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The
TARA-Process was developed by Beatrix Pfleiderer on
the Big Island of Hawaii, one of the rare places on
Earth where the gleaming red lava of a permanently
active volcano is constantly rebirthing our planet.
This undoubtedly accounts for the significant role
the connection to the Earth energies plays in the
TARA work. In addition, her extensive
medical-anthropological knowledge, based on
decades-long scientific research on the meaning of
traditional rituals, heightened states of
consciousness and the qualities of healing (sacred)
spaces has helped shape the general concept, set and
setting of the TARA work.
Out of all of the currently available Western bodies
of methodological work, TARA work most closely
mirrors the medical-therapeutic oriented practice of
body-based psychotherapy. This form of therapy draws
conceptually on the assumption of the existence of
life energy (as in that developed by Wilhelm Reich
who, with his discovery of orgone energy [re]paved
the way in the Western world for important
therapeutic work based on life energy.) Similar to
this practice, the TARA work is based on the premise
that subtle physical energies can be disturbed if
blocked or “frozen” through trauma (such as shock).
Accordingly, the therapeutic goal is not to “remove”
anything (ie. to perform surgery or otherwise
“eradicate” a blockage) but rather to allow blocked
energy to flow again, and thus to raise all energy
levels. Clients feel more alive, their bodies much
more able than before to deal with disturbances.
A rich spiritual life is now being recognized as
significant an element in well-being as balanced
nutrition and adequate physical exercise. All
health-promoting factors are brought together under
the umbrella of “lifestyle”, which includes a
spiritual relationship with ourselves and the world.
The entire health movement, not only TARA work, now
defines well-being as not just the lack of illness
or disease, but as the measure of ability of an
organism to deal with breakdowns and psychospiritual
crises.
TARA work is not a therapeutic practice in the
traditional sense (as in the “restoration” of better
control through processing of any visible psychic or
physical condition) nor is it a spiritual path by
definition (the turning within and/or toward
psychic-spiritual dimensions as the intrinsic “only
truth”.)TARA work combines both in the best way.
The premise of the TARA work is this: All of our
suffering is tied to our relationship with the
Earth. In this case we do not distinguish between
physical and psychic suffering, the distinction is
dissolved in our relationship to the Earth. Our
suffering or disease is a reflection of the depth of
our disconnection. Similarly, our presence (in our
bodies) is the measure of our awakening. Connection
to the energies of the Earth always precedes any
opening to the psychic and spiritual dimensions. In
this way any spiritual insights derived never pull
us away from the Earth, but actually strengthen our
connection to it. TARA work embodies incarnation in
its original sense: Spirit becoming flesh.
Entry into a TARA session begins with the breath. It
leads us into the session and accompanies us on our
journey through the body, the chakras and the Earth.
We breathe from top to bottom toward the Earth along
the axis mundi. Many body therapies such as
bioenergetics, Holotropic Breathwork, Rebirthing,
Reichian therapy or yoga, as well as Eastern
religions, see the breath as central or Divine life
energy which connects and unifies us with the
Universe. It becomes clear in TARA individual
sessions, what immense wisdom lies, often dormant,
within us all. In the process we give room for the
wisdom within us to awaken and to show itself.
The therapeutic effects of TARA work in turn point
to the releasing of symptoms as we embark on the
path of Allowing. Physical or psychic symptoms which
manifest during TARA work are never dealt with by
cultivating better control over them or by “cutting
them out”. Rather, we give them permission to show
themselves and to tell their “story”. Symptoms are
healed by allowing split off parts to be
reintegrated using interventions such as “it is
alright for you to live” and “tell me your story, if
you like”, never by their control or “eradication”.
Bodywork of this type helps us in our discovery
(re-discovery) that our wisdom has become flesh.
Since TARA work is based predominantly on the
principle of Allowing and not so much on Doing, it
can be described as a path of deep self-discovery
inspired by feminine qualities. The goddess Tara
has come to help. She offers the path of the
feminine – of compassion and clarity.
Some of the workshop will take place at
La’akea Gardens,
a perma-culture farm and learning center that
Beatrix founded many years ago, we will also visit
other sacred sites throughout the island.
Beatrix Pfleiderer, PhD
 Dr.
Beatrix Pfleiderer is a medical anthropologist,
transpersonal psychotherapist and certified
Holotropic Breathwork facilitator. Beatrix describes
her story and how she came to create the TARA
Process below:
"The TARA Process was initially born out of my years
of formal education as a medical anthropologist.
Studying healing shrines and rituals led me to live
in India for four years, which had a profound impact
on my worldview and the direction of my work. Like
many therapists, I have also gone through numerous
professional trainings in order to expand and deepen
my understanding of human consciousness. Of the many
outstanding modalities I’ve explored, there are two
primary influences that deeply inform my current
body of work: Holotropic Breathwork developed
by Stanislav Grof, M.D. and Christina Grof; and
Voice Dialogue, the beautiful and wise work of
Hal and Sidra Stone.
Beyond my education and training, there comes a time
for each of us when unexpected, milestone events and
encounters radically and permanently alter our
perceptions and our orientation toward life. Allow
me to give you a brief description of a few of my
milestone encounters.
When I came to the Big Island of Hawaii in 1990 to
teach Medical Anthropology at the University of
Hawai'i, I quickly established a habit of swimming
very early each morning in a bay 45 minutes from the
campus. To my great delight, a fellow swimmer
informed me that a group of wild dolphins had been
visiting this particular bay. This began an
exhilarating period of waiting, as I was determined
to meet these exquisite creatures. Needless to say,
I was overjoyed when they finally appeared. For one
thing, I thought they would help me if I got into
trouble out there in the ocean. Right away it was
clear that they had a lesson plan for me: first they
taught me how to be a stronger swimmer; then how to
swim faster, and then how to swim within their pod.
During the first year I had a steady companion who
always greeted me and, I believe now, kept me away
from the core of the group; only occasionally
granting me permission to swim deeper into their
circle. Over the years our communication became less
personal and more collective; marked by a few truly
extraordinary events that I believe were
initiations. You see, swimming with dolphins
involves our “other” mode of communication:
communion—a more intimate, soulful way of
being with one another. They taught me how to
bring feelings forward and express them through what
the ancient Hindu’s named the chakra system,
which I describe in more detail in my workshops. The
sublime influence of the dolphins is inextricably
woven into the TARA Process.
The second pivotal encounter happened by way of a
certain majestic energy on the Big Island: Pele, the
fiery Hawai'ian volcano goddess. Revered by
Hawai’ians even today, Pele carries the force of the
volcano, with its molten lava flow, which even in
destruction creates new land. Pele stands for the
fierce aspect of life that is unable to do anything
halfway. She reminds us that even in the midst of
fiery eruption there is creation and new life.
Living right under her awe-inspiring presence at the
slopes of the most active volcano on the planet,
Kilauea, I met myself in a different body than the
one I was used to. Allow me to briefly explain.
I was pretty closed down when I arrived on the Big
Island. A typical academic person, following the
Cartesian script of life and having spent most of my
life in libraries and in front of typewriters, I
didn’t have much experience with the magic. I had
all the diseases one has, when one has never had the
experience of an open root chakra. The moment I
started walking the lava fields of the island, my
feet became “the priestesses of the Earth” (as
Hildegard of Bingen says), my body warmed up, became
alive, wild and aware. The Goddess Pele was working
in my life in ways that far exceeded my imagination.
It took me years to figure out what was going on.
Once I had some understanding, I recognized a
correlation within the anthropological literature I
had studied years earlier—that of human nature being
a conduit between the cosmos and the body of Earth.
This is when I truly began to have the desire to
work with others to awaken to this connected
aliveness.
Around this time, an amazing opportunity came my
way. I was invited to work in a prison in South
Germany. I literally had no idea what I would
encounter when the prison door opened for me for the
first time. It was a long and trying journey,
however, because I had to get through the prisoners’
defenses in order to get their attention. I found
while working with one prisoner after the other in
private sessions that we all do the same thing: we
refuse to take responsibility for our own actions.
Being incarcerated in a prison is simply a more
extreme example of this. They described their
criminal offenses to me as if they were speaking of
someone else. As our trust with each other grew, it
was a dramatic and humbling experience to witness
many of these men as they allowed themselves to be
guided into truth-finding through their bodies;
rewriting their biographies and beginning to take
responsibility for their lives.
At the time I was doing this work in the prison, I
had no name for this work. One morning, as I was
having a cup of tea in a little room in the attic of
my sister’s house in Berlin, I heard the name
for this work. It was almost like an instruction.
“Call it the TARA Process”, I heard a voice say.
Later I remembered a form of instruction within
Tibetan Tantra where the teacher’s transmission to
the student is through the chakras, and this
technique is often referred to as the tara process.
So, I found myself teaching a technique that I was
taught by dolphins in a bay in Hawai’i and is
described in the literature of Tantric Buddhism.
This went far beyond the cognitive horizon of a
former medical anthropologist. This taught me that I
simply had to trust and to follow my inner guidance.
Along with facilitating TARA Process seminars in
Hawaii, I have also taken this work to countries
such as Poland, Czech Republic, Sweden and Germany.
My mission is to widely share this body of work that
has been so graciously given to me, and also to
train therapists who are looking for a powerful map
that will lead their clients (and themselves)
directly to the wisdom that resides within our own
bodies. The TARA Process is a method that
organically brings our mind into our heart, and
connects our heart with the Earth. With that depth
of re-connection and revitalization, great things
are possible on an individual level and on a global
level. New solutions to ancient problems begin to
see the light of day.
We live in profound times, and I see that we are all
very much needed. Each one of us has a golden
opportunity to live our lives fully and to share
them generously. The TARA Process workshops are my
offering to this personal and planetary healing, and
it is my greatest joy to make this contribution."
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