Each of us during his life marks periods of extraordinary lightness and vivacity, but it happens, on the contrary, it rolls sadness and longing, performance drops, and the reason is completely incomprehensible. A person begins to look for symptoms of various diseases that are not confirmed by medical examinations, his quality of life is reduced, and his career may be in jeopardy. Moreover, even classical psychological help may be powerless, because a person cannot explain what is happening to him. But where client-centered therapy has proven ineffective, body-oriented therapy may help. Today we want to consider the simplest and most affordable, but very effective exercises that, when used systemically, can help you change your life for the better and get rid of many serious problems.
What is body-oriented therapy
First of all, you need to tell a little about what constitutes the direction that Wilhelm Reich opened. Body-oriented therapy, the exercises of which sometimes overlap with the teachings of yoga, is based on the belief that the mental and physical "I" of a person is in a closer relationship with each other than it seems to us. Accordingly, any changes can be achieved by acting on the body, which then will entail a change in the psychological state. This is despite the fact that classical psychotherapy goes the opposite way, acting on the psyche, so the therapist has to overcome numerous psychological defenses. At the same time, a well-chosen exercise of body-oriented therapy can give an excellent result much faster.
Fundamentals of Body-Oriented Therapy
The reader probably already very much wants to go to the very essence, to choose for himself the practical exercise of body-oriented therapy. However, we will dwell on theory quite a bit so that you can understand how this system works in practice. Wilhelm Roich believed that the mechanisms of psychological defense and the protective behavior associated with them, by which we compensate for our stress, fear, pain, insecurity, and much more, result in the formation of a “muscle carapace” or “clamp”. That is, repressed, unrecognized or unworked emotion is expressed in unnatural tension of various muscle groups, which makes the gait angular, violates posture (hunched or, conversely, a straight back and gait like a robot), makes breathing difficult.
Novelty approach
Reich proposed an innovative method of solving the problem by acting on a tense muscle group. Special techniques have been developed in order to reduce the chronic tension of each muscle group and to release suppressed emotions through physical action. Usually, pinching massage is used for this . And so, moving down the body to the patient help to break the "muscle carapace". That is, the basis of this teaching is the concept of organ energy. Energy should move freely from the core of the body to the periphery and go away. Blocks, or clamps, interfere with its natural flow, they serve to distort and destroy the natural feeling, this also applies to the suppression of sexual feelings.
Body locked issues
We would like to tell you more specifically what problems body-oriented therapy deals with. Breathing exercises, special massages and gymnastics help you to get rid of a huge load and move on through life fun and at ease. It can be a loss of contact with your body, that is, it is, but we don’t feel it. By the way, the problem of excess weight also often has the same reason: a person can not hear the signals of his body. This may be loss of sensation of certain parts of the body, severe tension and pain. If you experience problems with coordination of movement, often do not fit into turns, do not hit the target when throwing objects, then this is your therapy. This also includes poor posture and obsessive states, a delay in bodily and mental development, when the body gets stuck at a certain age. Such therapy will help those who are difficult to restrain emotions, who have experienced violence, acute grief and fear. If you reject yourself, your external image, cannot enjoy sexual relations, then come to body-oriented therapy. This also includes sleep disturbance and chronic stress, chronic fatigue syndrome, and the inability to live "here and now."
This is how Reich describes the protective shell segments. The eyes are the segment that keeps crying. Usually, two components give out tension - a fixed forehead and empty eyes. Too tight or, on the contrary, a relaxed jaw (this may be other grimaces) gives a pent-up scream, cry or anger. In general, the head is an area of supercontrol, that is, the inability to let go of oneself, to turn off the control of consciousness at the moments of creativity, relaxation, in sex, at any moments when sincerity and intuition are needed.
The neck, shoulders and arms are the area of responsibility; fears and obligations are locked here. This is the border between “take” and “give” in which harmony must be achieved. There is resentment in the chest, which prevents breathing freely. Anger and greed are localized in the stomach. Legs are our support, uncertainty is localized here.
The basis of success is proper breathing.
Any exercise of body-oriented therapy begins with proper breathing. All our diseases are from nerves, and a strong tension stimulates the formation of a “muscle carapace”, from which all our problems begin. And such a simple exercise as breathing can work wonders. Literally in 3-4 days, a person begins to feel better, he has a surge of energy, improves health, there is no need to constantly take medication.
Body-oriented therapy, exercises for beginners
According to statistics, almost 50% of all people do not use the largest, lower part of the lungs. That is, only the chest works, and the stomach remains motionless. Starting a workout, you need to lie on the floor and put your hand on your stomach. You will need to breathe through the nose. Exhale completely and feel the front wall of the abdomen lower. If necessary, push it down slightly. Now you need to work on the inhale as much as possible by inflating the stomach, as if it had become a ball. In this case, the chest does not rise and does not expand, the air goes only into the stomach.
It is very important to concentrate fully on the exercise. Disconnected from external worries and stay in harmony with oneself - this is body-oriented therapy. Exercise should be performed twice a day on an empty stomach. Do not forget to pre-ventilate the room. Start with one minute and gradually add 20 seconds each until you reach 5 minutes.
When you fully master the technique of breathing with your stomach, move on to chest breathing. To do this, also sit on the floor, but now inhale and increase the volume of the chest. In this case, the ribs will move up and out. When you exhale, your ribs should move down and in. Do not fill the abdomen while breathing. In time, this exercise is performed in the same way as the previous one.
Finally, you can proceed to complete yoga breathing. It is necessary to inhale slowly, first with the stomach, and then with the breast so that the air completely fills the lungs. Exhale emptying the chest first, and then the stomach. At the very end of the exit, make an effort with the muscles to completely remove the remaining air.
Different types of breathing
It would seem that we all know how to breathe, but it turns out that we usually breathe incorrectly. Superficial breathing is a consequence of fear. When a person is afraid, his breath almost freezes. Body-oriented therapy works with this. Exercises "the nose does not breathe" are reduced to training in full breathing and determining personal boundaries. People who are characterized by such breathing need to work very delicately, because they don’t have a “right to life”. The second group is people who have a broken breath. They do not know how to accept, they refuse themselves in many respects and always “owe everything”. They work with these people to provoke a deep breath. The third group is people who have a broken expiration. Finally, the fourth group consists of people who breathe easily and freely, with full breasts and stomach.
Warm up
It is very important to prepare yourself for the next job, because the smoothness and absence of violence in relation to your body is the main task that body-oriented therapy pursues. Exercises (warm-up) at the very beginning are aimed at immersion in yourself. Sit back and start with a massage of your fingers and palms. Work through each point slowly. Now do breathing exercises to tune in to work. Now curl up in the fetal position and awaken in it as much as your body requires. Now you need to work with all the muscle clamps. In turn, you need to strain each muscle group, moving from the head to the heels. Work out all the facial muscles, straining and relaxing each of them. Then go to the muscles of the neck, shoulders, arms, abs and legs. Note the relaxation of which is most difficult. The warm-up exercise sprout ends. To do this, sit on all fours, close your eyes and imagine a small sprout that reaches for the sun. Rise, slowly stretching. The whole process of growth should take several minutes. Extend your arms as far as possible and stretch yourself well. Now you can move on to more complex and specialized exercises that will help you live a more harmonious life.
Depressive states
What it is? Depression does not occur on its own. This is the result of prolonged exposure to stress, which leads to a distortion of attitude, as well as a change in the image of oneself in this world to negative. All these changes are registered in our body in the form of a grim grimace, an uncertain gait. And these are signals, reading which people around do not want to make acquaintances and business relations with us . In this case, body-oriented therapy can help a lot. Exercise (depression is treated not only with pills) will help to find harmony with yourself, and therefore with the world.
First of all, it is important to work with supports and borders, that is, the help of a therapist. The client needs to be laid on the couch and provided with the most comfortable stay, covered with a warm blanket, turned on pleasant music. The therapist supports both feet alternately, for about 10 minutes. You can be interested in how a person feels. Further, the legs bend and unbend alternately until a person completely relaxes them, and then begins to feel. Then you can move on to hands. Support is simple; the therapist’s palm is placed under the foot or the back of the patient’s palm . After performing support, the arms also bend and unbend until the patient ceases to control their movement. The latest support is under the head. In this case, the patient’s head lies on the pillow, the therapist sits behind him and puts his hands under his shoulders. It is possible to perform a light massage.
Self acceptance
Depression is a very many-sided state, and one of the components is the need to accept yourself as you are, to release all muscle clamps. And one of the best ways to achieve this is with body-oriented therapy. Self-acceptance exercises begin with breathing exercises and warm-ups. The next exercise that you can do is determine your own boundaries. To do this, try with your eyes closed to put on the wall the width of your shoulders and hips, your height. Now measure the silhouette that came out, and your own. This knowledge is only the first step. Now your goal is to study all the contours of your body. To do this, you need to sit on the floor and slowly walk with a tightly pressed palm across each centimeter of your body. If you are trying to slip through the abdomen, chest, genitals, it means that they should be given the most attention. And to consolidate this is a dance. Stand against the wall and wait until movement begins in your body. Do not bother him, let the body do what it wants. After some time, you will feel that you are moving in a very strange and bizarre way, while a huge number of images appear in your head, emotions suddenly come to life. It can be laughter and crying, anger and rage. Keep moving as long as you want, and try to give free rein to emotions.
Body-oriented therapy, exercises for panic attacks
What is a panic attack? This is a strong anxiety that translates into an accelerated heartbeat, sweating, weakness. A person is afraid of these sensations, anxiety builds up, and they are repeated. Now he is already sure that he has a heart disease, but the doctors deny this diagnosis, and the patient begins to look for incurable ailments in himself, each time getting even more entangled in his fears.
In fact, people only need to help break the vicious circle, and for this, auto-training and relaxation are perfect. Works well in this case, and rebirthing is essentially a combination of special breathing techniques and suggestion. However, unlike auto-training, which can be done at home, only a specialist can rebuild.
Therapy for children
This is a separate area - body-oriented therapy for children. Exercises in this case are aimed at increasing self-confidence, developing creative abilities and the ability to accept oneself as a person. Usually spend them in groups. Do not forget where body-oriented therapy begins. Breathing exercises must be included in the lesson plan. After breathing, you can play a “cake”. One baby is offered to lie on the floor. From it we will make a cake. All other children are eggs, sugar, milk, flour. The leader is a cook, he alternately lays out the future cake with ingredients, pinching and stroking it, “sprinkling”, “pouring” and “kneading”. Then all the participants, led by the cake, breathe like dough in the oven, and then decorate the cake with flowers. They can be painted with paints on arms and legs. Now everyone tells how beautiful and tasty the cake turned out.
Now you need to move a little. The host invites children to climb a high and steep mountain. As the children march around the room, he tells them which path they are on. As they walk along the sunny path, they notice many fragrant flowers. At the same time, the sun's rays touch the hair and bring peace and relaxation. As the mountain gets steeper, a breeze blows over your face, and with each step you feel the joy of anticipation of something new. One more step - and you are at the top. A bright light hugs you, and you feel that now you can do anything. A huge sense of joy, happiness, love and security embraces you. You yourself are this light, everything is in your power. You can finish the lesson with the exercise “sprout”.