Somato Respiratory Integration
– Stage Numbering Explanation
Actually, it was a big mistake to number the stages of healing. It has nothing to do with how advanced you are in care. You can be great at stage 12, and not be nearly as far along as someone who has used no other stage other than stage one.
The goal isn’t to get to stage 12 or some higher stage. What counts
the most are the incremental steps in reaching for a new depth or coordination development, through whichever stage happens to be moving your life forward at the present moment.
Having said that, the stage one connection of fully accepting whatever has come across your path – from happenings around you or from what’s coming up for you inside, cannot be glossed over. Whenever you’re tending to block out or resist feeling whatever there is to feel just as it is, healing will be on hold until you have that stage one connection. This is the stage of becoming aware, acknowledging what’s on your plate, and making your peace with it.
Have you ever come across anything that you weren’t fully at peace with, at least in that first moment? Inside your body? Or disturbing thoughts or events happening around you? If your answer is a complete “No, without hesitation I embrace everything right from the start, no matter what it is”, then you must be fortunate enough to be living an amazing life – without a trace of suffering from any injury, health issue, trauma, or challenging situation. That would actually mean already making full use of stage one, improvising as needed.
Whether you’re a beginner or have been using SRI for ages, stage one can often be the most effective stage.
Especially with the lower numbered stages, being introduced to the 12 stages in the order they’re numbered is, more often than not, the best way to go. That’s the only reason why the stages were numbered in the first place. But being introduced to the stage is no comparison to being far enough along that, you spontaneously move through a more profound connection of that stage, right at the moment a life situation is compelling you to do so. Indeed, the closer you get to that level of connection, the lower number stages quite often provide deeper roots for the higher number stages to blossom, quite effortlessly, more profoundly, and perhaps even spontaneously.
Bottom line: The more experience with any of the stages that have been working for you, the deeper the experience and more pervasive the breakthroughs in your performance. The more you’ll become master of your own ship, employing just the stage you need at the right time, no matter what the numbering suggests.