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I’m going to ask you to indulge me in a little experiment right now. Close your eyes (after you finish this paragraph of course) and think about a certain body party. How about we start with your left foot? Sit and let your awareness of your left foot come to you. Notice that it may feel larger or smaller than your right foot. Become aware of little details and how your whole body may be responding with many sensations that draw your attention to different places. If that happens, tune into the foot again. Maybe it feels different than a moment ago. Notice small details such as where it’s warmest or coldest. Is this temperature deep or on the surface? Is there a slight aching pain? Tingling? Do your toes feel irritated when they rub against each other? Has your left foot change size or weight from when you first checked in?
Seriously, try it out. Don’t worry, I don’t mind waiting for a bit.
Good to have you back. Now that you’ve tried that let me ask you something, don’t you feel just a little more aware of what is happening with your entire body? Maybe you feel different but can’t quite name it. Do you notice things going on in your body that generally get lost in the background of your everyday life? Did you drift off into thought or daydreams? Well according to Richard Gutierrez, this type of awareness is the first step in managing and maintaining your body’s energies and a healthier life.
Gutierrez is a former NROTC who graduated in art and biology from UCLA. Later, after years of performing massages and other forms of body work, he began to develop a method of improving the overall quality of his client’s lives by helping them become aware that by tuning into their own sensations, they could become aware of, and enter into a beneficial interaction with their bodies. Clients have come in with symptoms that doctors hadn’t really helped them with, symptoms that ranged from tight shoulders to panic attacks. Gutierrez realized Western medicine was addressing what the person felt as a problem, a symptom to be alleviated rather than valuable information that the person himself could listen to and follow to a potential resolution. Relieving the symptom means losing it as a valuable guide to deeper processes. But what if the person could track his experiences and participate in the body’s ongoing processes? He could develop a deep sense of how his physical, mental and emotional experiences are always in interaction with the natural flow of energy in his body. Toward this goal, he created the Integrative Tracking method.
The method is simple enough to learn; in fact you tried out one of its first steps at the beginning of this story. When you work with Gutierrez, the first thing he does is conduct an interview with you about whatever problem you need help with and he then describes the principles he works with. When this interview is done you lie on a comfortable table and close your eyes. Gutierrez then asks some questions similar to what I asked you earlier, questions designed to help you develop a deeper sense of your body.
The point of it all is to start a dialogue between your conscious self and your body. The questions help you realize that initial sensations are conversation openers that lead to even deeper but unnoticed sensations. He helps you experience how your own awareness can permit your body to unwind or release at one level, then guide you to underlying sensations that indicate both physical and emotional holdings that could be causing your discomfort.
Once clients learn how to better attune themselves to these signals and how to work with them, they can identify problems earlier on and even shift energy to or away from problem areas to diminish the symptoms they suffer from. Those with migraines might be focusing too much energy in their brains and eyes while someone with sleep apnea might not be sufficiently aware of his left foot. Each case is different and several factors could be affecting the problem occurring, but that’s what Gutierrez is there for, to help you learn how to best listen to your body’s specific signals.
Originally he conducted sessions with new clients by referral only, but now he has decided to expand his services and allow any potential client the option to learn his method. You only have to visit his website at www.integrativetracking.com to book an appointment and learn for yourself how to increase your body-mind awareness. It’s a simple and very effective way to help alleviate pains, aching joints, sleep disorders, and stress related health issues. When you need an effective and alternative solution to your woes, there are few other methods that offer you the peace of mind and attentiveness that is key to Integrative Tracking.
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