In Memory of Stephen Wagner
In early April 2024, my son Stephen Wagner, one of the co-developers of Chi for Two died.
In the wake of his death, Stephen’s beloved wife of ten years appreciated how the Chi for Two practices for romantic partners helped them have the joyous and adventuresome life they had.
Chi for Two® - The Energetic Dance of Healthy Relationship is a healing method that works multi-generationally. The five practices for romantic partners help lovers recognize when romantic dances stir unfinished infant/parent dances, which are patterned over many generations.
How does Chi for Two® align with the work of Resmaa Menakem’s Cultural Somatics?
Written by Dee Wagner - with Fred Shelton, Chi for Two Embodiment Coach and Director of Diversity Marketing
Resmaa Menakem is the author of My Grandmother’s Hands: Racialized Trauma and the Pathway to Mending Our Hearts and Bodies as well as Monsters in Love: Why Your Lover Sometimes Drives You Crazy—and What You Can Do About It. The best way to describe how Chi for Two is like the work of Menakem is to explain some ways that Chi for Two deepens Menakem’s work.
Chi for Two® Mindful Touch
In Chi for Two® - The Energetic Dance of Healthy Relationship, we invite embodied awareness of the difference between touch in relationships that replicate the infant/caregiver dance and touch in relationships where there is ideally power equality.
What’s the difference between Chi for Two and Somatic Experiencing?
Levine’s ideas of “titration” and “pendulation” are built into Chi for Two. Over the years, Levine created the trauma healing method Somatic Experiencing. As Wagner has presented on Chi for Two, participants have recognized the deep connection between Somatic Experiencing and Chi for Two because Wagner has been so connected to Levine’s work throughout all the years that led to the creation of Chi for Two.
What is the difference between Chi for Two and Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)?
Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) was created by Marsha M. Linehan. DBT is a leading treatment for self-harm, anxiety and depression, especially among adolescents. DBT is considered a second or third-tier Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. DBT adds a mindfulness component. Dee Wagner (originator of Chi for Two) and Caroline Gebhardt (developer of Chi for Two) often explain playfully that Chi for Two can be seen as a “mega-mindful” version of DBT.
Photo credits:
© 2020 bobmahoney.com - Chi for Two© Practices Celebrate Healthy Oppositional Dances
© 2020 John Cargile - Let’s dig deeper into the Chi for Two© practices of Push and Reach/Grab/Pull