bells draw a thread backwards to the gentle metal percussion in Messiaen, and the shadowy
sounds of the strings point towards Pärt’s gliding and dark choral setting. Pärt’s Da Pacem Do-
mine is unbelievably spatial and containing, it is calm and holding, evokes bodily feelings, and
creates contact to the spiritual realm. It is a piece that embraces light and darkness, freedom
and breath, hope and devotion, intensity and centering.
Having decided the succession Corigliano – Messiaen – Tavener – Pärt, I knew this
should be a program that carries the traveler into a relatively quiet energy of being. The trav-
eler can enter a universe which is rich and abundant, where time ceases to exist, and you are
weightless.
After listening a number of times to Bartok’s piece, which depicts a scene in a village,
I chose it as the initial music. It begins very slowly with a single clarinet tone, like breathing,
continues in a friendly manner and begins to dance. Then it gradually gains breadth and depth,
and manifests itself in strong unison in the end: ”We are here, and on our way.”
I listened a lot for the consistency of the wind instruments in the first four pieces, clarinet,
oboe, and flute. It was no preconceived idea, it grew out of the listening process. And I was
very aware of tonalities and modalities and sound in the transitions between the pieces, taking
care to avoid too strong gaps and differences. After Pärt, the Tormis choral piece begins half
a tone higher, giving you a slight lift. Tormis is a kind of extender which helps the traveler to
return after Pärt. And it can be repeated if desirable. It is a lullaby in looping repetitions which
can continue forever and ever.”^4
Testing the new program
During June and July 2010, the first tests of the new program were carried out. In GIM sessions
based on the new program, ET guided EC, HM, and LOB, and LOB guided ET.^5 In consequence of
this experience, ET decided to name the program Present Moments, stating that ”the traveler expe-
riences time in the Kairos dimension, while Chronos sets the frame within which any kind of event
may happen.^6 Time appears to stand still, yet everything is moving and vibrating, the birds ’speak’,
the waves lap, the wind carries you to places where you can really feel and sense yourself AND the
music.” ET guided two more test sessions, one with an experienced GIM therapist, and one with an
unexperienced non-clinical volunteer. As a result of the test sessions, she concluded that the pro-
gram was well suited for clinical GIM therapy with appropriate clients. ET recalls that,
”The first test sessions, in which I guided EC and HM, suggested that the program had a
potential appropriate for GIM therapy. My own subsequent journey in a guided GIM-session
corroborated this potential. The music exerted a strong bodily and kinaesthetic impact, and
the session induced feelings of focusing and centering, which relieved personal tensions and
worries.
Additional test sessions confirmed that all travelers remained in an altered state of con-
sciousness, and that every music selection evoked imagery which was appropriate for interpre-
tation in a therapy context; visual imagery as well as emotions and bodily sensations.
My subsequent inclusion of Present Moments in clinical GIM therapy indicated that the
program could contribute to self-accept and alleviation of stress, induce relief of excessive cog-
nitive control, and promote reconciliation and resolution of conflicts.
Summing up further clinical experience, the program appears to facilitate centering and
grounding, feelings of accomplishment and belonging, sensations of bodily presence, appre-
ciation of a quiet space with sparse activity, alleviation of anxiety, accept of one’s personal life
4 ET interviewed by EC, 23 July, 2010.
5 HM has described her experience of this session in an interview by EC 16 July, 2010 (Unpublished manuscript in Da-
nish). ET’s transcription of EC’s GIM session is reproduced as appendix 5.01.
6 In ancient Greek, Chronos indicates quantitative, measurable time. Kairos indicates qualitative time, characterized by
the lived experience of significant events.