What Is BodyTalk?

BodyTalk is a holistic system of energy medicine based on the premise that your body has an innate wisdom that knows how to heal itself. By communicating with this innate wisdom, the practitioner identifies areas that are out of balance and helps activate the client's self-healing abilities. BodyTalk can be used as a standalone healthcare system, or can be integrated with any other modality in order to increase its effectiveness.

 
Although the process itself is very gentle and it can seem like not much is "happening" during a session, the results are often dramatic. BodyTalk has helped people heal a wide range of physical and emotional issues, including allergies, parasites, back pain, digestive problems, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, anxiety, insomnia, hormonal imbalances, and much more. 

What happens during a session?

Once the practitioner and client have discussed the issues to be addressed, the client lies down on the massage table, fully clothed. The practitioner then establishes communication with the client's innate wisdom through muscle testing. Once the practitioner has identified a clear "yes" and "no" with the client's body, the session begins.

While the client relaxes, the practitioner mentally goes through the BodyTalk protocol and uses muscle testing to determine how the client's body wants to be balanced. While there are specific techniques that may come up, mostly what happens during a session is linking different parts of the body to reestablish lines of communication that have been compromised or disconnected. 

Once a link has been identified, the client and practitioner place their hands over the parts of the body involved in that link, and the practitioner taps on the head and heart while the client breathes deeply. Tapping on the head alerts the brain to pay attention to these areas and improve the communication and synchronization between them. Tapping on the heart stores the memory of this link in the client's bodymind so that these parts will remain in good communication with one another.  

For example, for a client with digestive issues, the liver may want to be in better communication with the stomach. Details about these organs may also come up -- for example, the emotion of anxiety may be stored in the stomach, or the client's work environment may be identified as a factor in the imbalance. 

If a practitioner incorrectly identifies and "taps out" a link that the client doesn't actually need, then nothing will happen -- no harm to the client will result. This is the built-in safety factor in BodyTalk. 

A session can last anywhere from 10 minutes to an hour. As with the rest of the session, the length is determined by the client's innate wisdom. With BodyTalk, more is not necessarily better -- just one or two links can make a profound difference in a client's state of health. Typically, the more advanced a practitioner is, the shorter the session will be, because an advanced practitioner is able to address imbalances with greater specificity and accuracy. 

At the end of the session, the practitioner again uses muscle testing to determine if the client should come in for a follow-up session, and if so, when the client should return. Returning in one or two weeks is typical for addressing long-term or chronic issues, while a client may need to return sooner if dealing with an acute situation. The client's innate wisdom may also recommend that the client see a different kind of practitioner -- e.g., a medical doctor, acupuncturist, chiropractor, etc. 

Often clients feel deeply relaxed at the end of the session, and experience a greater sense of overall well-being. They can also sometimes feel a little dizzy or "spacey" after the session -- a sensation that usually dissipates within a few minutes. While clients sometimes experience immediate relief from acute symptoms, the full effects of a BodyTalk session generally unfold over a few days or even a few weeks. 

How does it work?

The analogy of an iceberg is often used in describing BodyTalk. The tip of the iceberg -- the part that's actually visible -- represents the symptom, the "problem" that the client is consciously aware of. However, just as the vast majority of the iceberg is actually under water and invisible, the true source of the client's issue is generally hidden beneath the surface. 

By tapping into the client's innate wisdom, a BodyTalk practitioner is able to uncover and address the hidden source of the symptom. The source may be physiological, emotional, mental or -- most commonly -- some combination of all three. Communication with the client's innate wisdom saves the practitioner from having to use guesswork or a trial-and-error approach. Instead, the source of the issue can be addressed efficiently and effectively, and the client experiences true healing and lasting relief. 

In conventional medicine, you'll be sent to a cardiologist for a heart condition, a neurologist for a nervous system disorder, a gynecologist for reproductive issues, a psychologist for emotional issues, and so on. Conventional medical doctors are trained to see the body as a set of distinct parts, which reflects a mechanical or Cartesian scientific model. 

In contrast, BodyTalk sees all parts of the bodymind -- physiological aspects as well as thoughts and emotions -- as being intrinsically connected and interdependent. This perspective reflects the findings of contemporary quantum physics. 

John Veltheim, the founder of BodyTalk, uses the analogy of a symphony to describe how the system works. The different parts of the body are like different instruments, and even if each instrument sounds great by itself, unless they are all coordinated and in communication with one another, the result will be a cacophony of noise. 

BodyTalk helps improve the communication and synchronization among all the parts of the bodymind, so that it can function in a state of greater harmony and balance.


For more information about BodyTalk, and to find a practitioner in your area, visit the International BodyTalk Association website.