Templates of Embodiment
This residential course consists of 4 modules, each 4 days long. It provides a safe and caring container to enable participants to engage with the formative templates of how we embody. These are the templates of sperm, egg, conception and implantation. Each of these templates imprints us with archetypal themes, which shape us to become who we are. The course provides participants with the opportunity for theoretical learning, experiential exploration and personal healing.
Anmeldung und mehr Informationen unter: www.isppm.ch
Course Overview
Every cell in your body originates from the sperm and egg of your parents and carry with them the memory of those original cells. These cellular memories inform our present day lives in ways that would we are barely aware of and yet are extremely powerful. Here at the cusp of where consciousness meets biological life powerful dramas are played out that we can find echoed in ancient myth and modern Hollywood blockbusters. Archetypal forces are at work in our beginnings, which shape our sense of who we are, why we are here and what meanings our lives carry. Each of us has our own story that reaches back to our earliest experiences of becoming embodied. Prenatal psychologists have mapped out specific stages that we pass through prior to conception, at conception and at implantation. We all have to experience these templates of embodiment to be here. As we pass though each of these stages we are imprinted by that particular template at a biological, psychological and archetypal level.
Whilst science has traditionally dismissed these early experiences as mere mechanistic processes, cutting edge research in the fields of cell biology and consciousness studies are supporting what prenatal psychologists have known for some time; that who we become has its roots in how we became. The four workshops explore these primary templates through embodied processes that connect us with our beginnings, so that we can understand how the deep emotional self and the perceptual filters by which we experience the world were forged. The opportunity to identify and resolve trauma associated with these templates supports us to be more fully embodied in the present and less driven by self-limiting survival strategies that no longer serve us. Time is given to research and honour our personal stories and to the integration of new possibilities. These workshops are open to anyone who is interested to explore these formative territories. Personal research through embodied experiential exercises is supported by theoretical teaching sessions, hand-outs and group discussions.
Module One: The Template of the Sperm
Our encounter with the sperm cell at the level of the soul brings us into relationship with the archetypal masculine, with the biological mandate of life as specifically expressed by the sperm and the cellular consciousness of our father. Our embodying essence becomes ‘entangled in these events and impressions shaping us to become who we are. The body memory of the cellular movements of the sperm are easily evoked and the imprints of this early cellular experience are brought into conscious awareness. Themes that constellate around the template of the sperm include:
– Why our embodying consciousness was drawn to our particular father.
How his beliefs, dreams, fears, personal and ancestral history , relationship with our mother, diet, state of health and attitudes towards his masculinity and sexuality imprinted our cells and psyche.
The way in which the biological life of the sperm informed our experience of embodiment into physical form and is actively operating in our present day life.
How our own attitudes towards sexuality and masculinity were forged.
How our physiological rhythms and pacing were influenced by the biological mandate of the sperm.
The way in which our life’s purpose was either enhanced or inhibited by the imprint of the sperm template.
Our attitude towards death and how this cell, which is required to die for life to continue, informs our fears or acceptance of dying.
Matthew Appleton MA RCST UKCP
is the co founder and director of Conscious Embodiment Trainings. He was also co-founder of the Institute of Craniosacral Studies and a co-director and senior teacher with the Institute for 12 years. Matthew is a registered Craniosacral Therapist and psychotherapist living and working in Bristol. He trained in Body Psychotherapy at the Wilhelm Reich Institute of Integrated Therapy in Germany and in Core Process Psychotherapist at the Karuna Institute in Devon. He further trained in Pre and Perinatal Education with Karlton Terry in Switzerland and has assisted Karlton in the UK. He is a senior co-teacher with the Institute of Pre and Perinatal Education and a member of the International Society of Prenatal and Perinatal Psychology and Medicine. For ten years he worked as a houseparent at A. S. Neill’s famous democratic school Summerhill and his book ‘A Free Range Childhood’ based on his experiences at Summerhill has been published in several languages. He has more than 20 years experience of lecturing and facilitating workshops in the UK, Europe, South Africa and America. As well as his more formal trainings, Matthew’s work is also informed by his work with a number of Buddhist and Shamanic teachers. He has spent many years visiting sacred sites, encountering wilderness and working in the Celtic shamanic tradition.
Jenni Meyer RN RM BSc Hons
RCST is co-founder and assistant director of Conscious Embodiment Trainings. Growing up in Africa gave Jenni a sense of how important it is to have a close connection with the natural world for physical, emotional and spiritual health. She trained and worked as a nurse in South Africa, before coming to Europe to work as a nurse and train as a midwife. For many years Jenni worked as a community midwife in London with women wanting home births and also with women with mental health needs who were having babies. Jenni has a BSc Hons. in Human Biology and has also studied massage, naturopathy and Craniosacral therapy. She has studied with teachers from various different Buddhist and Yogic traditions. Her especial passion has been Okido yoga (a Japanese Yoga with a Zen Buddhist tradition, amalgamating traditional branches of Yoga and some concepts from martial arts). For the past decade Jenni has continued ongoing training in Pre and Perinatal Education with Karlton Terry and has assisted on some of Karlton’s UK trainings. She has also assisted and taught Craniosacral therapy with the Institute of Craniosacral Therapy. Her home is now in Bristol where she has a busy Craniosacral Therapy practice
For further information see:
www.matthew-appleton.co.uk und www.conscious-embodiment.co.uk