Bioenergetics – Honoring the Wisdom of the Body

I have recently encountered an approach to personal growth and healing called Bioenergetics.

Bioenergetics has a profound respect for the wisdom of the body (the human physical form). The body is a living record of the events of our past. Unfortunately, this means that our bodies have a tendency to hang on to traumatic emotional content from our past, as well.

According to Alexander Lowen, the founder of Bioenergetics (pictured above), “Few people in our culture are free from muscular tensions that structure their responses and define the roles they will play in life. These tension patterns reflect the traumas they experienced in growing up–rejection, deprivation, seduction, suppression and frustration.” (from Bioenergetics by Alexander Lowen, M.D.)

This trauma from the past contaminates our personality, and in turn our entire lives, if it is not released. Bioenergetics therapy uses physical movement plus verbal processing to facilitate this release of past trauma.

The body hangs on to past trauma in countless ways, from knots in our muscles (especially, for example, in the jaws and the neck) to the way we stand, sit or walk. A skilled bioenergetics therapist can “read” a person’s personality and past by observing her body language.

Bioenergetics teaches a variety of physical exercises that can be done on your own throughout your life to keep both the body and the mind clear and flowing with vibrant energy. According to Bioenergetics “…a commitment to growth (i.e. maturation) involves a commitment to the body.”

9Mar2010
Lunar Day 25:  KNOT
Associations:  Form, Release
Mayan Sacred Calendar Day:  13 HAWK
Associations:  Transmutation, Contamination, Maturation

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