This man sincerely believed in Marxism, but was expelled from the Communist Party. He was a talented psychotherapist, but he was kicked out of the association of psychoanalysts. The scientist devoted his whole life to making people happy, but the theory he developed is still considered a "pseudoscience." Neglecting the laws of physics, the mad doctor spoke of the existence of universal energy, bound in human bodies by muscle carapace. Wilhelm Reich died for his rebellious ideas, and never received a well-deserved recognition.
Theoretical basis
All people are born free personalities open to love and creativity. However, parents and society teach them to act according to the rules, restrain their feelings, and respond to situations in a standard way. Thus a character is formed, consisting of familiar values, attitudes, ways of behavior.
V. Reich, a pupil of the great Z. Freud, drew attention to the connection of the postures, movements, gestures, and psychological problems characteristic of people that they have. He suggested that the unwanted emotions (fear, anger, sexual desire) displaced during the upbringing process are the cause of chronic muscle tightness. Muscle carapace, according to Reich, is emotions blocked in the body. Thus, a person defends himself from the outside world, displacing unacceptable feelings from consciousness. But at the same time, he loses touch with his "I", ceases to experience the pleasure of life.
Muscle shell segments
Wilhelm Reich identified seven main body blocks in the human body:
- Eyes. The clamp is expressed in the "empty" look, the immobility of the forehead, vision problems. The presence of a block indicates a fear of openly looking at what is happening. Often a person is afraid to look into his past or future.
- Mouth and jaw. They are either tightly compressed or too relaxed. In this area, anger, screaming, crying, as well as the ability to enjoy kisses, are suppressed.
- Neck. If this segment is pinched, a person cannot express himself. Here cries, screams, sobs are extinguished.
- Chest. Clips in the chest, shoulders, shoulder blades, arms hold down not only breathing, but also all kinds of emotions: passion, anger, laughter, sadness, fear.
- Diaphragm. The presence of the carapace is indicated by the curvature of the spine forward. When such a person lies down, a large gap remains between his back and the couch. Exhaling is more difficult for him than inhaling. The muscle block fetters the most intense anger.
- Stomach. Tension of the muscles of the lower back indicates a fear of a sudden attack. The protective shell on the sides suppresses hostility towards other people, anger.
- Taz. The more it is pulled back, the stronger the block. Here sexuality, pleasure, coquetry and anger are suppressed.
Orgone energy
Freud spoke of the presence of "libido" (sexual energy) in a person. V. Reich went further. He investigated the orgone or universal life energy that circulates in the universe, as well as inside a person from the top of the head to the heels and in the opposite direction. However, the presence of muscle clamps blocks its free flow, leads to psychological problems (aggressiveness, fears, shyness, loneliness, sexual perversions, etc.), blood vessel spasms and various physical diseases.
If you remove the muscle carapace, the person is healed. His life is completely changing:
- There is a reconciliation with oneself, ailments disappear, insincere relations are torn.
- A man finds a job to his liking, receives pleasure from his work, begins to engage in creativity.
- There is a desire to create a full-fledged family relationship with a loved one.
- All emotions and sensations, including orgasm, become bright, felt, open.
How to relax muscle carapace?
Reich investigated two ways of healing a person. He suggested that you can get rid of ailments by directing energy from the outside world into the patient’s body. To this end, in the 50s of the 20th century, he created an orgone battery. This device was tested in the USA and cured the most serious diseases (asthma, oncology, epilepsy). However, its effect was attributed to the placebo effect. The scientist was sent to prison, where he died at the age of 60. The invention along with the notes and drawings was destroyed.
The second way was to work with the patient's muscular carapace, which implies successive relaxation of all seven blocks. It included the following steps:
- Direct effect on body clamps through massage, deep breathing, sounds, expression of constrained emotions (crying, growling, beating toys, tearing paper).
- Psychoanalysis. After removing the block, feelings go outside, people remember the traumatic events from childhood. They need to be dealt with in order to feel completely happy and free again.
- Independent work of the patient. Muscle cramps can return, so yoga, qigong, dance therapy, regular relaxation, holotropic breathing, or other bodily practices are recommended.
Eye block removal
Let's talk about how to put into practice Wilhelm Reich's theory of muscle carapace. The exercises proposed by him should be performed slowly, in a relaxed state. You should start with even breathing and self-hypnosis: "I am calm. I boldly look to the future and open myself to change. I like my new sensations."
First, the ocular muscle block is removed. Exercises are performed within a month. You need to sit down, put your feet on the floor without crossing them. The complex is mastered gradually. You must:
- Close your eyes tightly, gently massage your eyelids and the skin around them, relax. Again squeeze to pain for 5 seconds, goggle (also for 5 seconds). Do this 3-4 times.
- Gently move your gaze to the left, then right and left again (10 times).
- Look up, down to the limit and again up (10 times).
- Rotate the pupils in a circle 10 times in different directions.
- Repeat the very first exercise.
- Close your eyes, relax and sit like this for 5 minutes, watching the sensations that arise.
Work with the jaw segment
Reich at this stage used a role-playing game with a partner. One person portrayed the owner, and the other a dog. They pulled a waffle towel coiled into a tourniquet. The "master" held it in his hands. The patient, who got the role of a dog, got on all fours, clutching a towel with his teeth, growling loudly. Then there was a change of roles.
However, there are other ways to remove the muscle shell of Reich. The exercises described below can be performed without involving a partner:
- Imitate strong crying.
- Pull your lips over your teeth to make a shabby mouth. Read the poem in that position.
- Make tight kisses blow kisses to objects around you.
- Alternately depict biting, smiling, sucking, and disgust on your face.
The Traveling Tongue exercise is very useful. Within 10-15 minutes, a person slowly feels with his tongue cheeks, sky, throat, every tooth, lips and everything that he can reach. At the same time, sounds are spontaneously born, the jaw relaxes.
Throat clamp removal
Reich considered the neck the most vulnerable part of the body, direct effects on which are unacceptable. To remove the blocks, he used very soft, although sometimes provocative exercises. Muscle carapace was removed during the following complex:
- Gagging. Making them, you need to fully relax and get rid of constraint.
- Shout. If the sound insulation is poor, you can hiss, imitating the snake.
- Protruding tongue. You need to squat down and stretch out your tongue as far as possible while exhaling along with the sound.
- "Balloon". Relax your neck and let your head hang loose. Imagine that she is a balloon, in which a light breeze blows.
Thoracic segment
Reich often invited his patients to imagine a certain situation when working with muscle carapace. How to relax and remove the clamps in the chest? The therapist advised you to imagine that your life is in danger. It was necessary to imagine yourself as a hero of an action movie and depict a fight with your hands: pound, scratch, tear, strangle, pull an imaginary opponent.
Another effective exercise is pushing a wall. Press on it with your palms with all your might, as if it was approaching you and was about to crush. When the voltage reaches its limit, release it immediately or gradually.
Complete breathing will also help cope with muscle clamps. Practice it should be lying across the sofa. At the same time, the legs are on the floor, the buttocks are slightly hanging, and the hands are behind the head. A cushion is placed under the lower back to open the chest. The exercise takes 30 minutes. Uncontrolled laughter or tears indicate that emotions are gradually released.
Relaxing aperture
You can start working with this segment when the previous blocks are removed. Muscle carapace is removed using the following exercises:
- Abdominal breathing. A man lies on his back and breathes calmly, imagining that the air is alive and runs around the corners of his body. Then you need to make a slow exhale, drawing your stomach to the limit. When it is reached, we try to exhale a little more, and a little more. Holding your breath and gaining air as slowly, expanding your stomach to the limit and even more.
- "Cobra". Lie on your stomach. As you exhale, raise your torso and lean your head back. Then return to the starting position.
- Bending to the legs. The man lies on his back. On exhalation, he rises, takes his feet in his hands and tries to press his stomach against his hips, holding his breath.
Each exercise is performed 10 times.
We remove the abdominal clamp
If the remaining segments of the muscle shell are worked out, the block on the abdomen is removed quickly. To do this, apply:
- Tickling. The man lies on the floor and relaxes. He must not move his arms or legs. A partner tickles him from armpits to hips.
- Belly and side kicks on other objects.
- Bends back from a standing position. Hands can rest on the lower back.
- "Kitty". Standing on all fours, round your back and gracefully bend it at the waist, imitating a graceful animal.
Work with the pelvic segment
To completely get rid of the muscle carapace, you should perform a complex of the following exercises:
- Kick while imitating a furious horse.
- Lie on your back, bend your knees. To rhythmic music for 5 minutes, quickly and often hit the pelvis on the floor.
- Stand up, get one hand behind the head, put the other on the lower abdomen. Perform indecent hips with music.
- Spread your legs wide. Transfer weight from left foot to right and back.
Working sequentially on the blocks, do exercises to relax the whole body. These include:
- Free dance. Turn on the music you like and improvise.
- "Pokatushki". You need 1.5-2 meters of free space. Relax lying face down on the floor. Feel your body. Then, slowly turn over from side to side, on your back and stomach, trying to touch the floor of each part of the body.
Muscle carapace cannot be removed without effort, but the work is worth it. Along with it, stresses, neurosises, psychosomatic diseases, and depression disappear from a person’s life. He becomes free, gets rid of the stereotyped reactions and aspirations imposed by society, begins to live in peace with himself and the surrounding reality.