I fell in love with Hakomi for multiple reasons. First and foremost that Hakomi is not trying to fix anything. Just creating special space in a very beautiful way for whatever wants to be seen. I feel Hakomi as a non-invasive, gentle way in becoming aware of one’s beliefs and patterns and revealing what else could be true. Hakomi asks what’s right in the world and I enjoy answering.
James
I have known Hakomi for some years. Initially, I was fascinated by the naturalness, non-violence and trust of this method. By the understanding that everything that has been learned and carried from the past is visible in the present moment, and that within each person there are absolutely all the resources to release the obstacles to relaxation. To date, I have experienced my biggest changes in maladaptive beliefs using the Hakomi method. I have clearly experienced that the body knows how to heal. If given a chance, healing happens from the inside out, it happens by itself and spontaneously. Physically experiencing new reality for me during the session has imperceptibly brought about changes in my life and in a positive direction. The Hakomi method is soft and yet very deep. By receiving awareness, loving presence, experiments and missing experience, I have not only had a change on a cognitive level of thought/belief, but it has been an inner, physically experienced change that has given me the opportunity to experience more courage to be myself in my everyday life. I am calmer, more satisfied, more grateful and happier.
Ann-Liis
In Hakomi, I like the caring and respectful approach to each person – in pairs and small group exercises, everyone will have their time and space for self-exploration. All participants can also be in the role of a listener, and everyone has the opportunity to contribute according to the situation of the moment to listen, be received and heard. There is a time and space to talk about what is important in life and share it with others. In the Hakomi exercises, I have come into deeper contact with myself, I have experienced going through feelings in a safe, held space, and in the process I have witnessed genuine human encounters that are mutually supportive and caring. Hakomi is a soft approach to discovering and exploring your feelings, habits, needs, hidden within yourself. In the course of being together and doing exercises, a special flow is created, a new space of being, in which insights about oneself, other people and life arise, and from which changes can begin.
Karmen
For me, Hakomi has provided an opportunity to play. However, this game has surprisingly made it possible to deal with more serious topics. Also with feelings from situations that happened a long time ago, the existence of which I was not really aware of, but which are still expressed in my being and reacting. Curious experimentation while bathing in the loving presence of others has helped these feelings surface and transform in an easy and flowing way. It has been a very liberating experience. I don’t think it would have been possible on my own. And this feeling of how much we need others doesn’t have to bescary, but can be a bonding experience.
Marika
What fascinates me about Hakomi is the combination of ancient knowledge, experiences and practices with modern science in playful, simple, practical, soft and yet profound experiments. Experiments to explore and discover our own experience, feelings, perceptions, beliefs and beliefs that create our daily life – reactions, seeing the world, the ability to see and hear and receive, and how suffering can arise from this. Presence, acceptance, learning, growth, inspiration and nourishment bring me back to the workshop again and again.
Rave
Perhaps what I love most about Hakomi is its inventiveness; that it is possible to be curious about everything. Also about my own patterns and behaviors that I usually repress or hide within myself. In Hakomi workshop, there is simply such an atmosphere that shame and fear are replaced by curiosity and excitement. It creates a lot of air and space. Experimentation and curious exploration of my own experience opens up layers that were previously unavailable to me. In general, exploring any subject through the body is so fundamentally different from analyzing or thinking about it. A completely new and surprising view of things may emerge. It is kind of magical and very liberating!
Signe
Hakomi helped me get to know myself from an angle that would have otherwise almost certainly remained in the dark. A very rare self-image-changing experience.
Kair
For me, Hakomi provides an opportunity to: a) identify one’s basic beliefs that need adjustment; b) these beliefs can then be changed so that they become less interfering and more supportive beliefs such as “I’m OK”; c) get the experience of a loving presence, which is lacking on a daily basis; d) there is also a bit of a club aspect, so it’s nice to communicate with people you already know, but that’s not the main thing.
Toivo
It was my first time attending a Hakomi workshop. I really liked the kind and benevolent attitude of both the teacher and the other participants – it didn’t matter who had encountered the topic before and who was a beginner, the atmosphere was very warm and caring. The exercises were clearly explained, yet each of us experienced the exercises very individually. Some exercises touched me more than others, for example, I did one exercise for my teenage child on my way home in the evening, and it had a very relaxing and pleasant effect on his well-being.
Eve
The three-day Hakomi workshop was, above all, an interesting experience for me, as I met very sympathetic and lovely people. It was easy to open up and I felt supported in my exploration of my inner world. In my opinion, it is very important for every person to know himself and to have a more conscious view of his body’s reactions and emotions. But it is extremely important for therapists to create a truly supportive and healing relationship of trust with their clients and not to drown themselves when things get difficult for them or themselves. If on the first day it seemed to me that I didn’t really understand what this is about and how it should support me in my work (the personal benefit first stood out to me more clearly), then on the third day I started to have a hunch and I personally immediately got several good instruments, which I immediately started to practice in my therapy work. As a family therapist, I see a great benefit in learning the Hakomi method as an important additional value and I hope to continue.
Merilin
Hakomi came into my life when gentleness and benevolent self-care showed up as a resource. I experience in it a simple, powerful, directly felt truth. I am seen, listened to and gently held by myself and my peers. Doubt disappears when experienced in the body. It is powerful to have experiences that change the whole pattern in an instant and to admit yourself in gentle surrender. It is accommodating the new experience in the body with benevolent patience. I felt in the arms of a caring mother and held by the community.
Eeva