Health researcher, therapist, writer and speaker, Gary Cook DSc talks with Clif Sanderson about his work in Europe and his return to New Zealand for a short visit in Febuary 2006.

Gary studied under Clif 10 years ago, and picks up the story from when Clif became well known for his work with the victims of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster

Clif Sanderson worked in Belarus and Russia for more than 5 years with hundreds of children and adults who were seriously affected by the Chernobyl tragedy. There was, and still is no medical protocol for helping people living in areas of low radioactivity contamination and when he arrived in Minsk at one hospital alone there were 10-12 children a week dying from exposure. The doctors had no answers; they were non-committal to the possibility that he might be helpful until, after a few weeks the numbers dying were reduced, in that hematological hospital, to 2 to 3 per week. At Lake Baikal, Clif and his future wife Galina, worked alongside the local Buryat practitioners. It was a medical research project into the affect of several alternative medicine modalities on radiation related illnesses, initiated by Grodno Medical School (Professor L. Evets). The research showed that application of Clif’s method could reduce the amount of radionuclides in the children’s urine and showed significant changes in psychological and physiological parameters.

Concurrently, he was doing research with many medical colleges in Moscow and with the LENC Medical Research Group on the psychological and physiological benefits of his method. For this, he was awarded the Gulperin Award for Service to Medical Science by the Russian Ministry of Health.

His current work is largely focused on the research, initiated by himself and supervised by Professor Harald Walach of Freiburg University Hospital. It is done in the grounds of the Tumorbiologie Clinic Freiburg University. The research is about the quality of life of people with cancers of all forms after Clif worked with them.

When asked to what depth this research went,Clif said, “This is a very new field for such a university and, as it is one of the top German universities, it has a great deal of effect on the recognition of application of consciousness. We are primarily looking at the social, emotional effects of the impact of Deep Field Relaxation (DFR).”

“The work has steadily progressed and grown over the past 10 years. With the experiences gained especially in Europe and Russia I can confidently state that here is a method which has a proven track record. The most interesting thing is that the more it changes the more it becomes simpler. The more simple it becomes, the more effective it becomes.Where I began, as have so many others, in the understanding of what was called ‘Spiritual Healing’, my problem became how to present this in so many various cultures (such as in Siberia) where the entrenched beliefs cannot be altered quickly. To speak of spiritual healing is also a very vague assumption not based in probabilities but in possibilities. That is to say, anything is possible. Our minds are capable of creating any number of scenarios. Are there UFOs? It can be considered possible as we cannot absolutely say ‘no’.”

He further added,“But to think in probabilities we must have a base of practical examples. Then, even if it does not fit into conventional thinking, it can still be observed. Whether it can be repeated or not is not the question. If it has happened once anywhere, any time, then it is probable that it will happen again. If a person has felt (experienced) some change following a DFR session then we can say that it has happened and may occur again.”

When asked to comment on the intention factor in healing he responded. “From the term, spiritual healing, I drew the assumption that the primary source of change was within a person’s intention, so for many years I termed it Intentional Healing. Whilst this may have been a good explanation it was nigh on impossible (!) for patients and students to grasp the broad concept. Plus scientific minds in recent years have co-opted the word and have attempted to isolate the ‘intention’ as a specific research topic.”

“Not totally happy with either of the earlier terms I took the step to create a form which is infinitely more accurate when it comes to explanation, to teaching and to the patient’s grasp of what is being offered.”

“For years I was studying the Zero Point Field. A concept to which I was particularly attracted to the idea that at the zero point we are not talking about energy, we are left SIMPLY with information. This adequately answers many questions left unexplainable when one sees, what might in historical days have been called, miracles.”

When asked for definition of an illness he replied, “Many physicists now claim that there is no actual need for a person’s body to become ill. Therefore, since we can never know precisely what is the cause of any illness, despite advanced techniques of dealing with the SYMPTOMS, nevertheless we are no nearer to grasping the totality of each person’s difficulties.”

“This is the fundamental proposition of Deep Field Relaxation. The practitioner cannot know what is the problem therefore, honestly, he or she must allow for change outside of their educated practice. I consider methods mask motivations. That is to say, the therapist presents his preferred process and, if it doesn’t work, he then retreats to rely on the teaching he has absorbed.( “I, and my colleagues say it works, therefore it is not my concern if it doesn’t work for you!” ) Or, more realistically, the doctor suffers deeply, almost beneath conscious level, that he or she is less than successfully able to do what he is trained to believe is the correct approach.”

With Deep Field Relaxation (DFR) Clif says we turn to what he calls contagious proximity. “That is to say, if I am, let’s say, happy, you, being nearby, will discover some degree of change towards being happy. If someone yawns, others yawn. If I, as the ‘therapist’ am content and not living in fear of illness, then I am contagious to my patients and their minds will rest in comfort. If it is true that the body does not need illness then all aspects will become affected. The DNA for example, with a history of millions of years, has an innate desire to operate and correct any deviations from the norm. One scientist, Ruth Winter, observing and participating in the DFR sessions, described its affect as a re-arranging of the “building blocks” (molecules) of the body into a different order.”

Clif went on to say that one very important aspect of DFR is the use of the CD, ‘Mind Music’, which he specially produced to create the atmosphere of dynamic relaxation which can be used as a compliment to the presence of the DFR practitioner, or used by anyone who wishes to allow positive change to their emotional, physical state.

Does DFR work? “Indeed it does. The research and the outcomes are based in the probabilities that an effect, if once observed, must be in the Universal Field of Information, even if we cannot define the source.”

Can it be taught? “Yes! I have taught hundreds upon hundreds of doctors and many other practitioners and simply people interested in helping others on how to include THIS as a way of being, not only as a medical practice. There are no gurus, no avatars, no one more special than any other when it comes to learning and using DFR.”

“Letting go of the mind is not easy as anyone who has tried meditation can confirm, however DFR does not require an ‘empty’ mind, just a commitment to learn, as it is with any new idea.”

Deep Field Relaxation brings measurable changes through the quietness of the therapist and through the science of recognition that ‘the body follows the mind’.

Clif went on to say he had recently begun group work which he called ‘Sundays Children’. Following the years of working with the ill children of Chernobyl he says, “I have never been able to forget their faces as I worked. Fortunately there have been no more tragedies of the same sort as there was then. I have been looking for a way to return to work with children and now, beginning in Germany and quickly spreading, I see that there is a great need for parents and children to overcome the social separation so frequently seen, and create the bonds of love missing in many young lives.”

“With ‘Sundays Children’, the parents come and sit in a group. The children (from 4-10 years old) are held by a parent (many many fathers find they are crying after), one child per parent (if the family has more than two then they come to further meetings – the importance lies in the individual attention the child gets and the parents feel simply cuddling (depending on the age) as the parents go into silence, accompanied with some specially created music. This is such a new thing for the kids to see adults sitting quietly, in a group, with their eyes closed. They just cannot believe it. They seldom fidget, sometimes a little laugh but mostly wide-eyed looking around at the other kids. If they make a noise, that is OK. The session lasts up to half an hour, but only as long as the kids are happy.”

Clif said he would be very keen to see this concept set up in New Zealand.

“As with DFR, so with ‘Sundays Children’, the most important thing comes from deep loving-kindness. This is a true form of love which is not conditioned; neither does it neglect the reality of struggle between families and general life experiences.”

When asked about future plans he replied, “For the foreseeable future I would like to do more of the same. I am not a missionary, nor do I wish to ‘change the world’ but just have the time and energy to bring more DFR and more parents to a return to love and bonding.”

“DFR has been supported by serious research; it may be considered being based in the energy created by Love; it can and does provide a platform for inclusion in all conventional and other therapies. In every case patients are advised to consult with their preferred medical advisor as a first step towards health.”

Clif once again stressed how important the research at the university is. “It is really a breakthrough not only for me, but for many others.”

By Gary Cook, December 2005, 'Healthy Options'
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Things about Deep Field Relaxation

Deep Field Relaxation (DFR) [previously known as ‘Intentional Healing’] has no similarities to any other form of therapy.

The basis of this method lies in the understanding that there is a tendency in nature to lead all events, including health, towards harmony and stasis.

Modern science now confirms the inaccuracy of the concept of duality. Everything, living and inanimate, co-exists within the same laws of the Universal Field.

There are no separate events.

We co-exist in this field and therefore each person affects all others, and therefore trained practitioners are not only observers but co-creators of the result of any interaction, experiment, treatment or research.

The Field of existence has no boundaries, it spreads across the Universe like a warm breath.

It permeates our thoughts, our bodies, our pains and our feelings of disconnectedness. It forms the galaxies and at the same time, the smallest parcel of ‘energy’.

It breathes into our lives, and it creates the illusion of material substance.

And yet it is impossible to describe the Field with words in such a way that we can ‘taste’ it or feel it.

Mystics have spoken of it; modern physics has attempted to clarify the practical ‘laws’ of the Field but still it remains at a distance from our everyday experience.

To fully experience it, we need to forsake the idea of controlling the action. We must begin to ‘allow’ events to take place. There is no ‘doing’ involved.

In that mood of acceptance, it is possible to relax and sense the broader tapestry of life much more than we could have previously imagined.

Each of us affects all others.

Deep relaxation is contagious.

If ‘I’ bring myself to a state of deep relaxation, if my intention is to be of help, then ‘you’ will be positively affected without further effort. If one part of the Field shifts then all parts must accommodate the change. Daily concerns fade, moods soften and new possibilities became clear. The Life Force is able to act without interference and homeostasis is restored.

Deep Field Relaxation (DFR) as a therapy can be learnt entirely by personal experience, which is transmitted to the student by a trained helper.

This golden link between the intention, the mind/body reaction and the greater cosmos has eluded science for centuries.

Yet gaining practical experience and the use of this powerful knowledge is not new. It has always been known and taught in many different cultures. For centuries it has been classified as 'mysticism' - a well protected secret; now, the veils of religions, politics and intransigent academics have dissolved away. Today, through DFR the Universal Field has become accessible.

The first step is to acknowledge the importance of our 'local mind', as Dr. Larry Dossey (USA) has called it. These are the very real feelings, emotions and illusions of everyday life. They are just as necessary, perhaps more important, as any perceptions of ‘spirituality’ if we are to be effective at bringing profound benefit to others and clarity to ourselves.

“The most beautiful experience we can have is the mysterious. It is the fundamental emotion, which stands at the cradle of true art and true science. Whoever does not know it and can no longer wonder, no longer marvel, is as good as dead, and his eyes are dimmed.”
"The World as I See It” Albert Einstein

Even though we may not understand the full impact of modern sub-atomic science, even though some might name the ‘Field’ a holograph, and others might explain it using words such as ‘angels’ or ‘spirit guides’ our sensible mind can certainly experience the release from suffering, and the return of Love when it appears, as if magically, by the skilful action of Deep Field Relaxation (DFR).

In training the practitioners of this method, the most important thought to be conveyed is not the personal energy channeled to the person in need, but both practitioner and patient are surrounded by this field of energy. There is no attachment to the outcome of the interaction and therefore it is not the practitioner’s educated mind or even desire which creates the successful outcome. This approach is radically different to other energy healing modalities, many of which consider one’s personal involvement and their declarations of Mastership, important.

However the fact is, that no mind is capable of knowing precisely what each patient requires at any given moment.

We are faced with the simple reality that WE DON’T KNOW.