Module 4 Core Strokes™ near Mont-Saint Michel

“This training module helps you to deeply integrate body-mind&spirit, savour the fruits and rewards of living and discover your life mission ”

This Core Strokes workshop can be taken after successful completion of modules 1, 2 and 3 of the Core Strokes training.

Core Strokes™: A Holistic Psycho-Corporal Method

Developed by Dirk Marivoet after 35 years of practice and teaching, Core Strokes™ is an integrative approach that blends theoretical and practical aspects of various modalities:

• 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 influential works include those of Wilhelm Reich, Carl Jung, Alexander Lowen, and Eric Berne.

 In Core Strokes ™ , the ‘Core‘ represents our “Center of Right Energy,” while ‘Strokes‘ refer to the units of recognition–both verbal and non-verbal–and targeted hands-on techniques. These “strokes” help bring forth new parts of ourselves or unearth old, hidden aspects that have been stored in the body as symptoms. The therapist’s presence provides the client with the courage to reveal and become conscious of what emerges from their inner depths (the Dynamic Ground), leading to purification and transformation of the unconscious, including the inherited collective unconscious.

” TOUCH AND BE TOUCHED: LEARN TO LIVE WITH AN OPEN AND AVAILABLE HEART!”  

The Core Strokes™ Approach:

The uniqueness and effectiveness of Core Strokes™ lie in its ability to integrate bodywork techniques with verbal expression and spiritual understanding. This dual approach allows for a deep “touch” that penetrates not just the tissues but also reaches into our emotions, wounds, basic human needs, and even our soul.

Core Strokes™ teaches us how the “blows” and “spikes” we receive can wound and close us off, while the “caresses” and “strokes” can provide support, recognition, and encourage us to open our heart—or Core (our “Center of Right Energy”).

What You Will Learn and Experience:

• Express Needs and Emotions: Learn to articulate your needs and emotions clearly and authentically.
• Release Tensions and Let Go: Experience the release of deep-seated tensions and the capacity to let go of restrictive patterns.
• Listen and Perceive Differently: Cultivate the ability to listen to your body and emotions with greater sensitivity.
• Give and Receive: Practice the dynamics of giving and receiving, fostering deeper connection with others.
• Resolve Trauma-Based Defenses: Address and integrate trauma-based defense mechanisms, creating a path toward healing and wholeness.
• Connect with Your Authentic Self: Establish a profound connection with your Authentic Self, enabling you to live with an open and available heart.

Through the integration of bodywork and verbal expression, Core Strokes™ allows you to explore and resolve the patterns that shape your life. This approach supports you in opening up to new parts of yourself, while also transforming the hidden aspects that have manifested as physical or emotional symptoms.

Key Objectives of Core Strokes Training: Module 4

Overview:

Core Strokes™ is a creative, dynamic, and deeply enriching approach to experiencing the full potential of your life force. In Module 4 – “Integrate Body, Mind, and Spirit: Savor the Rewards of Living and Discover Your Life Mission,” participants will engage in an in-depth exploration of inner integration, focusing on harmonizing all dimensions of their being.

In this week-long module, you will learn how to integrate and balance the three layers of fascia at emotional, energetic, and postural levels. Through concepts such as “tensegrity” and vibrational integrity, and by refining the natural cycles of expansion and contraction, we will integrate all dimensions of your being using a two-step approach. This includes horizontal integration (top-bottom, center-periphery) and vertical integration (left-right, back-front, inside-outside). Together, these steps align the body and mind into a unified, flowing whole.

Moreover, we will explore how to integrate the self with the outer world, ensuring that the inner alignment and balance we cultivate is constantly refined through interaction with external reality. By using “whole images” as embodied metaphors, we tap into powerful representations of our inner experiences, allowing us to work with the entire bodymind as a cohesive unit.

Using bodymind drama, family patterns, and integrative dialogues between different bodymind parts, we will explore how to maintain or regain your integrity after conflicts or challenges, creating a space for joy, satisfaction, and relaxation. After the meditative practices, release work, and feedback from previous modules, this module emphasizes inner integration and how to continuously enrich it.

As we engage with the outer world, our inner integration must be constantly adapted and refined to meet external realities. From this process of inner alignment, structural balance is achieved, allowing the bodymind to work in holistic harmony. Long-held compensation patterns dissolve, unlocking new potential. You will also explore higher levels of arousal, the fusion of inner masculine and feminine polarities, non-duality, and gain insights into your life’s purpose.

Learning Outcomes:

• Fascia Bodywork: Learn specific hands-on techniques to integrate the three layers of the myofascial network, combined with breath, interaction, expression, and satisfaction.
• Body-Mind-Spirit Integration: Move beyond character styles and explore full bodymind integration.
• Horizontal and Vertical Integration: Harmonize the body using a two-step approach:
  • Horizontal integration: Top-bottom, center-periphery alignment to create inner balance.
  • Vertical integration: Left-right, back-front, inside-outside balance to achieve holistic coordination.
• Integration of the Self with the World: Explore how inner integration supports your interaction with the external world, continually evolving to meet new challenges and realities.
• Energy Physiology Level 4: Advanced techniques for “charging” and “discharging” energy, and further development of phases 5 to 9 of the energy and breath cycle, as developed by Dr. Jack Painter and further developed by Dirk Marivoet.
• Transcending Trauma: Discover how to draw strength and wisdom from even your most difficult experiences.
• Deepening Techniques: Expand and diversify the techniques introduced in previous modules.
• Whole Images as Embodied Metaphors: Use whole images to explore embodied metaphors that support holistic transformation and integration.
• Fine Energy Work: Engage with fine energy dynamics, assimilating change, centering, and exploring the limits of transformation.

Educational Methods:

• Bodymind Meditations and Exercises: Participate in practices such as breathing, movement, voicework, and mindfulness to fully integrate learning experiences.
• Demonstrations: Observe live demonstrations of individual sessions in large group settings to see techniques in action.
• Supervised Practice: Apply what you have learned in small groups under supervision, followed by detailed feedback and reflective discussions.
• Analysis of Techniques: Assess the effects and impact of the methods used during the training.
• Q&A Sessions: Engage in question-and-answer sessions to resolve doubts and gain a deeper understanding of key concepts.

Work Outside the Classroom:

• Individual Therapy Sessions: Complete at least six hours of Core Strokes™ or Postural Integration therapy with a certified practitioner.
• Study Groups: Participate in regular group meetings to discuss and practice the subjects covered during the training with other students.
• Study of Reading Materials: Engage in the recommended books and articles to deepen your theoretical understanding.
• Personal Reflection and Evaluation: Perform personal reflection to integrate the learning and assess your progress.

Benefits of This Module:

• Embodied Integration: I enjoy the benefits of deep integration and realize that I am capable of happiness, compassion, resilience, and fully embodied health.
• Spiritual Connection: I understand that my body is the temple of my spirit, that the world is my home, and that there is a place for all my relationships.

Course Leadership: This training module is expertly led by Dirk Marivoet, the founder of the Core Strokes method.

What about the facilitator?

Dirk Marivoet, MSc.

is the founder and director of the International Institute for Bodymind Integration (IBI). He is an accredited psychotherapist (ECP) and a certified psychomotor therapist, having earned his credentials at the University of Leuven, where he served on the staff of the Psychiatry/Psychoanalytic Clinic for 11 years. Dirk is a Certified Trainer and Supervisor in Postural Integration, Energetic Integration, Reichian Bodywork and Pelvic-Heart Integration (as developed by Jack Painter, PhD), as well as a Core Energetics Teacher and Supervisor (under John Pierrakos, MD).

With 40 years of clinical and teaching experience in both academic and alternative fields of psychotherapy, Dirk developed the Core Strokes approach, which he now teaches internationally. He resides in Ghent, Belgium.

The venue in Lignières-Orgères, France

This training workshop will be held in Lignières-Orgères, located just 1 hour and 45 minutes from Paris. The venue, a charming former village school, is situated about 100 km inland from Mont Saint-Michel, one of the most iconic and visited landmarks in France.

Practical information

Rates for accommodation and Meals :

Full board €462 for the week, including:

• Organic, balanced meals made with fresh, local products from Monday evening to Sunday afternoon.
• Double room with shared bathroom and toilet.

Bedding is provided.

Please bring your own towels.

Other options are available! Contact Laurence.

For accommodation in a single room with private bathroom and toilet, with bedding and towels provided, a reservation with payment will be required before June 15, 2026.

For reservations, please contact Laurence at: 33 (0)6 49 57 83 37.