Embracing the Process: Seven Years of Growth, Reflection, and Connection

Exactly seven years ago, thirty-eight strangers gathered to take part in the first-ever Pantarei Approach practitioner training program. These strangers soon became friends – with each other and with us – but at that moment, on that Monday morning, every face was unfamiliar, and the only common language was the excitement that comes with starting something new.

It was a new day, a new class, a new training program, and a new sensation that we could feel in every cell of our bodies – the Pantarei Approach had become real. This day marked the start of a new chapter that has led our hearts to expand, our minds to sharpen, and our trust in life to be reawakened. We can still remember our heartbeats, the sense of exhilaration, gratitude, and wonder.

It is a process

At the time of founding the Pantarei Approach, we, Claudia and Vered, had 48 years of collective experience as somatic practitioners, a significant portion of which was spent running and teaching a school together. It was the Grinberg Method that we were dedicated to, and although we have a great deal to criticize about the methodology and organization we were part of, we are also grateful for all that we learned, all the experiences we gained, and the motivation it gave us to create the approach that we have today.

When we look back at the process of establishing the Pantarei Approach, it is clear that the accumulated experiences that moved us in this new direction were not only professional but also personal. Our sorrows, difficulties, struggles, and frustrations played a significant role in the process of creating the Pantarei Approach, but our hearts and our passion for what we were bringing to the world were an even stronger force that moved us forward.

Acknowledging the path

We want to dedicate this date, the 29th of November, to appreciating the process that led us to open our professional Pantarei Approach school.
And we are writing this blog to those of you who feel you are in the middle of a transition. Growth often takes time. Sometimes, you may feel that you are walking around in circles or that you have completely lost your way. Whether it is for your personal or professional growth, every step, no matter how small, is essential. A process needs time to grieve the old, heal from your wounds, contemplate new ideas, strategize your next moves, and process what the change means for you as a whole person (intellectually, psychologically, emotionally, physically, and energetically).

A process needs time to understand how your new viewpoints affect your community. We hope that you are able to honor the entire process of growth that you may be going through. Looking back, seven years after one of the most drastic and healing transformations either of us has experienced, we want to encourage you throughout your process to connect to your trust, vision, and emotions and have patience with yourself and your loved ones along the way.
Our aim in developing the Pantarei Approach was to establish an approach where values such as trust, respect, and safety guide us, and where uniqueness and individuality bring us into greater connection with others.

Flow of life

Things might not work out as you envision them to. Difficulties are bound to arise, and there will be days or even weeks in which you question your choices. We write this blog to remind you that growth and development are processes. They take time. While writing these words, a lot is happening in our lives – personally and professionally – and we can never entirely separate the two. We are dealing with loss and grief, with global situations that stir our days and influence our emotional states. Each of us is dealing with our personal struggles, yet the development of the Pantarei Approach continues to be a part of that flow of life. We are fortunate enough to be able to use the tools we teach, and, to the best of our abilities, embrace the processes we are in.
As a school, we will open our next practitioner training program in March 2024. We will also open a year-long Advanced Training Program for certified practitioners in 2024. Starting this first-ever year-long advanced training program of the Pantarei Approach marks a new chapter for us with many new and beautiful challenges. It demands our full attention, our thinking, feeling, and planning. During this phase, we feel similar to how we felt seven years ago upon meeting the first group of people to embark on this adventure with us.

Individual and collective processes

Thank you for supporting the Pantarei Approach, for holding your vision of growth in your heart, and for choosing humanity. If you are struggling right now, and the way forward seems uncertain, we wish you the strength to look around, breathe, and connect to your body, vision, and heart.

Reach out to someone, a friend, a trusted person, to share not only your difficulties but also something about your path and what you wish to achieve one day. We know how valuable it is to have people around to support us, challenge us, hear us, and reflect back to us that which we sometimes fail or forget to see ourselves. For this, in particular, we thank Merav Gur Arie, a dear friend and teacher of the Pantarei Approach, as well as everyone who forms part of our wider team and community of practitioners. Remember that you too are also welcome to contact one of our Pantarei Approach practitioners. They are here for you and will support you in reconnecting to your unique qualities and the resources that will guide you on your journey.

Written by Claudia Glowik and Vered Manasse