The Hakomi Method & Oriental Medicine
Hakomi integrates the mindfulness and non-violence found in Taoist and Buddhist traditions with a unique, Western methodology to promote self-study, empowerment, and healing. When combined with Oriental Medicine theory and practice, Hakomi skills create a gentle, yet powerful and effective approach to working directly with qi in all sorts of physical and emotional conditions. The combination brings patients greater self-awareness of their qi flow in harmony and disharmony, as well as practical steps to correct imbalances in qi that produce dis-ease in body, mind, and spirit.
Hakomi is a mindfulness-centered, somatic approach to healing. The body is viewed as a door that can be opened to reveal the entire character and belief system of the individual. The body’s structures and habitual patterns serve as powerful “indicators”—subtle access routes to the unconscious and to the way in which qi and experience are habitually organized in a person. In addition to the body, Hakomi provides skillful means for being with and working with the realms of emotions, thoughts, and beliefs as they spontaneously arise in the treatment room. When we, as practitioners, follow the access routes arising in the moment with our clients, our treatments become more efficient and effective, and our patients gain access to a profound understanding of themselves, their patterns of disharmony, the route to health and wellbeing, and any internal obstacles that may get in the way.
Loving presence and the healing relationship are central to Hakomi. Studies show the therapeutic presence is one of the most significant variables affecting treatment outcomes. In this training, we cultivate presence through practical listening skills through all our senses in relaxed attentiveness. We learn to develop an exquisite sensitivity and attunement to others—both their conscious and unconscious material, how this material is expressed through the qi, and how to convey this depth of recognition when working with patients. This creates a sense of safety, allowing the patient to deeply connect to and participate in his or her own healing process.
The dynamic use of mindfulness is foundational to Hakomi. When integrated with unique Hakomi techniques, mindfulness allows us to rapidly access the deeply held, unconscious beliefs and early experiences that shape our lives, bodies, self-image, symptom patterns, and how we respond to healing. When unconscious, this hidden material creates projections, conflict, and disharmony in our bodies and our lives. Once conscious and directly experienced, these patterns are available for transformation and reintegration through using Hakomi techniques, as well as treatment techniques already known to us in Oriental Medicine. As a depth-oriented modality, Hakomi is a direct, empowering, and experiential process in which transformation becomes integrated cognitively as well as somatically.
The training facilitates the emergence of the essence of the practitioner.
The self-awareness and internal process of the student become essential aspects of their evolution as a practitioner. We cultivate knowing oneself in the treatment room—seeing deeply and learning to course-correct in places where we get “stuck” as clinicians. We learn to fully engage our compassion, wisdom, and action with all types of clients.
Curriculum Highlights
- Embodying Hakomi Principles
- The Dynamic Use of Mindfulness
- Loving Presence and the Healing Relationship
- The Body as a Map of the Psyche
- Tracking and Contacting Qi
- The Experimental Attitude
- Using Hakomi Techniques to Work Directly with Qi
- Therapeutic Strategy
- Integrating OM Maps for Transformation
- Embracing Resistance and Defenses
- Ethics as the Right Use of Power
- Qigong, Meditation, and the Power of the Group Qi Field
- Uncovering Organizing Belief Systems and Their Effects on Qi and Health
Each weekend is a blend of experiential exercises, lecture and discussion, demonstration and practice.
Comprehensive Training Schedule
Coming 2018. Dates TBD
(Friday 1-6 pm; Saturday 9:30 am to 6 pm; Sunday 9:30 am to 4:30 pm)
Tuition
The cost of the Eight Weekend Training is $3600 for early registration and payment. Payment after early registration ends is $3800. A payment plan is available. Registration is by application.
Applicants must complete one Hakomi introductory weekend workshop (12 hours) before applying to the Training.
Faculty
LORENA MONDA, DOM, LPCC, CHT is a certified therapist and trainer for the Hakomi Institute. A Doctor of Oriental Medicine since 1984, she is also the co-founder of Golden Flower Chinese Herbs. In addition to leading Hakomi Comprehensive Trainings in the US and Japan, Lorena is a teacher of Sheng Zhen Gong, and attributes her qigong practice with deepening her appreciation of the power of mindfulness as a vehicle for the direct experience of qi. Lorena is the author of the book The Practice of Wholeness: Spiritual Transformation in Everyday Life, a co-author of Clinical Guide to Commonly Used Chinese Herbal Formulas, and a coeditor of the books Hakomi Mindfulness-Centered Somatic Psychotherapy: A Comprehensive Guide to Theory and Practice, and I Have Arrived, I Am Home: Celebrating 20 Years of Plum Village Life. She lives and practices in Placitas, New Mexico.
RUPESH CHHAGAN, L.Ac, CHP has been practicing Oriental Medicine since 2003 and the Hakomi Method since 2006. He lives in Austin, Texas where he has a private practice, teaches at the AOMA Graduate School of Integrative Medicine, and teaches in Hakomi Comprehensive Trainings and Workshops. He is a student of Zen Buddhism and Yoga, learning to bring the wisdom and compassion traditions of the East into our modern American life. Rock climbing and enjoying nature are his lifelong passion.
OM + Hakomi: A Mindfulness-Centered Somatic Approach to Working with Qi 