The Enigma of Changing Habits
Essays on Somatic Psychotherapy
2017 published in Medium.com
2017 marked the 30th anniversary of the publishing of Job's Body by Deane Juhan.
“I am free to create a new stable pattern, but once it is established, I am not free to dismiss it with a snap of my fingers… I do not have to consciously think about what to do with all of my muscles; on the other hand, my muscles are not necessarily doing what I consciously think.”
— Deane Juhan, Job’s Body
In 2013 I wrote an 11,500 word essay for the Journal of Holistic Psychology Vol III, "The Enigma of Changing Habits - You Have to Get Somatic" that highlighted just a few of the many intriguing aspects of Job's Body. It also introduced a hypothesis developed by crossing Juhan's Job's Body with Eckhart Tolle's The Power of Now.
However, the third volume of the Journal was put on hold.
Recently I chose to self-publish it in 8 very abridged parts on Medium.com, in time to celebrate Job's Body's 30th anniversary.
Part 1: The Enigma of Changing Habits - You Have to Get Somatic
Part 2: We Need to Talk About the Gamma Motor System
Part 3: Reclaiming Locus of Control
https://medium.com/@maenkacerny/part-3-reclaiming-locus-of-control-801a5121961c#.vdog03gpk
Part 4: A Physical Anchor for Unconscious Resistance
Part 5: The Sensory End of the Nervous System
https://medium.com/@maenkacerny/part-5-the-sensory-end-of-the-nervous-system-e9055716610f#.m8wpcw4ry
Part 6: Liberation from Groundhog Day
https://medium.com/@maenkacerny/part-6-liberation-from-groundhog-day-62253910c5dd#.seol4d4er
Part 7: Attention as Contact
https://medium.com/@maenkacerny/part-7-attention-as-contact-1660d6337be4#.tfeolqc2h
Part 8: The Muscle Settings of “Psychological Time”: Relationship Between the Ego and the Golgis
Job's Body was monumentally influential in my pursuit of understanding how the mind and the body influence each other, with its emphasis on the psycho-physiological aspects of the mind-body... conundrum. While it took many years to grasp the concepts of Job's Body enough to make Juhan's writing applicable to my work, I found his writing so intriguing I made the effort to read it long before I had even a rudimentary understanding of how the body works. In other words, back in 1995 it was far and above my ability to comprehend, yet it was endlessly inspiring and motivating.
I hope this essay will inspire you to (re)discover Job's Body and the many fascinating insights of what it means to be a human body.