Examples of body-oriented therapy exercises

How does body-oriented therapy work?

At the first stage, the child performs exercises that eliminate stiffness, tension, restore cardiac activity and breathing, he calms down and gains a sense of comfort. In this state, the psychotherapist can work with the emotional component - with the help of game exercises, sensitivity, motor skills, and coordination are developed. At the active stage, the child’s fears are played out, for example, fear of the dark or meeting new people.

The exercises are aimed at eliminating muscle tightness, developing the necessary motor skills, and establishing the relationship between the body and the psyche. A competent psychologist will be able to make the child’s psycho-physical development holistic and harmonious. Source: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5985305/ Interoceptive Awareness Skills for Emotion Regulation: Theory and Approach of Mindful Awareness in Body-Oriented Therapy (MABT) Cynthia J. Price and Carole Hooven

Indications:

• shyness, lack of self-confidence;
• fears, phobias;
• defenselessness in front of others, devaluation of one’s opinion;
• moodiness;
• aggressiveness;
• various emotional difficulties;
• psychosomatic disorders;
• tendency to frequent illnesses;
• stress, post-traumatic disorders;
• insomnia;
• lack of communication skills;
• excess or insufficient body weight;
• eating disorder;
• apathy;
• muscle spasms causing headaches, etc.;
• frequent colds;
• nervous tics;
• stuttering.

Exercises

One of the distinctive features of body-oriented therapy is that it is quite difficult to practice on your own. According to this approach, muscle clamps most actively respond to the hands of a specialist who knows exactly what needs to be done with this or that shell. Therefore, such a procedure at home may not be effective. The only thing available is to do some exercises and self-massage. But this is only after the psychotherapist correctly identifies the problem area and what exactly should be done with it.

For each shell, TOT offers a separate block of exercises. As a rule, one person experiences several muscle tensions at once. They need to be removed from top to bottom.

1. Open your eyes as wide as possible.
2. Rotate the eyes in different directions.
3. Eye movements up and down and diagonally.
4. Any other gymnastics exercises for the eyes.

Oral/maxillary

1. Imitate crying.
2. Do gymnastics for your facial muscles every day.
3. Work with your lips: carefully pronounce the sounds [o] and [u].

Throat/cervical

1. Vocal therapy.
2. Rhetoric.
3. Speaking tongue twisters.
4. Pronouncing vowel sounds.
5. Imitation of sobs.

The thoracic segment in body-oriented therapy is one of the most important areas of the human body. Exercises to remove the shell are shown here to be performed by those who take everything that happens too close to their hearts, for vulnerable and sensitive people. At the same time, the heart muscle is being strengthened, which also has a positive effect on the internal state.

1. Perform breathing exercises.
2. Breathe through your nose.
3. Breathe more fresh air.
4. Play sports that involve your hands: volleyball, basketball, tennis, swimming.

Lowen (the author of the bioenergetics method) proposed a special exercise for removing the chest shell. Lie across the sofa or bed. Feet are on the floor. The buttocks hang slightly. There is a cushion under the lower back. Throw your arms behind your head, palms up. For half an hour you need to breathe as deeply as possible, but rarely. If there is muscle tension in this segment, a person may start laughing or crying. This indicates the correct execution of the exercise, the release of energy and liberation from the shell.

Diaphragmatic

1. First, open the shells on the first 4 segments.
2. Only after this do breathing exercises.
3. Simulate a gag reflex.

1. Breathing exercises.
2. Exercise "vacuum" for the abdomen.

Reich called exercises to open the pelvic shell as grounding.

1. Walking barefoot.
2. Step.
3. Pelvic twisting.
4. Bike.
5. Swing your legs.

Despite the fact that most methods of body-oriented therapy are recognized as pseudoscientific, lacking a sound theoretical basis and research evidence, it is gaining momentum. More and more centers are opening in different countries, where specialists in this field work. Many psychotherapists include some of her techniques in their work with patients. There are also a huge number of grateful reviews from those who were able to cope with their problems with its help.

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What problems does therapy solve?

Body orientation is especially useful for psychomotor disorders; it can be used for various developmental pathologies. Such work with children is included in the treatment complex for the following diseases:

• neurosis;
• autism;
• nervous tic;
• personality disorder;
• enuresis;
• cerebral palsy;
• alalia;
• hyperactivity;
• stuttering.

Body-oriented therapy solves the following types of psycho-emotional problems of patients:

• aggression, excitability;
• anxiety;
• tearfulness;
• touchiness;
• isolation;
• fears;
• shyness, difficulty communicating.

Types of bodily shell

Despite such a huge number of techniques, almost all of them rely in their theoretical basis on those types of bodily armor that Wilhelm Reich once identified.

Ophthalmic

What's included: eyes, eyebrows, forehead, scalp.

• feeling of a motionless mask on the face;
• shifting gaze;
• the person never makes eye contact;
• deep vertical wrinkles on the bridge of the nose and multiple wrinkles on the forehead.

Internal problems: social fears, inability to establish interpersonal contacts.

Somatics: vision problems, headaches, tearfulness.

Oral/maxillary

What's included: back of the head, chin, throat.

• tense jaw;
• grimacing;
• habit of always chewing gum;
• “shaking nodules”;
• reticence.

Internal problems: secrecy, the need to keep everything to yourself, restrain anger.

Somatics: usually no complaints.

Throat/cervical

• neurotic cough;
• quiet voice;
• frequent swallowing.

Internal problems: the same as with a jaw clamp, but deeper, going back to childhood (for example, resentment towards parents).

Somatics: frequent sore throats, constant lump in the throat.

Chest

What's included: chest, shoulders, shoulder blades, arms.

• labored breathing;
• incorrect posture;
• unnatural position of the shoulders (lowered, raised, asymmetrical);
• lack of body flexibility.

This is interesting! According to body-oriented therapy, anyone can check their acquaintances for the presence of a chest shell and thereby determine whether they are happy or not. To do this, just call out to him when the person’s back is to you. If he turns his whole body, the clamp and problems are obvious. If he turns only his head or only the upper part of his body, he is fine.

Internal problems: suppression of basic human feelings - love, dreams, jealousy, hobbies. In socially oriented therapy, the chest shell is evidence that the patient is deeply unhappy.

Somatics: shoulder pain, shortness of breath, hyperhidrosis of the palms.

Diaphragmatic

What is included: diaphragm, solar plexus, lower vertebrae.

Internal problems: prohibition on expressing feelings of disgust and disgust. Often this type of shell is observed in those who are forced to live, work or simply communicate with an unloved and even disgusting person.

Somatics: frequent vomiting, pulmonary diseases.

Abdominal

External signs: protruding, large belly.

Internal problems: fear of attack, anger, hostility.

Somatics: obesity, digestive problems.

Pelvic

What's included: pelvis, lower limbs.

• the pelvis protrudes backward;
• tense buttocks;
• half-bent gait.

Internal problems: inability to satisfy arousal, suppression of sexual pleasure, feeling of threat to life.

Somatics: weak, wobbly legs, trembling knees.

Method results

Therapy restores the emotional background, forms a positive perception of life, peers, adults, and openness to new things. After a course of exercises:

• hyperactivity decreases;
• concentration improves;
• freedom of speech is restored, vocabulary is replenished;
• attention and memory improves;
• the ability to perceive new things is stimulated.

In autistic children, aggression and fears decrease, direct gaze into the eyes, a smile, intonations in speech appear, they become more tolerant of physical contact, and show curiosity. Source: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles /PMC5197937/ “We Dance and Find Each Other”: Effects of Dance/Movement Therapy on Negative Symptoms in Autism Spectrum Disorder Malin K. Hildebrandt, Sabine C. Koch, and Thomas Fuchs

Sources:

1. Timoshenko G.V., Leonenko E.A. Working with the body in psychotherapy: A practical guide. - M: Psychotherapy, 2006. - 480 p.
2. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5985305/ Interoceptive Awareness Skills for Emotion Regulation: Theory and Approach of Mindful Awareness in Body-Oriented Therapy (MABT). Cynthia J. Price and Carole Hooven
3. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5197937/ “We Dance and Find Each Other”: Effects of Dance/Movement Therapy on Negative Symptoms in Autism Spectrum Disorder. Malin K. Hildebrandt, Sabine C. Koch, and Thomas Fuchs

The information in this article is provided for reference purposes and does not replace advice from a qualified professional. Don't self-medicate! At the first signs of illness, you should consult a doctor.

Body-oriented psychotherapy – exercises

For any work with the body, it is primarily important to feel it and ground yourself. Stand up straight, straighten your legs, stretch the top of your head up and even push your chest forward a little. Feel how all the energy goes up from your legs, this is a state of elation and even some suspension. Inhale, then, bending your knees, relaxing your pelvis, exhale. Imagine that you are now sitting in a soft chair, as if you are growing your roots into the ground. Look around, you will feel more present, as if you can even feel the air on your skin. This is the simplest exercise to ground yourself and begin deeper work with anything, whether it concerns emotional experiences or further work with the body.

The next exercise is devoted to releasing the clamp in the mouth area - the jaw clamp. We often clench our jaws at times of physical stress or the need to be persistent and achieve a goal. Also, if we don’t like something, but there is no way to express it, we clench our jaw again. Sometimes the jaw clenches so tightly that blood circulation in the area is cut off. You can sit or stand to perform this exercise. Place your palm with the back side up under your chin and now try, while inhaling, with your mouth open, to lower your jaw down, but your hand should prevent this movement. As you exhale, the jaw relaxes and closes again. After several such movements, you will feel the place where the jaws close, you can massage it, relaxing the muscles. As a result, you will feel warmer, it will become easier for you to pronounce words and perhaps even breathe.

An example of a body block would be shoulders tucked up. If we tighten this clamp a little more, it turns out that the neck is literally hidden in the shoulders, which, like a turtle’s shell, protect it from a possible blow or push from behind. When a person has already become accustomed to this position of his shoulders, this means that there have been many stressful situations in his life when he had to internally shrink. The simplest exercise here is to try to throw something off your shoulder. To enhance the image, we can imagine how someone’s hand is on the shoulder, and we don’t want it to be there. Shake it off your shoulder and do it with confidence.

Another exercise with the same goal of freeing the shoulders is the push-off. Put your hands forward as if trying to push the unpleasant person away from you. A variation is also possible when you push back with your elbows. You can even help yourself to distance yourself with words, saying no contact.

In exercises with the presence of another person, which is practiced by both Reich's body-oriented psychotherapy and Lowen's body-oriented psychotherapy, he can, with you lying on your back, being behind your head, massage your forehead, then the neck area behind your head. It is better if the action is performed by a professional therapist. Rock your body in time with the massaging movements. Next - move on to the neck muscles, massage the tendons, the places where the muscles are attached to the skull, gently stretching the muscle. Again you need to pull the neck and even a little hair, if the length allows.

At any moment, if tension is present, you can again return to the forehead area, knead, tightly touching your hands with your head. Support and no sudden movements are required. In the scalp, you also need to perform kneading movements and stretch the scalp. This can be done in different directions with any movements, fingers and knuckles. With each new push, you can change the location of your fingers. Having grabbed the fold of the brow ridges, you can pull it to the sides and close it back.

After working with the frontal clamp, the transition to the facial muscles is made. Having placed your fingers symmetrically on the sides of the nose, they need to be slowly moved apart towards the ears. We move down along the nasolabial fold, stretching the muscle. We work the jaw muscles, paying special attention to places of tension. We relieve tension from the jaw bone, place our hands on the sides of the center of the chin and slowly move them back towards the ears. The slower the movement, the deeper it is. By working with facial muscles, we work with the emotions stuck in them.

Next, the work shifts to the neck and shoulders. If similar kneading techniques are used in the neck, then support and strong pressure are permissible in the shoulders in order to straighten them. Pressing is performed with rocking movements, then moving to the hands. Taking your hand, which should be completely relaxed, you need to swing, take the wrist and pull, then release and repeat the cycle from swinging again. This is followed by kneading the hand, which, like plasticine, needs to be stretched with the soft parts of the palms, and also kneading movements should be made on each finger, as if relieving tension. You can also use twisting movements. You need to finish everything off with a soothing rocking motion.

Technicians

Body-oriented training includes various techniques aimed at overcoming muscle resistance .

Breathing techniques are actively used, aimed at synchronizing breathing activity and relaxation of a person.

The depth of inhalation and the rhythm of breathing place emphasis on vegetative manifestations, diverting the attention of the subconscious from the enslaved muscular frame . Yoga and stretching are also helpful in this regard.

These direct physical techniques may seem completely removed from psychotherapy, but classical yoga is a prime example of an exercise in accepting oneself and the world around us.

Demonstrative techniques are based on group interaction. In this case, techniques of observation and analysis, comparison and discussion are used.

People are encouraged to highlight each other's physical features or to appear more naked than usual, which will allow them to more freely relate to their own physical features.

A useful borrowing in this vein is acupuncture from oriental medicine , which has a small number of contraindications and a wide range of possibilities for relieving muscle tension.

What is it and what is it for?

The human body not only expresses the state of health or illness, but also reflects internal experiences .

A person cannot help but change his facial expressions, posture or the nature of his movements depending on the current state of his soul.

Sometimes these changes are reflected in a physical reaction in a direct way: anger - with active and aggressive movements, isolation - with stinginess of movements and a weak reaction of facial expressions.

However, the body often deceives others and even the person himself, transforming a personal sensation into some new physical one. This is how psychological “shells” arise.

Tightness and stiffness in certain muscle groups reflects some kind of internal misunderstanding or an element of protection from an external or internal aggressor . Nonverbal signs of attention to other people, from sympathy to antipathy, also speak clearly.

Body-oriented therapy is aimed specifically at deciphering such unconscious manifestations , helping to overcome existing tension or establish contact. This type of therapy is based on a detailed study of the characteristics of the human body.

Also, this method of treatment helps the individual to accept himself physically . Many psychological problems are built from uncertainty about one’s physical condition, which gives rise to complexes.

Therapy helps the individual fight these complexes and allows one to look at some apparent defects from a different point of view.

Do not forget about the role of this therapy as a method for diagnosing any problems.

As a rule, a person cannot express them verbally, that is, tell what exactly bothers him. However, the physical reaction speaks for itself: a closed posture, averted gaze, muscle tension.

This forms a certain basis of perception by other people who perceive the problem in the individual on a subconscious level. Why a person may also be upset in personal contacts.

Often spouses address such problems - one of them is unable to explain what bothers him in the other, but upon closer examination it becomes clear that someone is hiding an unresolved problem, often without realizing it.

Body-oriented therapy helps a person pay attention to seemingly insignificant details in the image of another person and forms a more understandable idea of ​​him.

This method allows you to “take out” from the depths of the subconscious what it is trying to hide .

In many ways, this technique is associated with psychoanalysis, which also divides the inner world of the individual into certain elements, some of which are not amenable to human will and relate to “animal” manifestations.

The body-oriented method also targets instincts in physical behavior , which are triggered even earlier than a conscious reaction to something.