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During her therapy sessions Martha became aware of people’s
unconscious movements as they relayed their stories. As a yoga instructor,
she recognized that many of these movements were spontaneous yoga
postures, and that they were clearly soothing, allowing people to
relax and minimize their anxiety.
Encouraging them to hold these postures while telling
their stories, Martha also noticed that this enabled them to connect
to the deeper feelings in their stories, pointing up a powerful
connection between body and mind.
By keeping a journal and participating in a writing
group Martha deduced that the process of writing helps to ground
us in our own experiences. After establishing an independent writing
group she soon discovered that writing and reading aloud in a supportive
atmosphere reduced participants’ anxiety and enabled their
creativity to flow. They arrived tired and stressed, but, after
connecting to their deeper selves, became relaxed and energized.
Martha’s extensive work with dreams had taught her that dreams
help us to understand those parts of ourselves that have been denied,
cut off or left unconscious. By actively engaging with our dreams,
we gain insight into the significance of our inner images, opening
ourselves to the healing power of the imagination and to the acceptance
of the many facets of our personalities.
Her ultimate conclusion was that working with dream
images in conjunction with writing and yoga helps to deepen our
understanding of our inner world.
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