The UnWeaver's Nest
Elzanne Roos - Imaginal Therapist
Knowing Yourself
through Imaginal Self-Inquiry
WHAT IS IMAGINAL SELF-INQUIRY?
Let’s begin our work by assuming there is something wiser than both of our conscious minds working deep within you. Let's assume your struggles are valid expressions of a soul and a world in distress - alienated and disconnected.
Let's put aside the idea that you need to be "fixed". Because real healing comes from dropping down, below the threshold of ordinary understanding, into a field of deep inner resources, and thereby reconnecting with what we have lost - a sense of soul.
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This is the work of developing Imaginal Intelligence. It is an "unweaving" through which we unfold, undo and unlearn in order to reroute, recalibrate and return to who we really are. This is the start of a path of heart, imagination and healing. The only way to navigate the unknown.
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Based on the philosophy of Archetypal Psychologist James Hillman, The Tamboo Academy and other scholars of the psyche, the work of developing Imaginal Intelligence is playful, deep, exploratory and rewarding.
DREAM AND IMAGE TENDING
Healers, poets and storytellers know that working with the psyche is an art not a science. True healing, doesn’t happen rationally, but is deeply linked to the wilderness of the imagination.
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There are many paths into this wilderness. Surprisingly, they often begin right on our doorstep, with the experiences of our daily lives, our struggles with relationships, sex, money, health, emotional turmoil and anything that is demanding our attention.
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These experiences come with their own language, flavours, sensations, stories - what we refer to as "images". In sessions we talk through your experiences (past and present) and "track" these images, like animals, following closely, learning their ways and allowing them to lead you home, to the imaginal field that provides the deepest nourishment for your life.
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When our experiences begin to resonate with archetypal significance - a sense of something meaningful and profound - then, the deep-seated blockages and conditioning that have kept us stuck begin to dissolve. This is how we unweave the threads in which we've become entangled, in order to be recalibrated and rerouted from the deep psyche. Doing this consistently, with guidance, helps to open new possibilities for transforming the areas of struggle in your life.
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SOMATIC IMAGINATION AND BREATHWORK
The body is wise beyond belief. It has its own imagination which it expresses in postures, aches, movements, sensations. Exploring this "somatic imagination" may be done in stillness or in movement, tuning in to sensations, witnessing what arrives and allowing the body its own expression. In this way we are able to make contact with a treasure trove of images that lead us into the deeper terrain of the psyche.
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From this source it is possible to draw nourishment, even during difficult times. It is also the place from where one can access a sense of connection with the wider, more-than-human world.
One of the best ways to open to the imagination of the body is through breathwork. It is a potent tool for deepening our awareness, opening to higher states of consciousness and releasing stagnating energies. It is a safe and accessible way to do much the same work that is done through psychedelic therapies and shamanic practices.
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While breathwork on its own helps you to connect with the deeper psyche, its transformative power is multiplied when practiced in conjunction with deep personal image work.