Bodywork is a way of seeing the body and the mind as interconnected. This means that the flow of communication between body and mind goes both ways, and that our experience of being alive in the world, of being embodied, happens on both levels at the same time. So when pain, tensions or discomfort happens, a healing approach needs to talk the language of the body as well as the more verbal language of the mind. For me, this means that I work with touch, self touch, movement, breath and an interest in how the mind responds, when specific parts of the body becomes the center of attention.
Our bodies carry the imprint of what we have experienced and how we needed to be strong in order to survive our challenges. This leaves traces in our muscles, our posture, our connective tissue and in our nervous systems. Even if the mind can think “I don’t have to feel stressed or anxious right now, I am a safe place and should relax” the body doesn’t always agree. Bodywork is listening to what the body wants to say and learning how to respond.
I don’t believe there is anything to fix or change about how we feel or who we are. What I work with instead is listening. For most of us, listening to the body can be like learning a foreign language. We have been so heavily conditioned to rely on our minds and our verbal skills to keep us safe and healthy. We are taught to analyse, compare, and talk our way out of difficult emotions when we go to work, to therapy and when we navigate our close relationships. My job as a bodyworker is to bring in the body as a resource that can help us learn to feel more safe and at home in the world
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