Body oriented techniques. Body-oriented practices used to heal the body and soul

Today's article is an interview that I gave to Pharmacy Business magazine. We can forget children psychological trauma but the body will never forget them. How to learn to stay in your own body here and now, free it from fears and clamps - I tried to tell about this in our conversation with Olga Alekseeva.

Thanks to Olga for asking interesting questions and prepared this article for publication.

So, the method of body-oriented psychotherapy ...

OA: If you try to explain in simple terms, what is body-oriented psychotherapy (BOP)?
I.S. First of all, it is psychotherapy. The goals and objectives here are the same as in any other direction in psychotherapy: there is a client's problem that he wants to solve - the so-called "request". What distinguishes psychotherapeutic areas is the way to solve this problem.

Working in line with TOP, we solve a psychological problem by involving the client's body. The body acts as a means of both psychological diagnostics and psychotherapeutic transformation. Unlike doctors, we do not work with the body, but through the body. The body gives us access to the psychological world of the client.

Therefore, a specialist with a basic psychological education, and not a medical one, can work in line with the TOP.

O.A. What is the corporal approach based on, what are its possibilities and main postulates?
I.S.: The basic law of the TOP says: "Bodily and psychological are equal." Figuratively speaking, the client's body is a map of his soul. The body can tell the story of a person: key traumas, upheavals, psychological portrait, psychosomatic risk zones (in which dysfunctions are most likely to occur), individual life strategy, resources… It's about not about genetic characteristics, but about those disorders that are formed during life, in accordance with the experience gained.
So, in response to an emotion, a bodily reaction necessarily occurs. If someone has a certain experience for a long time, it is fixed in his body. For example, chronic fear, insecurity make you press your head into your shoulders, while the shoulders seem to roll forward, a collapse forms in the chest. And this posture becomes habitual.

Accordingly, according to the usual postures, movements, posture, facial expression, muscle condition, we can make a psychological portrait. And acting on the body - to change psychological condition, self-perception, attitude.
At the same time, we influence the body not only through touch, although among the TOP methods there is, for example, massage. But we also use breathing techniques, static and motor exercises, meditations, the use of a bodily metaphor (for example, we ask the client to depict his problem with his body), we connect drawing (for example, you can draw a bodily symptom).
There is a certain touch ethic in TOP. We always ask permission for physical contact with the client, we respect his right to say “No”. Almost always, the client remains fully clothed - with the exception of techniques that require direct muscle work.

Touching the genital area and breasts in women is always taboo.

The body reflects our entire history.

OA: Wilhelm Reich was the first to pay attention to human bodily reactions, then Alexander Lowen and others. Has anything changed since that time, maybe the studies point to some erroneous conclusions, or vice versa?
I.S. TOP exists and develops for almost a century. Of course, during this time a lot has changed, knowledge is expanding and deepening. On the this moment More than 100 TOP schools have been recognized, but almost all of them are based on W. Reich's somatic vegetative therapy. His thesaurus, introduced principles of work, basic theoretical concepts are preserved: the idea of the “muscle shell” as chronic muscle tension.

Reich divided the muscular shell into 7 segments (blocks), each of them endowed with a certain psychological symbolism. But he was a psychoanalyst and sexualized so many psychological processes. Modern TOP no longer considers sexuality as a central issue.

Also, modern TOP talks about the impact on the subsequent life of the prenatal period and the characteristics of the birth process. It is also worth noting that Reich considered only chronic muscle hypertonicity (the "fight" reaction) as a problem, later they began to talk about the problem of hypotonicity (the "surrender" reaction).

Wilhelm Reich - founder of TOP

OA: How does TOP differ from psychotherapy, and how does a body therapist differ from an ordinary psychotherapist?
I.S. TOP is one of the areas of psychotherapy. In order to work in this direction, you need to have a basic psychological or medical education, as well as undergo special additional TOP training.

A body-oriented psychotherapist is a psychotherapist who has chosen to specialize in TOP, just as a cardiologist is a doctor who has chosen to specialize in cardiology.

OA: What is happening in the community of body therapists today, what are the prospects for this approach? Are there several schools within the TOP?
I.S.: At the moment there are more than 100 well-known and recognized TOP schools. Now almost all spheres of scientific knowledge are developing and enriching at an incredible pace, the same is happening with the TOP. Most likely, the TOP will become more and more popular.

Firstly, the TOP is more understandable to customers, because Outwardly, it seems close to their usual medicine - some manipulations with the body.

Second, the average person lacks a healthy loving relationship with their body. Our culture of corporality is instrumental, the body wears out like a tool, care for it is neglected, but it is required that it be beautiful and efficient. TOP helps develop a loving, respectful attitude towards your body, increases self-acceptance.

OA: Is TOP treated in combination with an analytical approach or is it a completely independent course of treatment?
I.S.: TOP is an independent direction in psychotherapy, with its own theoretical and practical base. But it is not enough for any psychotherapist to be an expert in only one direction. There is a recommendation for a working specialist: to master 3-5 different areas in psychotherapy. This applies to any psychotherapist.

О.А.: With what requests do people most often come to a body psychotherapist? Can you make a top list?
I.S.: You can come to a body-oriented psychotherapist with any psychological request, as well as to any other psychotherapist. But in accordance with the specifics of the TOP, these requests more often concern the body. For example, the client is aware that he is critical of his body, dissatisfied with it, and wants to increase self-acceptance.

They often come with chronic tension in the body, difficulties with relaxation - this is a common problem for residents of the metropolis.

Also treated with somatic symptoms and psychosomatic disorders; in this case, we will definitely inform clients that the help of a psychotherapist does not replace the necessary medical help, they need to be combined. Recent times more and more often, doctors began to refer to body-oriented psychotherapists - in the case when it is obvious that “the disease is from the nerves”, that is, the patient needs to receive psychological help. Doctors and I are not competitors, we complement each other's work, this increases the effectiveness of treatment.

O.A.: How is the TOP session going? Is the client doing the exercises or do you still need to talk first?
I.S.: The main method of influence in any psychotherapeutic direction is discussion. We always talk with the client, like other psychotherapists: we collect his story, clarify the request (the purpose of the work), ask about important events, dreams between our meetings ... At the end of the meeting, we summarize. As for the TOP exercises themselves, there are those that are done almost silently, and there are those during which there is a dialogue.

OA: Is it better to study in a group or individually?
I.S.: There are both group and individual forms of work in the TOP. Each has its own advantages. Usually, individual work goes deeper, it is easier for the client to open up. But the group gives the effect of group support.

OA: Are there any contraindications to using the method?
I.S.: In general, there are no contraindications to the use of TOP, because TOP has different methods and many techniques. There are limitations in the use of specific exercises, at the level of common sense: for example, when working with pregnant women or with the elderly, exercises that require significant physical effort are not used. But if one thing does not suit the client, another can be used.

Therefore, TOP is used to work with a wide contingent: children, adolescents, adults, the elderly; with norm and pathology; with pregnant women; with addicts (alcoholics, drug addicts, gamblers…), etc.

О.А.: Psychotherapy can last for several years, but what are the terms for TOP?
I.S.: In TOP, as in other schools of psychotherapy, there is a “short-term work”: from 4 to 10 meetings. And "long-term psychotherapy", over 10 meetings. This "above" can last for several months or several years. It all depends on what result the client wants to achieve and at what point he is now.

For example, a girl has difficulty communicating with the opposite sex. It's one thing if a little self-doubt interferes with her. It’s another matter if there is rape in her story, and even with aggravating circumstances ... These will be different stories psychological work, of varying duration.

О.А.: Do you often come to those who have not received results from verbal psychotherapy?
I.S.: Yes, it happens, but in most cases the problem is not in the method used, but in the client's unpreparedness - his unwillingness to change. A trip to a psychologist can be “far-fetched”: fashionable, curious, forced by relatives ... In this case, the client has no motivation and cannot be effective work. The client begins to shift the responsibility: "Wrong method", "Wrong specialist" ...

Remember Winnie the Pooh? “These are the wrong bees. They make the wrong honey."

OA: There is another modern approach- Bodynamics, how is it different from TOP? Or does the second include the first?
I.S.: Bodynamic analysis (bodynamics) is a direction in the TOP that began to develop in Denmark in the 1970s. The founder is Lisbeth Marcher, she sometimes comes to Russia and teaches. Bodynamics is distinguished by clarity, structure, so doctors are interested in it - a close mentality.

According to Bodynamics, development is based on the desire to be interconnected with the world (and not Eros and Thanatos according to Z. Freud). Depending on childhood traumas, this desire is distorted: someone hides from the world, someone seeks to please everyone or control everyone ... Thus, a character structure (psychotype) is formed.

Probably, of all the TOP schools in Bodynamics, the most clear system of psychotypes: at what age, for what reason, the character structure is formed, how it manifests itself bodily and psychologically, how to mono-correct it ...

In bodynamics, a pre-study study of the psychological content of more than 100 muscles was carried out - it will probably be interesting for doctors to get acquainted with it.

O.A.: When a person comes to you for the first time, you can immediately determine the places of blocks, and therefore the main psychological problems?
I.S.: This is what body-oriented psychotherapists are taught - the so-called "body reading". It can be carried out in statics, in dynamics (when a person is motionless or moving). In the office, this saves time: in the first minutes you see a psychological portrait of a person and guess what basic topics you need to work with.

OA: Does this skill of reading people hinder or help you in life outside of work?
I.S.: It is important for a psychotherapist to separate personal and professional. Do not become a psychotherapist for your loved ones. But elements of their knowledge can be used. For example, body reading skills help to better understand the emotional state of another person, develop empathy ...

OA: If I understand correctly, the first thing that is clearly seen during the TOP is the fears that are blocked in the body. Is it possible to draw a physical map of fears yourself, and what to do with them after?
I.S.: We have 4 basic feelings with which we are born: anger, joy, fear, sadness. Then, at the age of about 2-3 years, the so-called “social feelings” are added to them (not innate, but brought in from society): shame and guilt. All these feelings can be imprinted in the body, “frozen”. And the pattern of frozen feelings is individual. There are people who have a lot of fear in their bodies; someone filled with anger; or bent over with guilt... If we are not in touch with the feelings "stuck" in the body, they can manifest themselves through pain and illness. Yes, there is such an exercise: you can draw your body and note where feelings live in it (you can specify: “fear” or “anger”). This helps to get to know your feelings, reduces the risk of somatization.

OA: Are there differences in attitudes towards the body among different nationalities?
I.S.: Yes, “the culture of corporality” is a part of cultural peculiarities. Somewhere the body is still the "source of sin", in another culture the body is treated with respect, in the third - respect for manifestations of corporality, except for sexuality ... We definitely need to take into account the cultural characteristics of the client.

Working in line with the TOP, we first conduct a diagnostic interview, collecting information about its history. Among other things, we find out his origin, origins: nationality, belonging to a religious denomination, the social environment in which he grew up ...

There is a paradoxical relationship to the body in Western culture right now. On the one hand, great attention is paid to it: how many articles and programs about nutrition, plastic surgery, anti-aging ... On the other hand, this is a consumer attitude, the body is a kind of exploited object, it must perform certain functions and be a beautiful “business card” ... love for your body is sorely lacking.

OA: How can you build a new loving warm relationship with your own body?
I.S.: Perceive it as an integral, full-fledged part of one's personality, and not some kind of tool for life and a business card for society. Pay more attention to the signals coming from the body, do not neglect them. It is not only about pain symptoms diseases. Even small bodily signals, such as tension in the stomach, a lump in the throat, are clues to our intuition, for example, help to sense the insincerity of the interlocutor.
Taking care of the body is not “objective”, as about some inanimate object: wash the dishes, wash the windows, wash your body ... But to carry out this care with love.
Now beauty is often put in the first place, but not health, in the name of bodily beauty, many destroy their health. The hierarchy has been broken, because health should always come first, and a healthy body is always beautiful, because it is harmonious. It is important to see your natural, natural bodily beauty that every person has, it just may differ from social patterns.

O.A.: What can you say about the need to apply to the TOP?
I.S.: You can turn to a TOP specialist with any psychological problem. Working through the body is just a way to solve it, just like an art therapist can use drawing. You can also come to a TOP specialist if you want to feel your body better, understand it and accept it.

OA: For those who do not yet have the opportunity to visit a body therapist, can you give a couple of exercises for homework?

1. Sit in a comfortable relaxed position or lie down. Close your eyes, tune in to yourself, to your body. Try to feel well the signals coming from the body. Answer your questions:
How relaxed is the body?
What parts of the body are holding tension?
What area of the body is occupied by this tension?
— What are the patterns in localization? (right left, top part bodies - lower, front surface body - back, limbs - torso ...)
Is it temporary or chronic?
How long has it been in you?
- What feelings can this tension hold, what memories?
Try to relax those parts of your body too.
Then, with your eyes open, make a drawing: sketch your body and note the tensions in it.
Performing this exercise regularly, you will become better acquainted with your bodily features, come closer to understanding the causes of this tension. Then it can weaken and even leave.

2. Create your Body Feeling Map. Draw your body and note where what feeling lives in it? Hint: remember when you experienced this or that emotion. How does the body respond, which zones are activated? This feeling lives on in them.
After drawing, consider it:
What feelings do you find easiest to track in yourself? Which ones are difficult and why?
- Are there emotions that you have not noted in the body? Why? Do they definitely “do not live” in you, or you simply could not find them in yourself?
— Are there areas of the body that are left unfilled? Imagine what feelings might still live in them.
- Are there parts of the body in which there are a lot of feelings? Be careful - these are areas of psychosomatic risk.
This exercise helps to establish contact with your body and feelings, integrates the bodily and emotional sphere, promotes the differentiation of emotions.

Body Oriented Psychotherapy (BOP) - modern direction practical psychotherapy, which addresses the psychological problems of the patient with the help of body-oriented techniques. The approach combines psychological analysis and exercise. For TOP personality = body + mind + soul.

Bodynamic analysis is one of the methods of TOP, it is also called somatic developmental psychology. Knowledge of anatomy is key to the approach, as the founder of the method, Lisbeth Marcher, and her colleagues discovered the relationship between muscles and their psychological content. Namely, failures in the work of a certain muscle group indicate a certain pattern of patient behavior. Since at each stage of growing up a person reacts differently to influences outside world, then during the diagnosis it is possible to determine the age at which the client experienced psychological trauma.

Psychologists say that with age, a person's character is reflected in his face. For example, in people who are positive, the corners of the lips will be raised up, and in those who are often angry, there will be obvious folds between the eyebrows. In much the same way, experts in body-oriented psychotherapy (BOT) argue that mental disorders and problems of a psychological nature are reflected in our body. So, through work with the body, you can influence the psyche and emotions. Body psychotherapy is based on the principle of interdependence of body and soul.

The essence of this psychotherapeutic approach

Let us consider in more detail what is body-directed therapy? Freud's student W. Reich became the founder of the body-oriented approach in psychotherapy. Working with his patients, he drew attention to the fact that most emotions are reflected in certain bodily manifestations, namely in muscle clamps, tensions. The constant suppression of emotions and feelings leads to the fact that a person eventually creates the so-called muscle armor. Reich argued that in the process of psychotherapy, the study of bodily blocks allows you to relieve tension, release stagnant emotions and heal the patient's psyche.
He found empirically that the dominant characterological personality traits are manifested in postures, gestures, gait and facial expressions of a person. Based on numerous observations and analysis of the behavior of patients, a system for organizing the physical and mental component was derived. There are a number of methods of body-oriented therapy that, through the removal of muscle blocks, awareness of your body and emotional contact with yourself, allow you to treat mental disorders.

Goals and objectives

How can a body therapist help his patient solve psychological problems? It is believed that all experiences, feelings, psychotraumas, key events are “recorded” in the body during a person’s life. The task of applying the body-oriented approach is to “read” all the problem areas in the body, to reveal what is hidden far in the subconscious, but negatively affects the psyche. The body therapist tries to work out blocks in the muscles through special techniques, to help the patient achieve a state of deep relaxation. During the session, it is important to monitor the emerging images and experiences in order to express and transform them. Body-oriented therapy allows you to influence self-perception, emotional sphere and relationships.

Thus, the main goal of the body-oriented approach in psychotherapy is to create conditions under which repressed unconscious feelings, as well as memories, come to the conscious level. This allows them to be re-experienced and expressed in safe environment. As a result, a person gets rid of psychological blocks, emotional stress and restores a healthy state of mind.

Main directions

Key Feature body psychotherapy is the ability to reach out to the unconscious without talking to a doctor. This allows you to bypass the resistance and control of the intellect, so the maximum effectiveness of psychotherapy is achieved in little time. Even if the patient's mind is protected, not allowed to experience inner experiences, the psychology of the body will open the way to the subconscious and problem solving. With the help of body-oriented techniques, one can find connections between the somatic sphere, emotions, emotional experiences and the mind.

Body therapy is the basis of many psychotherapeutic methods, here are some of them:

Rolfing. The method consists in the use of deep massage, known since the 20s of the last century. Rolfing massage is whole system deep manual manipulations, working out muscles and ligaments, aimed at correcting the tone of soft tissues and teaching the body to move correctly.
Biodynamics. It combines elements of analytical psychology, periodization of the development of the psyche according to Freud and vegetotherapy. Helps the patient to break through to the deepest essence of human nature, to find himself, to realize his self.
Rosen method. It combines the study of chronically tense areas of the body and verbal contact with the patient. Excellent helps in the fight against chronic fatigue, arthritis, stress, insomnia, asthma, headaches.
Bioenergy analysis. This method was developed by Reich's student, the American psychotherapist A. Lowen, in the middle of the last century. Based on the theory of movement in the body vital energy. Today, bioenergy developments are used exclusively as a method of neuromuscular relaxation.
Alexander Techniques. This is a set of exercises that teaches the patient the rational use of the muscles of the body, without excessive tension. The body therapist, working with this method, helps the patient to realize and correct his bodily habits (poses, gestures, posture), helps to learn to consciously control his body.
The Feldenkrais Method. These are bodily practices developed on the basis of the ability of the nervous system to self-regulate. The emphasis in performing these exercises is on awareness of movements and changes in the body.
Biosynthesis. This is the first of the methods of body therapy, which was recognized by the European Psychotherapeutic Association. The main idea of this method is to harmonize the state of the main vital energy flows.
Bodynamic Therapy. Based on a study of psychomotor development. Such a method of bodily psychotherapy as bodynamics is primarily aimed not at the destruction of pathological characterological patterns, but at awakening and mobilizing internal resources.

Areas of use

The scope of the body-oriented approach is very wide. A body therapist may be needed both for the treatment of complex neuroses, mental disorders, and for personal development, contact with your subconscious in order to know yourself.

Various means and methods of muscle relaxation are used in the fight against depression, stress, panic attacks, anxiety disorders, chronic psychosomatic illnesses, to overcome psycho-emotional traumas and even just to improve performance.

Body practices will help not only relieve muscle tension, but also find the causes of psychological difficulties. However, there may be contraindications for somatic psychotherapy. For patients with psychosis, schizophrenia, mental retardation many bodily techniques will not only be incomprehensible, but even dangerous. For example, imaginative body-oriented psychotherapy techniques that rely on the use of the imagination can enhance hallucinatory manifestations. Therefore, patients with complex mental and somatic diagnoses should definitely consult with their doctor.

Principles of Neuromuscular Relaxation

Based on the principles of a body-oriented approach, at the beginning of the last century, Dr. E. Jacobson developed a method of neuromuscular relaxation, which allows you to deeply relax all muscle groups. Why is this needed? The fact is that every person, by virtue of his profession or household duties, during the day constantly experiences psychological and physical stress. But it is impossible to fully relax even during a night's sleep. After all natural system self-regulation of the human body simply can not cope with constant stress. In such a situation, a body-oriented psychotherapist can teach you to relax correctly and fully.

The technique of neuromuscular relaxation is based on simple muscle physiology. Strong tension is always followed by automatic relaxation. Therefore, if you alternately tighten the muscles strongly, and focus on their subsequent relaxation, this will help to relieve and mental stress. Regular performance of neuromuscular relaxation exercises can increase resistance to stress, improve concentration, cope with fear, anxiety, insomnia, and also normalize the emotional state. Progressive muscle relaxation will also be useful for neurosis, depression, neurotic disorders. If the body therapist teaches you basic exercises, you can then use these techniques on your own to maintain a normal psychophysical state.

Exercises to help relieve stress

Of course, in difficult situations, with serious mental problems, only a psychotherapist should prescribe a course of body-oriented therapy, stress relief exercises or manual techniques. However, you can learn a simple neuromuscular relaxation routine and practice it regularly at home to manage tension, stress, and negative emotions.
You can train daily, and when you reach good level skill, it is enough to perform the exercises 2 times a week or as needed. Choose a comfortable time of the day when no one bothers you to relax. Try to eliminate extraneous noise, put on comfortable clothes and take the most comfortable position for you (lying, half-sitting, lotus position).

Start breathing slowly through your nose. At this time, try to feel your body from the tips of your toes to the top of your head. Think only about breathing so that extraneous thoughts do not interfere with relaxation. After a few minutes, take three deep breaths with simultaneous tension of the whole body, slowly relax as you exhale.
Then alternately strain individual muscle groups. Start with both legs, then move on to the glutes, abs, chest, back, shoulders, arms, face. Tighten each muscle group strongly 3 times for a few seconds, slowly relaxing after each tension. At the moment of relaxation, try to feel how your muscles become soft, how energy spreads through the body.
After working out all the muscles, lie down for a few minutes, mentally running through the whole body. If you find tension somewhere, work that area again. Completing the set of exercises, take a deep breath, hold the breath for a few seconds, straining the whole body again, then slowly relax as you exhale. Lie down like this for several minutes, feeling how your body is filled with calmness, how warmth spreads through it. Feel how new forces come to you. Come out of the pose slowly, try to maintain a calm, relaxed state for some time.

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Body Oriented Psychotherapy (BOT) is a group of psychotherapy methods focused on

study of the body, the patient's awareness of bodily sensations,
to the study of how needs, desires and feelings manifest themselves in various bodily states, and
to learn realistic ways to resolve dysfunctions in this area.

Body-oriented psychotherapy is a therapeutic practice that allows you to work with the problems and neurosis of the client through body contact procedures.

The original, more precise and capacious term “body work” is translated simultaneously as “body work” and “body work”.

The goal of body-oriented psychotherapy, like any other therapy - the achievement of emotional and physical comfort.

This is possible when you understand your problem, perceive new ideas and information about possible ways her decisions, the free expression of feelings.

Body-Oriented Psychotherapy helps:

restore contact with one's own body, its sensitivity (when there is a body, but a person does not feel it);
restore the sensitivity of individual parts of the body;
recover from injuries resulting in a violation motor activity, especially during the rehabilitation period;
with problems with coordination of movements, a sense of boundaries;
in obsessive states;
with a delay in bodily and mental development (the body seems to be stuck at a certain age and does not want to grow);
with emotional imbalance (difficulty in containing or expressing emotions);
when rejecting oneself, one's external image, problems with weight;
with a visible lack of stability in life;
experienced violence, including sexual;
with acute grief, unexperienced grief, fear of death and fear of losing loved ones;
when it is impossible to rest, fear of stopping, inability to live “here and now”.

Body-oriented therapy also helps with many other psychological and psychosomatic difficulties.

In Body Oriented Psychotherapy - work with

Sensations: pain, cold, pressure - their detection and differentiation;
Feelings: grief, joy, fear, etc.;
Emotions, like bodily tension;
Processes: breathing, as an indicator of the quality of life, heartbeat;
Structure: thinness, fullness, lethargy, activity, knowledge of the psychological significance of movements
Impulses: study of the chain impulse - desire and emotions - plan and decision - action - assimilation (body signals that arise suddenly and prompt to action).
Creation of bodily resources

The "key" to enter into the problems of a person is his body, and this is the main feature of body-oriented psychotherapy. It is real, "always with you" and the body remembers everything.

TOP studies the mechanisms of interaction and restores connections between the body, feelings, thoughts, in other words, between sensations, emotions, actions.

From the history of Body Oriented Therapy:

This direction gained wide popularity and systematized design thanks to the works of W. Reich, starting from the end of the 30s. Reich believed that protective forms of behavior, which he called "characteristic shell", are manifested in muscle tension, forming a protective "muscle shell", and shortness of breath. Therefore, Reich used various body contact procedures (massaging, controlled pressure, soft touch) and controlled breathing, the purpose of which was to analyze the client's character structure, identify and work out muscle clamps that lead to the release of repressed feelings. Accordingly, the general basis of the TOP methods, which historically determined their separation from psychoanalysis, is the use in the process of therapy (body-mind therapy) of the therapist's contact with the client's body, based on the idea of inseparable connection body (body) and spiritual-psychic sphere (mind).

A great contribution to the development of TOP was made by: bioenergetic psychoanalysis (A. Lowen); somatic therapy - biosynthesis (D. Boadella); primary therapy, or primary cry therapy (A. Yanov); motor exercises related to the identification and improvement of habitual bodily postures (F. Alexander), as well as the awareness and development of bodily energy (M. Feldenkrais), etc.

Wilhelm Reich

Wilhelm Reich is the founder of the European school of body-oriented psychotherapy. Born March 24, 1897 in Galicia. Later he entered the university at the Faculty of Law, but by the end of the first semester he became disillusioned and transferred to Faculty of Medicine. Got medical degree, and then for another 2 years he continued his studies as a psychiatrist.

During his freshman year, he attended a lecture on psychoanalysis. And from that moment began the turbulent period of his psychoanalytic life. He was Freud's clinical assistant, led training seminars, and practiced. And as a matter of fact, he created his own concept - vegetotherapy, therapy through the body.

A notable contribution to psychoanalytic theory was the transition from talking to body therapy. Reich began to pay attention to the body of patients, to analyze in detail postures and physical habits, in order to make patients aware of how they suppress life feelings. He asked patients to intensify a certain clamp in order to become more aware of it, to feel and identify the emotion that is connected in this part of the body. He noticed that during the same type of experiences, similar tensions arise in the body. This observation prompted him to think about the direct connection of psychological problems with certain sensations and movements in the body.

Reich creates a special therapeutic technique, the idea of which is to pay attention to bodily sensations and explore how needs, needs and feelings are encoded in the body.

Reich introduced the basic concepts in body-oriented psychotherapy:

Support.
Energy (body energy - orgasmic energy - orgone energy)
Basic (nuclear issue)
Muscle clamp, block, secondary block
Muscular shell and character shell
Shell structure and character structure
Psychosomatic medicine
Body pattern and personality type formation
Psychological growth.

The goal of therapy is to achieve a state in which the patient spends as much energy as it has been accumulated.

Reichian therapy consists primarily of opening the shell in each segment, from the eyes to the pelvis. Each segment is more or less independent and can be handled separately.

According to Reich, there are three ways to open the shell:

accumulation of energy in the body through deep breathing;
direct action on chronic muscle clamps (through pressure, pinching, etc.) to relax them;
expression is a vivid exaggerated expression of feelings.

Reich believed that protective forms of behavior, which he called "characteristic shell", are manifested in muscle tension, forming a protective "muscle shell", and shortness of breath. Therefore, Reich used various body contact procedures (massaging, controlled pressure, soft touch) and controlled breathing, the purpose of which was to analyze the client's character structure, identify and work out muscle clamps that lead to the release of repressed feelings.

During the lifetime of the scientist, the bulk of his revolutionary ideas were not accepted by the majority of his colleagues. All his life he was surrounded by misunderstanding, slander, speculation, persecution by the authorities and prohibitions on conducting experiments in different countries.

Reich invented orgone accumulators that restore human energy. A US court banned the sale. Reich went into conflict, for which he was sentenced to two years in prison, where he died in 1957. at the age of 60.

“Patients who come to an orgone therapist are overwhelmed with problems. A trained eye detects these problems through the expressive movements and emotional displays of their bodies. If the patient is allowed to say what he wants, the conversation will lead away from the problems, he will somehow camouflage and obscure them. In order to correctly assess the situation, it is necessary to ask the patient to be silent. This method is very fruitful. When the patient stops talking, his body shows emotions much more clearly. After a few minutes of silence, as a rule, one can detect a prominent character trait or, more precisely, a plasmatic emotional manifestation. If the patient seemed to be smiling amiably during the conversation, then now, when he fell silent, his smile turns into an empty grin, the mask-like character of which will soon become noticeable to himself. If the patient seemed to be talking very seriously about his life, then as soon as he was silent, an expression of repressed anger appeared through his chin and neck.

“... Armor blocks anxiety and energy that has not found a way out, the price of this is the impoverishment of the personality, the loss of natural emotionality, the inability to enjoy life and work ... You can get out of the trap. However, to get out of prison, you need to understand that you are in prison. The trap is the emotional structure of a person, his characteristic structure. There is little use in inventing systems of thought about the nature of the trap; the only thing you need to get out is to know the trap and find the way out.”

"Healthy sensuality and the ability to satisfy one's desires give rise to a natural sense of self-confidence."

“Your conscious actions are just a drop on the surface of a sea of unconscious processes about which you cannot know anything, which you are afraid to know.”

Wilhelm Reich.

Alexander Lowen

Alexander Lowen is a well-known American psychologist, founder of bioenergetic analysis (bioenergetics) and researcher of sexuality problems.

Wanting to become a professor of law, A. Lowen trained as a lawyer, then worked as a teacher at the college.

In search of a solution to personal problems, he felt an interest in body work and the relationship between mind and body.

Alexander Lowen became a student of courses on character analysis, which at that time were taught by Freud's student Wilhelm Reich in new school social research. Lowen was fascinated by the ideas of Reich, in which he found answers to many of his questions.

What is the essence of A. Lowen's bioenergetic psychoanalysis:

Working with a client consists of two sources - analysis personal history and work with chronic tensions in the body.

From the point of view of the bioenergetic approach, chronic tension in the human body is a consequence of internal conflict, which does not find a solution. This conflict arises from the contradiction between the pleasure principle underlying biological nature a person and a reality in which there are restrictions and even prohibitions.

What is pleasure?

Lowen believed that a living organism functions only if there is a balance between the energy of charging and discharging, which maintains an energy level consistent with our needs and capabilities. The amount of energy consumed by a person will correspond to the amount of energy that is released during activity. The leading factor coordinating the processes of energy charging and discharging is the principle of pleasure.

The goal of bioenergetic therapy according to Lowen is the restoration of the integral functioning of the human body.

The emphasis is on breathing, feeling, movement, correlating with the client's life story.

Bioenergetics offers a therapeutic metaphor "You are your body and your body is you".

Lowen attached great importance to the symbolism of the body, non-verbal signs through which the body tries to communicate its own trouble or an unconscious problem.

A healthy person is connected to the earth (“grounded”) and enjoys life. There is no free circulation of energy in a diseased organism, which is hindered by bodily rigidity, which manifests itself in the form of muscular tightness and forms zones of tension in the body.

Lowen has written 14 books and numerous articles. His work has gained worldwide popularity and recognition. In his books, he teaches a person to hear and understand his body, talks about the need to restore natural bodily spontaneity and the ability to express his feelings in order to establish harmony with himself and the world.

In December 2007, Alexander Lowen turned 97 years old. Alexander Lowen died on October 28, 2008.

“There is only one indisputable reality in the life of every person - this is his physical existence, or the existence of his body. His life, his individuality, his personality is contained in his body. When the body dies, its human existence in this world ceases. No man can exist apart from his body. There is not a single form of human mental existence that would be independent of his physical body.

“The idea that thought processes belong to one field, so-called psychology, and physical processes to another, so-called organ medicine, is not consistent with the model of the fundamental integrity of the human person. Such a view is the result of separating the spirit from the body and limiting it to the sphere of consciousness. This gap has crippled psychiatry and exhausted medicine. The only way to cope with this violation of the integrity of man is the return of the psyche to the human body. This was her original location. The unity of body and spirit is expressed in the Greek root psychein, which means breath. A holistic view of the human organism would lead to the recognition that the body is permeated with a spirit that animates the psyche and controls its work.

Therapists on Body-Oriented Therapy:

Ulyanova Larisa

For me, body-oriented psychotherapy began the moment I recognized and accepted that I was a "body girl". That was the first step: "I am the body."

Now that this method is the main one in my work, it is always an interesting experiment.

What is he...a client? What does he say about himself? What is his body telling me? Which is true. And we start a dialogue - a fascinating, meaningful, purposeful dialogue in which bodies communicate. After all, everything we touch touches us.

At the first meetings, asking the client “What is happening in the body, what sensations do you distinguish?” As a rule, it is useless.

First, of course, let's get to know each other. Putting my hand on the body of the client, I tell him with this touch; "I'm here, I'm with you, I'll be careful and careful." The body, over time, the appearance of heat, micro-tremors, “thawing” - answers me: “I trust you, for now,“ a little, a little. After a while, the client notes with surprise: “goosebumps” ran down her legs, “heaviness” in her hands, and her shoulders “raised up” ...

My acquaintance with the client, the client with me, the client with his body - took place.

You can continue to communicate, live and live everything that happens when we are around, or happened a long time ago, but “surfaced” now.

Then, “suddenly”, feelings wake up that he didn’t seem to have or didn’t know about them. He begins to try to express them - emotions appear, and, behind them, thoughts.

And, over time, he can already tell me, and actually admit to himself, how this is connected with his life.

Body therapy helped me to gain stability both in a moving minibus and in constantly changing life circumstances.

There are real achievements in my therapeutic practice - leading, together with Olya Shpilevskaya, groups to get acquainted with body-oriented psychotherapy and work with clients. After psycho-emotional work with the face, one client was asked the question: “Have you done Botox?”. Another - body psychotherapy helped to get rid of bouts of uncontrolled overeating. The woman received an answer to her question about how she treats her partner. The young girl managed to realize and accept her love.

Shpilevskaya Olga

How did I get into body-oriented psychotherapy?

I have a lot of questions about my appearance and my health. And I started rediscovering myself. I stopped being afraid of strange sensations, it became interesting to me: what is it ?, where does it come from? and for what? Now, in moments when I do not understand what is happening, I listen to myself, I understand my emotions, which means I can control my actions, satisfy my desires.

Being engaged in body-oriented psychotherapy for more than 10 years, I still never cease to be amazed at its possibilities and admire the results obtained.

You have probably heard repeatedly that a person can get a headache due to unresolved problems, “hole” in the throat if you cannot say something, or a cramp in the stomach when anxiety arises. Now there are many recommendations on how to easily get rid of unnecessary troubles and pain.

In fact, not everything is so simple. For those who begin to engage in psychotherapy, I want to say that everything is much deeper and more interesting.

The body is very wise: when our "brilliant brains" create seemingly insurmountable problems for us, the body knows how to solve them.

My experience of working with people of different ages and different problems suggests that knowing body language 1, we can realize our needs, understand our emotions and feelings, and express them without harming ourselves and the world around us.

1 E. Gazarova “... body language (the so-called bodily impulses): these are sensations that are often perceived by us as an unexpected guest who came with unclear intentions. Sensations can be embarrassing (for example, “untimely” sexual impulses) or frightening with their “color”, speed of passage in the body, strength, complexity of structure, cause negative feelings or feelings of pleasure and bliss.

In general, only you can choose - in your life you own your emotions or your emotions own you.

Destructive feelings, stress create psychological discomfort, destroy the personality. To relieve internal stress, correct the condition, body-oriented psychotherapy (BOT) is used, based on the interaction of the psyche and body. The integrative method is aimed at identifying provoking causes, releasing closed emotions, and liberating the mind and body.

Our physical health is directly related to our mental health.

The fear of admitting to oneself the existing problems, their deliberate exclusion from consciousness triggers a mechanism in the body that causes affective stagnation. The unspent energy of emotions, motor impulses creates blocks that prevent the passage of vital energy, which increases the load on the joints and organs. Psychological aspects that depress the psyche complement the clinical picture. This is:

perinatal distress;
children's fears, complexes;
internal contradictions;
interpersonal and social conflicts.

Internal tension activates the neuroendocrine and autonomic system leading to pathological changes in blood vessels, smooth muscles, and the hormonal system. If it is not eliminated through bodily relaxation, it is fraught with:

appearance psychosomatic diseases- hypertension, ulcers, asthma, other serious pathologies;
vegetative neuroses.

Body-oriented psychotherapy is not considered an alternative to traditional medicine, but it significantly increases the chances of recovery.

Who is treated for

Oscar Wilde in "Dorian Gray" showed by example how life experience and vices are reflected in appearance. If you look closely at the faces of young people, many of you can see unnaturally pursed lips, progressive wrinkles on the forehead, clenched jaws. Constrained movements, scoliosis are also signs of muscle clamps. At certain moments, emotional experiences paralyzed parts of the body, imprinting in the muscle memory masks and gestures that protect against experiences.

The effectiveness of body therapy has been proven in practice

Body therapy is indicated for:

in protracted conflicts;
chronic fatigue, apathy;
internal tightness that interferes with communication, relationships, career;
panic attacks;
after divorce, loss of a loved one.

A traumatic experience disrupts the mind-body connection, leading to chronic stress and depression. Unlike other techniques, TOP does not censor the mind by identifying ineffective beliefs. With its help, hidden problems are delicately solved, which you don’t always want to share with others.

Modern methods of treatment

Corrective technologies include different directions. Combination different methods increases the effectiveness of psychotherapy. Among them:

Massage.
Bioenergetics according to the principle of A. Lowen.
Primary therapy A. Yanov.
Methods of Ida Rolf and Moshe Feldenkrais.
The "sensory consciousness" system.
Techniques of respiratory self-regulation, muscle relaxation.
Work with images, body scheme.

The creator of the method, W. Reich, was the first to discover that muscle relaxation releases locked energy. He compared movements, grimaces and habits, analyzed how emotions are suppressed in the body. As soon as a person accepts a repressed emotion, spasms and energy blocks disappear. He suggested kneading the body with his hands and physical activity to relieve muscle strain. According to Lowen, the creator of bioenergetic analysis, a body-oriented approach in psychotherapy is the key to understanding the emotional state.

It is useful to knead the body with your hands, relieving physical stress.

Bodynamic analysis L. Marcher is based on the anatomical classification of muscles. It covers the stages of muscle development from the prenatal period, proves that standard reactions lead to a violation of the development of certain muscle groups. For this purpose, a body map was created with a projection psychological aspects. For example, mimic wrinkles express conditions pectoral muscles associated with self-esteem. The unrealized energy of emotions blocks the development of these zones, creating a muscular imbalance. The condition of the musculature allows the psychotherapist to form an overall picture.

From the point of view of the TOP, the blocks are in the eyes, jaws, throat, diaphragm, pelvis and abdominal area. They begin to form in childhood from the bottom up, cover the entire body and create a shell - a static muscle tension that dulls the senses, interfering with the flow of orgone energy that affects sexuality and freedom of expression of experiences.

The resulting discomfort is the signals by which the subconscious mind tries to pay attention to the problems of the body. In order to synchronize the mental and physical energies, it is necessary to get rid of interference in the body. When normal circulation is restored, positive changes in health and psyche will occur.

TOP trainings allow you to live traumatic situations, key life events in a new way. Training in body-oriented psychotherapy is carried out individually and in group classes.

What is the task of a specialist

Working with physics helps to realize and accept repressed problems. A body-oriented psychotherapist destroys muscle armor, helps to relax, relieving spasms and emotions. Before starting a practice, the doctor always evaluates:

posture, posture, gestures;
gait, range of motion
muscle mass.

To imagine how the method works, one can draw an analogy with Ovid's Metamorphoses, when a stone statue came to life. At first, Galatea's eyes opened, her lips moved, and the stiffness of her body disappeared.

Physical manipulation of the body can stabilize the mental state

When pressing on the points near the eyes, tears begin to flow involuntarily, and after working with the lower part of the face, people begin to naturally respond to situations, expressing their internal state through facial expressions.

Physical manipulations with the body allow you to verbally analyze the state. Muscular freedom expands the range of motion, allows you to understand body language, restore a comfortable moral state. As soon as a person plunges into transpersonal experiences and gives freedom to feelings, inner liberation occurs.

How to get rid of injury

Mental shocks create tension in smooth muscles. If the throat is intercepted by the thought and what happened or discomfort is felt in the body, the localization of the problem can be determined by physical sensations. To get rid of, for example, backaches, a person attends massage sessions, but after stress the pain returns. Without eliminating the cause, the effect of treatment is temporary.

A good massage helps to cope with mental trauma

Working with trauma in body-oriented psychotherapy consists of several stages:

De-energization of provoking impulses.
Purification of the psychological space.
Recovery of CNS reflexes.
Adaptation of the psyche to strong experiences (containment), strengthening of natural self-regulatory mechanisms.
laying new information.

There are no universal technologies that relieve stress at once. Psychotherapists use:

somatic experiences of P. Levin;
somatic therapy by R. Selvan;
F.Mott biosynthesis;
art therapy;
Jungian analysis and other methods

The most commonly used massage, relaxation techniques. All practices begin with breathing. Controlling the inhale-exhale cycle is the foundation of all relaxation techniques. According to the Reich method, before the session, the patient lies down and breathes, focusing on bodily sensations.

Lowen suggests an exercise in activating the sympathetic nervous system to prepare the systems and organs for emotional experiences. You need to stand with your back to a high stool, put a pillow on top for insurance, bend back, grabbing the back of the chair behind it, and perform several breathing cycles.

Body Psychotherapy Techniques

Before attending a group session, you can learn at home the basic practices that are part of the set of exercises for body-oriented psychotherapy.

Gymnastics for the eyes

The technique consists of 6 parts. We sit on a chair, with our feet resting on the floor. We tightly close the eyelids, with tapping movements we relax the circular muscle of the eye. Open your eyes as wide as possible and look up. We repeat 3 times. Focus on each point for 8 seconds.

We take the eyeballs to the left - to the right, we linger for 8 seconds.
Slowly lower and raise the eyeball. We perform a cycle until pain is felt.
Rotate 10 times clockwise and in the opposite direction.
We repeat point number 1.
We sit for 5 minutes with closed eyelids. During relaxation, discomfort in the throat and jaws is often felt.

Gymnastics for the eyes - another method of body-oriented psychotherapy

This Feldenkrais exercise relieves stress eyeballs, synchronizes movements.

We sit on a chair right leg we take it far to the side, we pull the left one towards us. Expanding, relying on left hand, raises the right one to eye level, move it horizontally.
Closing your left eye, look away from right hand on the wall, again transfer to the fingers. We change hands, close the right eye. We perform 10 times on both sides. For complication, we repeat according to the scheme with open eyes, keeping track of how much the side view angle has widened.

"Lowen's Ring"

People suffering from neuroses most energy is lost to maintain the work of protective mechanisms. Exercise will help to relax the middle part of the body, the nervous system, to feel the body.

The stronger the support under the feet, the safer the person feels. We put the feet on the line of the shoulders with the fingers turned inward, we perform the deflection. Bending your knees, we take out the floor with our hands, transfer the weight of the body to the socks. We breathe deeply and measuredly. Holding on for a minute in a static position should cause shivers.

"Arch of Lowen"

Abdominal practice. We put the feet wider than 40 cm, turn the toes inward, clench our fists, rest against the sacrum with our thumbs up. Without lifting the heels, we lower the body, bending back. From the center of the foot to the shoulders, we stretch the body into a string. If the muscles are very spasmodic, it will not work the first time because of the pain to get into the correct position.

Deflection of the pelvis

We lie down on the carpet, bend our legs, place our feet 30 cm apart. We tear off the shoulder blades, stretch forward, wrap our arms around our ankles. We swing back and forth 10 times. To stretch, we put our fists under the heels, raise the pelvis until the thigh muscles tremble. For effect, we swing the middle part of the body.

Psychotherapists insist on the benefits of exercise "bike"

Body psychotherapy exercises are not limited to static postures. To finally relieve tension from the pelvic region, we lie down on our backs, actively move our feet in the air, touching the wall or bed. We constantly increase the speed of movement and strength by saying “no” loudly. It is important to consciously perform the techniques and follow the physical sensations.

Release of anger

To give vent to anger, visualize the object of irritation, strong blows we strike with a racket, a stick, fists on a pillow, a punching bag. We breathe through the mouth, do not hold back emotions and words.

According to reviews, body-oriented psychotherapy helps to cope with pain, corrects the emotional state, and improves the quality of life. The main thing, admit to yourself the problem and seek help from a specialist.

11 months ago

There is an opinion that any person reads all the information about the interlocutor in 10 seconds. The fact is that the body is like a cast from our psyche. All our traumas, stresses, fears are deposited in the so-called muscle clamps, which form signals recognizable to others: aggression, insecurity, fear.

In the form that it is now, body psychotherapy arose on the basis of psychoanalysis. A student of Freud, a certain Dr. Wilhelm Reich noticed that all neurotics are very similar. They have similar movements, body structure, facial expressions and gestures. A hypothesis arose that emotions create a corset, a kind of human muscular shell. Reich began to treat people through the body, removing the clamps one by one, and people began to feel happier. Destructive emotions left, neurosis receded.

It turned out that any physical and psychological traumatic events are deposited in the body. On the one hand, muscle clamping is a consequence of injury, and on the other hand, protection from negative emotions. The muscular shell helps a person not to feel, not to be aware of unpleasant emotions. They pass, as it were, past consciousness, settling in the muscles in the form of spasms. Over time, the muscle corset itself begins to generate emotion. Then we feel unconscious anxiety, fear, although external causes for them no.

So what is Body Oriented Therapy? Who is it for? This is a non-verbal technique that is gentle to the client's psyche, restoring his contact with the body, turning a person to face himself and his needs. The method will be useful primarily to those people who are not used to talking about themselves, are poorly aware of their emotions and feelings, often do not understand what exactly is happening to them, but characterize their condition with one word: “bad”.

Characteristics of therapy

The characteristic of therapy in the body-oriented approach is determined by its general objectives. They are the same stages that a specialist works on in order to help a person overcome trauma and improve the quality of his life:

De-energization of impulses that provoke a feeling of trouble, rupture of neural connections that support negative complexes, expectations, fears.
Purification of the human psyche from negative accumulations.
Recovery of CNS reflexes.
Teaching methods of self-regulation, the ability to withstand psychological stress.
Learning new information about yourself and the world.

To achieve these goals, body therapy uses different methods and approaches.

These include:

Reich's Vegetative Therapy.
Rod energy.
Bioenergetics Alexander Lowen.
Breathing exercises.
dance therapy.
meditation techniques.
Massage.

All body oriented therapy and exercises, various methods of body therapy are body oriented. Through the body and movements, various centers of the brain are activated. Thus, emotions and stresses begin to be processed, which for many years were driven deep into the subconscious and were manifested by outbursts of anger, addictions, physical illnesses. Body Oriented therapeutic effect pulls them out, helps to survive and clean out the memory of the body.

Body Therapy Techniques

Applying the techniques and basic methods of body psychotherapy, the therapist focuses on the person himself and his individual characteristics. According to principle individual approach a set of exercises is selected for each specific person. Some methods work in the treatment of this particular client, others do not. But there are exercises in body-oriented psychotherapy that help everyone. They can and should be applied independently.

grounding

When we are stressed, we do not feel supported. The grounding exercise is aimed at returning the energy connection with the earth. You need to focus on the sensations in your legs, feel how your feet rest on the ground.

We place our legs a quarter of a meter, socks inward, knees bent, bend over, and touch the ground. Straighten your legs, feel the tension and slowly, slowly unbend.

Breathing techniques

We never think about how we breathe, but we often do it wrong. Constantly nervous, we begin to breathe shallowly, preventing the body from being saturated with oxygen. “Breathe,” the therapist often says in psychotherapy sessions, because the client freezes and breathing becomes almost imperceptible. Meanwhile, breathing techniques help to relax muscles, remove muscle clamps and turn on the recovery mechanisms of the body.

Breathing in a square

We count: inhale - 1-2-3-4, exhale - 1-2-3-4. Repeat for 3 minutes.

Breathing for relaxation

Inhale - 1-2, exhale - 1-2-3-4.

Breath to activate

Inhale - 1-2-3-4, exhale - 1-2.

Healing breath

Close your eyes and concentrate on the process of breathing. Breathe deeply and confidently. Start mentally moving around the body and imagine that you are breathing in different organs and parts of the body. Track your feelings. If you feel discomfort in any organ, imagine that you are breathing healing sparkling healing air and watch how discomfort leave this body.

Relaxation

Helps to get rid of muscle tension. There are many relaxation techniques, but the most accessible and simple is the alternation of tension and relaxation. You need to lie down comfortably and strain all the muscles with all your strength, including the muscles of the face. Hold it for a couple of seconds and relax completely. Then repeat again and again. Already after the third repetition, a person feels laziness and a desire to fall asleep.

The next relaxation method is auto-training. Lying or sitting with eyes closed, imagine how the muscles of the body alternately relax. This method works well in combination with breathing techniques.

How does a body-oriented psychotherapist work?

Although some of the exercises can be used on their own, their benefits are like a drop in the ocean compared to the work of a body-oriented therapist. The specialist uses deep methods of body-oriented therapy to remove the muscle shell forever. In addition, a therapist is needed in order to be close to a person when an emotion imprisoned in a compressed muscle breaks free, because it will somehow need to be accepted and experienced. Professional therapeutic techniques of body-oriented therapy are very effective. They remove even the strongest clamps and restore the normal flow of energy in the body.

Vegetotherapy Reich

The classical vegetative therapy of Reich, the founder of the method, uses several techniques:

Massage is the strongest impact (twisting, pinching) on an inadequately clamped muscle. It increases the voltage to the maximum and starts the process of prohibitive braking, which dissolves the shell.
Psychological support for the client at the time of the release of emotions.
Abdominal breathing, saturating the body with energy, which itself, like water in a dam, demolishes all the clamps.

The first experiences of Reich's Body Oriented Therapy showed high efficiency directions. But the followers of the Reich exercises were not enough and, like mushrooms after the rain, new interesting methods began to appear.

Bioenergetics by Alexander Lowen
The symbiosis of Western and Eastern practices is the bioenergetics of Alexander Lowen. To the legacy of the founder, Lowen added a special method of diagnosing clamps with the help of breathing, the concept of grounding and many interesting exercises to speed up movement. human energy, relaxation of the abdomen, pelvic muscles and release of expression (getting rid of squeezed negative emotions.

Bodynamics

Fashionable now bodynamics with the help of simple exercises works out very serious things: boundaries, ego, contact, attitude and even lifestyle. Bodynamics has learned to test a person by studying his muscle clamps, the so-called hyper and hypotonicity. Practical experiments have shown that by influencing certain muscles, certain emotions can be evoked. It is on this that all bodynamic exercises are based. For example, if you want to evoke a feeling of confidence, strength and healthy aggression, hold something in your fist. This will help you get through the tough times. That is how, with clenched fists, man has always met danger and emotion has helped him to survive.

Biosynthesis

The next method of body-oriented therapy - biosynthesis tries to tie together human feelings, actions and thoughts. Its task is to integrate the experience of the perinatal period into the current state of man. This method continues the improvement of grounding, the restoration of proper breathing (centering), and also uses different kinds contacts (water, fire, earth) in work with the therapist. At the same time, the therapist's body is sometimes used as a support, thermoregulation is worked out and voice exercises are applied.

thanatotherapy

Yes, that's right, the concept of death is encrypted in the word thanatotherapy. It is believed that only in death is a person most relaxed. Thanatotherapy strives for this state, of course, leaving all participants in the action alive. The method uses group exercises when one is in a static state, for example, lies in a “star” position, and the other manipulates some part of the body, moving it as slowly as possible to the side. Participants talk about experiencing a transcendent experience of floating above their body and feeling completely relaxed.

Meditation

Meditative psychotechnics take their origins from Buddhism and yoga. It will take some time to master them, but the result is worth it. Meditation makes you focus on your body and makes it possible to feel the energy flows inside it. It allows you to restore integrity to the loose psyche and forms new missing psychological qualities.

Meditation is a great relaxation method. If you focus on any one thought or point of the body, all other muscles will lose tension and negative energy will leave.

What is the difference between body-oriented psychotherapy and other methods? From the very beginning of the use of the method, since the appearance of the Reich exercises, it was clear that this was a phenomenon unique to psychotherapy. Firstly, there was no need for long conversations, discussion of dreams, immersion in childhood memories. You could do without words. The psychotherapist got to the patient's trauma through the body.

All the exercises of the body-oriented therapy acted carefully, quickly, and as sparingly as possible on the client's psyche. This is the main advantage of body psychotherapy. In addition, the Reich technique killed two birds with one stone - along with mental health, it also returned bodily health.