Over this past year (2011), I've gotten tons out of listening to Access Consciousness
speakers Rikka Zimmerman, Dain Heer & Gary Douglas on
alternative talk radio. However, my first course,
Access Bars, was awful and so opposite what I thought Access to be about - it was so bad it soured me on Access for weeks &
weeks. Also since I got nothing out of it, the class was a complete waste of time & money.
I debated on whether or not to post this, but in the end I decided some good may come from sharing my experience.
What is Access Consciousness?
Access Consciousness, founded by Gary Douglas, is "a set of tools & processes to change
anything in your life". It's (supposedly) about "empowering you to know
what you know", celebrating your uniqueness, and empowering you to live
from consciousness (which is aware of everything but judges nothing)
There are many aspects to Access, but 3 that are important to note are:
1) Asking questions
So much of Access is about asking questions -- empowering OPEN-ENDED
questions such as "what's right about this I'm not getting?", "what's right about
me I'm not getting?", "what else
is possible?", "how does it get better than this?". You don't answer
these questions with your logical mind; rather the question is the
doorway to a new awareness.
2) Staying out of conclusion
Another important part is staying out of conclusion, because conclusions are limiting, so stick to asking questions.
3) Knowing that there is
nothing wrong with you, and that your uniqueness is to be celebrated.
There are many, many more tools, but even those few I've picked up have
opened so many doors for me, so I decided to jump in and take some
courses.
The Bars Course
The prerequisite
course is Access Bars. If you're not familiar, the Bars are 30-odd
points on the head that when touched, supposedly release thousands of
years of programming, causing perceptual shifts and giving you "a shiny new hard drive".
It's marketed as "at
worst you'll feel like you had the best massage of your life, and at
best your whole life will change".
One Bars session lasts approximately 1 hour. In the Bars class, you give &
receive Bars twice, so the class lasts about 5-hours (including introductions, q&a, breaks, etc).
Now perhaps it's been great for many, but honestly, I feel NOTHING
with the Bars (and I'm not dense - I'm highly sensitive); so whether
giving or receiving, it's one long, boring day
of touching points on the head and watching the second hand slowly creep 'round the clockface.
But we're all different, so if this is my experience, so be it; it's boring, but I'll get through it. My facilitator, however, was definitely NOT ok with it.
A Grueling Day
When I admitted I felt nothing to my facilitator (who didn't seem to conceive how anyone couldn't LOVE the Bars), she
jumped into problem-solving mode and proceeded to scour me for anything that needed fixing (maybe I was a perfectionist, cared too much
about doing it right, was too uptight, believed it had to be difficult,
had a problem with touching, had a problem being touched, etc, etc - none of which was true). I
allowed her to do some clearings, but none of it felt right.
Not once did she ask questions like, "what's right about this that
I'm not getting?" (which is a big part of Access); instead she seemed more to ask
"what's
wrong with Ellen that I'm not getting?"
Things got worse when she started comparing me to other people,
saying she noticed (no questions asked) I was "hidden" and this must be the culprit. Raising her hand high,
palm down, she said everyone else was "here", but - lowering her hand - that I was "here". At this point I'd had enough.
Fed
up, I told her I didn't appreciate being treated like a problem to be
solved, nor being compared to others to see where I was "less than". I
then asked "what if there are thousands just like me who feel nothing
in a Bars session....AND IT'S OK?" -- which, not surprisingly, left her dumbfounded.
Now there were many other things this woman did
that I found manipulative (asking me questions that were not open-ended,
running clearings without asking my permission, etc), or downright annoying (like
repeatedly caressing my head as if I was a child), but let's just say I
was less than impressed with this woman.
Anyway, the whole experience soured me on Access for weeks and
weeks. My facilitator had no interest in empowering me, but more in
treating me as defective for not reaching her standard. So much for celebrating my uniqueness. My gut feeling
is that she was insecure and had so much personally invested in people
loving the Bars (and loving her since she's the facilitator), and when I
didn't love the Bars she got defensive. The worst part was that she
wasn't new -- she'd been facilitating for nearly 10 years!
In Summary
Besides the less-than-desirable treatment, not only did I feel nothing during the Bars class, but I experienced nothing afterwards: no perceptual shifts, no "shiny new hard drive"...nada. Therefore, I honestly believe that, for some of us, Access Bars is a complete waste of time and money.
However, if the Bars class calls to you, here is my message for newbies and facilitators:
1) If you're a
newbie I highly recommend attending a Gifting and Receiving session first; they're low-cost and you can see what the Bars is all about.
If however you take the Bars class and, like me, you feel nothing, stand in the
reality that THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH YOU. Don't let your facilitator
treat you like a problem to be solved. If they do, don't be afraid to
stand up for yourself and ask "What's RIGHT about me you're not
getting?" or "What if a lot of people feel nothing...they just don't
admit it?" or "What if this is evidence of a great gift?". After all, you didn't pay $200 to be treated as defective!
2) If you're a Bars facilitator and a participant feels nothing,
please do not conclude there is something "wrong" with them, and instead
ask questions like "What's right about this I'm not getting?"
Facilitators should practice what they preach. Please remember that the
Bars is the first course we take, so if someone leaves feeling bad about
themselves or Access, you may have lost them permanently.
Anyway, thanks for reading - I hope some good will come of this post
***UPDATE: In May 2013, I heard Dain Heer saying in an interview that the Bars class is no longer required (boy I wish that had been true back in 2011!) so don't let anyone talk you into taking it if it doesn't call to you
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More posts!
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How to Open Your Third Eye
In Celebration of Introverts
Healing Miracles with Quantum Techniques
Zen Entrepreneur: The Spiritual Side of Business
Ufology: Recommended Reading
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