VIPASSANA MEDITATION AND THE EMOTIONAL CLEANSING TOOL NEMO 

by Ienke Keijzer

What do Vipassana Meditation and the Emotional Cleansing tool NEMO have in common ?

By Ienke Keijzer

What do Vipassana meditation and the emotional cleansing tool NEMO have tin common ? It all comes down to three little words sung by John Lennon : "LET IT BE".

As a therapist and trainer, one of my key tools is the emotional cleansing tool NEMO. This therapeutic tool is easy to use and extremely efficient. It's based on a fundamental principle: letting be the physical sensations. For those practicing Vipassana meditation, this should sound familiar. Let's dive deeper into the connection between these two practices.

LET IT BE

The essence of the NEMO emotional cleansing technique is the concept of "let it be."

Small children are naturally skilled at letting be. However, as we grow older, especially in the Western world, we lose this habit. Our education often encourages the repression of emotions to fit societal standards. When we're sad, we're told, "Don't cry, everything will be OK." When we're angry, expressing it is often discouraged. This leads to a habit of emotional repression.

For many of us, repressing emotions and denying our feelings has become automatic. We often pretend problems don't exist and repress the emotions that, if expressed freely, could help us suffer less.

Learning to listen to and welcome our emotions by letting our feelings be is difficult for many of us, yet it is the basis of all well-being. Fortunately, things are slowly changing. Personal development is gaining traction, and mindfulness is increasingly being integrated into school programs and daily life.

With the emotional cleansing tool NEMO, we focus on the physical expression of our feelings. We welcome these sensations and allow them to express themselves freely, until the very end.

VIPASSANA MEDITATION

The practice of letting be the physical expression of our feelings without intervention is central to various meditation practices, particularly Vipassana meditation. This form of meditation, over 2500 years old, was practiced and taught by Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, the founder of Buddhism.

Vipassana means "seeing things as they really are." It is taught as a universal remedy for universal discomforts and as a way of life.

During a ten-day Vipassana meditation retreat, the main objective is to focus on the body's sensations, observing them without judgment, intervention, or repression. It is about welcoming and letting the sensations be. This practice can be challenging and painful, but it is profoundly transformative. Participants often find that excessive emotional reactivities, phobias, and even psychosomatic pain can fundamentally change or disappear.

GET RID OF YOUR EMOTIONAL OVERREACTING

While Vipassana retreats are transformative, they have a "disadvantage." They do not aim to solve specific problems. You cannot predict which issues will be resolved during the retreat.

This is where the emotional cleansing NEMO comes in.

EMOTIONAL CLEANSING NEMO "A CHAUD"

If you know what you want to work on, you can act at the moment an excessive emotional reactivity or phobia occurs. By addressing it right then, by letting the physical sensations be and following the process to the end, you can eliminate the phobia or specific emotional overreacting. This is what we call doing an emotional cleansing NEMO "à chaud."

"À chaud" means addressing the issue when you are experiencing the emotional hyperreactivity. This could be when you see a spider, have to enter an elevator, start sweating on a plane, or react to a needle.

NEMO "à chaud" aligns with the Vipassana instruction to "observe the sensations and let them be." By focusing on this principle, we apply NEMO "à chaud" and the basics of NEMO in general.

THERAPEUTIC EMOTIONAL CLEANSING TOOL

While NEMO "à chaud" is effective and quite easy to do, sometimes we need to address issues when the emotional charge is not present. This is where NEMO "à froid" comes in. It involves additional steps to intentionally trigger the natural cleansing process, making it less stressful and more controlled.

Whether you practice self-NEMO or work with clients, NEMO can be a powerful tool. Each session brings you closer to your true self. Clients often return to address different issues, and some learn to use the technique independently.

By letting the physical sensations linked to an excessive emotional reactivity be, you are engaging in a practice as old as time itself. As Buddha Siddhartha Gautama taught, this simple principle can lead to profound well-being.

I hope this article has been useful. Feel free to share your experiences with the NEMO emotional cleansing technique, whether you're a client or a therapist. It is always a pleasure to hear from you!

Ienke Keijzer

Neuro Psycho Practitioner - Trainer of therapists and coaches - Author
Grandis Ose