Karen Whalen, Ph.D and Glenn Fleisch, Ph.D
PART 1
Introduction:
This article explores how Quantum Field Theory interfaces with Gendlin’s Process Model of the Implicit (1997) to further our understanding of why and how the felt shift and life forward movement occur inside of a session of Wholebody Focusing (WBF) and Wholebody Focusing Oriented Therapy (WBFOT). As WBF practitioners and therapists we see again and again how bringing a particular quality of whole body awareness (consciousness) to any situation we are living in, brings exactly that which needs our attention for a next step to occur. This sustained awareness to what is emerging in a bodily way activates fresh life energy and releases new information that is precise and appropriate to the Focuser/Client’s experience.
When the living body becomes aware of itself as a whole, the felt shift comes not only as a small step in a series of forward movements (Gendlin, 1996), but as a change in the bodily living of the whole organism in its situation (Whalen and McEvenue, 2010). The subtle yet tangible field of shared consciousness between the Wholebody Focuser and Listener further amplifies and informs the whole bodily implying of the situation in a way that benefits both.
Part 1 of this paper will sketch out how the quantum field theory of consciousness helps us understand this direct experience of life forward movement (Gendlin, 1981, 1996) so familiar to Focusers. This theoretical description particularly supports the wholistic nature of psycho-behavioral change that emerges from the practice of WBF. Part 2 will illustrate the functioning of this theoretical model with WBF therapy session anecdotes. We will conclude with a brief discussion of the philosophical and clinical ramifications of the theoretical construct we are proposing. Possible directions for future enquiry will be suggested.
The Hard Problem of Consciousness, Quantum Consciousness, and Quantum Field Theory
As human beings, we can more or less agree that consciousness is a direct experience of self awareness. We are aware of ourselves and so, we are a Self. Until recently, the study of consciousness had been the purview of eastern mysticism and the disciplines of philosophy and religion. One noteworthy exception are the findings put forward by Quantum Physics and repeatedly confirmed for the last eighty years. The thus far undisputed theory of the quantum mechanical universe suggests that human consciousness plays a key role in creating the physical world, from the sub-atomic fluctuations of electrons spinning around an atom to the spinning of planets in their orbits. The Copenhagen Interpretation of quantum mechanics states that human consciousness (the observer of quantum phemonena) directs, predicts, and changes the behavior of physical matter at the tiniest sub-atomic level. This huge statement begins to describe the process and systemic changes observed during sessions of WBF.
Since everything in the universe is made up of the same stuff of life, it is not a stretch to suggest that the sub-atomic behavior of electrons spinning around each and every atom of our bodies are subject to the same laws of physics described by quantum theory (Goswami, 1995; Wolf, 1989; Rosenbaum and Kuttner, 2006). Electrons orbit the nucleus of an atom which is mostly made up of space. Atoms bind together in different combinations to form molecules that bind together in their turn to eventually give shape to visible organic and inorganic matter. Groupings of molecules bind together to form every existing variety of life, both animate and inanimate. The spinning of electrons around the nucleus of an atom radiates energy in a discontinuous jump like process, called a quanta of energy, thus the name Quantum Mechanics. This radiation of a quanta of energy is the atom’s wave-form function. The behavior of this quantum wave-form is discontinuous and unpredictable, showing up and manifesting in unexpected ways along many possible pathways, often at the same time.
THE QUANTUM CONSCIOUSNESS HYPOTHESIS:
The quantum mind or quantum consciousness hypothesis proposes that classical mechanics (Newtonian Physics) cannot explain our subjective experience of human consciousness. It suggests that certain quantum mechanical phenomena, such as entanglement, non-locality, uncertainty, and superposition, may play an important role in the brain’s function, and may form the physical basis of an explanation of consciousness (Penrose, 1989, 1994; Chalmers, 1996; Bass, 1975; Stapp, 1979; Wolf, 1989; Hamerhoff, 1996, 1998; Schwartz and Begley, 2003). We will be exploring the implications of this hypothesis a little further on as it applies to the practice of Wholebody Focusing. First let’s look at the larger context of this discussion about human consciousness as a quantum mechanical process.
Conventional neuroscience describes consciousness as an emergent property of computer-like activities in the brain’s neural networks. This view suggests that patterns of neural network firing correlate with specific mental states and human consciousness as a novel property of computational complexity among the millions of neurons of the brain. In short, our subjective experience is simply a fortunate by-product of the brain which is a complex algorithmic computer. This classical explanation of consciousness has been hotly debated for the last twenty years.
Australian philosopher David Chalmers (1996) objects to a computational view of consciousness because it does not explain the “hard problem” of subjective experience, what he terms the “qualia” or inner life of an integrated Self. He suggests instead that a theory of consciousness should take experience as a primary entity, alongside the physical concepts of mass, electrical charge, and space-time. Mathematical physicist Roger Penrose (1989, 1994, 1996) argues that consciousness is non-computable because it is neither random nor algorithmic, as are all computers, and that the personal experience of consciousness cannot be simulated. Anaesthesiologist Stuart Hameroff (1996, 1998) raises further objections such as the need to explain the binding of spatially distributed activities into unitary objects (macro-binding) such as vision, a coherent sense of self, or a sense of at oneness with self and other. Our sense of free will and our experience of subjective time flow all collide with the classical computational view of consciousness as the result of purely physical neurological function.
Gendlin’s Theory of the Implicit (1992, 1996) proposes that human beings are ongoing interactions with the world (they breathe, eat, and interact with others in every context and in any field in which they work or play) so that their bodies are a knowing which implies further steps. Because human beings are in an ongoing interaction with the whole environment, living in the world has a kind of ongoing experiential validity. As we know with Gendlin’s Process Model, the living body is in continual interaction with, and is inseparable from the environment. The body-environment connection is one process that is continually regenerating itself. Thus our physical body is continuous with, not separate from, the environment and the whole universe. To know (be conscious) and benefit from this expanded field of being requires us to bring a certain type of awareness to our everyday experiencing and situations. Each move we make, from pumping blood to discussing philosophy, implies a next step, an organic carrying forward (Gendlin, 1992). At each moment, it is possible to feel how things are moving and what is implied next. With a certain quality of bodily awareness, we can learn to attend to these feelings more deeply, so that a felt sense of the whole situation can form. A felt sense in WBF is a broader whole body awareness of this ongoing life process, intricately connected to Self and the whole environment.
Without needing to ask ourselves what consciousness is or is not, as Focusers we know that new life possibilities emerge from choosing to notice our direct experience in a bodily way. Consciousness (awareness) brings with it more consciousness (awareness). If we take this a little further and invite an awareness of a wholebody-environment-interaction with WBF, we also feel ourselves to be more alive, integrated, and more connected to a sense of self, other, and the environment. Could it be that consciousness underlies everything in the universe? Is this why everything seems to be affected by consciousness, at least in the quantum mechanical world view? If consciousness were a quantum mechanical version of God, then consciousness needs me, a conscious human being, to participate with it (to observe it) for it to function in the way nature intended. This view corresponds to the widely accepted Copenhagen Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics (as stated on the previous page), the most precise description of the physical world to date.
The Wacky and Weird Behavior of the Quantum Mechanical World:
The following is a brief summary of the major findings observed by physicists for the past century and confirmed by repeated experimental evidence. Following each stated physical law, we will explore its implications for WBF and WBFOT. The observed behavior of the sub-atomic world looks something like this:
1) An atom is both a wave-form (vibrating movement of its electron cloud = energy) and a particle (mass of the atom) but never both at the same time. The wave-form function of an atom needs a human observer to notice (measure) either its speed (momentum= movement of the wave-form) or its position (particle = wave-form pops into existence somewhere as a physical particle). It is not possible to measure both at the same time, thus Neils Bohr’s (1935) complementarity principle. Human consciousness plays a crucial role in the behavior of matter as either moving energy or positioning of mass in space-time.
Implications for WBF:
WBF uses a certain quality of body-in-environment awareness to bring into consciousness new information and life energy, the very essence of forward movement, connected to a situation in our lives. Where we place our awareness and how we direct our awareness activates or impedes the forward movement of the organism. Human beings seem to relate particularly to the quantum quality of position (we are always located somewhere as part of our environment) which is directly related to our particular experience of gravity. With WBF, we consciously relate to our position and gravity as part of the environment to support the forward movement of the whole organism. When we notice the weight bearing boundaries of the body, the way the ground supports the feet, the way the chair supports our whole body, the way the room contains and supports us, different parts of the body become aware of themselves. We stay conscious in a neutral whole body way that is connected to the whole environment. This allows us to both contain (embody) and observe the whole field of awareness. We are now in a position to notice the subtle inner movements of the body which arise spontaneously out of the body’s consciousness of itself.
For example, I might be noticing that my foot is sore, that it has become difficult to walk on it, and the more I notice my sore foot the sorer it gets. However, I can take a moment to notice the chair I’m sitting on, how the floor holds up my foot, how the foot is connected to my whole leg, how there is a whole body being held up by a chair. Suddenly, the foot recognizes for itself that it is part of something larger than its soreness because I have invited it to become aware of the whole context of its position and location in space. Now the foot has become more precisely aware of itself and it is ready to discover more possibilities for the forward movement of the life-in-foot.
Movement of energy is the second quantum quality we relate to during sessions of WBF. We allow our awareness to move back and forth from the primordial inner space of an embodied position inside of the outer space of environment, to the inner and outer body fluctuations of spontaneous movement. Awareness of both these states, position and movement, support and amplify the forward movement of my body, mind, and its situation. As a human experience, it seems impossible to be aware of both at the same time. Nor can the physical world reflect both position and movement at the same time. When we direct awareness to notice either the position or the movement of inner or outer life processes, a certain effect is achieved. Positioning provides the container into which bodily consciousness emerges. Subtle inner directed bodily movements are the harbinger of new consciousness already emerging into awareness. New information and energy (consciousness) arise out of these inner directed movements, as a right match for our situation and organism, supported by our awareness of inner and outer space.
For example, when I take the time to notice the whole context of the foot inside its physical space, with its connections to the whole environment, the foot begins to experience itself in a precisely bodily way. The toes begin to stretch outward to meet the edges of my slippers. There are subtle sensations of warmth and tingling spreading out from the painful arch of the foot. The foot continues to initiate its own movements as though they are intentional and seeking out their own right functioning. I observe my foot and its direct experience of itself in this precisely physical way. I notice how the foot feels softer now and when I stand on it and move around, gingerly at first, it seems, much to my surprise, to be comfortable with itself.
As neurophysiologist Ben Libet (1982, 1985) has shown with repeated experiments on volition and free will, the body’s readiness to do anything occurs as the firing of action potential in the brain well before (550 milliseconds prior) we become aware of wanting to move, take action of some kind, or even have a thought. Something in the brain/body bubbles up out of the yet unconscious living body and begins to fire and move. Only then do I experience something happening. In the example above, noticing my foot in gravitational space imbued my foot with consciousness of itself. Then the foot was able to access new information and life energy to move itself forward.
In WBF, the quality of awareness or attention (the neutral open and curious whole body observer of grounded presence) determines the nature of the consciousness that arises from the life processes themselves. We wait and observe the inner and outer space from a neutral stance of not-yet-knowing what will emerge. When, out of these subtle inner or outer movements something does emerge, a new awareness comes - direct experiencing. The foot explored new possibilities for more whole functioning. I experienced the benefit of that as a comfortable foot, no longer sore.
2) Until a human being looks at either its movement or its position, an atom exists only as a possibility in the universe. The quantum wave-form is thus described as a probability wave. There are an infinite number of potential locations and speeds of trajectory that the electron may follow, ultimately choosing only one dependent on what the experimenter chooses to measure (observe), thus, Heisenberg’s (1958) uncertainty principle. The particles and wave-forms occupy an infinite number of superposed locations, at the same time, until they pop into physical form. Thus, many possible worlds exist until the human observer chooses one among an infinite number of wave-form probabilities. This is the law of superposition (Schrodinger, 1935, 1967). Quantum mechanics describes the world as being in a state of an infinite number of emerging possibilities at every level of existence.
Implications for WBF:
The above depiction crosses with Gendlin’s Theory of the Implicit and the experiential process method of Wholebody Focusing, which offers us a skillful way of relating to the probabilistic functioning of our brain-bodies, our situations, and our environments. My broken knee-cap, for example, isn’t a fixed entity after all. If I observe my broken knee in a neutral way with the support of my conscious (self-aware) whole living body, my knee will explore its own possibilities of right functioning, and its cells will fire in new ways. When I offer my knee an awareness of itself, connected to an awareness of the ankle, the shin, the feet, the thigh above it, the hip joint, the firing activity of the knee discovers how it is or is not firing and can now synchronize itself with the firing of the whole leg. The knee itself, in its wisdom, knows how to connect with the whole leg and body. By simply noticing my knee, it naturally makes its own connections with the whole organism. I can invite whatever meaning might emerge from the consciousness of the knee itself – the knowing embodied within the knee’s cells, tissues, and malfunctioning. Five years post-fracture and the knee has entirely forgotten that its structure and function had ever been compromised - an unexpected outcome for someone over 50! The potentially infinite possibilities of life forward direction available to the Wholebody Focuser and his/her living body interface with conscious awareness and emerges as the exact right fit for that person’s body and their situation.
3) The Copenhagen Interpretation of the above findings states: whenever any property of a microscopic object affects macroscopic objects, that property is “observed” by a conscious human being, and thus becomes a physical reality.
Implications for WBF:
Whenever we observe any part of the body or field of experiencing in an accepting, open, curious, and precise way, the quantum properties of its atoms and electrons and their conglomerations into molecules and on into molecular structures (proteins, enzymes, parasites, viruses, cells, neurons, hormones, etc) are mobilized. As a result, the cells will fire in new ways and will therefore affect the macrostructure and functioning of tissues, organs, bones, posture, and psyche. How we observe the body, mind, and its various manifestations has a direct effect upon them. Over 40 years of Focusing practices throughout the world provide ample experiential evidence of this fact. A certain kind of human consciousness changes the living body and its situation, activating the implicit energy and knowing of any part to open to its own healing direction. Both theoretically and experientially we are proposing a rich crossing of quantum mechanics and Gendlin’s Theory of the Implicit. Whenever we invite the bodily life processes to become aware of themselves, our neutral conscious observer-Self activates the quantum firing of the cells of the various parts of the body-mind.
For example, my sore foot was able to rediscover its connection to its own inner knowing because of its connection to the physical supports of the whole living body and the environment. The sore foot needed my consciousness of it within the context of its connections to the whole environment so that it could rediscover a more right functioning to move its own life forward. Similarly, my broken knee cap could move its own life forward and achieve a more right functioning because I observed it in this precisely wholebody way. My neutral observing-Self empowered these parts of my body to become aware of themselves so that they could discover new and more right ways of inter-cellular firing.
4) Any objects that have ever interacted in the past continue to instantaneously influence each other. Thus, there is a universal connectedness to the entire physical universe. In quantum physics, this phenomenon of subtle and cosmic inter-connectedness is called “entanglement”. The randomly fluctuating sub-atomic vibrations of an isolation chamber, or between any two points in the fabric of space-time, can be ordered and made coherent by a human observer (consciousness). Non-locality is the term used to describe how two previously connected particles (or molecules or groups of molecules or living bodies) can be separated across vast distances and continue to resonate with each other as though they were still touching, side by side, despite there being no energy exchange between them.
Implications for WBF:
We have ample direct experiences and examples of such phenomena within family systems, distance healing phenomena, between close friends, and between Focuser and Listener. During sessions of Wholebody Focusing we tune into the interconnected wave- form function underlying the Focuser’s situation inside of the shared space between Focuser, Listener, and environment. Fleisch (2011) describes this process of relational co-presencing as a dynamic interactive space from which arise a wealth of information and energy needed by clients to support their forward movement. When we consciously make space for our confusion, suffering, and not knowing how it might resolve itself, and simply observe the body as a whole from a sense of grounding, presence, and connectedness to the environment, something happens to relieve and inform our situation. The bodily felt connection between Focuser and Listener supports this sometimes mysterious process of life unfolding in its own right way, informing us of the next right steps. Often, the new information that emerges is so new and so very outside of our sphere of experience, we are simply aware that something greater than us both has informed and infused us with life energy. Both the Focuser and Listener benefit from the new life forward movement in a way that neither could have accessed alone. Several examples of this phenomenon are presented in Part 2 of this article.
5) A later choice of experimental observation (peek in an isolation box) creates the atom’s earlier history so that we literally produce something backward in time. Space-time appears to be curved, no longer linear. How we relate to space-time can somehow affect its objects, events, and their impact upon my life.
Implications for WBF:
How we relate in the present to a past situation influences and affects the way a family system operates – both today and in the past. This brings new possibilities to the experience of Self in the present situation. The same holds true for future generations and for our ancestors. A complex familial tangle from the distant past can emerge free and unburdened, providing new life forward movement and fresh possibilities for family members today. During sessions of WBFOT, when one family member brings consciousness to a cross-generational pattern of violence, sexual abuse, or alcoholism, all the members of that family system benefit and heal from the process - even though they have passed away or do not have any conscious awareness of past and present circumstances.
This dynamic crosses with Gendlin’s explication of time (Gendlin, The Time of the Explicating Process, in press), whereby a direct reference to the implicit functioning of the living body opens up a retrospective sense of “was”. What emerges from Wholebody felt sensing is more of what was implied by the body. The next right step in life forward direction was implicit in what had been stuck or blocked all along, including cross-generationally, and wasn’t yet present as something formed. Bringing one’s whole body awareness to the edge of what is there now allows something to emerge in its own right way, filling in the present, the past, and the future.
Experiential Anecdote: Theatre of the Living Body
The second author (Fleisch) has been exploring the active engagement of participants in a Wholebody Focusing oriented group called "theater of the living body”. Group participants are invited to play a certain person, role, or inner part showing aspects of a Focuser's issue or inner dynamics. In a recent workshop, I demonstrated with myself as the client. Inside of this “embodied theatre” I explored a part of me that carries a strong sense of shame, often connected with a powerful inner critic that is dismissive of creative efforts. One man played my inner critic and the only information given was what I shared above. Each participant was first invited to connect with the self from a sense of his/her own grounded presence. Only then were they invited to embody a felt sense of the particular role or character. Finally, they were instructed to allow and follow whatever emerged into their field of awareness-as-a-part-of-me. During the process, I, as the Focuser, merely observed what was going on with the other characters. The person who played the critic, much to my surprise, was standing and began to wobble around, feeling very shaky and scared. The words "lost" came to him. At first, it seemed as if there was no connection to my own inner experience of the critic. My energy felt drawn to the critic in a very compassionate and comforting way. What came upon further reflection and mirroring was something new to my awareness and yet exactly right for carrying forward a part of my own experiencing inside of a much larger system. I became aware that the critical/dismissive aspect that I was carrying actually connects with generations of men in my family system that I had termed "lost souls." I have since then felt a sense of healing not just within my own experience but also relating to my father and grandfathers, as well as my own sons. Not only was the direction and space of the time-line transformed and enlarged around this issue in my life, but my connection to the space of the other living bodies and our shared environment was enlivened and expanded as a result.
6) There is no such thing as an absolute vacuum in space. There is, rather, an ocean of microscopic vibrations in the space between things. An example of this is the radiation of cosmic micro-waves from the original Big Bang which pervades all of space. The whole universe seems to be a heaving sea of energy, one vast quantum field that is continually expanding. All of matter and every kind of energy make up this cosmic field of vibrating energy, including us, all life forms, our consciousness, and our interactions inside this field. These are random patterns of information and energy underlying the physical world. Human consciousness appears to have the subtle ability to create order out of these archetypal or foundational patterns of life.
Implications for WBF:
Gendlin’s Theory of the Implicit (1997) proposes that the human being is always implying its next steps for living. In sessions of WBF we witness how the information and energy of the implicit emerges into our field of awareness. When we simply observe this emerging life information and energy and invite it to explore itself in a bodily way whilst staying at the edge of what wants to happen or needs attention, the whole organism moves forward in its own right way. The findings of Quantum Field Theory suggest that the forward movement in WBF arises not only from the human being’s lifetime of embodied experiences, but also from the infinite potential of information and energy patterns permeating the whole environment and universe. With the practice of WBF in particular, the whole living body is invited to awaken to its own possibilities within the larger context and container of the whole living environment. More integrated and more precise information and energy are mobilized by a bodily awareness of Self, connected to the living body of the environment, and to the living body of the Wholebody Listener.
As we will show with clinical examples in Part 2, we invite awareness of multiple channels of information – sensorial, kinesthetic, energetic, gestural, postural, emotional, imaginal. With the support of Grounded Presence, we resonate with the whole field of vibrational exchanges between Focuser and Listener. We invite in a sense of other inside ourselves, supported by the whole environment. When we listen to the client in this open whole body way, there is a loving and neutral connection that is made, not of our own making. Something happens in the interactive field between us that amplifies our experiencing of this neutral loving presence. This is something we do not ordinarily do in our culture. The powerful interactive listening exchange enlarges the possibilities of being, becoming, and moving towards new relational and experiential meanings in the living bodies of both. Two beings, fully present to Self, yet separated from other in this healthy way, allow a larger, more intricate connection to be made – inside both and in the bodily living of the situation. This "new space" (Gendlin, Process Model, VIII) expands and opens up the possibilities for forward movement of its objects and relationships.
7) Quantum fields are mediated not by forces but by an exchange of energy that is constantly redistributed in a dynamic pattern. Solid particles of matter are simply little knots of energy, which briefly emerge and disappear back into the underlying fluctuating quantum field of the universe. According to Quantum Mechanical Theory, human consciousness is needed to activate the flow of energy and information, creating meaningful patterns in an ever-changing, self-organizing, and forward moving biological system.
Implications for WBF:
On a psychological level, a paradigm shift is implied regarding our ways of relating to Self and Other. We discover realignments and compatibility with the environment, not by force, but rather in an intimately relational Wholebody-environment-interaction. The WBF-oriented therapist uses consciousness of the whole living body, connected to the physical environment via gravity and grounded presence, as an embodied tuning fork. From a sense of a whole embodied Self, connected to Other, Focuser and Listener resonate with the flow of energy and channels of information that very naturally emerge, both internally and interactionally, as described above. When the body is invited to become aware of itself as a functioning whole, it resonates internally towards the Self, synchronizing its own quantum wave-form patterns into a master wave-form signature signal. This internal synchronous firing pattern of the whole living body then resonates with similar wave-form patterns in the environment, including the body of Listener. The energy and information available in the universal fabric of space-time is theoretically infinite. Because everything is theoretically connected to everything else inside of the universal quantum field, a synchronously firing living body attracts to it precisely the right matching of energy and information wave-forms needed to move the organism forward.
During sessions of WBF, we often witness how new energy and information seem to “come” from the environment itself. The Focuser’s living body knows how to take this energy in, resonate with it, and integrate it into the functioning whole. Thus, the Wholebody implying extends to the implicit energy and information contained within the environment and greater universe. We might call this the whole universal implying which supports the bodily implying of the Wholebody Focuser. Energy and information emerge, pop into existence, reconfiguring themselves inside of a field of dynamic interchange. It is the internal whole body awareness of a conscious expanded experience of Self which initiates and supports this dynamic process of forward movement. Once initiated by human consciousness, the activated energy and information emerge equally from the outer milieu as the internal milieu. The knowing of the whole self-aware living body is always in relationship with the knowing of the living environment. During moments of integration in sessions of WBF, we make space and time for the matching and congruence between this inner and outer shared knowing. In very subtle yet noticeable ways, the outer environment and the internal human being interact together to move life forward. While Gendlin’s Process Model theoretically describes this intimate and natural transaction of the human living body as continuation of the environment, WBF offers a precise method that lives this reality inside the interactive space between Focuser and Listener. The following experiential anecdote is a living example of human consciousness actively participating in the unfolding of the physical universe in a Wholebody Focusing way.
Experiential Anecdote:
According to quantum theory, my awareness of my physical body can change my physical body. Now we are in the thick of Wholebody Focusing. I have spent the entire summer playing with children, swimming in the ocean, and living under the old growth canopy of the maritime Cobequid Mountains. By observing my whole body in a neutral and frequently playful way, whilst being aware of the nurturing and effortless connection to my physical environment, I have experienced a stunning reversal in my body’s experience of itself. I began the summer with some challenging body symptoms. These included an upper body rash (severe, what western medicine would call shingles), digestive difficulties, chronic fatigue for many months, weight gain, and a subjective sense that something in me was dying and needed me to get out of the way so that this dying process could unfold. This unsettling whole organismic process was connected to an emerging awareness about the young child who raged inwardly when her love needs were not met. An unconscious holding pattern of “I need to do everything for myself if I want to get what I need” was lived in the body as an underlying efforting and tension approach to doing anything in life. My body and mind were letting me know that this way of being was no longer working for me and perhaps, no longer necessary.
I gave my body as a whole my full consent to proceed in its own right way and time with these symptoms. I offered it some sessions of wholebody focusing but I in no way spent time thinking or worrying about these mysterious symptoms outside of session. What I did offer my body and self was a detached observation of my whole body and its connection to the whole environment in an ongoing way. This was easy to do given my location and proximity to nature and loved ones. Without visiting a physician or taking something for my body’s situation, by simply living my life and remaining aware in a detached and wholebody way, all of my symptoms have disappeared. The weight gain has disappeared without dieting or changing my eating habits in any way. My rash has disappeared without taking steroids or some such medicine. My fatigue has evaporated without needing to sleep more or exercise in a certain way. My appetite and digestive processes have returned to normal. I now feel like I am somehow connected to more of life, my own life, but also, in very subtle ways, to the lives of my friends, loved ones, and also the life of the land I live upon. Is this not an intriguing story?
Discussion of Experiential Anecdote:
It appears that my neutral wholebody awareness, being present to and aware of my own life in a physical way, changed the way my body experiences itself. I observed my body’s experience of itself and I used my awareness of gravity and the support of the environment to anchor and contain my observations. Somehow, somewhere, in some way, the living body itself, the life processes themselves, changed the way they were firing and relating to the situation of troubling systemic body symptoms. In Wholebody Focusing, we call this the functioning of Body Wisdom or the body functioning as a whole in its own right way. Because of early childhood trauma, the body organized itself in a certain way to survive (the road of efforting). The “flare-up” of the cells and tissues in the form of a rash was the body as a whole saying it is safe now to come into my awareness. This new meaning is the body’s implying of the underlying holding pattern. While my body lived the tension of that childhood story, it wasn’t interested in the contents of that story. That’s what I, with my ego identity, connected to and built upon in my nervous system, this strong sense of self which “must do” this and that to survive. The body is essentially innocent. It lived the direct experience of that story (the underlying tension). Once I was ready to invite the body to explore its own experience of that bodily lived tension, the body itself, in its own wisdom, could sort itself out.
The living body has evolved over millions of years and each cell of the body has a knowing about how to be in right relationship with all of the cells of its internal milieu. This is a result of the natural process of evolution. Human beings, unfortunately, have a habit of interfering with these instinctual life processes because of fear, trauma, and the unconscious conditioned response patterns. We can choose to interfere or not interfere with the unfolding of life forward movement through the living body. In this particular lived experience, I chose to not interfere with the unfolding of life out of that historical holding pattern. Instead, I chose to relate skillfully to my body and self with wholebody-environment-interaction awareness.
The Interface between Quantum Consciousness and Human Biology:
Quantum wave-forms which correspond to vibrational frequencies, contain information energy-bytes that are attracted to other wave-forms of similar vibrational frequency. The curious quality of moving wave-forms is that they are efficient carriers of information and they do not lose their underlying characteristics upon meeting other wave-forms. There is something about the inherent movement and intelligence of the quantum wave-form function (movement of energy), and how human consciousness contains and mediates it, which supports the orderly life forward movement of the organism. A human consciousness that notices the flow and movement of these subtle quantum wave-forms often in the form of subtle inner directed movements, can be said to be connecting to the functioning of their quantum consciousness.
How might quantum consciousness function inside of a biological system during sessions of WBF? A wholebody interaction between Self and environment inside the entire quantum field of consciousness may be mediated by the dynamic interplay between the central nervous system, of which the brain is a part, and the peripheral nervous system. The brain is the executive processor of energy and information coming in and going out of the body. The brain and central nervous system look a lot like a tree with its branchings of neural cells, neural networks and neural extensions going down into the body and extending out into each and every one of the organs, tissues, muscles and peripheral nerve endings of the skin itself. The organism connects with an experience of Self inside of the central nervous system. From a sense of grounded presence, the organism can then open up to its connections to the environment and bring in the life energy and information that are constantly flowing in from the peripheral nervous system. This information is taken in and processed continuously by the central nervous system (spine and brain). If the organism is nourished and supported by this energy and information, it will remain connected to its natural functioning with the peripheral nervous system. However, if the organism is overwhelmed or confused by this energy and information (life) coming in, it will stop and disconnect from the flow of life through the bio-system.
At a cellular level, there are hundreds or protein structures on the outer membrane of the cellular body which serves as a kind of radio antenna which vibrates and resonates with adjacent cellular units. This is a self-monitoring and an inter-cellular communication system which both transmits and receives complex and precise information about key biological functioning. Molecules of potassium and calcium may or may not be released into the synaptic cleft, the space between cellular bodies, causing neural cells to fire down the line, engaging in this electro-chemical way, with the complex functioning of life processes.
This built-in biological structure of the autonomic nervous system as the carrier, transmitter and energetic receiver of sub-molecular quantum wave form functioning, may explain why awareness of the whole body activates a synchronous firing cascade of the entire nervous system functioning as a whole, while opening up to possibilities for new and more integrated information and energy coming in from the environment and creating new firing patterns within the body/mind system. During sessions of WBF it is often necessary to create a holding space of not yet knowing so that the knowing of the body functioning as a whole and the emergent knowing of a new possibility can move life forward in a way that is just right for the whole organism. Awareness of the body functioning as a whole does appear to generate a living field of synchronous firing patterns which then influences how the different regions of the brain, and its extensions throughout the central and peripheral nervous systems, fire and communicate with each other.
Hameroff and Penrose (1996) propose that mircrotubules act as quantum computers in the cells of the brain. Microtubules are cylindrical structures that self- assemble to form the shape of the cells that form neurons of the brain. These are essentially the posited micro-processors of cellular life. They constitute the nervous system of the cell and process information internally to organize what happens within each cell and also how cells interact with other cells. With WBF, we attune to and resonate with the direct experience of the body functioning as a whole. From this simple body awareness practice we generate a quantum field which activates the functioning of quantum consciousness inside the cellular micro-processing systems of the living body. Once activated, this quantum field of consciousness entrains a more right function in any part of the body/mind to which we choose to bring our attention. For example, my awareness of my whole body supported by the ground, the chair, and the space of my living room, somehow supports the pain in my lower back so that it can explore its own possibilities of more orderly function and firing. Going back and forth between awareness of wholebody function and functioning of the part, the whole and the part come to a balanced and mutually supportive firing pattern which better supports my back and my whole life.
CONCLUDING SUMMARY OF THEORETICAL DISCUSSION:
Implications of Quantum Field Theory and Gendlin’s Theory of the Implicit:
Quantum Theory has revolutionized how we perceive and understand the physical world. New ideas arise in physics not only because of experimentation, but because our consciousness is ready to discover new aspects of the universe within ourselves (Mindell, 2004). While Quantum Mechanics describes the functioning of microscopic phenomena, its laws apply very accurately to the macroscopic realm of visible objects, living bodies, and planets. Matter is, in its essence, not as solid as we thought. Nor are we really separate from anything or anyone. My choice to be conscious of any situation or bodily state fundamentally changes the nature of that situation or bodily state. The functioning of the universe potentially offers the resources of infinite possibilities of information and life energy for the mind, body, and life situations. A certain kind of human awareness has the distinct effect of popping the quantum wave-form of this potential energy and information, into a single possibility as bodily felt and seen by the observer - the very essence of the felt shift in WBF.
In WBF, we are proposing that Quantum Consciousness (QC) has a dual nature. QC firstly functions as an electro-magnetic field of awareness that constantly attunes to the whole of the organism via the mediation of an adult conscious Self in grounded presence. The central and peripheral nervous systems are the biological carriers and transmitters of this synchronizing master wave form function. Secondly, QC arises out of the micro-molecular communication processing system (postulated microtubules inside neurons) mediated by the self-aware life processes and biological sub-units themselves. QC interacts with and supports the emergence of the bodily implying of the whole organism in a continuous way during a session of WBF. The tuning fork of the whole living body listens to, resonates with, and takes in the energy and information which match its master vibratory wave form signature from the environment. McEvenue and Whalen (2011) recently described this wholebody listening and resonance both inwardly towards the self and outwardly towards the whole environment as a process of “Heartfelt Listening”. Those parts of us needing our attention feel the support and energetic entrainment of our master wave-from signature as though a homing signal were reminding them of their own right function and wholeness. Just like the quantum wave-forms postulated for all of the physical world, the cells of my body vibrate as a potential life energy that needs my awareness of the whole body, my conscious participation with the life processes themselves, so that they can choose to pop into existence, firing in a new way, now aware of themselves and of their bio-chemical environment.
Part 2 will explore the clinical applications and ramifications of this theoretical crossing of Quantum Consciousness with the Theory of the Implicit. During sessions of Wholebody Focusing a slight movement, gesture or image coming into consciousness can be the carrying forward of many levels of Being or history all interconnected inside of this much larger universal field of potential life possibilities. By connecting to a wider more subtle field of awareness (quantum consciousness) in an intentional wholebody way, we will discover how the therapist and client both access surprising possibilities for life forward movement.