Very few people can claim to have spent their lives completely undisturbed and in deep harmony with themselves and the world. Whether it's a missing the train, a twisted ankle, or menstrual pain - we are all familiar with disruptions and the potential limitations and moods that can go along with them. The first impulse is then often to want to make these disturbances "go away." There are good reasons why self-optimization guides, painkillers and prevention courses are selling like hot cakes. The fact that there are these and other means to make disruptions less noticeable or even to avoid them is just as useful and helpful as the difficult emotions that are triggered by them - after all, they show us that something is different than planned, imbalanced or damaged.

Process work offers various methods to deal with disturbances. These methods do not promise solutions or substitute e.g. for traditional medical therapies. However, they can help to gain a different way of dealing with the signals we perceive from our environment or from our own body or mind.

Process work takes a phenomenological approach. This means that we look at the signals that occur as non-judgmentally as possible and work from there, among other things, with the help of associations. This can lead to the process quickly moving to another topic or "one level lower" and in the meantime we no longer even know what the process has to do with the original topic. The advantage of this is that we can get out of the thought spinning, which otherwise keeps us well on our toes in everyday life, and rely on the wisdom of our body. With a good process facilitation you have the necessary anchor to safely arrive in everyday consciousness with new insights.

For the sake of clarity, I'll describe this concisely using a personal example. At the end of the post, you'll find instructions for exploring disruptions if you feel like trying it out yourself.

One disturbance I worked with was one of the symptoms of an allergy, which I clarified medically and also treat with conventional medicine as needed. The thing that bothered me there was the loud sneezing, which is not only unmissable, but where I also have to close my eyes, so I can't see anything. Both "happen" to me, I can't suppress either.

An important intervention in process work is amplification, that is, what is there is expressed more intensely in order to explore the quality within it more deeply. So I tried to find an even greater mode of expression and, automatically my arms made a bold, powerful movement forward. I observed that I was taking up a lot of space in the process. I repeated the movement a few times, closing my eyes as I did so, as if sneezing. My facilitator in this process asked me what would happen if I opened my eyes while doing this. Seeing my surroundings triggered a pleasant feeling in my chest. I was moved by it, because parallel to the bodywork a chain of thoughts ran along in my mind: I associated the spacey gestures that loudly attract attention with my external appearance. In the past, it was unpleasant for me to draw so much attention to myself. I would have preferred not to see what I might trigger in my surroundings. Today, I can easily present myself as tall and strong and take up the space - for example, with my work, which I love so much.

Of course, I can look at it critically and judge that this is over-interpreted or has nothing to do with the allergy and this may even hold true, but: Firstly, the feeling of the being moved shows that something about my interpretation and the associated realization is important to me at this very moment. Secondly, since then, every time I sneeze loudly, I am reminded of this positive feeling again and thus perceive it as much less disturbing.

The allergy has not disappeared as a result, but the symptom has taken on a different connotation for me. As a result, I feel less burdened on days of severe allergy symptoms and this benefits my overall well-being.

If I have been able to spark your interest, you can use the following instructions to see for yourself whether you can discover potential in a disturbance and how you can benefit from it. For the processing of long-term, repeatedly occurring or very stressful disturbances, I recommend you to explore them with professional support.

Step 1:

What is "disturbing" you right now? What happens to you when the disturbance occurs? Where do you perceive it in your body and how?

Step 2:

Imagine that it is a character that produces this disruption. For a moment, embody this character and "make the symptom". Express it in a movement or sounds. What energy does it hold?

Step 3:

Where in your life could you use this energy to a greater extent? What would you be able to do with it?

Enjoy exploring!

PS: If you find that the process causes you to experience challenging feelings or triggers more than you had anticipated, I recommend that you seek professional guidance on the matter.