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Proven super methods for freeing yourself from psychological pressures. Body blocks

for shoulder girdle

Listen to the initial state of your body. What emotions, feelings, sensations do you have now? Pay special attention to the sensations in shoulder girdle.

Stand close to some closet firmly planted on the ground, make sure that your feet are shoulder-width apart, your body is absolutely straight, your back is straight - and experiment with the position of your hands. Rest your hands on the cabinet in front of you, as if pushing it forward. Turn your back to him and, as it were, push him away from you back, or to the side, or even up - still making sure that your back is completely straight, and you act only with your hands. You can change your position in space relative to the cabinet using your legs (turn your face, back or side towards the cabinet), and change the position of your hands. This is all, the body always remains an even “column”. Your task is to find the movement that will maximize the unpleasant sensation of tension in the shoulder girdle.

What kind of movement did you find? If the closet were lighter, what would you do with it using this movement? Did you push the cabinet forward, swipe it back, throw it up, pound it into the ground? This is probably the very movement that you are blocking in stressful situations- wardrobe in in this case acts as a metaphor for a stressor.

As you exhale, begin to make the movement you have found with maximum force, accompanying it with a sound appropriate to the situation. Use all your strength to perform this movement, and even when it seems to you that you can’t do it anymore, try to strain yourself even more, and even harder, until your shoulder relaxes spontaneously.

At this moment, allow your body to do what it wants - if you want to fall on the floor, provide yourself with this opportunity, if you want to pound pillows, that’s also not a question - and listen to the emotions that are growing inside. These are exactly the feelings that “ everyday life"You are blocking.

Getting to know them is just the beginning. Next you have to learn to allow yourself to experience and express these feelings, as environmentally friendly as possible, and this is usually very long history, since the ban on experiencing any feelings often arises in childhood. But even a journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step.

If you turn to folk wisdom, then she assures us that the burden of responsibility usually lies on our shoulders. It is worth considering that with our hands we establish relationships with the world - a process that, in principle, can bring pleasure, and normal responsibility is part of this process: each of us will have to answer for all our actions (and inactions), but this is the harmony of life . Responsibility for oneself is inescapable, but, as you know, two deaths cannot happen, but one still cannot be avoided. This is not a load that can block the shoulders.

There is such a thing as blocks, “clamps” in the human body, that is, energy does not pass and various kinds and the level of the problem or disease. Read and watch videos about energy, emotional and psychological blocks in the human body.

Nothing passes without a trace in a person's life. Resentment, betrayal, disappointment or any other negative event leaves a mark that manifests itself as a tense zone in our body.

If we consider the block from a psychological point of view, then we can say that it is a constant tension caused by some human problem.

Block in human body from an anatomical point of view, this is a condition in which tissue contraction occurs, and their rigidity and density increase.
From the perspective of bioenergy, this is a condition in which energy is blocked in a separate area of the body.

How do blocks occur in the human body?

When a person experiences psychological stress or various emotions (negative, positive, sexual), his body tenses. If such feelings are of a conscious nature, and a person gives them an outlet, expresses them, and the emotions are followed by a corresponding reaction or action, then the tension in the body is relieved.

In the case when a person restrains himself and does not give vent to his feelings, and the tension is not followed by any release, then it remains in the body. It may also happen that the emotions were not fully released, and the tension was partially relieved. As a result, blocks arise in the human body.

The body does not contract by chance; muscles are grouped in order to respond to an external shock. After compression, there should be a reflection of stress by everyone possible ways- physically, psychologically and energetically.

Blocks in the human body video

It should be taken into account that the most energy-consuming way to respond to stress is to protect against psychological level, and the least energy-consuming is reflex protection (at the level of reflexes, conditioned or unconditioned).

For response energy accumulates in certain parts of the body, for example, in the hand for striking. And if it is not followed, then the energy remains concentrated in this area of the body, and this causes discomfort and painful sensations.

The block formed due to blockage of energy remains in the human body for a long time. You can remove it either by completing the action and releasing energy, or with the help of therapy, or the block will be removed on its own when the problem ceases to be relevant after a very long time.

When a person develops spiritually, he is able to reassess the events of his past and remove blocks that were caused by stress, and this entails positive changes at the physiological level. If spiritual degradation of the personality occurs, then the negative processes in the body caused by blocks become chronic.

How do blocks evolve in the human body?

At first, the block in the body is perceived by the body as something foreign. In this case, the person feels unpleasant, uncomfortable and painful sensations. We are able to accurately distinguish the boundaries of the block and therefore often associate such pain with foreign object inside itself, for example, a stone or a knife.

Over time, the state of the block changes, and it becomes invisible to humans. This usually occurs after the event that caused it to appear loses its relevance or addiction occurs.

A person can get used to insults, humiliation, insults and other intolerable personal situations, accumulating more and more blocks in his body. Blocks can also be caused by fear or negative trait character with which a person does not fight, believing that it cannot be changed, or gets used to it.

Having suffered a psychological shock and getting used to the block, a person develops certain beliefs and attitudes towards the world around him, and this affects his entire future life, and the blocks become an integral part of his personality.

Energy block in the human body

It is also worth noting that blocks rarely settle alone, and if one appears, then others will appear, and together they form a network of blocks, which becomes the basis of a given personality.

Blocks in the human body do not appear in random places, but only in those where the energy was directly blocked. For example, if a person has restrained the desire to speak out, then the energy becomes stuck in the larynx, lips and cheekbones, causing discomfort in these areas. If he suppressed sobs, then the energy will gather in the forehead, eyes and compress the chest. If a person takes up a task that he wanted to give up, he experiences aching pain in the shoulders and stomach.

By holding back emotions and experiences, a person creates blocks within himself. And when he finds himself in a similar situation, he behaves in the same way, and new blocks are layered on top of each other.

What does it take to remove blocks in the human body?

To free yourself from blocks on physical level, it is necessary to practice asanas. To get rid of blocks at the level of the mind, you need to work with consciousness.

Only comprehensive removal of blocks at the physiological and mental levels will give complete liberation, so it is important to perform yoga practices and regularly cleanse your mind.

Each of us during our lives faces different problems and the questions he ponders. Sometimes this is accompanied by emotions. In some cases, when the problem is complex and affects the deeper aspects of life, it directly affects the state of the body - internal clamps and blocks are formed.

Something in the muscles “switches.” It happens, and it clearly happened to me a couple of times: you find the answer to such a problem - Well, there you go! that's how it should be! - and immediately something in the body “let go”, relaxes, sometimes even clicks. And it’s not for nothing that people, having found the answer to difficult question, sigh and somehow shake themselves or relax.

But, unfortunately, not all problems are solved. Or the problem is solved, but the clamp remains “recorded” in the body.

By the way, I’m now working on one of my personal, very deep problems, or rather, a whole complex - and I definitely feel the place where all this is stored in the body. You start to clear away the rubble, and several vertebrae in your back and the muscles around them immediately begin to ache acutely.

If you retreat, it will pass. If you take a small step forward, something also jumps and seems to stop hurting. I take advantage of this - sometimes I suddenly feel this characteristic pain and immediately understand that the situation in which I have gotten myself involved, even if it seems insignificant, absolutely operational or technical, is related precisely to this set of problems.

Remove psychological blocks in the body

How to remove psychological blocks in the body? This is not always obvious, because it is in such things that we tend to act spontaneously, without observing. And if you stop for a minute, you realize what’s happening - OPPA! - it. Study, train. So it's a useful thing.

And we all carry larger or smaller problems in our bodies. Moreover, they cannot always be removed even special massage- I assume that this is due to the fact that they are recorded not only in physical body, but also at other levels.

So, it is the Deep Touch that allows us to reach these blocks and clamps. The combination of physical action with a special quality of attention somehow removes the problems recorded in the body.

Sometimes, and working Masters will confirm this, during a session the block is removed, the person feels relief, and somehow the world around us mirrors internal changes. Suddenly something changes around a person, the problem simply “magically” ceases to exist.

It is possible that we, with our internal twists, maintain a certain level of tension around us. The world might not have insisted on some painful situation; it might have been easier for it to organize events in a different way.

But we diligently preserve this problem in our lives - not consciously, it’s just that so many complex things have already been completed on several levels that the situation is renewed again and again, in different options. Therefore, when we remove internal blocks, the world breathes a sigh of relief and changes the way it wants.

But these are already assumptions. But it’s a fact that during a Touching session, internal blocks and clamps that arose as a reflection of personal problems are removed

We hope that you liked the article and video about energy, emotional and psychological blocks in the human body. Stay with us on the portal of communication and self-improvement and read other useful and interesting materials on this topic!

The nature of blocks is also dual, like our human nature. To understand it more deeply, imagine the flow of energy in your body like the flow of a river, with its bends and widening bed. Constrictions, congestions, broken dams on it will correspond to injuries, illnesses, conflicts that impede the flow of healthy energy that need to be cleared - and this is one side of the blocks.

On the other hand, a river has its own banks, gentle slopes, and sometimes harsh rocks that force it to flow in a certain direction. Here the blocks act as massive barriers that direct the flow of energy, restrain it, and prevent it from overflowing its banks. Clearly they have power! This is another property of blocks - we need these restrictions until a certain time, because they guide our movement through life.

from a psychological point of view, a block is a stable tension in the body, behind which there is current problem person;

from the point of view functional anatomy block is a condition of tissue characterized by its shortening, increased density and rigidity;

from a chiropractic point of view, a block is a partial or complete restriction of mobility in a motion segment or joint;

from the point of view of bioenergy, a block is the encapsulation of a certain part of energy in a certain part of the body.

Technically, the formation of blocks in the body occurs as follows: every action or thought (causal or mental levels) in a state of stress is accompanied by an emotional reaction, behind which there is an etheric sensation. The latter represents multiple microscopic muscle strains. Finding himself in situations that are typical for his picture of the world, a person receives a typical set of similar muscle tensions. In each such typical situation, a kind of muscle training occurs - so that gradually these tensions become habitual and form chronic muscle spasms.

Thus, each body block contains the memory of all the corresponding splits in the buddhic plane, errors in professional and personal activities (causal plane), inaccurate and erroneous thoughts and intellectual dead ends (mental plane) and emotional conflicts (astral plane).

There are countless various types blocks, and each person has their own, unique ones. The most surprising thing is that often we are not even aware of them. Even with the strongest blocks, which manifest themselves in constant muscle tension, people remain completely unaware of their existence. Why? Because many are simply accustomed to similar condition things. The only thing that lets you know about the presence of a block is discomfort or illness.

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What types of blocks are there?

Like our psyche, bodily blocks have their own history and depth. Three levels can be distinguished. Blocks can be at the level of our consciousness, making it narrow and clumsy. At the level of the unconscious, they act as dams or congestions from old traumas, preventing one from being open and spontaneous. At a deeper level, they can become harsh attitudes of previous generations, distorted values, genetic limitations that do not allow us to fully use our original potential. Often, patients describe blocks as masks, tourniquets or ropes that entangle the body. They can either tie our hands, preventing us from expressing true feelings, or they can fetter our hips, preventing us from being spontaneous and sexual. Over the course of our lives, we collect a whole “collection” of such ropes, protections and masks.

In body-oriented therapy, the object of study is tension, which is essentially a deviation from the norm and distinguishes between functional and organic tension, and functional tension, in turn, is divided into three types: superficial (situational), defensive and psychosomatic.

Surface tension occurs as a result of physical overload - prolonged exposure to an uncomfortable position, difficult work, specific load, etc. This type of tension is the most noticeable, it is what they usually feel, they are well aware of it and know a lot of ways to deal with it. Contrast shower, a glass of mulled wine, physical exercise, hot tea, good sound sleep, a few minutes of “laughter therapy”, massage, closeness with a loved one - and the fatigue was gone. Surface tension is perfectly relieved by simple relaxation techniques.

Protective tension, as the name suggests, arises as a way for the body to respond adequately to external influence or an unusual situation. This type of tension can best be seen in an atypical situation in which a person finds himself. So, if a person finds himself in an unfamiliar company and from the threshold falls under the gun of curious and wary eyes, his body instantly seems to be constrained by a shell and his movements become rigid, jerky, the person feels awkward. The tension of defense, and with it bodily stiffness, goes away only after some time, after psychological relaxation.

The basis of this mechanism is the mobilization of the body, its readiness to react in case of danger. Protective tension leaves the body in a matter of minutes, however, a very common phenomenon is the chain transmission effect: feeling protective tension, a person assumes that something is wrong with him and becomes psychologically tense just because this is happening to him. Then such a person begins to struggle with his own defense, i.e. with yourself, the tension increases. After some time, the immediate environment predominantly begins to react to this constantly overstressed person with unmotivated and little-conscious aggression, which, in turn, makes him tense up even more. A person ceases to distinguish between external stimuli, he now defends himself from everything and just in case. Most likely, such a person will say that the world is hostile and one must always be on guard. His body takes on the characteristics of being aggressive and defensive.

Psychosomatic tension is the subject of “interest” of the body therapist in the first place. In itself, it has a formative function in relation to the body and is the result of a person’s psychological experience, a consequence of psychological trauma and experiences. It is at this level that the blocks are located. At this level, a person feels the merging of the pain of the body with the pain of the soul.

The desire to be not who a person is, non-acceptance of oneself, refusal of full reactions and, accordingly, from contact with own body, suppression and lack of differentiation of emotions lead to the fact that the person generally loses the habit of reacting emotionally, or reacts untimely and inadequately. Moreover, a person is also trying to consciously impose a ban on the natural reactions of his own body.

The blocks are directly related to the nature of the action and the nature of the response, i.e. blocks appear where the impulse was blocked and do not occupy the first free space. So, if you wanted to speak out, but did not speak out, you will have a specific tension in the neck, larynx, lower jaw, cheekbones, lip area and lips. If you wanted to cry and didn’t cry, your forehead and cheekbones will tense, the tension will spread to the nasolabial folds, eyes, and compress your chest. If you wanted to give up the case, but did not give up, driven by feeling, your shoulders will ache sadly and your stomach will remind you of itself.

As a result of receiving the first negative experience holding back or experiencing, tension appears, on which a new layer of tension will be superimposed all subsequent times when a person experiences the same thing. Thus, the block is most similar to a multi-layer cake, where each subsequent layer is associated with a problem similar to the previous one.

How does trauma create a block?

Most common reason blocks – injuries that can be physical or emotional. The most serious injuries, which potentially create a block, occur during the period of human formation - in childhood, when we are especially trusting and impressionable. Injuries can occur during confrontations and arguments due to verbal or physical threats.

How does trauma create a block? Trauma is a danger signal. We instinctively freeze: we clamp down, hold our breath. In other words, we do what is contrary to the process of life - we harden, become tougher in order to protect ourselves, and, strange as it may sound, in order to survive, we “die”. Ideally, when the danger has passed, we need to return to our previous soft, living state, but in real life everything happens wrong: we remain squeezed.

What's wrong with that if blocks make our lives safer? Of course, for a certain period, blocks help us survive, but once established permanently, blocks begin to pose a threat, both on a physical and emotional level.

Body: Think of a river with dams and levees. So blocks stand in the way of our inner river, our life, health and energy. Our heart, liver and other organs have to work hard so that the flow of blood and lymph can reach certain areas. What a waste of energy! The area behind the block will lack power, while on the other side the pressure will increase. Frustration, pain, and illness can manifest on both sides of this “dam.” Symptoms are our invaluable warning lights, they remind us that something is wrong and direct our attention to exactly where there is internal conflict.

Perhaps illness is the body's call for rest, a break, perhaps it is calling you to face what no longer serves you and change it. Perhaps illness is the last way out of the situation.

Emotions: In life, often with permission conflict situations we are meeting with strong manifestation emotions: resentment or anger. Most often they are an echo of our past traumas. Emotions are our reactions to our deepest feelings and needs.

If once upon a time your feelings were not heard, then they can still block the flow of healthy energy in the body. Present circumstances that resemble a traumatic situation can awaken fear or anxiety dormant in your body for many years. In this case, you will think that the situation or partner is the cause of your emotions, but this is not the case. To understand what lies behind them, we need to meet the “monsters” of the past, sitting deep in our subconscious.

Diagnosis of blocks (using the example of another person)

The client lies on the couch on his back. The inspection is carried out according to the following scheme:

1) his breathing (do the chest, stomach breathe and does the breath enter the pelvis);

2) how elastic the chest is during breathing (how compliant the chest is to pressure);

3) how much a person can consciously breathe from the stomach (the therapist places his hand on the client’s stomach and asks him to breathe);

4) chest and abdomen (by palpation, the degree of pain or tickling sensation is determined, how much the stomach is released, etc.);

5) thighs (the degree of pain or tickling sensation is determined by intense palpation). Of particular interest is the inner thigh. The degree of muscle tension or its “jelly-likeness” is revealed. Both tense and jelly-like muscles are blocked in terms of the passage of energy;

6) buttocks (same technique);

7) how blocked the pelvis is (movement of the pelvis back and forth when breathing, entry of breath into the pelvis).

8) The following exercise is suggested: stand with your knees slightly bent, feet shoulder-width apart, body weight concentrated at the base of your toes. You need to move your pelvis as far as possible, while bending your knees slightly, and make a bowel movement. In this case, the muscles relax pelvic floor. Then the pelvic floor muscles should be “lifted” - they contract. A person may not feel the difference between contraction and relaxation of the pelvic floor muscles, and this indicates tension in these muscles (the person cannot relax them). The person may also feel that only conscious effort releases the pelvic floor muscles, which then spontaneously contract. The genesis of pelvic floor muscle tension is associated either with early “purity training” (too early potty training), or with early masturbatory inhibitions, or may relate to masturbatory inhibitions during puberty.

9) the degree of tension in the muscles of the back of the neck and shoulders (it is important to check the tension of the paravertebral muscles of the cervical spine, especially at the junction of the neck with the skull (testing techniques as in point 4));

10) throat clamps (manifested in a quiet, somewhat high-pitched voice, the appearance of a “lump” in the throat, spasms of the throat during excitement, fairly frequent nausea with simultaneous difficulty initiating vomiting);

11) tension of the circular muscles of the mouth (with the usual chronic tension of these muscles, the tension is not realized; upon palpation, the upper and lower lips are tense, tightly closed, there are specific circular wrinkles around the mouth, the lower lip can protrude forward, revealing a tendency to call);

13) tension of the circular muscles of the eyes (the presence of radial wrinkles, blurred vision, “lifeless” eyes, absence of tears when crying - signs of an eye block).

The energy practice that I would like to offer you today helps remove blocks from the lower chakras, freeing them from tension and pressure.

You've probably heard the expression “stagnation of energy”...

Today we will work with exactly this.Why does this happen?..

Everything usually comes from our childhood. A child, trying to adapt to society, adopts behavior patterns from adults. But for those they are not always correct...

Our body is constantly tuned to survival!..

Therefore, if you grew up in an environment where it was not customary to express your feelings and emotions, then you are not used to doing this. On the contrary, such people constantly intuitively try to restrain themselves. And by holding back, you block energy...

➡ Energy is blocked precisely at this time, when you do not allow yourself to be who you want, to think and act in accordance with your feelings and emotions.

We receive energy from the outside world and give it back there. The circulation must be constant - this is vitally important. If energy does not find a way out, it begins to accumulate!!! This is how a block is formed...

Tension builds up inside the body and interferes with free movement energies. And over time, the influx of new energies that can revive and shake us decreases. There is no place for them in the body. Everything is occupied by blocks and clamps. On the physical plane, there is a feeling that everything has frozen, and we are moving as if in a vicious circle...

Does it feel familiar?

What to do? The answer is simple. You need to try to unlock all blocks and resolve vital energy flow freely and unhindered.

I suggest you do a certain technique called the “Orgasm Reflex”...

I warn you that it is serious and takes more than an hour. Also, its implementation requires a certain power of the Spirit. But, if you get together and do everything as I tell you, the result will pleasantly surprise you...

Step 1 – takes 15 minutes to complete.

Lie on your back and lift your pelvis up as much as possible. You can support your heels with your fists, or place your hands on the floor at the sides of your body. You need to constantly pull your pelvis up.

Ideal when the pubis is highest point in the design.

In this position, the body receives the greatest charge of energy.

You can’t relax and just keep your pelvis in the up position. You may not even notice how your pubis sag. A person loves comfort, but remember - the more comfortable you are, the less energy you charge. Therefore, show willpower and be patient.

You can feel a growing vibration in your legs - this is what you need.

Step 2 – emotional shake-up. Completion 15 minutes.

You are still pulling your pelvis up. Stretch your arms to the sides, mouth slightly open, breathing deep and even. Let yourself express yourself. There can be any manifestations of emotions and words, anger, joy, tears and laughter, hysterics...

Give yourself free rein. You can start talking any nonsense and nonsense. Don't be alarmed - the energies began their movement with lower centers all over the body. Don't resist them. You can use your hands and tap them on the floor if that helps you express yourself even more.

At this stage, the vibration of the body intensifies - the stale layers of energy move from their place. But it happens that the vibration is barely noticeable. This happens when the blocks in the body are very strong. Don't worry - keep doing the exercise.

Step 3 – Pulse. Completion 15 minutes.

Start throwing your pelvis up and down. Do it as if there is someone underneath you inflatable ball, which you fall onto and then it throws you back. At the same time, you should try to achieve maximum amplitude and speed. Hitting your tailbone on the floor is unnecessary.

Don't stop moving for 15 minutes. Let's turn this into a dance. Let your hips move in rhythm and lead your whole body. And also, constantly feel. Don't stop listening to your feelings.

Step 4 – Climax. 10 minutes.

At this stage you need to concentrate all your attention on the perineum. Lower your pelvis to the floor and begin to slowly move your knees apart and bring them together. It is desirable that the movement of the legs is invisible to the eye. To do this, it must be very slow, almost microscopic. Severe trembling appears in the legs...

This is exactly the moment we have been waiting for. Concentrate completely on how you feel. The body may give some sign. For example, it will be thrown up, perhaps more than once, or it will make some kind of sound.

But you don't have to expect anything special. There may not be any manifestations. This is also normal. It all depends on what clamps and blocks are present in your body.

Step 5 – Finish. Completes in 15 minutes.

At this stage, you just lie there and do nothing. Completely in your feelings, observe and relax.

Well, that's all. I hope that this practice will help many of you remove excess stagnant energy from the body, remove blocks and relieve tension.

You can do it as needed.

At one time, he made the discovery that there is vital organic energy in the body of every person and called it ORGONE. When Reich realized that blocking this energy leads to blocks and clamps in the physical body, and also affects the ability to experience orgasm, he created a bioenergetic technique called "Orgasm reflex"

➡ At first, the technique was aimed at remove blocks and clamps specifically from the human genitals. This would solve many sexual problems. However, it was later noticed that the exercise relaxes the whole body, not just the genitals. And then organic energy begins to move through all the cells of the body.

Stagnation of energy negatively affects not only a person’s sexual functions, but also leads to many diseases, including mental ones. !…

When energy cannot move freely, a person does not enjoy work, does not experience full joy, and generally becomes less emotional. Often such people have a feeling of being cut off from the world. They cannot understand what they really want without having clear desires.

➡ When performing the technique, the emphasis is on pelvic movements. In the body vibration appears. It is this fact that indicates that tension in the body is relieved, and energy centers begin the unblocking process!…

Many of those who have completed the practice said that after some time, when the vibration intensifies, the body seems to be dancing in the air...This main feature that tension leaves the body. After completing this stage, you feel an incomparable relaxation of the entire body as a whole.

Those who practiced "Orgasm reflex" definitely improved sex life, there was an opening creativity, and also psycho-emotional tension subsided.

Attention!!!

Contraindications to performing the technique:

heart disease with caution and better with an instructor.
bronchial asthma - there should be an aerosol nearby and preferably with an instructor.
epilepsy with caution and better with an instructor.
pregnancy and age less than 16 years.
intervertebral hernia.
mental illness (officially diagnosed).
transferred within a year and a half abdominal operations and fractures.
problems with the spine.

Always with you, Konstantin Dovlatov.

It is important to do your best to find where exactly your blocks are located. Don't try to get rid of them at this stage. IN best case scenario it will do nothing, and at worst, it will strengthen them. Simply find where they appear to be and make a mental note of their location. We suggest you go through "".

By pinpointing these blocks, you can begin the process of dissolving them. But first we could consider what these blocks mean - these areas or zones of tightness, pressure and tension fixed in the body. We have seen that at the ego level a person can resist impulses or emotions, denying that they belong to him. With the help of the egoic mechanism of projection, a person can prevent awareness of one or another of his shadow inclinations. If he is hostile, but denies his hostility, he will push it outward and thereby feel that the world is against him. In other words, as a result of projecting hostility, he will experience anxiety and fear.

What happens in the body during the projection of hostility? On mental level projection takes place, but on the physical level something must also happen at the same time as it, since the body and mind are inseparable. What happens in the body when you repress hostility? How do you suppress at the body level a strong emotion that seeks release in some activity?

In cases of intense hostility and anger, you can discharge these emotions through actions such as yelling, screaming, and waving your fists. These muscular actions express the very essence of hostility. Thus, if you are going to suppress hostility, you can only do so by physically suppressing such muscular discharge actions. In other words, to hold back these discharge actions you must use your muscles. More precisely, you must use some of your muscles to restrain the action of some of your other muscles. As a result, a muscle war begins. Half of your muscles are fighting to defuse hostility by waving your arms, while the other half is tense to prevent it. It's like putting one foot on the gas and the other on the brake. The conflict ends in a draw, but it is very tense, with a large expenditure of energy, which does not manifest itself in any movements.

When suppressing hostility, you will likely clench the muscles of your jaw, throat, neck, shoulders, and upper arms, because this is the only way you can physically “hold back” the hostility. And rejected hostility, as we have seen, usually returns to consciousness as fear. So the next time you experience a wave of irrational fear, notice that your shoulders are drawn in and raised - a sign that you are holding back hostility and, accordingly, feel fear. But in the shoulders themselves you will no longer feel the desire to reach out to someone and give him a thrashing; you will no longer experience hostility; you will only experience more tension, tightness and pressure. You have a block.

This is the nature of the blocks you found in the body during breathing exercises. Any block, any persistent feeling of tension or pressure in the body is a muscular restraint of some forbidden impulse or feeling. The fact that these blocks are muscle is extremely important point, and we will return to it soon. For now, let’s just note that these blocks and tension zones arise as a result of the struggle of two muscle groups, thus creating a mini-border. At the same time, one group seeks to defuse the impulse, the other – to contain it. This active inhibition is repression in the fullest sense of the word: you literally push yourself into certain areas of the body instead of giving vent to the impulse associated with that area.

So, if you find tension around your eyes, then you may be holding back the urge to cry. If you find tension and pain in your temples and, without noticing it, clench your jaw, then you may be trying to prevent screaming or laughing. Tension in the shoulders and neck indicates repressed or bottled-up anger, rage, or hostility, while tension in the diaphragm indicates that you are chronically restricting and holding your breath in an attempt to control the expression of wayward emotions or attention-sensation in general. (Most people hold their breath during any act of self-control.) Tension in the lower abdomen and pelvic area usually means that you are suppressing awareness of your sexuality, that you have clamped and closed the area to prevent energy from flowing through it and vitality breathing. If this happens - regardless of the cause - you will also lose most sensation in your legs. And tension, lack of flexibility or strength in the legs usually indicates a lack of rootedness, stability, grounding or balance in general.

Thus, as we have just seen, understand general meaning one or another block is easiest based on its location in the body. Typically, certain emotions find release in certain areas of the body. You probably don't scream with your feet, cry with your knees, or orgasm with your elbows. Therefore, if the block is in a certain area, we can assume that the emotion associated with it is suppressed and contained. In this regard, the works of Lowen and Keleman, listed at the end of this chapter, are excellent guides.

If you have more or less determined the location of your main emotional blocks in the body, you can move on to the next interesting stage: trying to remove and dissolve these blocks yourself. Although the basic procedure of this process is simple to understand and easy to follow, achieving sustainable results requires much more more work, effort and patience. You've probably spent at least fifteen years creating the block, so don't be surprised if after fifteen minutes of work it doesn't disappear without a trace. It takes time for these, like any other boundaries in consciousness, to dissolve.

If you've encountered these types of blocks before, you'll know that the worst part about them is that no matter how hard you try to relax them, it seems impossible, at least not forever. With the help of conscious effort, you may be able to relax the block for a few minutes, but as soon as you forget about this “forced relaxation”, tension (in the neck, back or chest) returns with renewed vigor. Some blocks and tensions - perhaps most of them - cannot be relaxed at all. And yet, the only remedy that we habitually use comes down to futile attempts to consciously relax tension (the approach is quite paradoxical, since it itself requires exhausting efforts).

In other words, it seems that these blocks arise by chance, against our will, that they are completely involuntary, uninvited, unexpected. And we seem to be their unfortunate victims. Therefore, let's look at what determines the tenacity of these uninvited guests.

The first thing to note, as we mentioned earlier, all these blocks are muscle. Each block is actually a contraction, tightness, spasm of some muscle or muscle group. Moreover we're talking about about skeletal muscle groups, and we can control any skeletal muscle at will. The same muscles that you voluntarily use to move your arm, chew, walk, jump, make a fist, or kick are the same muscles used in every part of the body.

But this means that the mentioned blocks are not involuntary - moreover, they physically cannot be so. They do not arise by chance. They are something that we actively create within ourselves. In short, we intentionally, intentionally and voluntarily create these blocks, since they consist only of voluntary muscles.

But, curiously, we do not know that we are creating them. We contract these muscles, and although we know that they are contracted and tense, we do not know that we ourselves are actively contracting them. When such a block occurs, we cannot relax the muscles, because we simply do not know that we are contracting them. Therefore, it seems that these blocks arise completely spontaneously (like all other unconscious processes), and we seem to be helpless victims of forces beyond our control.

It's like I'm pinching myself all the time but don't know it. It was as if I was deliberately pinching myself and then forgetting that it was me doing it. I feel the pain from the pinch, but I can't figure out why it doesn't stop. Likewise, all these muscle tensions stuck in my body are advanced forms of self-pinching. Therefore the most important question not “how can I remove or relax these blocks”, but “how can I see that I myself am actively creating them.” If you are pinching yourself but don't know it, asking someone else to stop the pain is useless. The very posing of the question of how to stop pinching yourself assumes that you yourself do not do it. On the other hand, when you see that you are actively pinching yourself, then and only then can you stop doing it. The question “how to stop pinching yourself” is akin to the question “how to raise your hand.” Both actions are voluntary.

So the key is to directly feel how I'm tensing these muscles, and so the one thing I really shouldn't do is try to relax them. On the contrary, I must, as always, act in the opposite direction. I must do something that would never have occurred to me before: I must actively and consciously try to increase the tension I am experiencing. By deliberately increasing tension, I make my “self-pinching” from the unconscious actively conscious. Long story short, I'm starting to remember how I used to pinch myself. I see how I literally lashed out at myself. This understanding, felt again and again, releases the energy that was used to fight the muscles, and which I can now direct outward, towards the outside world, and not inward, towards myself. Instead of lashing out at myself, I can lash out at work, a book, good food and so on.

But there is a second one, no less important side dissolving these blocks. The first, as we have just seen, is to deliberately increase the pressure or tension by further contracting the muscles involved. Thus, we begin to consciously do what we previously did unconsciously. But do not forget that initially these blocks of bodily tension performed very important function– they were used to eliminate feelings and impulses that seemed dangerous, forbidden or unacceptable at the time. These blocks were and remain forms of resistance to certain emotions. Therefore, if you persist in dissolving them, you will eventually have to open yourself to those emotions that are hidden under muscle spasm.

It should be emphasized that these “hidden emotions” do not represent some wildly insatiable and completely irresistible orgiastic desires; This is not at all some kind of demonic possession, and not a blind desire to kill your father, mother and brothers and sisters. More often than not, these repressed emotions are much more mild, although they may seem intense because you had to muscularly hold them in for so long. The release of these emotions usually entails tears, screams, the ability to have an uncontrollable orgasm, an outburst of anger, or a brief but violent attack on the pillows prepared for this purpose. Even if some extremely strong negative emotion, - say, an explosion of rage - there is no need to worry too much, since it does not amount to main part your personality. When in theatrical production a character appears on stage for the first time, the eyes of the entire audience turn to him, even if he plays the most insignificant role in the play. In the same way, when a certain negative emotion first appears on the stage of your consciousness, it can completely take over you for a while, although in fact it is only an insignificant fragment of your emotional world. It is much better for her to come to the fore than to wander somewhere behind the scenes.

Be that as it may, when you begin to consciously take responsibility for increasing your degree muscle tension in different bodily blocks, as a rule, such an emotional release occurs by itself, a spontaneous outburst of some pent-up emotions. As you begin to intentionally contract the appropriate muscles, you begin to remember what the contraction is preventing. For example, when you see your friend about to cry and you say, “Come on, come on, whatever it is, let yourself do it,” he will probably burst into tears. At this moment, he is deliberately trying to keep the body from something natural, and he knows that he is trying to do this, so emotions do not easily hide underground. In the same way, when you deliberately take control of the activity of your blocks, trying to increase tension in them, hidden emotions may begin to surface and manifest themselves.

In general, this body awareness experiment can be carried out as follows. Once you've located a block—say, a feeling of tension in your jaw, throat, and temples—bring your full awareness to it to feel where the tension is and what muscles seem to be involved. Then begin to slowly increase this tension and pressure, in this case voluntarily contracting the throat muscles and clenching your teeth. When you're experimenting with increasing muscle pressure, remember that you're not just contracting a muscle—you're actively trying to hold something back. You can even repeat to yourself (out loud, if the jaws are not engaged in the block): “No! I won’t! I resist!” to really feel that “pinching” part of yourself that is trying to hold back some feeling. You can then slowly relax your muscles, fully opening yourself up to any feeling that might want to come to the surface. In this case, it could be a desire to cry, or to bite, or to vomit, or to laugh or scream. Or it could just be a pleasant warmth where the block was. It takes time, effort, openness, and honest work to truly release blocked emotion. If you have a typical stable block, then to get noticeable result it will need to be worked on for about fifteen minutes a day, not less than a month. The block can be considered removed when attention-sensations are able to pass through this area completely unhindered on the way to infinity.

Through this simple healing of the gap between mind and body, voluntary and involuntary, intentional and spontaneous, an important change occurs in the sense of self and reality. To the extent that you can experience your involuntary bodily processes as yourself, you can begin to accept as completely natural those manifold processes that you cannot control. You may find it easier to accept uncontrollability and surrender to spontaneity with faith in a deeper self that is more than the grumbling ego with its willful control. You can learn that to accept yourself, you don't have to control yourself. In fact, your deeper self, your centaur, is beyond the control of the ego. It is both voluntary and involuntary, which equally acceptable because both manifest you.

Further, accepting the voluntary and involuntary as yourself means that you no longer feel like a victim of your body or involuntary spontaneous processes at all. You develop a deep sense of responsibility, not in the sense that you begin to consciously control everything that happens and, therefore, be responsible for everything, but in the sense that you stop blaming or thanking anyone for what you experience. Ultimately, it is you who is the deep source that produces all your involuntary and arbitrary processes; you are not their victim.

Accepting the involuntary as yourself does not mean that you can control it. You can't make your hair grow faster, your stomach stop growling, or your blood flow reverse. Having realized these processes as yourself to the same extent as voluntary ones, you abandon this eternal and hopeless program of gaining power over the entire universe, from the obsession with manipulation and indispensable control of yourself and your world. Paradoxically, with this awareness comes a greater sense of freedom. Your ego can consciously deal with at most two or three things at a time. However, your body as a whole at this very moment, without any help from the ego, is coordinating literally millions of processes at once, from the intricacies of digestion to the complexities of transmission nerve impulses and coordination of perceived information. This requires a wisdom infinitely greater than the superficial tricks of which the ego is so proud. The more we are able to remain at the level of the centaur, the more we can rely in our lives on this storehouse of natural wisdom and freedom.