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Open, free and light or heavy, stuck or sticky?
Published 6 months ago • 4 min read
Meet Karla Joy Vandenbergh
Five Element Acupuncturist, Alchemical Healing Professional, martial artist, esoteric Buddhist teacher, mother, and creator of Thundering Tara: Sacred Dakini Dance & Mantra
Karla was one of the first students in our year-long Mentorship program. Now, nearly twenty years later, she is an intrinsic part of our team of highly skilled program assistants. I still remember one frosty clear October morning before class, looking out the window of the old barn where we once held our weekend gatherings and seeing this tall, strikingly graceful woman with flowing fiery red hair practicing her sword form in the field. Karla’s ease of movement, devotion to practice, qi sensitivity and steadfast determination were unmistakable then … and Karla Joy and I have been alchemizing together ever since!
Q: You and I both know the power of this practice but how would you explain Inner Sensing to someone who has never done it before or, even better, how do you talk about Inner Sensing with your 10-year-old son?
A: "My son, Ari, and I have had a lot of conversations in recent years about taking in imagery and videos and how to discern when something is okay for us or not. He told me he had a bad feeling in his body when he was watching a specific video. It made him uncomfortable, and he wasn't sure if it was okay or age appropriate.
My response was this: "The best thing I can teach you is how to recognize for yourself if something is okay for you or not. The important part is to listen to and trust that feeling you get in your body when you look at something. Does your body feel open, free and light or does it feel heavy, stuck or sticky? Do you feel more like yourself or like you can't find yourself? Does it increase your energy or make you feel tired? Instead of ignoring the signals your body is giving you, pay attention to them. Don't try to make them stop, they are there for a reason. When you go inside and give these body sensations attention and care, you learn something about yourself, and how to trust yourself.
Although the steps of the Inner Sensing process and training are more nuanced, I think my conversation with Ari is one way to get across the profound way we come to know ourselves and our inner worlds through the process of Inner Sensing, and how it functions as a pathway, or bridge, between our shen (conscious awareness) and our po (soma/inner landscape)."
Q: Describe the first time Inner Sensing really kicked in for you.
A: “Inner Sensing was like coming home. It was the first year of the mentorship program. I remember having this distinct “aha” moment inside, where things started to click, and then Lorie putting into language that exact thing I was experiencing. It was like, oh! this is an actual legitimate thing I’m feeling and not something to be pushed away or ignored. This stuff that I'm always trying to get rid of or escape from is the stuff I actually need to be an alchemist. This discomfort, this stuff in shadow, this stickiness. This is where my gold is.”
Q: What’s one of the weirdest ways you use Inner Sensing?
A: “Haha, great question! I’m not sure what qualifies as weird anymore, but I would say using the practice to help me decide what is the best food or nourishment for my body at any given time.”
Q: As a practitioner, what’s one way you bring Inner Sensing into a session?
A: “When a patient is on the table and we are about to start placing the needles, I may say something like, "As you breathe, drop your awareness down and into the inner landscape of your body. Just noticing the sensations that are alive in there. Not needing to change anything, just going in and being present to what's there." This is a simple way to begin to transmit the Inner Sensing practice without going into a deeper session.”
Q: We often say that Inner Sensing is a way we can learn to listen to the wisdom of our “animal body.” What would Prince, your gorgeous gray striped feline companion, have to say about the practice?
A: “I think he would say, "Finally, human, you are making a bit of sense. Now don't forget to get a good stretch in there. (yawn)”
Q: What’s one wish you have for people beginning to learn Inner Sensing?
A: “That they learn to come home to themselves. I feel that the practice of inner sensing creates an inner refuge over time. The purple temple that is yours to return to, no matter what is happening in your life or in the outer world. I experience this practice as profound medicine for the dissociative states (anxiety, depression, suicidal ideation, disordered eating, body dysmorphia, addiction, chronic disease) that are so present in our current collective.”
We're Loving!
Lorie - listening to my dear friend and colleague—mystic, musician and teacher Rabbi Zach Fredman @zachi.asher @temenos.center—sing his powerful freedom song.
Benjamin – reading the factual, non-sensationalist historically-rooted daily reporting of Heather Cox Richardson’s Letters from an American Substack.
Karla - Kerstin Martin is a website designer who teaches people who don’t want to participate or can’t operate in hustle culture, how to create calm-centered content & courses
Watercolor by Lorie Eve Dechar
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October session of the monthly Zoom meetup exclusively with Lorie, Benjamin, and other Inner Healing Circle (IHC) members as part of the IHC Membership
A Global Community of Alchemical Healers and the People They Serve
A New Possibility is a collaborative learning and healing community that explores the interface of consciousness, spirituality, cultural change, and personal/planetary healing. ✨ JOIN US! As a special gift, you'll receive our Five Spirits eBook Primer — a guide to the Taoist map of the human psyche with insights & practical tools to support your own wholeness. ✨
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