First we shall broaden the question: Does the practitioner have any acquired knowledge for the provision of treatment? If the answer is negative, where he draws from the knowledge required for the treatment?
The practitioner in our Method does not have self-knowledge. He is equipped with a technique of search for the sources of the knowledge embodied in us, practitioner and patient as one, and its origin is in the very same Creation. Either if the origin of the Creation is the Big Bang or in the abyss of Divinity; either way, in the base of all these is found our existential frequency and the existential frequency of the entire Creation.
What is the information that originally dwells in this existential frequency of each one of our inner elements, as part of the entire creation?
This frequency is a compilation of all the codes for our existence, is all the answers we need to know in our past stories and in the mist of our future, is the foundation of our entire existence. The existential frequency is the beginning and the end at the same time, a frequency that constitutes dynamic Lego blocks for all the energetic structures from which is built our cosmos, the base for the existence and actuation kits of all the flora, fauna and inanimate things, solid, fluid, on land, in the heaven stars , galaxies and everything in them. All answer to a frequency that causes our existence to beat while changing incessantly and exchanging information that updates and refreshes, with the purpose to continue our existence in continuous symbiosis with ourselves and with the environment. It has no past and has no future, it has the first and also the second, everything from everything for the very existence that changes incessantly. While as in any known metabolism there is a beginning, a process and an end, it is entirely one flickering point: “Hop! And it is gone”, as a small particle in the scope of the infinite. Time, contrary to the conventional idea, is not a value for itself, is not an absolute value, but it rather is a too that we recruit in order to administrate our life and it is an artificial tool, just an illusion. The life of a butterfly is completed in his forty hours of life and nothing is missing in the time experience of his life compared to the human’s one hundred and twenty years. The significance of time as experienced by an astronaut that his space vehicle crushes and goes into the atmosphere is totally different from the experience of the controller in the launching station in relation to the same event. Not to mention the fixed mechanic time employed by a diligent and efficient person versus a person that is unable to organize with the same efficiency. This is exactly the question that we frequently ask: is one hour a long or a short time ….
The basic frequency of this cosmic existence is a succession of information about our very existence on earth and also beneath. The understanding of our very existence is the proper expression of the potential in our life. It is our material and spiritual expression. Is what stands behind our existential potential, and is the component of all our capabilities. It is what stands at the foundation of the human DNA and constitutes the working environment of our sub conscience, and so happens with other creatures. It is everything in everything; it is the secret of life. What is accessible to be touched and what we just imagine. It is much more than the smallest material particle that the scientists search as the base of our existence and much more than what the devout person believes is related to the divine legacy granted to us or to others in order to understand the secret of life. It is the infinite collection, permanently complex and changing, of the existence formulas latent there and that their recognition serve us for what we define as the provenance of knowledge. This cosmic knowledge is to such extent parametrically enormous that we are unable to understand and contain this information; it is too great for us to learn it and teach it. It is possible to participate in it. It is at our disposal and for us to discover parts of it and to use these parts -everyone for himself- always within the limited guarantee of our capability to contain and manage it, and just for ourselves. The parts revealed to us in these quests is what we denominate our knowledge, which we never can posses and we cannot teach. This elusive thing is what we search for and discover just parts of it, each of us for him/her, each according to his/her own ability, and according to utmost of the help that he/she can get from us, the Ilan Lev Method practitioners. It is at our disposal, for us to reveal parts of it and to use it in our decision making.
What is the role of the practitioner?
Our role as practitioners, jointly with the patient and for him/her, is to discover parts of the huge collection of this knowledge and to make it usable by the patient, any patient. It is not possible to define such knowledge, as a recipe. If we would be tempted to formulate it as a therapeutic or behavioral formula, it would become a trap and an obstacle. We do not bestow or teach this knowledge; we assist the patient to discover it. We create for him a sacred opportunity to reveal life options and to make them a useful tool for his/her own benefit, according to his ability at any given time in his mature life. We facilitate a better merger or cohesion with himself/herself and with the surrounding Creation, we diminish his conflicts and improve his capability.
How is it done? As a baby “knows” and does. We do not bestow the knowledge that the infant acquired; we adopt his way to investigate, the same used in order to discover everything revealed to him/her in order to assess correctly his needs. We try to identify our inherent infant’s ability and act in order to preserve this infant’s capability and freshness, which is an amazing tool. This is a pristine modus operandi, an honest approach in a path of questions that call for answers, all the time. It is not a path of proven answers rigidly and mindlessly formulated, which disrupt and entrap any true query. Our way is the true way of quandary, wonder and learning. We walk on a path of permanent examination without hackneyed phrases and without understood axioms.
The practitioner approaches the patient with these tools, and offers our searching tools while paying much attention and awe, with repeated movements that from some place set afloat the pieces of knowledge that the patient needs. The practitioner offers and the patient leads. This is our therapeutic manner, a dialog that develops a path of powerful revelations, a path that does not imply any risk, damage or incident but it is a path of exciting and stimulating personal development.
This is the source of knowledge and authority from which we draw our therapeutic abilities and competence.
Is there a limit to our therapeutic capabilities? If so, what is this limit?
Since we ‘scratch” so little of our enormous existential capabilities, it is difficult to draw a true and valid line to our existential and therapeutic capabilities.
In fact, the limit to our capability to heal and to improve depends -on one hand- on the ridge of the patient’s capability to open for us and for him/her the correct way to any point in time, and -on the other hand- on the practitioner’s capability to develop a rich dialogue in order to make the most of the patient’s willingness and adulthood to acquire more and more capabilities.
As we understand it, it is an inviting, infinite, propagative and exciting path. What do you think?
In many forms of therapy the approach is one of keeping distance between therapist and patient, and we are often warned to stay away from emotional involvement and empathy with the patient's feelings. These matters are often taught as part of the methodology of becoming a practitioner, and used as rules of do's and don'ts.
What informs the Ilan Lev practitioners, is practically the opposite. We tend to view the patient not only as someone who carries their pains into therapy, but also the man/woman as a whole, no compromises made. We view the distance often used, as a form of insecurity, some sort of low-risk insurance policy.
We preach for full empathy, to the point of becoming one body, equal, conversing at eye's level. Instead of producing solutions, we set out on a journey with our patient, searching together for the best solutions.
We do not fear losing anything or getting hurt, because the best protection, according to our understanding, is the full and uncompromising openness.
It is common to treat pain as an enemy which must be destroyed, or as a risk to be avoided. According to our understanding, pain is a friend, a partner who took upon himself the unpleasant job of an inside informer, reporting malfunctions of the system's operation. A valuable part of our intelligence system. Pain imposes as an enemy, delivering critical information to ensure our functional abilities, a real "battle field". Without pain we would not know of malfunctions and we would deteriorate, all the way to a full collapse of our operating system.
For this reason we do not "run away" from pain. Those who do that- keep it there, together with the problem it represents. We do the opposite from the culture around us, and opposite from what is accepted in other treatment disciplines. He who locks pain in- keeps it locked inside. We try to reach it and assist its respectful exit.
According to this, pain tells us of accumulated effort movement, or energy (call it as you may), "stuck" somewhere in the body. The system relates to movement or effort stuck inside as to any foreign body. We need the movement and effort to execute activities. Once done, left-overs are considered an infection that must be fought, and all means are relevant (such as: infections, edema, and pain), to fight this war.
Here we clean these out, away from the body, without compromises. The effect is usually immediate and surprising.
For being a sign and a guide we thank the pain, and make sure we clean the body of it, till no sign is left inside.
we understand you hold a clear stance regarding perfectionism. Are you for or against it? Or- Is perfectionism like excellence? How to deal with this? Is it a heaven sent state to live with, or a free choice?
Answer: perfectionism is not excellence. Perfectionism is a non-compromising demand of the utmost best, whereas excellence is a constant striving towards the best.
Perfectionism looks for perfection, while excellence looks for wholeness.
Perfect is a symbol or a direction, much like the north star- it is unreachable. It's too total, impossible and the constant demand to reach it is frustrating.
Wholeness is reachable and refers to making the best of existing conditions and possibilities. The road to it is paved with endless joys and improvements.
Perfectionism is static, finite, blocked and with no tolerances within the range of functional decision making.
Excellence is dynamic, has alive spaces, opportunities, processes and improvement.
Perfectionism is end-fixated;
excellence has infinite openness and constant development.
Perfectionism measures itself by shortages, meaning how much are we short from perfection, it is merciless and joyless. Achievement is then taken for granted, and so must be doubted, it leaves no hunger for more, only fear of failure.
Excellence celebrates joyfully every achievement, on its way to new discoveries; it has compassion and excitement with a great hunger for more. Striving for excellence has joy.
Perfectionism- anxiety.
Excellence is a right, perfectionism a duty.
Excellence is open, perfectionism-closed.
Excellence leaves a taste for more, perfectionism-disgust.
Excellence broadens, perfectionism shrinks down.
Excellence invites, perfectionism repulses.
Yearning for excellence is a huge experience, a taste of life,
perfectionism is as cold as death.
In one there is great openness and forgiveness, in the other- a trap.
Wholeness is a fountain of life, perfectionism is foul water.
Excellence is striving for wholeness, while perfect simply does not exist.
Excellence is an expression of yearning for wholeness, a yearning that allows daily celebration with every day and anything, awakening, refreshing and exciting.
Perfectionism stresses and freezes.
Striving for excellence and wholeness is life itself;
perfectionism is a choice of self destruction, a journey of agony in life.
Perfectionism is compulsive, wholeness is not.
Perfectionism is a disease, a real pathology, whereas excellence is health.
Excellence is hope and vision, perfectionism frustration.
Excellence seems to me as divine, perfectionism devilish!
For these reasons I chose excellence over perfectionism. It is up to each person to choose whether to be a perfectionist, or not. it is not innate. It is all the fruition of habits and functional patterns we have adapted at a certain time of our lives, and as such - we can change them. It is not a terminal "illness", it's our undisputed right to choose our best way and stick to it. The difference is great.
This is a grouping of several separate questions. We shall answer one by one, and add a common base of more general insights. Those will help is release popular thinking patterns and prejudice, that serve as our "do's and don'ts". These insights are meant to supply us with more useful, personal and better thinking tools.
Sitting down-
Low or high, edge of the seat or full seat, leaning back or forward, loose and bent back or stiff and rising, belly hanging down or sinking in, legs front or cross to the back, weight on the left or right buttock etc.. These are all legitimate choices that must be exchanged from time to time, by free choice of frequency, without looking for premature reasoning for every change and position. The changes are needed for constant refreshing and variety that stimulates our personal system and allow it to improve. Any other finite answer, even if it may seem helpful at one moment, will lead us to the next trap.
Sitting on a hard platform is recommended- it is necessary for our operating system to receive constant information reflecting what is going on inside the body while seated. Only this way the proper answers arrive, fitted for our bodily needs, allowing comfortability, improvement and betterment. It is a process that cancels out tiredness, restrictions and pains, gives a good feeling, constant efficiency, proper rest and refreshment. It is important to understand that this is try for any kind of sitting. Passive sitting in front of the T.V., as well as active one while playing an instrument, etc..
When experiencing pain it is recommended to take a pair of socks, roll them together like a fist, and tuck under one of the buttocks, and refresh that position from time to time as well.
Getting up-
Straight or bent, forward or backward tilt, stepping on right or left foot, leaning with hands or not, head tilt to front, back or sides.All these are good, possible and available options, endlessly interchangeable..
Any pattern, be it the most refreshing or releasing one over the short term, will become a fixed and damaging habit over the long run. Random and changing usage of all the patterns collects the good in them and prevents accumulative damage.
In case of pain and difficulty, it is recommended to stand up with feet (both or one), slightly bent and leaning backwards, the elbows leaning on the legs near the knee, and one hand inviting the head to cuddle inwards (chin to chest and forehead to knee). Getting up is a gradual rolling process, involving leaning elbow to knee and the palm to knee, left and right interchanging, up till full extending of the body to upright position.
In the final stages the palms shift to leaning on back of the hips, each hand separately, as we push the hips forward. continuing till the process is fully finished, step by step, till the pelvis pushes forward, while keeping low center on gravity and pouring the weight to the ground. And make no efforts at all!!
As to breathing, in it recommended to not align the manor and type of breathing with any step of the way. Generally it is better to breath through the mouth, inhaling a large quantity of air, to fullness, or exhaling air reaching a big empty feeling. All this, without any order and even the opposite way from what seemed proper or best so far.
Only this way can one break popular patterns, that are basically nothing more than prejudice and obstructive ideas, and allow fresh and refreshing pathways for the whole system.
Try it out, good luck!
Walking-
Soft or hard shoes, barefoot? Soft or hard pathway? Slow, fast or measured pace? In style or wild? Tilted back or front? Breath aligned or not? Deep or measured breath? Through nose or mouth? These are all possibilities, recommended interchangeably and all the time! None of these is the best solution for good. There is no such thing. Making lots of changes between the options that surface, even doing the opposite and than changing again, invites goodness and lessens the bad effects, that never get to accumulate.
As for insoles, it is important to stress that flatfoot or high arch are not a disease or disability! These are body-given data, and the functional system should be allowed to deal with them, and now against them! Our system has solutions for these things and any attempt to "make it easier" on the system is wrong and misleading. It is possible and good to use insoles as temporary assistance, in certain cases but not for too long a time.
As for walkers, I believe they are a real danger, especially because then the walking isn't fully operated by the personal system, thus becomes unaware of the necessary nuance. It is very important. Nonetheless, it's important to note that Stopping the usage of a walker is even more dangerous, and I am familiar with cases in which using and than stopping led to a major collapse of all spinal muscles!
As for breathing, muscular activity requires lots of oxygen, so it is important to supply the system with an abundance of it while walking. This is why breathing through the mouth is highly recommended.
Most important, and according to the spirit of things - smiling a lot, and being sloppy. Good luck.
Lying down-
Soft or hard platform? Side, back or on the belly? With or without a pillow? Small, large, soft or hard pillow? Well- regarding the platform (bed&mattress), a firm surface is recommended (more on this later). As to the other questions, it is recommended to change and keep a diversity.All options are equally valid, and it is important to change and change again as time goes by. In making these changes it is good to trust "gut feelings", which are the executive agency of our intuitive system. This system represents the vast cosmic knowledge within us, and usually offers the right solution at the right time.
The reason a firm platform is recommended is that night sleep is an important process, mainly for cleansing and correcting the left-overs from the day and preparing the body and mind for the next day's activities. The process requires the most information possible about bodily activities. This information is recieved only if there is a proper "resonance board", a "partner" who will offset or fake information. We find this partner in a well supporting bed and a firm mattress. This means a wooden bed (better than springs) and a firm pressed-padding mattress in the the highest degree, or one level bellow highest (if preferred).
As for pillows, once more, certain firmness is important, in a friendly way of course.. Well known are the pillows that were developed for astronauts, made of firm particles (silicones?, in a medium-size pillow that can be "refreshed" and modulate in shape to the changing needs. This pillow doesn't yield or sink to much, and supports our sleeping needs as detailed earlier.
In case of already existing pain, one can use a pair of socks, folded together into a fist-like shape, to put under or next to the painful spot, for the night or part of it. The socks create a "stimulus" for the system, making it find a solution by way of inner re-organisation, as if the user is receiving treatment. This is useful for short term use.
The optimal night time is probably between 6 to 8 hours, depending on person of course.
Less than that might not suffice for the system to cleanse and prepare properly for the next day.
More than that may not only be unnecessary, but also may tire the systems.
General insights-
Out of all the above answers, some general insights surface, that need looking at.
First the "bad news"...
Realizing that there are no definite operating solutions that can be technically triggered, by some protocol, as detailed as it may be. The reason is that life itself is much more complex than any known technical solution. Too many parameters, endless relations to sub systems, and a huge dynamic of endless changing, do not give chance for dictated solutions. These should come from creation itself, to surface on their own accord.
For the same reason that man can't create a human being in a lab (only life can make life), he is also unable to put "correct" solutions for functional behavior (even in such ordinary questions like sitting, standing etc.). Any forced solution from the outside, is a trap that brings the next difficulty.
Second the "good news"...
This stems from our realizations within the human system itself. The same system that can create man out of nothing, that can design a perfect human cell who can multiply itself and direct endless complexities in conjunction with a changing environment, the same system will instruct us the best solutions to our every moment, in the most perfect and rapid way. All this as long as we know to ask of it out of respect, appreciation and honesty.
The realization behind all this acknowledges that all needed solutions are encompassed within the human system for ages and ages, waiting to reveal themselves. They are registered as frequencies, that are the collection of all information required for existence and the basis of our matter. Our DNA is built and arranged from them. Our sub-concience is inhabited by them. They are our true "self". We do not need to manage them. They are our potential as well as our actual abilities, which will be realized more and more if we just avoid interrupting them. They will help correct and heal, and instruct us each moment how to sit, get up and act.
Thirdly, epilogue:
Practically speaking, the way in which relevant solutions can be summoned to appear is first of all by acknowledging their existence and encourage the dialogue with them, till it becomes a way of living. It is a revolution that, through Ilan Lev's method, is led happily, knowing that all abundant solutions stand before us across the board, as life solutions, as ones to make use of!
To much health!
Fear is a tool designed to protect us, our lives and our functional quality. Fear warns us of dangers and protects us from damages and faults. It heightens our safety in better or less known environments. Fear protects our lives. That's good isn't it? But- fear prevents us from responding rapidly, it holds us back and even paralyzes us. Fear prevents the discovery of new things and closes possibilities. It disrupts activities and daily life. It locks us within known existing knowledge. Fear doesn't like questions; it suppresses curiosity and prevents innovation. Fear demands proofs of validity and efficiency. Fear makes our life harder. that's not good right?
Let's try to sum up: fear protects our lives and burdens them very much- is that good or bad? Or maybe- to what extent? This depends on the role we attribute to it, and the proportions. We believe fear is good as long as it knows its place. Its job is to warn, notify and give council, but by no means to be the manager!! it is meant to assist our decision making system, not to control it! Our culture has given fear an exaggerated role of management, and as such it is paralyzing and destructive. We shall then keep it as council and it will add to our well-being.
We recognize character in a person, that distinguishes them from others. What is character? What is it made of within the human puzzle? Where does it stem from? What does it depend on? And how can we alter it?
Answer: I would put a key sentence in my reply this way- "A man's character is the collection of habits he developed during his life". All our answers in this matter are derived from this sentence. We ought to examine this: indeed, what are habits? Where do they originate and how do we shape them?
To answer these questions we must return back to our personal history, as babies.
A baby is born with all of creation's capabilities, but none are evident to him at the moment of birth and earlier at the moment of pregnancy. The baby must arrive into the world as a clean slate, pure and attentive. Without prejudice or prior-knowledge noise, to allow him to survive in such a strange and foreign surrounding, which he never met before.
The baby will then develop those abilities that he will require instantly, and will have to put aside a great abundance of other capabilities which were not required, thus postponed, or even never to be manifested. We may find comfort in the fact that we will never know we gave them up.
The whole process of the baby "becoming a citizen" in our world is the fruition of trial and error, and the positive lessons are registered one by one in the baby's "dictionary" of possibilities, to be used to run his life.
We called these lessons "functional patterns", which, same as words, compile the baby's basic life function vocabulary. He then can make them into sentences and stories. The richness of this vocabulary will determine the quality of his life.
"Functional patterns" are basically the best routines we have developed, which serve us for all the motor and mental activities we wish to do. They are registered in the sub-conscious and serve all our operation levels. Some are immediate and faster (including what we call reflexes) and some are more voluntary and initiated by us, and are usually slower and more clumsy.
This dictionary is stamped in us in our early life time, more or less until the age of 4. We tend to mistakenly think that it is our nature since the beginning, as if it has been genetically dictated to us. Genetics does have a say here, but possibly carries very little weight. So little, that it is significantly less then what we think.
Returning to the question above, we may conclude:
The "functional patterns" we discussed become our life habits and those determine our character. But in the same way we constructed them- we may alter them.
Ilan Lev treatments allow us a rare opportunity to return to our infancy and in a way of deep dialogue with the sub-conscious, we learn to know the roots of our habits and even reshape them.
Interesting, isn't it?
In this query there are several questions concealed simultaneously, and mainly: is the soul an independent entity that stands sidelong or above other more manifested entities, such as body and mind? Is its existence conditioned by them, yes or not? Is the soul influenced by them or inversely? Does the soul belong to any other well -which differs from all those known to us- and perchance exists at an existence level totally different from the mental, physical or energetic levels? Is the soul our eternal and spiritual “us” while the body is “just” a corporeal unnecessary addition, expendable and awkward? Or our body and mind are the real story and the tale of the soul is just a nice episode?
My answer emerges from these questions, pretending to provide a response; please let me say that this is my very personal opinion and does not oblige any of you. Even I am not convinced that I agree with this, my own opinion, and also you should examine its validity as you see fit according to your opinion and yours alone. So, as far as I am concerned, the soul is the added value of our existence. Probably it is the crown of our life, however totally conditioned by our life. The soul has no existence without our life and does not prevail beyond our life. In the best case is left over in the memory of those that accompany us during the course of our physical life and constitutes an auxiliary element in the creation of its added value. There is no well of soul and has no life of its own.
Moreover, the soul does not have to stand any test. The soul is the result of the meeting between our existential potential (DNA, if you wish) and the lifestyle that we have chosen. Except for the attributes that we bestow to our children, the soul is our true creation, like a musical concert that its existence depends on its actual occurrence, at the time of its occurrence and in the environs where it takes place, and nothing more! Its occurrence might reverberate in the minds of those close to us as an interesting remnant experience. The magnitude of the reverberation and its impact on their personality and environment depends on them and not on us. What does this resemble? To a burning match. The flame that was latent in the match due to its physical existence did not found expression until touching the box and flaring up the flame. The flame -initiated by a tiny and sheer spark that fears for its own existence and depends so much on the setting’s conditions- becomes the flame that emerges from that spark and illuminates, caresses and provides warmth and ultimately consumes itself onto its death and its desistance is also the desistance of the very same match that kindled it. Certainly, still there is the story of the match: where the match comes from and to where does he go? What about the material’s residues? And did it fulfill its purpose?
The answers are a personal assignment for each one of you, to be told according to your capability and as you see fit. Is there a purpose and aim to the existence of the soul? Taking a flower as analogy – is there a purpose to the beauty of a flower beyond attracting insects for the fertilization process? In any case, the flower is so pretty that causes the heart beat! Perhaps the same happens with the soul that has no life and role of its own but anyway is the meaning of our life?! Maybe … who knows?