Graduation Paper
Course of Certified Jahara® Specialists

From Patient to Therapist
A Personal Story

By Menachem Mendelovitz
Page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

THE 5 CONCEPTS

Page 5

Me exercising during the course (With Liat)


Effortlessness (Fire)

"The muscles are simply carrying out the mind's concept of what they can do."
(Self-healing - My life and vision, Meir Schneider)

After basic trust has been established between therapist and patient, we flow up the Cone of Power. Now, the therapist uses the Third Arm Technique (TAT) and Footwork to move the patient's body and let him enjoy the softness of water. Maintaining slow and constant motion using Head Lead, while gently moving his body, accentuates the water's quality of resistance. Slowly and gradually, the water takes on an increasing significance for the patient, as he "loses" the feeling of the therapist's contact with his body, feeling only the gentle facilitation of spinal alignment and the resistance of the water that flows upon his body, according to the therapist's movements.

It would seem that performing this could impose on the therapist's physical skill, require his muscular effort and use of legs and core muscles to produce motion. In the TAT you learn that motion is not necessarily created by muscular effort. The therapist needs to find his point of balance with the patient to create a common center of gravity. Thus, the two turn into a single balance unit. When this balance is gently tipped, the entire system can move while employing very little of the force of the therapist's core muscles and pelvis. The movement continues by an intelligent use of its natural momentum. The therapist needs to trust that the water will hold the weight of his and the patient's body, and will slow his movements down with its gentle power of resistance.

This is the Concept of Effortlessness in Jahara® - the only concept that focuses on the therapist's side in the session, guiding him to expand the awareness of his body and to adjust it to the water environment. Through it, he gets to know the forces that exist in the combined system of patient, therapist, and water. He acknowledges the fact that the water contains and carries this system, applying his gentle, soft, receptive, and healing qualities to the therapy.
Learning the Jahara® technique, one naturally must study Active Exercises whose role, as may be recalled, is to increase the body's awareness to axial balance in the water. You practice Footwork, designed to bring to mind the Centrifugal Forces, Dynamic Balance, and Freefalling. The Basic Exercises serve to understand the body structure and the horizontal movement, while practicing the therapeutic movements that are based on this understanding (TAT, CM, and L&S).

While practicing physical activity in the therapeutic pool, one must remember that effort accumulates in the muscles. The buoyancy quality of the water indeed eases the movements of muscles and joints, but it might make a person who suffers from muscle deficiency to overact. The water presses the muscles, mainly the muscles involved in breathing, which does not make prolonged stay in the water easier. As students excited about the new dimensions opening to us and inside us, we did not always take enough time to relax and unwind between sessions. The results of our extensive effort were only felt after we came out of the water and the thrill and excitement subsided. In those days, when the training period included afternoon theory classes, out of the water, some of us would let their body rest a while and doze off.

Knowing that I have to be careful with the pressure I can apply to my muscles, I found myself reflecting on and examining the state of my body and muscles during the Jahara® sessions, trying to find whether my sensations reflect extra effort. Nevertheless, throughout the year of my studies, which included long days of ceaseless exercises, even if I felt tired or exhausted, I never once reached a point where I told myself, "that's it; I cannot do this anymore." Thus, instead of thinking of whether I was overdoing it, I tried to discover the source of this "power" I had to endure. Clearly, it did not come from "effortless practice" because performing the exercises and movements out of the concept of effortlessness requires much experience and practice. Students do not attain it immediately. Furthermore, I did feel the effort and my fatigue quite well, but still some inner fire was burning in me, giving me extra power.

Trying to locate the source of this inner fire, I realized it stemmed from the actual learning experience, comprising not only of the learning process but also and mainly of its immediate implementation - first, in the study group, as part of the practice and integration of therapist qualities; and later, in everyday life, outside the classes. As the year progressed, as I learned more exercises, understood more principles, and incorporated more Concepts as a therapist, I uncovered more and more mental powers to deal with the physical aspects of the teaching and of my life. The emotions that led me to the decision to study Jahara® therapy and become a therapist intensified and acquired practical aspects and insights as I studied, feeding that inner fire.

One of the strongest expressions of the power of that inner fire, as it appeared in the experience of working with Jahara®, could be seen in the group of students and the supporting system that was created over the course of the year. I do not know whether this very special human fabric was created in the particular class I attended, or whether this always happens in Jahara® study groups, but as soon as the year started, under the impact of absorbed Concepts, the quality of water, and common work, a spirit of cooperation was created that included a willingness to help, accept, and be there for the other. That spirit, which I call "the Jahara® spirit," has been my wings. It was the fire that fed my soul and made my body endure any task, however difficult.

During the Jahara® Integration stage, when Mario Jahara® asked us about a dream we have that we associate with Jahara®, I said that I dream of flying over enchanted scenery. In the closing conversation, trying to describe the most powerful experience I had during the intensive 5-day training period, I was unable to control my emotions and broke into tears. Those were tears of relief, of appreciation for the wonderful people who were there for me through the year and have become, as Mario noted in his closing remarks, my "Jahara® family." This family extended from Tova, my personal coach and therapist, to include my entire class. That family was there for me when my soul passed through the stages of softening and acceptance, and opened up from my years of loneliness - the solitude of a handicapped person who does not want to impose his "limitations" on anyone. A week later, at the Jahara® Decade Festival, I realized that my family was even larger and included all the Jahara® therapists in Israel and abroad. It is a family that knows how to give positive affirmation, say a kind word, and offer true feedback. Above all else, it accepts me the way I am and makes me feel that while I am just like everybody else, I am still special. It is a family that wants me as a member. It views the fact that I chose Jahara® to be my self-healing method as something that contributes to the family, although it is that family that gives me strength. That family is the light and warmth of Jahara®. It transmits the healing powers of water into my soul, helping it overcome the limitations of the body.

The Concept of Effortlessness is represented in the five elements of Chinese Philosophy as the Fire Element - which contains light and warmth, representing power and presence, and is the peak of the process represented in the cycle of elements.

Me giving a therapy session (Yaara pool, Amuka)

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