Recently, one of our participants approached us and said, “I’ve got a session of Access Sticks in 5 minutes. Where’s the room?” We laughed hard but also realised it was time to write an article on Access Bars Therapy, and why it’s been an active component in all of our Ayahuasca retreats since day one.
Access Bars is a body therapy part of the Access Consciousness movement. So, in order to understand it, we would first have to look at what this movement is and how it works.
What is Access Consciousness, and how does it work?
“The purpose of Access is to empower everyone to know that they know.” – Gary Douglas, founder of Access Consciousness.
Access Consciousness is a set of tools and techniques designed to create a sense of space, ease, and joy in your life. They came together in 1991 when Gary Douglas (bestselling author, international speaker, and business innovator) shared his knowledge of the psyche and the world. Today, we are fortunate to find his teachings in 170 countries worldwide.
You don’t have to follow any dogma, as it doesn’t bring answers but a set of questions that aim to help people realise what works for them and find the answers they already have.
It’s a self-development tool that eventually leads one to become the question instead of the answer. According to Access Consciousness, as long as one stays in the question, it invites flow and turns life into an experience that can be enjoyed rather than chasing a fixed result built from one’s limited perspective.
It basically stands for shifting into co-creating with life and gaining self-confidence and freedom.
Here’s an example. Let’s say you’re selling apples and wish to sell more. Instead of saying, “Why am I not selling apples?” You could say, “What would it take to sell more apples?”.
You might notice that the second question invites inspiration, creativity, and life to flow in. It’s an open question, creating no resistance in your body.
“Why am I not selling apples?” It’s a lot heavier because it comes from the belief that you are a bad seller, or there’s something wrong with how you sell the apples. All that judgment creates resistance instead of flow.
These open questions can be addressed in any field of interest, including Ayahuasca. We wrote an article on how these questions work with Ayahuasca, Avalon’s core plant medicine teacher.
Remember: Anyone can function from a place of consciousness by choosing more of it. That implies letting go of how you think life needs to be and embracing how you want it to be.
What is Access Bars therapy?
Access Bars is an energy healing technique that focuses on working with the body and the subconscious mind. It involves gently touching and holding 32 points on the head. These points are connected to the body’s energy meridians and are known to cover all areas of life, such as communication, money, creativity, and control. By touching these points, limiting beliefs related to each are released, inviting a sense of ease in the body.
The practice is called Access Bars and not Points because, on the map that Gary Douglas channelled, the 32 points activate a set of segments on the head that look like bars.
Receiving Access Bars
On the receiving end, expect a unique experience every single time. Various aspects could give the tone of the session, such as the time of the day and the energy one arrives with, but ultimately, it’s all about what the body needs at that very moment. And that could be:
- Complete silence and just receiving
- Active conversations
- Muscular spasm
- Visions
- Flashback memories
- Heat and cold waves
- Bursts of energy
- Restful sleep
What’s really important to know is that nothing, really nothing, can stand in the way or block the work of this healing because it works directly with the body mind, not the waking mind.
Anyone, from babies to older people with any medical condition, can have their bars run, and it will benefit them equally.
Here’s what Access Bars can do for you
“At least, you’ll feel more relaxed than ever; at most, it’s gonna change your life.” – Gary Douglas, founder of Access Consciousness.
There’s an endless list of positive effects that people have confirmed to have experienced. Here are just a few of the most commonly reported ones:
- Increased energy and creativity
- Increased relaxation
- Stress relief
- More peace of mind
- Greater mental clarity
- Quality of sleep improvement
- Less reactivity
- Fewer limiting beliefs and associated feelings
- Progress with traditional therapies, such as psychotherapy
- Feeling more space for engaging in new activities and relationships
- Increase in emotional balance
- Anxiety relief
- Better focus
- A greater sense of well-being
Giving Access Bars therapy
The people who seek to become practitioners are caring people who do it either to support their friends and family or as an extra tool in their work with their clients. Wellness practitioners, mental health professionals, coaches, athlete trainers, and artists are but a few of the most encountered profiles of people who become practitioners.
Access Bars side effects
Although it is a unique experience for everyone, there are some repeating Access Bars side effects. The most common ones are:
- Euphoria. After the session, most people experience an instant sense of ease, serenity, and peace. Physical lightness paired with less active thoughts makes one feel like riding cloud 9.
- Emotional release. Because this therapy happens on an energetic level, people might find themselves experiencing sudden emotions, such as crying or laughing.
- Fatigue. The deep relaxation that it produces in the body and mind might be accompanied by drowsiness and a feeling of slowing down.
It’s essential to see all of this as part of the process and remember that Access Bars is a choice to embrace change, not to return to the old.
Access Bars therapy and Avalon retreats
Avalon was built with the idea in mind that night was the domain of Mother Ayahuasca while the day was all about integration.
Access Bars therapy has been part of Avalon since day one and continues to be an active component in our participants’ deep personal work for several reasons:
- It provides a moment of rest and deep relaxation. Due to their length and nature of experience, Ayahuasca ceremonies can be intense both psychologically and physically, making it a truly needed recovery practice.
- It teaches receiving. The passive nature of this practice can be pretty eye-opening for those who are used to giving and receiving right away and those who always give and never receive. It also teaches us to give things time and do one thing at a time, in this case, just receive.
- It’s just for you. Being a one-on-one therapy, it is a personalised experience and thus a gift, especially in a world where there’s a significant emphasis on bulk and time seems more and more limited. If you are interested, we have written an article about the benefits of private therapy over group therapy.
- It reminds the receiver how powerful their body is. It’s easy to forget that the body can heal itself if allowed and that tremendous resources are waiting to be tapped into.
- It holds space for the body to release whatever it no longer needs. That leads to a greater sense of ease, as it feels as if one’s energetic body has expanded beyond. With this newfound state of mind, the elements relevant to this very moment shine through and are easier to see and assess.
- It can become a “friend”. We bring a series of practices to the retreats, knowing that plant medicine is at play at all times. The awareness that Ayahuasca brings can underline a particular affinity towards one practice or another. In this case, if participants connect with this therapy, they could easily find a practitioner and join the community of like-minded people at home.
Finding the closest practitioner
We genuinely hope this article clarified your image of Access Bars therapy. Our primary sources of inspiration were the Access Consciousness home page and our in-house practitioners’ direct experience in our retreats.
When it comes to inviting Access Bars into your day-to-day life, practitioners can be found either through the official platform or by just googling “Access Bars therapy near me”.
If you are curious about trying it out in a retreat environment, Avalon’s Ayahuasca retreats in Europe are an open invitation to explore yourself, let go and let in, and allow transformation to occur from within.
Curious to know more? Book a discovery call with us and find out if this powerful journey is right for you.
