Stress patterns & the Trager® approach: Arida Emrys teaches us new ways to move and relax - Breath & Movement

New Life Journal, Oct-Nov, 2002

We carry our experiences and responses, patterns and habits in the unconscious mind. They may actually become a liability, producing health challenges. Negative, habitual, unconscious patterns may arise from injury, illness, heredity, emotional trauma, environmental stresses, or the tension produced by life in this hectic, unruly world. Many responsive coping mechanisms, while helpful and necessary when first developed, no longer serve us.

Regardless of length of time, whether a pattern began in early childhood or only recently due to injury or trauma, these no-longer-useful patterns lead to many problems. Those can include: poor alignment and body use leading to health breakdowns; chronic or acute disease and/or pain; stress reactions; and mental/emotional difficulties.

Habitual, negative patterns may be noticed as tight, sore muscles < commonly felt in the neck, shoulders, and lower back; headaches; shallow breathing; joint limitation; immune system challenges; and illness. Posture reveals detrimental coping mechanisms: head forward, shoulders turned inward, hips and pelvis tucked under indicates a typical fight-or-flight stress response pattern.

Unraveling these negative stress patterns is necessary if we are to regain and maintain good health. One way to do this is with The Trager[R] Approach. A gentle, yet deeply effective form of bodywork. Trager works with the unconscious mind and the body tissue in a powerful feedback loop to release negative stress patterns. Pleasurable sensations experienced in the tissues are communicated to the unconscious mind and eventually replace the old, no-longer-useful, habit.

The Trager feedback loop also focuses conscious awareness in the body. This awareness further aids the dissolution of old patterns. Trager, sometimes called Psycho/Physical Integration, is based in movement, both passive (table work) and active (Mentastics[R]). In a session the client, dressed in light, loose clothing, rests comfortably on a bodywork table. Rhythmic, lulling movement, such as, gentle rocking, stretching, jiggling and soft pressure, is applied to the body. The movement is noninvasire, staying within one's range of comfort and ease. Mentastics is gentle, self-directed movement. (See side bar on page 28.) A reflection of the tablework, it is used for self care. Here one actively explores appropriate, simple movements bringing conscious attention and inquisitiveness to the quality of the movement. The awareness acquired can be applied, consciously, to one's daily life Also important in a Trager session is a sense of mindful, quiet, peacefulness imparted through touch, atmosphere and instruction. This calm, meditative state soothes the nervous system. Through these three components, the body, mind and spirit integrate, further aiding the dissolution of negative holding patterns.

Though Trager feels gentle, it works at a deep level. The movement rebounding throughout the body, sends messages through connective tissue and nervous system in a mind/body feedback loop that generates awareness, allows relaxation, and changes counterproductive negative holding. Dissolving negative, harmful patterns leads toward the sense of ease, grace, lightness, freedom and good health that are every human being's natural birthright.

Some Mentastic[R] to play with:

(If anything hurts, do less, do lighter or move in a different way.)

1. Stop what you are doing; notice your body and how it feels. Take some time and think about soft, softer yet ... expanding ... lengthening ... light ... lighter ... and even lighter ... a dancing cloud. Now notice your body. Any difference?

2. Stand (sit if necessary), let your arms hang freely from the shoulders. Notice their weight; allow them to get heavier. Shift your weight from side-to-side, back-to-front. Let the arms swing slightly. What do you notice?

3. Imagine you are seaweed floating in the water yet grounded on the bottom of the sea. Let your body move gently with the movement of the water, your head floating on the surface, swaying with the soft swells. As you move, ask yourself: How could this feel freer? Lighter? What do you notice? How does your body feel when you stop?

The sense of fluidity, softness and aliveness experienced in Mentastics can be applied to everyday movements: as you reach for a glass, open a door, sit or rise, be aware, and ask How can this be easier, softer, freer?

Trager[R] and Mentastics[R] are registered trademarks and may not be used without the permission of The Trager Institute. For more information: www.Trager.com

Arida Emrys is a Certified Trager[R] Practitioner and a Reiki Master who has been practicing Trager for nearly five years and has been a certified practitioner for two. Ms. Emrys practices in both Asheville and Black Mountain and is available for talks and demonstrations. Call 828-669-4696.