The Power of Predictability: Small Body Patterning

Predictability is key to building up trust between Tacpac partners. This means that the receiver can anticipate what the giver is going to do. The security this provides helps the receiver to relax, and reduces their anxiety. We all like what we know!

Predictability is achieved by always timing the moment of touch with the basic beat of the music. This lets the receiver know when they can expect to be touched. The touch is expected and reassuring. The whole process is reinforced through repetition.

But how does the receiver know where they will be touched? The answer lies in body patterning. Body patterning is the process of tracing a route around the receiver's body that can be repeated again and again, until the route itself is predictable and the receiver can anticipate both when and where they will be touched during the session.

Not every receiver will accept a whole-body pattern from the first meeting, and some may never accept it. This is where small body patterning comes in. Small body patterning involves tracing a route around whatever part of the body the receiver feels comfortable. This may be just a hand, or even a finger; perhaps a shin, or just a foot: whatever is acceptable to the receiver. The important thing is to keep working within the partnership you are both building.

We recommend six months to work through each Tacpac set. Don't rush. You have time to settle into your own partnership pattern. If it feels right, try to increase the body pattern as you work your way through the set, but only if it feels right. As the receiver becomes more familiar with the set, you and the music, and comes to know and expect every touch and every beat, this very predictability leads to less anxiety,  and more trust in the partnership. This may allow you to increase your body pattern.

The receiver might also be encouraged to accept an increase from a small body pattern to a bit more, and then a bit more by building trust through turn-taking. Allow the receiver to be the giver, and to use the object you are working with to create a body pattern for you, before swapping back again.

Don't forget, you can take a break at any time if that's what the receiver needs. Just start again on the next basic beat. That way, you both know where you are in the patterning of both touch  – where – and music – when.