Bioenergetic body therapy: the approach suggested to heal the body from the mind

The body has a melody and a rhythm

The man of today's society is immersed in a context where, to achieve his goals (personal and professional development, growth and economic stability), he generates a network of internal pressures and his environment. Faced with this type of situation, there is an attempt to adapt the individual to certain demands of the environment that surrounds him, which enables a propitious field for the development of various symptoms related to stress, depression, suffering, and chronic diseases, among other.

Emotions have a high impact on the physical and psychosocial health of men. Starting from the anthropological conception of it as a unit, it is impossible to separate the mind and emotion from the body; Today we know that both emotions and thoughts have an impact on the somatic.

If we look around us a bit, the large number of people who are getting sick at this time. A common denominator of these people is visualized and has to do with their high sensitivity and vibration, and a low capacity to feel it in their bodies.

This large dose of pain that we are witnessing is absorbed by these bodies and may be expressed in specific organic disorders that otherwise would go unnoticed.

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What is Bioenergetic Body Therapy?

Everything that happens in a person's life leaves marks on their body and their way of being.

Body posture shows us the story, the emotions that could not be elaborated and are retained in the body. The limitation in its movement is the result of a psychic block that cannot be expressed, of emotions, of conflicts that the individual has not been able to or can resolve.

Within this context, Bioenergetics emerges as a psychotherapeutic technique and body exercises, created by Dr. Alexander Lowen, a psychiatrist, a disciple of Wilhelm Reich who in turn was a disciple of Sigmund Freud.

Is a way of understanding the human personality in terms of the body and its energy processes. These processes are the production of energy through respiration, metabolism, and the discharge of basic energy in motion, which constitute the functions of life.

From Bioenergetics it is postulated that body and mind are a unit. The body, mind and emotions are different expressions of the totality that a person implies. We start from the basis that the individual is his body.

What the man feels can be read in the expressions of his body "

(Lowen, 1960).

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The container of our emotions

To make it simple and as an analogy we can say that the "container" of our sensations, feelings and emotions is the body, in a structural sense.

If the container is hard, rigid and contractured it will be a good container, but it will not display its "gifts" and it will only accumulate "tension". The tension of being a container. At a certain point, it will reach its peak.

If it does not become permeable, porous or simply uncovered, what it contains will find its way out. The possible forms are varied, but among them are the "extreme" ones: cracks, breakage, collapse … etc.

At this point we may ask ourselves: "What has happened? ", or perhaps we stoically accept that this was what had to happen.

When> it degrades our bonds and generates suffering.

This can manifest as a surrender and science is finite in adjudicating a cause and effect, and many times we cannot put a name to it. Without denying that there are factors of all kinds, the contact with the emotion and the sensitivity of which we protect and care so much, is canceled by an accumulation of beliefs that are within the dominant cultural ideals of speed and efficiency.

The 4 Axes of bioenergetic body work

To focus on the energy activity of the body and restore vitality and flexibility, various axes of the human context are taken:

1. Rooting: It means having our feet firmly planted on the ground to be in touch with what happens to us and what we feel. Thus providing the sense of GROUND as the basis of the sense of REALITY.

2. Breathing: Good breathing is essential for vibrant health. The inability to breathe freely under emotional stress is the physiological basis for the experience of anxiety in the first and subsequent stressful situations. Any restriction of breathing is both the result and the cause of anxiety.

Breathing little is "feeling little", we cut off certain emotions and this causes our diaphragm to tighten, stiffen, and the body does not oxygenate as it needs. Likewise, squeezing the throat so as not to cry, so as not to say what is happening to us, creates tension in the jaws; It causes us to accumulate anger, anger, rage, etc.

3)> Vibrational activity is an involuntary manifestation of the inherent motility of the organism. It is also responsible for spontaneous actions, emotional discharges, and inner functioning. Vibration is the natural state of the body when the breath flows freely. When the muscles are spastic they lose mobility and spontaneity. In a state of chronic tension the vibration is blocked and we lose vitality. "A living body pulses and vibrates."

4) The liberation of voice and emotions: Through exercises with the voice we enable the expression of what the individual has not been able to say, also of rage, pain and anger as a bridge to access contact with enjoyment and pleasure.

Move the body to regain vitality

The exercises that are carried out in bioenergetics help prevent many diseases and enhance good body function. A new living space opens; an expansion of perception; life-giving and transforming contact with the body and emotions. This expansion of the vital capacities of each one multiplies the possibilities of inserting themselves in a positive way in the family, work and society.

The proposal is to increase the vitality that is within each one of us.

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The objectives of the bioenergetics exercises

✓ Contact deeply with the body and emotions.

✓ Leave the primacy of the mental to give way to the integral perception of the body and emotions.

✓ Breathe better, increase expressiveness and self-confidence.

✓ Noticing involuntary movements.

✓ Perceive the life of the body.

✓ Work with sensations (conscious perceptions of what happens in the body), emotions (anger, joy, sadness, fear, etc.) and feelings (love, hate, rejection, discomfort).

✓ Loosen chronic muscle tension and make muscles more flexible to allow energy to circulate freely.

✓ Enhance voice, sound and expression.

Who>

Everyone. There is no restriction whatsoever, since the perfect exercise is not sought, but the objective is to become aware of the body itself and the feelings and emotions that inhabit us, looking for energy to circulate freely, to find health, pleasure and well-being .

When performing these exercises the person begins to make contact with their body, to register his ailments, his discomfort, the backpacks he carries, he begins to make contact with them. As the work progresses (the time and process will depend on each one), the retained emotions and sensations begin to be released; chronic tensions are relaxed; breathing expands; and therefore, the whole organism begins to work better.

Among other pathologies, this practice is specific for people suffering from Depression and Chronic Pain.

The>

Depression from the bioenergetic approach

The energy of depressed people does not flow to the extremities, staying in the middle zone due to an unconscious fear. The individual feels that there is no ground to lean on, that nothing and no one will hold him down if he lets go. Physical labor involves: the mobilization of emotions through breath, movement and sound, rooting as a pillar of work to sensitize the belly so that the person can feel their insides and legs until they feel like mobile roots.

To be rooted is to be in contact with reality; an individual who is well rooted does not act on the basis of illusions, this process being, consequently, the process of helping you complete your maturity.

Chronic Pain from the bioenergetic approach

The International Association for the Study of Pain states that chronic pain can be considered a disease in itself. As a tool for the treatment of pain, Bioenergetics enables reduce ailments, stress levels, tension, anguish and anxiety.

Increase>

The times ahead will bring disruption, unpredictability, and awe. The only factor that can sustain us before this is to anchor organically, it is to feel, it is to express our emotions and be clear about them, observe, feel, feel, direct our attention to that place where we find calm and peace. To achieve this, it is important to be able to stop all the noise that surrounds us.

It is very important to emphasize that these exercises are not a substitute for any therapy, and that they do not solve deep emotional problems, although they can serve to become aware of the need to face an individual therapeutic process. Anyway, whether someone is undergoing a therapeutic process or not, regular execution of these exercises will help reduce stress and anxiety levels, and to significantly increase vitality and capacity for pleasure.

Releasing retained body content is not a one-day, one-time, or formulaic process that I can apply more or less effectively. It is a vital path and regulation of the own need and time. It is a path of much waiting, a lot of patience, and above all a lot of care and love, so that it doesn't overflow, doesn't explode, doesn't break. It is an act of bravery and absolutely revealing. And of course, it is not a lonely path, there is an interaction, an exchange, a collaboration. A Network. And like every container that is released, it makes room for the new to take place, and relief as well.

Bioenergetic analysis is a psycho-corporal discipline that seeks to return the body to its natural motility, so that the emotional content is provided in the present and with complete safety, without fears, anxieties or blockages, this is developing in a propitious context, accompanying and respecting the own rhythms of each Corporality. It is re-humanizing so that the container and content find the experience harmonious.

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And you, did you already know the bioenergetic approach? Let us know what you think in the comments!