Posts Tagged ‘consultation skills’

I was thrilled to to find a really neat way to express a key to effective Aura-Soma consultations earlier this year. The idea came while I was teaching one of my favourite courses - Practices and Principles - which focuses on consultation skills. This idea compares the Aura-Soma consultation with the two fractions of the Equilibrium bottle.

Spiritual inspiration

Every Equilibrium bottle contains two fractions and these may be seen to represent the two possibilities of the Aura-Soma consultation. First is the oily fraction, the lighter part of Equilibrium. Floating above the water fraction it represents the spiritual dimension of both bottle and consultation, encouraging us to rise above, uplifting. Often consultations are an attempt to inspire the client, to talk them up to another level. The phrase that comes to my mind is “spiritual pep talk.” Personally I think such consultations, though often given with the best intention, miss the real opportunity that the consultation offers.

The clue is in the name: Aura-Soma. Aura refers to light and Soma refers to the body. The more I work with Aura-Soma the more I understand that Aura-Soma is not about being spiritual at the expense of our human life, it is about bringing spiritual presence and consciousness into our human difficulties. The consultation that seeks only to uplift will generally deny the space for the client to bring their own story into the consultation.

Human healing

I see the water in the base fraction as representing the client’s story. It is the denser part of Equilibrium: it is life’s human experience. In truth here are the matters on which their soul is meditating, seeking to digest and integrate. Only if we as practitioners invite the client’s personal experience into the consultation process and make that the centre of the consultation, will our consultations have the chance to really engage with our clients where their life is being lived. Their story is the earth in which the consultation process takes root and things grow best when they are rooted, when they can unfold and grow from within.

Unless we are willing to open to the clients story our well-meaning words will most likely share the fate of water, falling “off a duck’s back” as we say in England. It means that what comes from outside does not penetrate within. In such cases the light that Aura-Soma and the Practitioner offers does not truly enter and take root in the client’s life beyond the consultation room.

“Best of both worlds”

I believe the potential of the Aura-Soma consultation is to bring the soul presence to the human story. We always mix the two fractions of an Equilibrium bottle before applying it, and in the same way it is both natural and necessary to mix the two parts of the consultation – the light of Aura-Soma AND the client’s story to create the full potential of the Aura-Soma consultation.

Like to learn more?

Developing the skills necessary to achieve this potential are the essence of my Aura-Soma consultation skills course named “Aura-Soma Practices and Principles”. I shall be teaching this course in Japan, Europe and Russia through the spring and summer of 2009. In particular a few places remain on the European course which is being held in Holland this June. The course will be taught entirely in English and all english-speaking students from whichever country are warmly invited. The closing date for enrolment on this course is May 31st. If you would like to learn more about the course along with the details to enrol then visit the Consultation Skills course in the Pages section of this site. The link is at the top of this page in the side bar to the right of this article, or you can paste the following address into your browser.

www.dominicyeoman.com/consultation-skills-course/

Dominic presenting ideas in Holland April 2009

I have just taught nine days of consultation skills. As always, working intensively helps to develop new ideas, new ways to see things. Here is a view I particularly liked.

The two fractions of the Equilibrium bottle can correspond to the two possibilities of the Aura-Soma consultation. The oil is the lighter part of Equilibrium, floating above the water fraction it represents the spiritual dimension of both bottle and consultation, encouraging us to rise above, uplifting. Often consultations are an attempt to inspire the client, to talk them up to another level. The phrase that comes to my mind is “spiritual pep talk.” Personally although I think such consultations are given with the best intention I think they often miss the real opportunity that the consultation offers.

The clue is in the name: Aura-Soma. Aura refers to light and Soma refers to the body. The more I work with Aura-Soma the more I understand that Aura-Soma is not about being spiritual at the expense of our human life, it is about bringing spiritual presence and consciousness into our human difficulties. The consultation that seeks only to uplift will generally not give the space for the client to bring their own story into the consultation.

I see the water in the base fraction as representing the client’s story. It is the denser part of Equilibrium: it is life’s human experience. In truth here are the matters on which their soul is meditating, seeking to digest and integrate. Only if we as practitioners invite the client’s personal experience into the consultation process and make that the centre of the consultation, will our consultations have the chance to really engage with our clients where their life is being lived. Their story is the earth in which the consultation process takes root and things grow best when they are rooted, when they can unfold and grow from within.

Unless we are willing to open to the clients story our well-meaning words will most likely share the fate of water, falling “off a duck’s back” as we say in England. It means that what comes from outside does not penetrate within. In such cases the light that Aura-Soma and the Practitioner offers does not truly enter and take root in the client’s life beyond the consultation room.

I believe the potential of the Aura-Soma consultation is to bring the soul presence to the human story. We would always mix the two fractions of an Equilibrium bottle before applying it, so why not make the mixing of the two parts of the consultation – the light of Aura-Soma WITH the client’s story the heart of the consultation?

The skills and practice of this are the essence of my Aura-Soma consultation skills course (named Practices and Principles of Aura-Soma). It is a unique course that has grown out of more than twenty years of giving consultations. If you are unable to attend a course but would like to learn more I shall soon be starting a Consultation Club on the internet with monthly sharings for those who would like to deepen their Aura-Soma consultations.

Every flower begins as a bud. Within the bud is the potential to bloom. Blooming can only happen from the inside. It happens almost imperceptibly at a pace of its own. There is fragility, tenderness and beauty in the process. Clumsy intrusions can only slow the process down. Creating the right external conditions is enough to support the process. On completion something new has been revealed, something which at its core is nourishing and vital to life. I believe the Aura-Soma consultation process is just like this; and that the essence of this process is simplicity.

This article is written to share some of the key elements of this simpler approach. It also mentions a key moment in the evolution of my own view on this process. (more…)