Getting ready for your session:
Logging in
- Our first session will mostly be for us to get aquainted with working together. This means dropping into mindfulness together for the first time, and acclimating you to being witnessed and somatically contacted and guided in this mindful state. The first session begins the preparation of the relational groundwork we need in order to do more advanced explorations in the later sessions.
- We can work together in as few as one single session, or a series over a period of weeks, months or years. This is decided by the client.
- Sessions are generally 50-75min in length, over Zoom.
- Longer sessions may be available depending on individual need.
- Sessions are completely confidential.
- Recordings of sessions can be made and offered by request, and stored and delivered in a way that feels secure for the client.
- We will meet in a unique Zoom room for our session.
- Please check your email for the Google Calendars invitation which will contain the link to join.
- Please give me at minimum 24 hours notice if you'd like to cancel or reschedule, thank you.
Preparing Your Space
- Please make sure that you can meet for the whole session in a quiet and private space where you will not be disturbed or interrupted.
- Please make your surroundings as supportive as possible. These are good to have:
- A comfortable place to sit or lie down
- Enough floor space to move around on
- Tissues or handkerchiefs
- Water or tea
- Wear comfy breathable clothes
- Socks or extra layers if needed
- These are also helpful:
- Blanket and/or heating pad
- Pillows and/or bolster
- Stuffed animals or spirit totems
- Rocks, crystals or shells
- Plants, flowers or artwork
- Essential oils
- Candles or incense
- Your pet or support animal, if they are not disruptive
- Eye mask
- Also recommended before our session:
- Refrain from too much food, caffeine or other stimulants
- Get a full night's sleep if you can
What to Expect
- Hakomi practitioners pay attention to what goes on inside of you. We guide you into a state of
consciousness called “mindfulness,” which enables you to “tune into” your inner experience. As
mindfulness makes you more sensitive to subtle shifts in mood, feeling and sensation, it can take
you into a deeper or more intense state than you are used to. For your comfort, we go slowly, deal
with small bits at a time and can always stop and come back to talking if you need to take a break.
- Hakomi practitioners pay attention to your physical sensations and movements. Your feelings,
beliefs and habits have a physical component that can help us understand the full meaning and
impact of your earlier life experiences. During sessions, we take time to ask what your body knows,
not just what you think and how you feel.
- Hakomi is experiential and experimental. Some of the most powerful opportunities for growth and
change are when we experience something rather than merely talk about it. In fact, we can only
access neural patterns associated with our core material by turning our awareness to our
immediate, felt experience (i.e. sensations, feelings, images). I will continually suggest small
explorations and exercises designed to teach us more about how you experience your life or to encourage you to
try new things.
- Although it takes a little getting used to, I think you’ll find it rewarding to befriend yourself in a
more intimate and direct way. Experiential work tends to yield fresh discoveries, thereby reducing
the concern some clients have about “wallowing in their feelings” or rehashing the same events
with no real connection to the experience in the present or no real change.
- Please don't hesitate to email me if you have any questions or concerns about our session.