Painting by Kevin McEvenue
A Heartfelt Conversation between
Addie van der Kooy and Kevin McEvenue
In the third part of this series between Addie and Kevin, we hear their thoughts about a Felt Sense starting from the early days of Gene Gendlin’s concept of a handle–a word that resonates with the Felt Sense. When a Felt Sense emerges, shifts can happen because the word can create a resonance with the Felt Sense. Something can begin to change. Something may be freed up, and more comes alive in our bodies.
For Addie and Kevin, Wholebody Focusing expands the physicality of this experience to include more of our body’s physical sense of Me Here — all of me present to the situation. When all of me becomes present to itself, a deeper appreciation develops of our essence.
We invite you to view and comment on Addie and Kevin’s exploration of this essential aspect of Wholebody Focusing.
To leave or read a comment, click here and go past the end of the post.
I feel very moved by this part of your conversation, Addie and Kevin, because you are both struggling with the limitation of words, and yet articulating such a delicate and complex process. I feel drawn to set down my understanding of this process as it came in me when I listened to you. I find myself in touch with my grounded presence, the deep felt sense of ‘me here’ which encompasses the whole of me: my physicality, emotions, mind, spirit and which acts as the wider holding that allows a specific felt sense to emerge and to feel secure enough to try to make itself felt and heard. And I know that when I can find the right word or movement or sound that resonates with that felt sense there will be a shift in how my body is holding this place because it is beginning to trust that I am with it and hearing it. As the shift is happening, it is simultaneously changing the whole of me. When the place releases some or all of the holding, and begins to or actually finds its way home, so the whole of me is becoming different – invariably there is ‘more’ life and energy. Oftentimes when deep shifts have occurred it can take hours or days or even weeks for me to really appreciate the ‘more.’ Thank you for this very evocative part of your conversation.
Dear Cecelia,
Thank you for your comment. It helped me to be with what is alive in me today.
This sentence was what did it.
“And I know that when I can find the right word or movement or sound that resonates with that felt sense, there will be a shift in how my body is holding this place because it is beginning to trust that I am with it and hearing it.”
When I read this sentence, I stopped and found my grounded presence and asked my body to be what was there. I was sitting, and my feet began to move up and down. I let go of the tension in my body because I knew that body wisdom was working its magic. The movement came in waves. First, it was slow and gentle and then a stop. In the stop, I felt joy that my felt sense found its voice. When I read that sentence again, a new round of movement of my feet came that was strong with great force behind it, and my arms flew up into the air. Then another stop came, and my arms rested in an embrace of self. I could feel even more the exhaustion from the movement. When that sensation subsided, I read that sentence again. My feet moved in the slowest and low energy way. Then another stop. This time, energy filled me with a desire to write this to you.
I love how we can aid each other’s wellness by sharing our own experiences. Thank you for sharing what came for you while listening to Addie and Kevin’s Heartfelt Conversation.
Regards, Diana Scalera
Thank you Addie, Kevin, Cecilia and Diana for this exploration. What encourages me and brings me delight is the tone, the gentleness, the empath between you of this exchange. You are all exploring a common experience and each one adding to my experience – gifts for which I am very grateful.
Thank you Cecelia
I couldn’t say it better, it so so beautiful… I just want to enjoy the experience that came in you from this heartfelt conversation.
Kevin
Thank you Addie for the truly exquisite description, almost showing, of how resonating happens, and thank you Kevin for expressing the sense of a deeper purpose beneath the felt sense, to that “underground sense of return” to who I am. I have never heard this expressed before and it completely hits home for me. I so appreciated the dance of presence between you that brought this!