When stressed we get tension in our head, shoulders, neck and back - we're all familiar with that. So the best help would be a therapy that works with both the emotional stress and the physical tension. Everyone knows that counselling helps with emotional problems and that massage helps with physical tension. What many don't realise is that they meet in the middle - and that's where I work.
The key to understanding many of our difficulties is to realise that the body holds our emotional history just as much as the mind does. The stresses of life can get locked deep into our muscles as chronic tension carrying an emotional charge, and our behaviour can be determined by this locked-in tension. These postural tensions (called ‘body armour’) influence not only how we walk, talk, move and breathe, but also how we think and feel. The body becomes ‘programmed’ to respond in certain ways, affecting our whole character and outlook on life.
This is not only a matter of stress during our adult life, but often of patterns set up in chilhood. Children are naturally energetic and expressive, and their parents teach them 'how to behave'. Those parents often have problems and stresses of their own, which can lead to poor parenting of the child. Sometimes this is malicious in nature, but for most people it is simply flawed and inadequate. A child who is persistently and unkindly told to "stop fidgeting!" learns that natural free movement is unacceptable behaviour, and will carry that belief - that rule - into adulthood. But to conform to the rule, the child has to physically prevent his or her body from moving, by tensing arms, legs, hips, etc. This tension becomes locked in, forming a habitual tense posture which eventually we don't even notice - it becomes normal for us.
My approach is to help you understand and change the hidden rules & beliefs you are living by, and to release the postural tension associated with them.
These postural tension may be sending out signals that lead other people to treat us in ways that are not consistent with who we are or what we think we are communicating. They may cause a rift between what we believe and how we actually feel and act. Our inner struggles to resolve conflicting tensions may result in persistent poor health or ‘dis-ease.’
I offer various forms of bodymind integration & body psychotherapy (Reichian therapy, Postural Integration) and Pulsing to help you find solutions and connect with your true self on a new and deeper level. My approach blends bodywork, talk-based therapy and other techniques to resolve the root cause of problems. If we choose to build a different relationship with our bodies we find that the body both grounds us in reality and is a touchstone for our true feelings: the body never plays mind games and is the safe refuge from confusion and overwhelm.
Bodymind integration is a truly holistic therapy, a whole-person alternative to counselling and psychotherapy. It can help with many problems: relationships (emotional and sexual intimacy); problems reaching orgasm or premature ejaculation; stress and anxiety; lack of confidence and low self-esteem; health issues; body image and diet; and many more. It is also a wonderful route of personal development, empowerment and creativity.
