M03.04 Your Safe Place Part I

Back when I was 18 years old, I went through a psychotic episode that my family nicked-named: "Jerry's God period." I was convinced I was enlightened, and I had powers to prove it. I used to slow and speed up my heart while disbelieving kids would press their ears against my chest to see if it was true. I could do it. As part of my psychosis, I inherited amazing powers of control that I no longer have. I would make experiments by watching the fear in other people as we chatted, knowing which of my words would sooth or stimulate their fears, without having any reaction to the eruptions that precisely followed my internal predictions. Apparently, to outsiders, I was infuriating: repeating the same thing, not listening, disconnected. I recognize this psychotic mind from being a witness to it on the other side, but I still can not believe that it was true of me. However, I wasn't a lock-up case. Far from it – I knew what I was doing, it just wasn't "me" who was doing it. Odd. Anyway, out of this amazing time in my life – which incidentally all Members can read about in the texts directory. (Kings X Story Parts I and II) – what became totally clear to me was this: fear motivates most people's actions. Most people live in fear. It was a revelation, seeing how widely spread and epidemic fear is in the lives of people. The fear that I saw was hidden behind all kinds of emotions: excitement (the Disneyland experience), infatuation, zest, pride and of course all the obvious candidates of hatred, anger, anxiety and depression. I was startled by my discovery of how ubiquitous and obvious fear was. I then immediately connected this observation to Alexander's observation of how head movements govern vertebral co-ordination. It opened my eyes to the profound simplicity of Alexander's work, and how important it becomes as a tool to know our Self. It was then I instantly decided to devote my life to this work, the final enduring imprint of my God Period. What is the opposite of fear? Safety. Sameness. Constancy. Now can you understand why "change" is such a hard sell? Why the idea of "transformation" is not greeted enthusiastically by most people? Can you understand why effective selling always includes fear as a part of selling hope? The hope has to be there – the benefit, the happy future – but first a person needs to be convinced that change is their only option, because the default position of our brain is "not to change." People change when the pain of staying the same is greater than the fear of changing. You want to comprehend and manage this essential quality of people in your marketing and in the environment you create around your students. Children are a perfect example – they are going through momentous changes, so what gives them greatest comfort is routine, consistency, two parents and no divorce. By giving them this environment, we give them the safety to change. How constant is your learning environment? How safe have you made it for your students? Are you managing this aspect of their experience by ensuring that they can trust you, rely on you. I must admit, I am not good at this myself, so now I employ people to help me manage it. BodyChance is a chaotic place to be, but part of me wants it that way. So this is not a simple keep-them-safe-forever: that's not possible. It is also about creating a challenge: I do that in my posts. I know many of you get churned up by some of the stuff you read here. What that work for building your business? No right answers here, just bring awareness of primal behaviours when considering creating the environment of Your Place… What do you have on the walls? Anything weird? Have your created a "new age" kind of space, or something mainstream? Your choices unconsciously effect the people who enter your studio for the first time. Make sure the message is resonant with the impression you personally want to convey. So what kind of Place are you making?