“Thanks to this module, you not only release the pelvis, but also foster heart-pelvis integration by unifying the forces of Love, Eros and Sexuality”
What is/are Core Strokes ?
The Core Strokes method was developed by Dirk Marivoet after 30 years of practice and teaching.
This psycho-corporal method combines the theoretical and practical aspects of the following approaches:
- Postural Integration, Energetic Integration and Pelvic-Heart Integration, developed by Jack W. Painter, PhD
- Core Energetics, developed by John C. Pierrakos, MD
- Pesso-Boyden System Psychomotor (PBSP), developed by Albert Pesso and Diane Boyden-Pesso
- Other approaches and systems such as those of William Reich, Carl Jung, Alexander Lowen, Eric Berne…
In Core Strokes, ‘Core‘ stands for our ‘Center of Right Energy‘ (which is not about morality – right vs. wrong, but about “directness”) and ‘Strokes‘ for the units of recognition (which can be verbal or non-verbal) and the targeted hands-on manipulations, touches and caresses that help us to come out with a new part of ourselves, or an old part that has been hiding in the body as symptoms. The presence of the therapist should give the client the courage to begin revealing (and become conscious), what is coming to the surface from their inner depths (the Dynamic Ground, which is the seat of the deepest level of the unconscious, the inherited or collective unconscious), to purify and transform it.
” TOUCH AND BE TOUCHED: LEARN TO LIVE WITH AN OPEN AND AVAILABLE HEART! ”
- The originality and effectiveness of the Core Strokes method lies in its ability to integrate techniques of bodywork and verbal expression that will “touch” us deep within, both in our tissues, our emotions, our thoughts, our needs, our soul.
- Core Strokes allows us to discover to what degree the “blows” and the “spikes” that we receive can hurt us and shut us down, and how much the “caresses”, the “strokes of recognition”, can bring us support, and allow us to open our heart and our “Core” wisdom.
- Core Strokes, based on the theories mentioned above, teaches you how to release and integrate deep held tensions and defenses, to transform, mature and allow a deeper yes to life, able to surrender, to perceive, to give and receive differently. Trauma-based protection and defense mechanisms are effectively resolved and integrated in the bodymind, while developing a deep connection with your Authentic Self.

Program of the Training Module 3 in Villers-en-Prayères (F)
This third module focuses on the theme “Pelvic Release and Pelvic-Heart Integration through unifying Love, Eros and Sexuality”
In this 7-day module, you will learn to contact and release the deep layers of the faciae emotionally, energetically, relational and postural. In dialogue with the pelvis, legs, abdomen and back, you can release unconscious tensions, conflicts and blockages. We look not only at the balance of the pelvis as the “cornerstone” of human architecture, as a “diaphragm of structural balance”, but also as a conception and birth canal, source of strength, vibrancy, grace, healthy aggression and erotic-sensual/sexual qualities. We explore the whole area with sensitivity and specificity to respectfully and carefully help release the deep protective attitudes, as well as the non-felt feelings of trauma. We work in progressive increments on adhesions around ankles, knees and hips, as well as the adductors, the deep abdominal muscles, the pressure systems and adhesions in the viscera, the psoas complex and the many deep, intrinsic muscles on the buttock side that are arranged in fans and can hold improbable amounts of energy. In working with the “energetic breath cycle,” we learn how to lift energy to higher levels and connect love and sexuality. The intention is to re-direct repressed, denied, inhibited and negative energies around Eros (the bridge between sex and love, working like a laser beam that breaks stagnant energy into activity and arousal), Love (the powerful, masterful and complete expression of life in the universe that moves from the heart of every human being, and is a fusing, connecting and vibrating energy and consciousness) and Sexuality (the transcendent creative movement that expresses the beauty that exists in every human being and makes them shine like stars).
We integrate:
- The natural Energetic Wave in Steps: The secure, nurturing, exploring, free and excited breaths, followed by the orgastic, ecstatic, surrendering and relaxing breaths.
- Pelvic-heart integration and unifying Love, Eros and Sexuality: beyond the mask, transforming the “lower self energies”, grounding in the higher self qualities of love, power and wisdom, the art of true connection, relationship, trust and surrender
- Oedipal triangles and bodymind drama
- Work on parts of the body: lower, upper and posterior pelvis,
- Work at the level of the personality: Finding our Center of Right Energy (CORE), transforming “Lower Self”, grounding in “Higher Self”
- Energy physiology: charge, discharge, containment, centering, horizontal and vertical grounding…
- Micro-Tracking of affective expressions, physical states, verbal statements, fundamental belief systems and internalized prohibitions and commands,
- Bodymind work at the fascia level: hands-on and hands-off holistic Core Strokes techniques to unlock the deep layers of the myofascial network
- Holistic bodywork techniques: meridian and point work, movement awareness, chakra work, zone/segment de-armoring (release and integration)
- “Reading” the body interactively and phenomenologically
- Working with sexual trauma through “embodied deep listening” and deep bodywork
- Pseudo-solutions: dynamics of submission/dependence, aggression/control, detachment/withdrawal at the level of the heart and the pelvis and overall body structure and posture
- The functional anatomical and physiological study of areas and parts of the body
- Basic needs, deficits and reversals (level 2)
- Neurophysiology: how to create new memories to offer alternatives to old patterns
Educational means
- Bodymind and bodywork practices (awakening, awareness, anchoring, breathing, movement, voice…)
- Theoretical contributions
- Demonstrations of individual sessions in large groups
- Guided practice in small groups and analysis of experiences
- Analysis of the effects of the methods and techniques tested
- Q&A time
Out of class work
- Individual therapy sessions in Core Strokes with a certified practitioner (min. 6 hours) (only for those who want to obtain the diploma)
- Working group: regular meetings to exchange and practice on the subjects studied during the training with other students
- Study of recommended resource books
- Personal reflection and evaluation
Thanks to this module:
- I discover myself more in my depth.
- I integrate new sensorimotor, kinesthetic and audio-visual memories alongside older memories, especially connected to Love, Eros and Sexuality.
- I find more clarity in my personal path.
- In this way I learn to generate realistic, optimistic and satisfying perspectives on myself and on others.

The place in Villers-en-Prayères (F)
This workshop is hosted in Villers-en-Prayères at 2h from Paris, in the “Domaine des 7 Vallons”. Built on 43 hectares of land with lakes, forests and meadows, the Domaine des 7 Vallons enjoys a natural setting conducive to healing, while being accessible by public transport. It is situated in the Champagne region in the heart of nature, a wonderful place with a large hosting capacity.

Who is the facilitator?

Dirk Marivoet, MSc.
is founder and director of the IBI (The International Institute for Bodymind Integration). He is an accredited psychotherapist (BVP, EABP, EAP) and certified psychomotor therapist and physiotherapist in mental health (University of Louvain). He is also an Advanced Certified Trainer and Supervisor for Postural Integration, Energetic Integration, Reichian Bodywork and Pelvic-Heart Integration (Jack Painter, PhD), a Core Energetics Senior Trainer and Supervisor (John Pierrakos, MD) and Chair of the Core Science Foundation (CSF). After more than 35 years of clinical and teaching experience, both in the academic, psychoanalytic (ex-servitio UPC KULeuven), alternative and complementary fields of psychotherapy, he created the Core Strokes approach, which he shares around the world. He lives in Ghent (Belgium).

Practical information
Dates and place :
Dates : From 19 february 2024 (16h) until 25 february (16h) 2024
Venue : Residential, at 2h from Paris in Domaine des 7 Vallons (in Villers-en-Prayères).
Rates for accommodation and meals :
Between 46 € and 125 € depending on your chosen option.
Book your accommodation directly with the venue via the online form:
Cost of Participation:
- Early Bird – 880 € (before 15 December 2023)
- Normal Rate – 930 € (after 15 December 2023)
Languages used :
English (with possible translation into French and Dutch by Dirk Marivoet)
QUESTIONS?
Write to Solène Garreau, who is responsible for the organization : solenegarreau@posteo.net