by Tanuja Surpuriya
f your insecure inner child has burned a path of destruction among
your adult relationships, you may want to take a deep breath and
sit down. It turns out the little rascal may have been sowing
seeds of emotional havoc even at the time of your birth.
But with a bit of self-inquiry and special breathing techniques, some people believe there is a way to confront the subconscious thoughts from your past that affect your decision-making today. And a three-day seminar being held in Memphis next month will show you how.
The Loving Relationships Training (LRT), a workshop designed for
participants to gain spiritual awareness so they can overcome
hidden emotions causing relationship problems, will make its Memphis
debut at the Adam’s Mark Hotel March 6th through 8th.
Lecturer and author Sondra Ray
Founded more than two decades ago, the LRT is the brainchild of international lecturer and author Sondra Ray, a former nurse therapist and expert in the practice of rebirthing – a circular-type breathing pattern that connects the inhale and the exhale in a relaxed rhythm. The gentle cycle is believed to release negative thoughts that have built up in the subconscious for years dating back to birth.
Now this may sound like New Age fluff to some skeptics, but organizers Judy Freeman of Memphis and Margo Powell of Atlanta, both trained rebirthers, say the LRT teaches a relaxed and fun process of spiritual discovery. The LRT is open to both men and women and has no religious affiliation. Instead, participants are encouraged to find all the answers to their problems within themselves.
“You learn so much about yourself,” says Freeman, who has attended four LRTs. “It’s just like peeling all the layers of an onion back.”
The seminar is designed for anywhere from 50 to 150 people to share experiences, hear lectures, and take part in the rebirthing exercise. The benefit of the group setting is to learn more about yourself through the experience of others.
In the process of self-discovery, the most important exercise is getting in touch with your “personal lie,” which Powell describes as the one fundamental negative thought that is at the root of the negative outlook we use to view ourselves and the rest of the world. It is often something like “I’m not good enough,” and many times originates at birth or early childhood.
“We tend to re-create the relationships we had with our parents with our mate,” says Powell.
For example, she says that if a baby is too big in the mother’s womb, it may subconsciously associate love with feeling suffocated. The thought may later manifest itself when the baby becomes an adult and begins a relationship. As soon as love is introduced into the relationship, the person may feel like he or she is being suffocated and may want to leave.
The seminar teaches that until you discover and resolve your personal lie, it will continue to show up in relationships.
With the help of at least 20 assistants and trainers, participants look at influences on their thoughts such as parents, religion, and events. The training also goes beyond childhood, looking at the way birth, prenatal, and conception trauma affect thoughts and feelings.
Once the thoughts driving a person’s actions are discovered (it may take years and years to fully discover them), the healing process begins. The seminar helps people restructure their lives and shows them how to break the cycle of unhealthy relationships.
“By the last day, you leave feeling empowered,” says Powell. “You have the tools and you have the insights to go out into the world to make change and to change yourself.”
She says the ultimate goal of the training is to engage the participants in self-discovery, a process that continues long after the seminar is finished.
Freeman says that one of the most important concepts participants are taught is that “love brings up pain unlike itself for the purpose of release and healing.” She says that once a person grasps this idea, he or she is no longer a victim to the pain and can begin the process of forgiving and finding solutions.
“It really is training that comes from the heart,” says Freeman. “It’s not like anything else. For everyone there is some point where you get a lot of ‘a-ha’s’ and lights going off in your head when you finally know you’ve discovered something very important about yourself.” n
Loving Relationships Training
Adam’s Mark Hotel
Fri., March 6th, 2 p.m. to 10 p.m.
Sat., March 7th and Sun., March 8th, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Tuition: $350 ($100 discounts available to LRT grads, college
students, and senior citizens)
For more information call 454-9492.