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ARTICLE: A Munyer Moment - Arfur Stories, Esalen and TPR

Arthur Munyer

A little over a year ago, I started my affiliations with Body Therapy Center. The Esalen Professional class is well on its way. 38 students have completed the program and I am preparing for the next Esalen class that will start at the end of January 2004. I was asked to do the cover story and thought that I would share more about the work I do and share with BTC community testimonials from the Esalen and Trigger Point classes.

I spent 25 years living at Esalen and I am excited and grateful to share this work with others. Part of my time at Esalen, I worked with the children at the Gazebo school. There are many stories that I have written about my experiences with the children, which metaphorically represents the work that I am teaching. Periodically, the BTC newsletter will include an “Arfur story” (one will be included in this edition). I open my heart with all of you as I share these stories.

This past summer, I taught my first 125-hour Trigger Point Release class, the Munyer Method, at BTC. This was a profound teaching experience. In my classes, I teach that we have four energy bodies: the spiritual, physical, emotional and mind bodies. In the emotional body there are five emotions: joy, love, fear, sadness and anger. When I first began this work, I worked from the energy of the physical body. I realized that my clients and I had experiences from the emotional, spiritual, and mind bodies, as well. I have also noticed that the energy within these four bodies may move at any moment from one body to the next, and most of the time, I had ignored this shift. Now I acknowledge the shift and take responsibility for it. When I recognize which energy body my clients are in, it helps me communicate more clearly with them, thus guiding me in working more deeply with my clients and myself.

Below are an Arfur story, testimonials from the Esalen evaluation, and a few excerpts from papers that student's have written about their experiences in the TPR class (I wish there were room for more). I have found that students are great teachers and give me a gift every time I teach, which I am eternally grateful. My deepest thanks to BTC for the opportunity to be able to share this with all of you. Namaste, Arthur

Arfur Story

My Tommee Hurts

Arfur (Lucy is lying on the ground next to the pony stable looking like she would like some attention) Hi Lucy, How are you doing?
Lucy (In a painful upset voice) I don't feel good !
Arfur What doesn't feel good?
Lucy (putting her hand on her Tommee) My tommee hurts
Arfur Would you like to do something about your pain?
Lucy Ah! Huh!
Arfur Would you like to play a game with your pain?
Lucy (eyes that want help) Okay
Arfur Close your eyes. What do you see?
Lucy (Lucy closes her eyes) Dark
Arfur Do you see any light around?
Lucy (spends a moment to look around inside) Yeah, I do see a little light.
Arfur See if you can go to that light and tell me when you get there!
Lucy okay (moment later with eyes still closed) I'm there!
Arfur What do you see?
Lucy I see a sun and its warm.
Arfur do you think you could travel to your tommee?
Lucy how could I do that?
Arfur Well take a look around to see where you are now!
Lucy I'm by my heart.
Arfur Okay, now your tommee is below your heart so lets travel down to your tommee.
Lucy I can't, I don't know how too.
Arfur what could you use to help your self down to your tommee?
Lucy (thinks for a moment) I could use a rope and climb down!
Arfur that's great Lucy use your rope.
Lucy (feeling good about her choice, begins her journey)
Arfur What do you see as you are climbing down?
Lucy (concerned) I see red and colors.
Arfur How do you feel Lucy?
Lucy I feel a little scared (sadness comes over her face and tears begin to well up in her eyes)
Arfur Is there a place you could rest for a moment?
Lucy (Softly) Yeah
Arfur Go to that place
Arfur Are you there Lucy?
Lucy Yes
Arfur What do you feel scared about?
Lucy I miss my mommy ( tears begin to pour out and crying starts as Lucy lets go of her feelings)
Arfur (Watches as Lucy begins to stop crying, a feeling of relief comes over her and a smile begins to form on her spirit). What's happening now Lucy?
Lucy ( opens her eyes) ”I don't feel scared anymore!”
Arfur How's your tommee?
Lucy ( big smile) It doesn't hurt anymore( Lucy runs off to play )

Testimonials Esalen® class:

Arthur Munyer: “Great subject mastery, technique and teaching style. In addition, Arthur has a lot of experience and knowledge relevant to teaching the broader Esalen approach. The materials and anatomy videos were very helpful. Arthur was very supportive and came up with really creative ways of teaching anatomy so that we could really understand what was going on in the body, not just memorize a bunch of names… He blended many different topics and activities. He encouraged people to look at their emotions, issues, and mind dramas, let go of fixed patterns and structure, have fun and go with the flow. I felt very comfortable with his approach and appreciated his sense of humor.”

“Arthur and Daniela are certainly masters of their work. I cannot express how much they affected my life. Arthur is very direct. I think that this inspired a whole different way of living that I am grateful for experiencing. Communication is something I thought I was okay with at first, but after this class with Arthur, I've become so much better. This improvement has helped me in my relationship with myself as well as others. Daniela is like a dancing angel. Her grace showed me how beautiful Esalen can be”.

Excerpts from TPR Experiences

1. “It is no surprise to those that know me that I have spent a great deal of my life in my mind body. I had thought before my studies with “Arfur” that I had done a pretty good job of surviving my past dramas, becoming conscious of the dynamics/processes and in creating new and healthier patterns that would enhance the remainder of my life.
Oh my God - Wrong again!!!!!! The following describes a small but powerful portion of the changes I am learning and are possible by the Trigger Point experience.

So, now I'm in class with my Latissimus Dorsi being triggered. I feel focused and I am checking into my four bodies. Here, I find myself in my physical body, then my mind body and then a shift to a place that I'm not sure I have ever been before, or at least, if I have been here before, I was never as energetically present as I was in the moments that followed. A place of pure energy. I am going to say this again, because I realize how important this moment was for me. A 'metamorphose' or ' right of passage'. In this place of pure energy my physical, emotional, mind and spiritual bodies were present but my state of being or should I say, my four bodies were totally joined as one energy.
Neither separated nor responsive to thought, wants, experience, physical sensation, emotion, vision, smell or any other element I have experienced in this earth plane. Just energy - infinitely big, vibrantly whole ------- here-now”

2. “…My partner applied her hands on my abdominal to start the circular motion strokes and instantly I felt this sadness. I was present with the energy as it flowed through my body. I asked permission to enter the sadness. Then this sound came out of my body and started to voice itself. To me it felt as if this balloon deflated in my stomach and all this hot air was forced through my body and through my mouth. Once the voice was out my body started to tremble. The trembles turned into spasms, my legs shook uncontrollably, but I was aware of what was going on. My screams sounded as if I was 7 months old again. The more I think about it, when I look back to where or who I was on the table I see this baby, and the baby was me.

All the energy was coming to the surface of my skin. I was sweating all over my body. I think I lost 5 pounds of water in this release. I was asked to stop so I could check in with myself to see where I was and how I was. Well, I was buzzing all over, covered in sweat and feeling little aftershocks throughout my legs for about 10 more minutes. Then all of a sudden this laughter came over me. I felt this incredible sensation of joy in my face and jaw. I couldn't stop laughing, I didn't want to, but it just surprised me how my body could go from fear to laughter. It showed my how unpredictable my energy is. Even as I think about this incident my body remembers the energy release very well. I feel this fear in my chest and my stomach and it feels good. Where the fear I had before wasn't explored. Now I thank and recognize the fear and work with it like any other feeling. “

3. Coming to terms with myself
“Q: Are the people in my life that I care about, here for me?

I had been asking myself that question for some time. And the more I kept asking it I found myself becoming more distant from friends, family, and from myself. Before I knew it, I was finding myself unfocused, had feelings of loss direction and not knowing what I was doing with my life. Anger and sadness were the main emotions that would come up. Although I hid my anger from myself, not wanting to express it, only to believe it to be this mass destructive monster that wouldn't stop until the things around me were destroyed. My mind, trying to cover up what's really wrong by saying, “I'm fine, nothings wrong, you just want to sleep, or you want to eat”, telling me everything but the truth.

The day that we started triggering the Quadratus Lumborum was when the truth was revealed. After my right side had been worked, I was in my spiritual body while my left side was being worked on. My right side took me right out spiritual body by bringing me to my physical body. "I hurt, don't forget about me." My right side was telling me. I felt sad and then started to cry. "I haven't forgotten about you, I know your there." I then felt this warm glowing feeling cover my body. "I shine, I glow, I'm beautiful. I love myself." "I love you." Love filled my body with warm energy from my center shooting out to every limb. I gave myself a nice long hug. It felt so good to just love myself. I found myself to be right where I wanted to be. I felt alive, aware, I knew where I wanted to go and what I wanted to do. It felt so good to be free of my bullshit movie that my mind was feeding me.

A: How can I expect others to be there for me, when I'm not even there for myself?

Final answer... just love yourself.”