Do you find yourself often stuck in your mind? Has your body often been more of the vessel thatgets you from one point to another, instead of something that speaks to you? Are you ready torelease energy that no longer serves you? If you answered yes to any of those questions, theHolistic Healing Group whose next session is Oct. 24 from 1-1:50 p.m. in room B223 offers exactly what you need.
Holistic Healing Group is a group that focuses on somatic movement and breathing techniques that assist in removing stagnant energy that infiltrates the body and blocks your chakras. We often depend heavily on talk therapy without considering the fact that not everything can be talked out. That in no way discounts the benefits talk therapy offers but beyond talking, your body often needs assistance in removing energy and trauma that is stuck in your nervous system.
The group was created by directors Maliya Smith and Katie Schacht of counseling services and this is the first semester that it has been offered at Parkland. Smith has been a counselor at Parkland for a year but she has been a counselor for five years in total. Schacht has been a counselor for 15 years and she has been at Parkland for 10 of them. Their goal is to allow students to understand their body’s healing potential in the form of somatic movements and breathing techniques. They wanted to offer students multidimensional ways of healing the body that talk therapy simply cannot accomplish on its own.
Smith also studied meditation extensively as she got into counseling and it changed her life completely. Smith is a Kemetic yoga instructor, a subset of yoga that focuses primarily on meditation and the alignment of chakras. Smith found through her own experiences, reading different books, studying yoga, meditation and the movement of the body that the body is extremely intelligent. It allowed her to learn how to listen to her body and pay attention to how different pains or movements would be connected with her emotions.
Smith hopes that the group will help students challenge themselves to do something that they are not accustomed to doing as well as learning how to get comfortable with being uncomfortable in order to allow your body to experience what it may need to.
Schacht has had the opportunity to explore many forms of therapy that differs from talk therapy in a way that provides more healing potential in a short amount of time. Her personal journey with mindfulness, Buddhism and finding a sense of peace allowed her to learn how to show up for herself in ways that she had never before.
Schacht’s curiosity and studying several forms of therapy led her to connect that what she was studying were all aspects of somatic therapy. She began to grow her knowledge in somatic therapy because she could see that she did not have a lot of time with students. She wanted to be able to offer students something they could take hold of and truly turn it into a sense of healing that did not require sitting down and explaining all of their trauma to someone.
Schacht hopes that students will not only gain a whole new appreciation of their bodies, but also learn how you can use the body to help get you out of a certain emotional state. Schacht also heavily emphasized that you do not have to come to every session. Even if you just go to one, you will still walk away with something helpful that you can use to connect with yourself
Smith and Schacht work so well together because they were able to combine two different backgrounds, offering students several perspectives on the same matter. They created a safe space that does not require you to share or reveal anything, but it taught you to move your body in ways that the stagnant energy can be broken down and released.
Sara Steffens, a participant in the group this semester, had no idea what she was getting herself into but ended up being happy that she took the opportunity. Initially, Steffens found herself feeling awkward because she had trouble getting out of her head and being comfortable with what was being taught. As sessions progressed, Steffens found that it got easier each time to step out of her mind and be present with her body. She found herself being able to close her eyes and find that connection with herself. After her most recent session, she truly could see how far she had come in recognizing what her body needed and how she was able to listen to it and show up for herself.
She expressed her gratitude that sessions were going to start up again because it was a very important and impactful experience that she absolutely recommends to others.
I personally attended the meeting because of the title. I had no idea what to expect but I knew that I was well ready for some assistance in healing and needed to find much better ways to accomplish said healing. During the first session, I was able to take away so much information from that seemingly short 50 minutes. Like Steffens, I too am someone who is often stuck in her mind and could recognize a strong disconnect between my mind and body. Smith and Schacht began teaching us how to heal ourselves immediately. It quickly became one of the best parts of my week. It was truly an experience that I had no idea I needed until I decided to take the chance and show up.
I noticed that in every group session I attended, something that I had not even been able to recognize as being there would suddenly come up. I was able to use the tools given to me to listen to what my body was relaying to me so that I could acknowledge, understand and then release it. I walked out of every session feeling lighter and a lot more equipped in what I needed to do for myself when it came to the energy that was thwarted into my body.
Especially that of which I did not know I was carrying around. I am now able to better connect with myself and have formed a bond with these women. We showed up for each other every week and gave it our best even when we did not know what that looked like at times and that means so much to me.
Steffens and I both walked away excited that although the group was coming to an end, there would be more sessions that could involve more people gaining knowledge that seemed so simple once it was broken down for us but is too often not acknowledged when you are doing your regular talk therapy.
A huge thank you goes out to Smith and Schacht for giving us something we would not have known that we needed. No matter the reason, whether you are looking to engage with your mind and body, relieve some stress, or just want to see what the Holistic Healing Group is about, come join us on Oct. 24 at 1-1:50 p.m. in B223 for the next session of the Holistic Healing Group offered here at Parkland.
