of spiritual awakening to enlightenment and reduced it to what Ken Wilber has identified as mere "Pantheism" without a transcendent component. As he pointed out "Brahman is in the world as the whole world, it is true, but the whole world in and by itself is not exclusively Brahman, because you can theoretically destroy the whole world, but that wouldn't destroy Brahman or Buddha nature or Tao ..... An eternity dependent for its existence on a temporal structure, tape (recorded) or brain, is a strange eternity." (p 251-253, 1982) Indeed!

Wilber's point of view is convincing. The usefulness and accuracy of the paradigm remains in limbo while there are necessary research and theoret i ca 1 developments that a 11 ow for a ho 1 ographi c concept without obviously erroneous reductionism. Wilber offers an alternative which is not unlike Polanyi's system of personal knowledge (1956) as it was applied to the field of REST by the author (Hunt, 1980). Wilber suggests that we can learn about the universe from the laws of physics as long as we are careful to remember that the "higher principle comes through the lower, then rests on the lower but does not come from the lower". God, therefore, transcends the secondary conditions defined by lower levels of operation (i.e., physics and chemistry) but does not violate those laws. Similarly, the absolute bliss of nirvana will have its analog in the sexual thrill and oceanic feelings associated with orgasm.

As Wilber points out, both Pribram and Bohm are careful not to make these reductionist mistakes, they simply say they don't know. They are searching for a paradigm that incorporates the transcendent with the

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historical and physical. The Importance of Emotion and Style of Attending

There are two key points for purposes of this discussion. First, the concept of the access of the part through the whole and visa versa points to the need for a deepened understanding of the interrel ationships of the various homeostatic systems (e.g., physiological, ego-centered/cognitive­mastery, transpersonal (Hunt, 1980) or matter, mind, spirit (Wilber, 1982). In other words, how do these levels interpenetrate? It is the body-centered perspective that the mechanism of interpenetration is associated with human feeling.

The second point is that in this paradigm a person's capacity and style of attention directly affect the manifestation of the holographic universe. We actually live in different worlds. One's capacity and style of attending and making contact must now take a central role in the understand i ng of individual differences. For example: anxiety and stress in a holographic model can be reformulated as "static" rather than as "dust on the lens". It is not that one's vision is inaccurate or blurred, but that one is out of contact, "not really there". The Paradigm Shift from Doing to Being

The impl ications of this simple idea are indeed paradigmatic and directly infer the value of body-centered therapies and REST. We are now challenged by this paradigm in very important new ways for Western people: "Don't just do someth i ng, be there!" When confronted with an unusual percept ion, Contact it, dwell in it, empath i ze with it fi rst. In REST, since there is nothing else to do, one learns to release the static rather than to activate the fight/flight system that rushes to fit the perceptual information through a previously constructed lens. In this new model, a well-formed homeostasis is as valuable as a sharp intellect for healthy adult functioning in a stressful world.

The therapeutic value of the integration of the body, mind and spirit was first articulated in Western psychology by Wilhelm Reich in the Function of the Orgasm (1940), a book that has been insufficiently read and greatly misunderstood because of its controversial subject matter and hostility that Reich had personally engendered from his colleagues by the time of its publication. His perspective was that the organism has an energy economy as its primary determinant of functioning. The body becomes excited and must find a way to discharge that excitement. Aggression, often in the form of

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eating and sexual expression, is therefore a natural movement of the organism. Reich went on further to suggest that an orgasm is essential to stable adult equilibrium, since orgasm is the most complete system that the body has to discharge energy. The levels of mind and spirit must have their own forms of satisfactory expression as well.

But Reich and Alexander Lowen, who elaborated on these theories, maintain that the foundation of healthy adult homeostasis cannot be in these higher levels of operation unless the body is functioning properly. In other words, physical reality is the primary access point for healthy human functioning because it is the sine qua non. Without the body, there is not life to theorize about. The Dialectical Relation of Mind and Body

It is from this formulation, the primacy of body, that body-centered therapy takes its theoretical cue. The holographic paradigm merely supports it by pointing to the interpenetration of the various levels of the hierarchy without negating the principle that the higher order must not violate the laws that apply to the lower. In simple fact, the body must live, and live fully, if the mind is to be fully sane and the spirit is to soar to its fullest potential.

Reich, however, also theorized that the conflict between mind and body should be seen as an unfolding dialectic rather than as a battle between id and superego for ego's allegiance. The thesis, or primary force, of the dialectic was the functional identity of the mind and body in their mutual drive toward pleasure. As the body feels good, the mind also feels good. Darwin's discovery that evolution is driven by the survival of the species laid the foundation for Freund's discovery of (and Reich's emphasis on) the sexual basis of personality development. This logic is appropriately named "The Pleasure Principle".

The antithesis of the dialectic between the mind and body is that the ego must surrender to the involuntary processes of the body and give up ego control in a healthy sexual encounter. The ego is at its best in dealing with problems and solving them. It is not formed with respect to pleasure, wonder, or love. Tragically, the ego rejects this primacy of the body because of, 1) the terror of the involuntary and, 2) the fact that the ego's self-esteem, more or less developed through interactions with parents and society, is dependent on its ability to control and suppress the organismic impulses, especially the sexual ones. Character formation is the habitually

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developed solution to this ongoing mind-body dialectic. Reich, then, empirically discovered that the synthesis of the dialectic

was that character formation and chronic muscular tension in the body were both caused by real and imagined trauma in childhood and were functionally identical. They didn't look alike since they operated on different levels, but they functioned in the same way, constricting the original impulses of the organism towards basic pleasures.

Reich also noticed that no amount of interpretation of the unconscious neurosis was ultimately of positive therapeutic value without the parallel release of muscle tension. In the same way a neurotic ego chronically repeats self-destructive behavior, muscular tension is similarly blocking the flow of energy and excitement, both pa i nful and p 1 easurab 1 e, that was ori gi na 11 y experi enced as overwhe 1 mi ng and into 1 erab 1 e by the deve 1 opi ng child. As a result, the neurotic adult is withdrawn from full contactfulness with reality and has replaced reality with an image of reality that more or less corresponds with the reality of others.

As we all know, the search for satisfaction is inevitably at odds with one's environment. The particular constellation of blocks to satisfaction from parents and other loved ones forms the basis of individual character structures. Ego development is the compensating factor in what would otherwise appear to the child to be an overwhelming scary dog-eat-dog world.

Less body-centered formul at ions have consi stently argued that the essence of cure is in intellectual self-understanding and self acceptance. The fact that this contrasts so dramatically with the most basic needs for human contact of all kinds never ceases to baffle me. Instead of pursuing the goal of experi enci ng the rare phenomena of a healthy orgasm wh i ch produces deep abiding affection, gratitude, and fidelity toward one's partner, our society reacts with a conflict knee-jerk repulsion toward the priority of one's sexual life. Image vs. Reality

At the same time, we seem to have become a society preoccupied with fantasy, sexual and otherwise. One's image has become the important priority. Reality has been forced to take a second place. The point I'm trying to make here is that while the ego is the champion of image, the body is the halcyon of reality. So many people are trying to fit their bodies into the i mage that they hold for themselves. Any witness to these obsessions must see the task is one of chasing the carrot that belongs to the

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young, the perfect, and those who appear never to suffer. In contrast, the therapeutic work of body-centered therapies as well

as REST sometimes involves pain. The reality is that the body is and has been in some measure of pain since its first impulse towards pleasure was welcomed like a cut whose irritation draws our attention. Healthy organisms embrace reality, however pleasurable or tragic at the moment.

An example: when someone enters a float tank, they become aware of tensions that they have not experienced in years, and might never experience otherwise. From the body-centered point of view, pain can be defined quite simply: If it hurts, pay attention to it. While our society is inviting us to numb ourselves to anxiety with alcohol, cigarettes and portable headphones, the principle of the primacy of the body is trampled on in the glorious quest for an image or a self that is false. Even meditation and jogging can be misused in this way. Transformation Through the Body

The principle of the primacy of the body can provide a liberation that the ego in its defensive functions can never provide. In the float tank, the body usually develops an euphori a after even a bri ef peri od. Persona 1 satisfaction should be the result; unfortunately, this is not always so. The body has also developed its own defense reactions so that reality can be equally inaccessible through the body, particularly when one has avoided the emotional life of the body for an extended period of time. A floater will experience relief for a brief period of time (i.e., "get high on floating") but eventually they will return (i .e., "crash") to the chronic muscular pattern if some transformation doesn't take place. The therapeutic premise of REST and body-centered therapies, however, is that the more a person inhabits his/her own body (not the perfect body), the more in reality he or she becomes. The more in real i ty one is, the more sanely a person can function in ways that result in personal satisfaction, sexual and otherwise. A Cellular Theory of Transformation

Bioenergetic analysis (Lowen, 1975) offers three general areas where the body can be addressed in ways that promote this movement toward personal satisfaction: psychic contactfulness, charging and discharging, and groundedness. Following the holographic paradigm, we can consider cell functioning as a simple example. Bodily expression is modeled as an aggress i ve movement from the center (nucl eus) to the peri phery (semi­permeable membrane). This expression (the arrow in the diagram) can be

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construed as self-protective or as a mechanism to absorb nutrients from the environment.

At the boundary is another cell with which to communicate. In the float tank, we can theorize that a primary cellular communication is in the "letting go" of the muscular organization that is developed in response to gravity and other external stimulation. The body goes through a disorganization that is either resisted by the ego or allowed in the form of "regression in the service of the ego" (Kris, 1952) or "ego diffusion" (Kammerman, 1977). In this state, Suedfeld (1980) has suggested that an "unfreezing" of the habit-attitude-behavior-belief structure takes place through inspiration, suggestion or self-hypnosis. In bioenergetics, we similarly talk of a body armor being frozen in such postures as in fright, as victims, in defiance, or in needy, burdened, rigid or dominant positions. Psychic Contactlessness

Bioenergetic analysis emphasizes the importance of the need for healthy contact at boundaries where one is neither psychically withdrawn nor unbounded and engulfing. The neurotic can be obstructed from fully contacting his or her environment at almost every orifice (especially the eyes, lips, genitals and anus) as well as on the skin in general. When one touches the body, or looks at a patient's eyes with expertise, one can easily tell the dimensions of contactlessness in an individual. In a REST environment, the practice of mindfulness, "continuous uncapitulating alertness" (Krishnamurti, 1969), can deepen one's abil ity to be aware of this dimension; but generally, one is much more aware of how one loses contact when one is in a stressful condition. Charging and Discharging

Being highly charged is an example of such a stressful condition. Healthy individuals are able to build and maintain a charge of excitement, even one that is not necessarily pleasurable. For example, in the upper body, one might reach out with aggression and not be immediately gratified.

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"Giving up" and rigid determination are opposite examples of the same problem: diminished charging ability. In the lower part of the body, one must be able to charge and discharge throughout the entire body, particularly into the heart, where the flow of excitement activates profound "heart-felt" emotions for one's partner.

The most basic way to change a body is to breathe deeply without losing contact with reality. Too much oxygen can make one "spaced out" or hyperventilate. The technique can be practiced with caution in a REST tank. Allow sufficient time for discharge which may include spontaneous expression of feelings, especially anger and sadness. One caution: to the extent that a body is integrated among its various parts, that is the extent that the ego is able to surrender to the involuntary (i.e., discharge) functions of the body without losing self esteem. Grounding

Breathing is an organismic expression of self-extension and self­contraction. It builds a genuine sense of self as the body charges without strain. One then discharges by spontaneously releasing muscles that have become too taut with the charge. Unfortunately, one can easily "space out" into euphoric states if "one does not keep one's feet on the ground". This is the great danger of floating; the over valued ideas that come to one in this state are just one example. By "grounded" homeostatic equilibrium, as one Sufi teacher suggested to me, the enlightened seeker may have his or her head in the clouds, but his or her feet are on the ground.

Being grounded results in feeling, not always pleasant feelings. Real feeling is an expression of an integrated cellular organization. Impulse inhibited characters have little feeling at all. Narcissistic characters, epidemic in our culture, have feelings associated with false idealized images of self, therefore have 1 ittle real feel ing either. In the narcissistic character sexuality is under the control of the self-esteem and never the heart. In bioenergetic analysis, the healthy individual is one who is strong enough to face disappointment with real feelings of pain in the heart.

SUMMARY A healthy floater can be described similarly. He or she is able to be

alone with his or her body in a state of energetic disorganization, perhaps painful at times, without withdrawing from contact with reality. Within the framework of the holographic model, the floater's mind may soar to ecstatic

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heights or crash into intolerable pain while the body progressively lets go of tension that had previously inhibited the natural impulse toward satisfaction. The sense of satisfaction may be derived simply from a good meal for the body, or an insight for the questioning mind.

The tool of attention is also different in a holographic "lenseless" universe. In order to have accurate perception, the task of alertness must not be only one of simply focused concentration, but also one of tuning into reality as it unfolds. This tuning in optimally occurs with every cell of one's body. Thus, a theory of cellular consciousness is the ultimate implication of this line of thinking.

Finally, tuning in must be the context of the accuracy of the organism. Contactlessness, the ability to charge and discharge, and groundedness are unqualifiable and usually depend on the circumstances. We can be more finely tuned after a float, massage, or a profound di scharge. We wi 11 fi nd ourselves out of psychic contact at another time. In any case, perfectionism is a principle of the mind and spirit. It is an image one strives for. It has very little to do with the life of the body. Body, mind and spirit may interpenetrate as we search for meaning in loss and pain. At the body level, pain simply just hurts. Premature attempts to rationalize the pain can lead to a block of energetic discharge and reinforcement of chronic muscular patterns.

Pleasure is also the body's birthright. Maintaining a healthy homeostasis is not only dealing with "dis-ease" and stress, but focusing for the body's sake on pleasures as well. Egos are good at deal i ng with the prob 1 ems, that's what they are des i gned for. The body is home. In a holographic universe it may be an illusion; but a healthy person keeps his or her feet on the ground and his or her house in order.

REFERENCES Bohm, D. The enfolding-unfolding universe: A conversation with David Bohm,

with Renee Weber. In: Wilber, K. (Ed.) The Holographic Paradigm and Other Paradoxes. Boulder, CO: Shambhala, 1982, 44-104.

Hunt, R. (Terry) Naming an unknown world: The transformation of perceived meaning by voluntary subjects after repeated use of the "isolated tank" floatation environment (unpublished doctoral dissertation, Boston University) 1980.

Kammerman, M. Personality changes resulting form water suspension sensory

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isolation. In: Kammerman, M. (Ed.) Sensory Isolation and Personality Change. Springfield, IL: Charles C. Thomas, 1977.

Kris, E. Psychoanalytic Explorations in Art. New York, NY, 1952. Lowen, A. Bioenergetics. New York, NY: Penguin Books, 1975. Orne, M. On the social psychology of the psychological experiment with

particular reference to the demand characteristics and other implications. American Physiologist, 1962, 776-783.

Polanyi, M. Personal Knowledge: Towards a Post-Critical Philosophy. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1958.

Pribram, K. What the fuss is all about. In: Wilber, K. (Ed.) The Holographic Paradigm and Other Paradoxes. Boulder, CO: Shambhala, 1982, 24-34.

Rosenthal, R. Experimenter Effects in Behavioral Research. New York, NY: Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1966.

Suedfeld, P. The benefits of boredom. Sensory deprivation reconsidered. American Scientist, 1975, 63, 60-69.

Suedfeld, P. Restricted Environmental Stimulation. New York, NY: Wiley­Interscience, 1975.

Wil ber, K. The Ho 1 ographi c Parad i gm and Other Paradoxes: Exp 1 ori ng the Leading Edge of Science. Boulder, CO: Shambhala, 1982.

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