The Seasons of Wellbeing As an Evolutionary Map for Transpersonal Medicine
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The Seasons of Wellbeing as an Evolutionary Map for Transpersonal Medicine Donald M. Epstein Association for Reorganizational Healing Practice Washington, DC, USA Simon A. Senzon Dan Lemberger Private Practice Private Practice Asheville, NC, USA Boulder, CO, USA The four Seasons of Wellbeing (Discover, Transform, Awaken, and Integrate) refer to distinct rhythms, periods, and factors that influence the accessibility of an individual’s resources during the journey of life. Each season is explicitly and implicitly related to an individual’s experience, focus, and capacity for self-organizational states. Each can be used to understand, organize, and foster behavior change, positive growth, transformation, and human development. A genealogy of the seasons is described, emphasizing the empirical and theoretical foundations of Reorganizational Healing and its roots in models such as Grof’s Systems of Condensed Experiences (or COEX Systems) and Wilber’s Integral Theory and Pre/Trans Fallacy. In the context of transpersonal medicine, the seasons offer a framework through which various levels and states associated with an individual’s growth can be mapped and utilized for personal evolution. In this context, seasons are applicable for practitioners and clients who have used transpersonal states to avoid painful emotions or difficult actions. The seasons can guide transpersonal medical clients on a path towards transpersonal being and integration of various states leading to a higher organizational baseline. As a practical tool, the seasons have pertinence in the development of “transpersonal vigilance,” a term defined in this article. The seasons offer resources to practitioners to support clients toward transpersonal being, in a reorganizationally informed or reorganizational way. Keywords: Transpersonal medicine; integral theory; reorganizational healing; seasons of wellbeing; behavior; vigilance. he Seasons of Wellbeing are elements of Schuster, & Dobson, 1997; Blanks, Schuster, Dobson, the Reorganizational Healing paradigm & Jaurequi, 2001; Epstein, 1986b, 1991, 1996a, developed by Donald Epstein. This paradigm 2004c, 2008; Jonkheere, Lohsoonthorn, Musuvarthy, Tis based on an expanded worldview of healing as Mahajan, & Stefanovic, 2010; Schuster, Dobson, reorganization that grew from empirical research Jauregui, & Blanks, 2004) and drawing upon several and embodied healing practices originating with transpersonal and integral models to interpret better apparent and reproducible neurophysiologic spinal how the consciousness states may be associated with wave phenomena (Epstein, Senzon, & Lemberger, the physiological states (Epstein, 1992b; Grof, 1975; 2009; Senzon, Epstein, & Lemberger, 2011), and Maslow, 1969; Wilber, 1995, 2005; Wilber, Brown, & a healing process structured in 12 stages of somatic Engler, 1986) the seasons have emerged as a cyclical and respiratory integration (Epstein, 1994, 2009b). map of human transformation (Epstein, 2007). After almost 30 years of research and development While the Seasons of Wellbeing first emerged driven by these phenomena (Blanks, 2009; Blanks, from the development of Epstein’s technologies, they 102 International Journal of Transpersonal Studies , 33(1), 2014, pp. 102-130Epstein, Senzon, & Lemberger may be applied to many health disciplines, especially avoidance, disassociation, and pain; the Season of those focused on the transpersonal. Seasons are optimally Transform is when one accesses resources to take action aligned with a transpersonal approach to medicine. They through conscious choice and accountability; the offer a simple map to assist individuals in healing on Season of Awaken is when one embodies the domain of the way toward the transpersonal and on the journey “beingness,” often by accessing transpersonal resources; back from the transpersonal. Practitioners may use this the Season of Integrate is when one draws from each of map in helping their clients to navigate and create these the other three seasons in a deliberate way to achieve pathways, and also to understand better the appropriate specific states and outcomes. timing through which they might best utilize the These four seasons are ranges of experience in transpersonal dimensions of being. a person’s life. An individual is not necessarily “in” one The Seasons of Wellbeing season all of the time because life embodies aspects of he Seasons are Discover, Transform, Awaken, and all of them, yet one season is usually predominant. By TIntegrate (Epstein et al., 2009; Fig. 1). By using learning about the seasons, and fully receiving the gifts this terminology in present tense verbs, rather than from each, the individual may move through them in process-based forms, such as “discovering/discovery,” a linear fashion. When appropriate, the individual may “transforming/transformation” “awakening,” and cycle back through them at various intervals throughout “integration” we are consciously developing a new the lifespan. This is the reason of the metaphor terminology to designate four primary cycles throughout “seasons”—to emphasize the cyclic nature of experience life. Processes happen during the season, but the season and the distinct rhythms available in wellbeing. Seasons and Approaches to Medicine t the heart of the seasons is timing. Thus, every Alife or health challenge may be understood as a possibility for self-discovery, self-transformation, awakening, and/or integration at the right time. If the timing is right, the person may emerge from the current crisis or challenge at a new level of life competence, depth of emotion and insight, ability to access new resources of body, mind, heart, and spirit, and in some instances, an embodied awakening. If the timing of change and healing is not considered, individuals are more likely to return back to the life they were living before the current incident, remain at status quo, and even experience a decompensating of state if additional resources are not engaged. The latter approach (no timing) is characteristic of Western medicine, also referred to as “biomedicine” and “allopathic medicine” (Zhang, 2001). The former approach (right timing) is more consistent with a Fig. 1. The Seasons of Wellbeing transpersonal approach to medicine. Western approaches to medicine are based on the itself represents periodic and cyclical periods of each rational desire to fix or cure individuals and bring them individual’s life. Living from a season means that the back to a minimal state of functioning. More recently, individual’s focus and life circumstances habituate Western medicine has embraced lifestyle as an important toward or center around a particular season. The seasons factor, which is generally focused on assisting individuals may be viewed cyclically or progressively. to achieve a higher level of health. Knowing the season The Seasons as a a patient is in may assist the doctor to know which Holarchical Model of Life Experience approach is most appropriate. Even when restoration to a he Season of Discover is when people find out previous state is the chosen path, just considering seasons Tsomething novel about their relationship between may plant seeds of transformation for the person. The Seasons of Wellbeing as Evolutionary Map International Journal of Transpersonal Studies 103 Transpersonal approaches to medicine are psychological, and spiritual filters through which they inherently focused on the transrational. This may experience future similar events. include a wide spectrum of experience. On one end A Genealogical View of the Seasons of the spectrum, practitioners may attempt to assist eorganizational Healing was inspired and developed patients with entering their own transpersonal depths Rby Donald Epstein from the disciplines of Network in the face of illness or even death. On the other end, Spinal Analysis (Epstein, 1996a, 2004c), Somato the practitioner may seek to assist patients who are Respiratory Integration based on the 12 stages of healing, already accessing the transpersonal in some way in order (Epstein, 1994, 2009b), and an emerging energetic to integrate it into their lives and use those experiences educational discipline (Epstein, 2009c). The seasons were for healing. The middle of the spectrum may include discovered in the development of the reorganizational a wide range of approaches in patient care and healing approach through mapping the relationships between outcomes. Seasons may be used across the spectrum of the inner subjective structural consciousness states with transpersonal medicine to assist individuals to access physical “external” posture and sensory motor spinal systematically the transpersonal depths and to integrate and body strategies. These linkages between inner and those depths into daily life. This is accomplished by first outer were explicitly established to ensure a deep holism acknowledging individuals’ current situation, bringing as one way to apply integralism (Wilber, 1995). it to their awareness, assessing if the individual is Network Spinal Analysis care developed actually living in the “right” season, and then assisting from network chiropractic, which was first taught to them somatically, emotionally, psychologically, and/or chiropractors in 1984 (Epstein, 1986a). The preliminary spiritually to embody more fully the season that life is development of network chiropractic, between 1979 demanding. and 1984, stemmed from a wide range of chiropractic Symptoms and disease may be used as calls for applications and empirical observations