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Published by Bear & Company
Distributed by Simon & Schuster
Table of Contents
About The Book
A guide to integrating ecstatic trance, soul retrieval, and psychotherapy to overcome emotional challenges and deepen your connection to all life on Mother Earth
• Describes the methodologies of ecstatic trance and psychotherapy, explaining how they can be integrated in a way that feels familiar and safe
• Illustrates five ecstatic postures for strengthening identity, uncovering the root of suffering, and aligning with a spirit guide
• Includes three in-depth case studies to illustrate how to override negative beliefs and habits and experience oneness with the Earth and all life
Sharing the wisdom of shamanic healing, Nicholas Brink creates an accessible link between psychotherapy and the ritualized use of ecstatic trance postures. He explains how ecstatic trance triggers the imagery that allows us to override negative beliefs and retrieve the lost innocence of the soul. He shows us how to broaden healing beyond the resolution of individual emotional and behavioral issues to create harmony in family, community, society, and the world around us.
Integrating cognitive behavioral therapy, narrative therapy, and dream analysis, the author provides a unique model for tapping into the universal mind in a way that feels familiar and safe. He illustrates five ecstatic postures for emotional and spiritual growth, moving from finding a place of relaxation in which to strengthen your sense of self to the soul retrieval experience, which leads to the death of dysfunctional beliefs and restoration of your original innocence. The author shows how spirit guides can support us as we achieve the spiritual consciousness of the shaman and recognize the interdependence of all cultures and all living things on the planet.
Using three in-depth case studies, Brink demonstrates how these practices can be used to resolve common psychological issues such as agoraphobia, panic attacks, irrational anger, mood swings, obsessive behaviors, and control issues. Allowing you to find your inner shaman--your ability to heal yourself and, in turn, to contribute to the healing of all life on our planet--ecstatic soul retrieval helps you overcome emotional and behavioral problems, override negative beliefs, and experience oneness with all life on Mother Earth.
• Describes the methodologies of ecstatic trance and psychotherapy, explaining how they can be integrated in a way that feels familiar and safe
• Illustrates five ecstatic postures for strengthening identity, uncovering the root of suffering, and aligning with a spirit guide
• Includes three in-depth case studies to illustrate how to override negative beliefs and habits and experience oneness with the Earth and all life
Sharing the wisdom of shamanic healing, Nicholas Brink creates an accessible link between psychotherapy and the ritualized use of ecstatic trance postures. He explains how ecstatic trance triggers the imagery that allows us to override negative beliefs and retrieve the lost innocence of the soul. He shows us how to broaden healing beyond the resolution of individual emotional and behavioral issues to create harmony in family, community, society, and the world around us.
Integrating cognitive behavioral therapy, narrative therapy, and dream analysis, the author provides a unique model for tapping into the universal mind in a way that feels familiar and safe. He illustrates five ecstatic postures for emotional and spiritual growth, moving from finding a place of relaxation in which to strengthen your sense of self to the soul retrieval experience, which leads to the death of dysfunctional beliefs and restoration of your original innocence. The author shows how spirit guides can support us as we achieve the spiritual consciousness of the shaman and recognize the interdependence of all cultures and all living things on the planet.
Using three in-depth case studies, Brink demonstrates how these practices can be used to resolve common psychological issues such as agoraphobia, panic attacks, irrational anger, mood swings, obsessive behaviors, and control issues. Allowing you to find your inner shaman--your ability to heal yourself and, in turn, to contribute to the healing of all life on our planet--ecstatic soul retrieval helps you overcome emotional and behavioral problems, override negative beliefs, and experience oneness with all life on Mother Earth.
Excerpt
2
Adapting Ecstatic Trance to Psychotherapy
Ecstatic trance differs from hypnotic trance in that it is induced not through verbal suggestions but by stimulation to the nervous system with the rapid beating of a drum and specific body postures. The ritual developed by Felicitas Goodman to induce ecstatic trance is shamanic and would appear quite foreign to many people coming to a psychologist for psychotherapy. Yet I find the combination of these practices to be very powerful in the process of therapy and in personal growth beyond therapy. Thus the procedures presented in this book are initially a hybrid of hypnosis and ecstatic trance; the rituals of ecstatic trance are gradually introduced in a way that gently opens the person to understanding the value and power of this practice.
Combining Analytical Hypnotherapy with Ecstatic Trance Work
In this book, hypnosis as an altered state of consciousness to access the unconscious mind is used as a bridge in teaching ecstatic trance. Some people who experience ecstatic trance for the first time are disappointed by the shallow or limited nature of their experience. The hypnotic verbal suggestions used along with ecstatic trance can bring a person into a deep, full ecstatic experience. Then, with this initial deeper and fuller experience, future experience with ecstatic trance will be deeper with fewer, and then no, verbal suggestions.
To create this hybrid approach ecstatic trance postures are used in combination with various hypnotic suggestions. In hypnosis the client feels a deep sense of affective affirmation and rapport with the therapist through the hypnotic suggestions of a yes-set. A yes-set is a mental sequence of answering, “Yes,” to suggestions made by the therapist. The therapist’s words accurately recognize what the client is experiencing. For example, if the client is leaning back against the back of a chair, a beginning yes-set suggestion might be, “As you sit, feel the warmth on your back as it rests against the back of the chair.” This comment, something for which the client answers, “Yes, that’s right,” might be an early comment in inducing trance. As this hypnotic yes-set language continues, the suggestions become more relevant to the client’s feelings and emotions that he or she brought to therapy. For example, “You are feeling a lot of anxiety that your wife might leave you because of your anger,” or “It is very depressing that your job feels so meaningless.”
As the client’s answer of “yes” becomes a habit, the therapist is able to make suggestions that become more divergent from the client’s current reality. For example, “Take your feeling of anxiety back through time, and as you see the time go by--days, months, seasons, years--something in your life will stand out and catch your attention. When this something catches your attention, lift the index finger of your left hand.” With this ideo-motor signaling of lifting the finger, I can ask, “What are you now experiencing?” The process may be repeated several times, taking the person back to the initial incident that triggered the anxiety or feeling of concern.
Seeking answers through ecstatic postures does not require the extensive verbal instructions of traditional hypnosis to bring the person to a regression in age, the source of the problem or feeling, and ultimately a greater sense of conscious awareness. The combination of these two practices--hypnosis and ecstatic trance--lead the person to explore and discover the irrationality and ineffectiveness of current ways of feeling and thinking and help carry new, healthier beliefs more directly into the realm of the unconscious mind.
The Bear Spirit Posture: Relaxation and Ego Strengthening
In analytic hypnotherapy the initial step to induce trance is a hypnotic exercise to teach the client to relax and increase ego-strength for facing what may be uncovered in journeying through the unconscious mind. This same step to increase relaxation and strengthen one’s ego can be attained using ecstatic trance with the Bear Spirit posture.
Generally, five minutes are allotted for a person to focus on breathing to quiet the mind while standing in the Bear Spirit posture. During this time soft suggestions are periodically offered to facilitate relaxation and inner strength, such as, “As you inhale feel the relaxing and strengthening energy of your breath enter your body, and as you exhale feel this relaxation and strength flow throughout your body. As this relaxing energy enters your head, feel it quiet the thoughts of your mind.” The Bear Spirit posture is especially effective in facilitating this relaxing and strengthening energy, because the person’s hands are resting on the center of harmony--the abdomen just above the umbilicus-- such that they can feel it rise and fall with each breath, feeling the flow of energy into and throughout the body, which provides a sense of inner peace.
During this relaxation a recording of rapid drumming is played softly in the background. I explain to the client that the purpose of the drumming is to stimulate the nervous system with an energy that keeps the client alert to the therapeutic task at hand and acts as a focus away from competing and distracting thoughts. A recording of the drumming is then given to the client at the end of the session with the instruction to practice this exercise at least once a day when at home. The gift of the recording provides a bridge from the experience in the therapy room to the experience at home, increasing the depth and effectiveness of the relaxation, ego-strengthening, and quieting of the mind.
This relaxation and ego-strengthening is a learned response and requires practice, but when learned, it can easily be called upon and used when needed. Over the next session or two the verbal suggestions are gradually eliminated and the use of drumming ends. After the person learns to relax with increased ego-strength, all that is needed to enter this state is for the person to stand tall for a few minutes with hands on the center of harmony.
Adapting Ecstatic Trance to Psychotherapy
Ecstatic trance differs from hypnotic trance in that it is induced not through verbal suggestions but by stimulation to the nervous system with the rapid beating of a drum and specific body postures. The ritual developed by Felicitas Goodman to induce ecstatic trance is shamanic and would appear quite foreign to many people coming to a psychologist for psychotherapy. Yet I find the combination of these practices to be very powerful in the process of therapy and in personal growth beyond therapy. Thus the procedures presented in this book are initially a hybrid of hypnosis and ecstatic trance; the rituals of ecstatic trance are gradually introduced in a way that gently opens the person to understanding the value and power of this practice.
Combining Analytical Hypnotherapy with Ecstatic Trance Work
In this book, hypnosis as an altered state of consciousness to access the unconscious mind is used as a bridge in teaching ecstatic trance. Some people who experience ecstatic trance for the first time are disappointed by the shallow or limited nature of their experience. The hypnotic verbal suggestions used along with ecstatic trance can bring a person into a deep, full ecstatic experience. Then, with this initial deeper and fuller experience, future experience with ecstatic trance will be deeper with fewer, and then no, verbal suggestions.
To create this hybrid approach ecstatic trance postures are used in combination with various hypnotic suggestions. In hypnosis the client feels a deep sense of affective affirmation and rapport with the therapist through the hypnotic suggestions of a yes-set. A yes-set is a mental sequence of answering, “Yes,” to suggestions made by the therapist. The therapist’s words accurately recognize what the client is experiencing. For example, if the client is leaning back against the back of a chair, a beginning yes-set suggestion might be, “As you sit, feel the warmth on your back as it rests against the back of the chair.” This comment, something for which the client answers, “Yes, that’s right,” might be an early comment in inducing trance. As this hypnotic yes-set language continues, the suggestions become more relevant to the client’s feelings and emotions that he or she brought to therapy. For example, “You are feeling a lot of anxiety that your wife might leave you because of your anger,” or “It is very depressing that your job feels so meaningless.”
As the client’s answer of “yes” becomes a habit, the therapist is able to make suggestions that become more divergent from the client’s current reality. For example, “Take your feeling of anxiety back through time, and as you see the time go by--days, months, seasons, years--something in your life will stand out and catch your attention. When this something catches your attention, lift the index finger of your left hand.” With this ideo-motor signaling of lifting the finger, I can ask, “What are you now experiencing?” The process may be repeated several times, taking the person back to the initial incident that triggered the anxiety or feeling of concern.
Seeking answers through ecstatic postures does not require the extensive verbal instructions of traditional hypnosis to bring the person to a regression in age, the source of the problem or feeling, and ultimately a greater sense of conscious awareness. The combination of these two practices--hypnosis and ecstatic trance--lead the person to explore and discover the irrationality and ineffectiveness of current ways of feeling and thinking and help carry new, healthier beliefs more directly into the realm of the unconscious mind.
The Bear Spirit Posture: Relaxation and Ego Strengthening
In analytic hypnotherapy the initial step to induce trance is a hypnotic exercise to teach the client to relax and increase ego-strength for facing what may be uncovered in journeying through the unconscious mind. This same step to increase relaxation and strengthen one’s ego can be attained using ecstatic trance with the Bear Spirit posture.
Generally, five minutes are allotted for a person to focus on breathing to quiet the mind while standing in the Bear Spirit posture. During this time soft suggestions are periodically offered to facilitate relaxation and inner strength, such as, “As you inhale feel the relaxing and strengthening energy of your breath enter your body, and as you exhale feel this relaxation and strength flow throughout your body. As this relaxing energy enters your head, feel it quiet the thoughts of your mind.” The Bear Spirit posture is especially effective in facilitating this relaxing and strengthening energy, because the person’s hands are resting on the center of harmony--the abdomen just above the umbilicus-- such that they can feel it rise and fall with each breath, feeling the flow of energy into and throughout the body, which provides a sense of inner peace.
During this relaxation a recording of rapid drumming is played softly in the background. I explain to the client that the purpose of the drumming is to stimulate the nervous system with an energy that keeps the client alert to the therapeutic task at hand and acts as a focus away from competing and distracting thoughts. A recording of the drumming is then given to the client at the end of the session with the instruction to practice this exercise at least once a day when at home. The gift of the recording provides a bridge from the experience in the therapy room to the experience at home, increasing the depth and effectiveness of the relaxation, ego-strengthening, and quieting of the mind.
This relaxation and ego-strengthening is a learned response and requires practice, but when learned, it can easily be called upon and used when needed. Over the next session or two the verbal suggestions are gradually eliminated and the use of drumming ends. After the person learns to relax with increased ego-strength, all that is needed to enter this state is for the person to stand tall for a few minutes with hands on the center of harmony.
Product Details
- Publisher: Bear & Company (March 16, 2017)
- Length: 208 pages
- ISBN13: 9781591432623
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Raves and Reviews
“In Ecstatic Soul Retrieval ancient spiritual channels are opened so the inherent healing wisdom of the body comes alive--in a modern clinical setting. Upon being guided into expanded states of consciousness, clients transform core negative and limiting beliefs to create a more connected and Earth-honoring life. You will be inspired as you read this book. Brink’s use of ecstatic trance in psychotherapy is as natural and replicable as it is brilliant.”
– Llyn Roberts, coauthor of Speaking with Nature
“Drawing upon his prior work with the use of ancient shamanic postures and drumming to produce ecstatic trance where stories come forward, Brink shows how these techniques facilitate the healing process in a wide variety of clinical situations. The richness of this book comes from this bridging of shamanic and psychotherapy practices and, perhaps even more, from the fountain of illustrative stories he presents.”
– Raymond Hillis, Ph.D., professor emeritus of counseling at California State University, Los Angeles
“By incorporating various physical postures to enhance particular types of shamanic journeying/trance work, Brink extends the boundaries of the mind-body connection. His detailed case histories show how powerful this work can be in helping clients get ‘unstuck.’ By learning to access their own imagination and to draw from the richness of archetype in the collective unconscious, Brink’s clients discover ways to create better, more resourceful life stories, replacing old, tired, impoverished ones. Thank you, Nick, for this valuable guide to an integrative and inclusive approach to hypnosis and ancient shamanic practices!”
– Peter L. Blum, Certified Instructor for the National Guild of Hypnotists
“Ecstatic Soul Retrieval will be invaluable for all students of the ecstatic trance postures who are interested in the psychological impact of the method. The case studies in Nick’s book provide us with a wide array of material to help us understand how to use the trance postures in the field of therapy. This book will be of great help in teaching more people about the healing power of the ecstatic trance postures.”
– Annette Ki Salmen, M.A., teacher and trainer of the Cuyamungue method
"Brink explains how Shamanism and Psychotherapy combine to help the client. He further explains and gives examples of how this process is used in three different clinical cases. He uses Shamanism to show the interdependency of all cultures to heal societies and individuals…This is a wonderful book that is very helpful for anyone who works with Imagery, hypnotherapy or psychotherapy. You will gain practical valuable tools to use with your clients."
– Aria Kabiri, the editor of Imaginews: The Journal of Imagery International
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