Devaraj - Bioenergetics 01
Devaraj - Bioenergetics 01
ISBN: 978-0-9957708-9-8
Introduction................................................................................... v
Chapter 16: Exercises That You Can Do Later in the Day ........ 178
There's one idea, hidden deep within the human mind, which seems
to exert an eternal pull on our psyche. It attracts us in all sorts of dif
ferent ways and forms. The idea is that there exists a "Grand Cause"
for all that ails us. The notion that all of our dramas, struggles and
failings can be traced back to one original diversion or disconnection
from our true nature.
Make no mistake, when you work with the muscle system and fascia
of the body, you are working at what is likely the deepest level of
the human psyche. You are led into your depths as the muscles open
up through Bioenergetics practice and release the past. I am happy
and grateful to be able to give you some guidance on this journey.
Despite what your mind will tell you at times, you can do it. With
some support and guidance, you can make it. You can have the life
you want. You can have the friendships and relationships you want.
You can have the future you want. All it takes is the courage to face
yourself on a deep level. And to take in positivity as you let go of
the past.
It can seem at times like a long and arduous journey. But the good
thing is, as I'm happy to report, your life gets better along the way.
We can do it. You can do it.
The Grand Cause of all
Human Problems
This simple statement points directly to the cause of pretty much the
whole catalogue of human woes, on both a personal and planetary
level. Illness, neurosis, depression, conflict, injustice, gender battles,
famine, eco-catastrophe - believe it or not, our ability to repress lies
at the heart of it all. In fact, nearly every issue which besets our
civilization, right from when our body hair decreased and we began
to walk upright, can be traced right back to our capacity to repress
feelings. It is the Grand Cause of all our Suffering.
Along with our improved ability to create useful models of how the
world around us functioned, came an expansion of our capacity to
create ideas of who we were, and to interact with others through this
"self-image." The human personality took off.
I am this type of person. I like this type of music. I don't like this type
of clothing. I agree with this political or philosophical perspective. I
have had these experiences. I don't agree with the people over there.
I am attracted to this kind of person. As our frontal lobes increased in
processing power, so we could create increasingly complex notions
of who we were.
In many ways, this expansion of our frontal lobes, and the changes
it brought, was the backbone of human civilisation. But it came at a
huge price. Just as we became able to create complex notions of who
we were, we inevitably increased our capacity to lie to ourselves and
others about what was going on inside of us. We began to have the
option to live via "a persona," rather than be honest and real.
We can hide what is really going on inside and keep wearing a mask
- on our face and in our behaviour. We can choose to show others
that which we want them to see, and anything else we can try to
keep hidden. But from this deception arises pretty much every issue
which besets our culture. It is the act of keeping so many feelings
repressed, of constantly having to hold down so much emotion, that
leads to all the problems.
Because, although the feelings are repressed, they have not gone
away. They sit, bound into our muscle system and fascia, and exert
a constant charge within our psyche. This charge creates an anxiety,
a sense of unease within us, that we do not wish to examine for fear
that our carefully prepared self-image might fall apart.
Because buying stuff makes us feel good for a short while, we be
come the willing slaves of consumer culture. Because drugs and
alcohol help us keep our anxieties down for a while, we allow our
selves to consume them regularly, despite damage to our health and
relationships. Because we are so desperate to keep anxiety away, we
willingly submit to a monotonous, comfort-driven life. It all comes
down to feelings and our brain's capacity to repress them.
The brain constantly monitors what is going on around us, and has
the ability to automatically repress feelings if it judges a situation
potentially traumatic. This is a protective response that happens
predominantly in early childhood, when our brain is still developing.
But it can also happen later on, in extreme situations such as war,
violence or abandonment.
Trauma
The word ''trauma" refers to any extreme, emotionally-provocative
event that might take place in our life. Often, we associate trauma
with early childhood, perhaps an experience of abandonment or an
accident that befell us. But trauma can also happen later on. Perhaps
we lost a loved one or were in a car accident. Maybe we were involved
in a war or other major conflict. Indeed, one of the first psychiatrists
to write about trauma and the body, Bessel van der Kolk, was not
studying small infants but rather treating veterans of the Vietnam war.
Trauma refers to any very powerful life event, where all or most of
the emotional impact is repressed. There are two general categories
of events which commonly create trauma - withdrawal wounds and
invasion wounds.
Conditioning
Conditioning is the act of creating a personality in order to fit in with
society or a social group.
These are just examples taken from my own adolescence. You may
well have been brought up in an environment where different social
pressures were applied to you. But the underlying message for us all
is the same - if we want to get our needs met, we need to exert con
trol over our natural emotionality.
Let's take a closer look at our muscles. Healthy muscles are toned
and have a natural resilience. They can be put under considerable
stress, but will naturally return to a relaxed, toned condition
when the stress is over. However, few muscles are in this healthy,
toned state.
Muscles that are holding the past develop what are known as "hold
ing patterns" - areas of unnatural rigidity that don't relax even when
no stress is present. They also develop "dead zones" - areas where all
the toning appears to have literally fallen out of the muscles, rather
as though they had been "disowned" by the body.
So, to sum up, the act of repressing feelings creates holding patterns
and dead zones in the muscles of different areas of our body. This is
why our posture says a lot about our childhood and any trauma or
conditioning that we are still carrying.
The therapeutic technique that Reich and his students pioneered was
to release these unnatural patterns of holding and limpness in the
muscles through body movement and deep breathing. He discov
ered that the effects of trauma and conditioning could be removed in
this manner. As this work developed over time, it eventually led to
Bioenergetics.
The Areas of the Body Mostly Affected
Having looked at why the repression of feelings takes place, and
how it affects the body, we might now be interested to learn which
areas of the body are most affected.
Thus, when considering where to hide all the feelings that don't fit
in with our carefully constructed persona, the prefrontal cortex se
lects the back of the body. The lower back, the backs of the legs,
the shoulders and the neck are the main areas that bear the brunt of
our need to look good. The muscles in our lower back are so heav
ily used as a "dumping ground," that most people, by the time they
reach their twenties, can no longer feel their lower back.
But now that this global movement is a few decades down the line,
what is becoming clear is that it is actually not so easy to create
change. Many report having a burst of enthusiasm, rapidly followed
by falling back into a rut. Old habits seem to die hard. This repeated
falling back can also induce more negativity and a tendency to beat
oneself up.
I've heard of a follow-up study that was carried out one month after
a 3-day seminar led by a world-famous motivational guru in London.
Everyone came out of the workshop pumped up to create massive
change in their lives. However, the study revealed that over 98% of
those who attended actually were back where they started just one
month later. Why would this be the case? The answer relates to re
pression and to this "charge" from the past.
The way out of this conflict is to take control of the situation. We need
to take steps to release this charge from the muscle system ourselves.
When our muscles regain their natural resilience and the charge is
gone, then creating healthy change will be much easier. You will no
longer find yourself dragged back into old conflicts. Old mental pat
terns that do not serve you will not necessarily disappear overnight
but there will no longer be a charge underneath them, holding them
in place. Thus, you will find making healthy choices much easier.
Changing your life will become a reality.
What Is Bioenergetics?
History
The word "Bioenergetics" was coined by the American psycholo
gist, Alexander Lowen, back in the 1 950s. He developed his own
school of body-oriented psychotherapy, Bioenergetic Analysis, from
the work of Wilhelm Reich, under whom he studied in the 1 940s.
That said, let's briefly cover what is recorded about the history of
this innovative Body-based Therapy.
However, like many brilliant thinkers, Reich wasn't without his own
personality flaws. His occasional over-focussing on one solution,
and difficulties in discussing and negotiating with regulatory bodies,
led him eventually into trouble with the US authorities. Tragically,
he died in prison in 1957.
Most prominent in this field was the Indian guru, the Bhagwan Shree
Rajneesh, known today as Osho. Osho insisted that, for Westerners
to be able to experience meditation, they would first need to partici
pate in a lot of cathartic release, as their minds were over-burdened
with worries and the past. He also had a strong disdain for mind
based therapy and, as a former philosophy professor, could put his
arguments out convincingly. Osho created "active meditations" to
support followers to release the past. Most famous of these was Osho
Dynamic Meditation, which included elements of Bioenergetics and
Emotional Expression.
How to Do Bioenergetics
In essence, practising Bioenergetic is remarkably simple. You
put your body into certain postures, you breathe, usually through
the mouth, and you feel your body. The majority of Bioenergetic
postures, especially those used to treat repression, follow this simple
formula.
• Maintain posture
• Breathe through the mouth
• Feel your body
So, for example, if you were going to try the Arch posture, #4. 1 in
this book, you would simply do the following:
• Stand upright
• Lean forwards until you are in the Arch pose, as shown in
the diagram
• Check that you have certain elements of the body posture
correct
• Breathe through the mouth deeply
• Feel your body
• Remain in the posture, breathing and feeling, until the allot
ted time is up
Firstly, because of the way our minds work, people tend to overfocus
on the posture and the length of time they can hold it for. But, in so
doing, they neglect to breathe deeply and to really feel their body.
This actually achieves very little. It's important to recognise that the
posture, while important, is only one of three vital elements. You
must also be breathing deeply and staying in touch with your body.
When you can do all three of these together the release will happen
naturally and spontaneously.
Related to this, be careful not to obsess over how long you can hold
the posture for. It's great to work up the length of time that you can
stay in a pose. But if you achieve this by holding your body tight,
clinging on desperately and praying for the bell to ring, then once
again you won't really have achieved so much. You have to remain
deeply breathing and feeling to get the best results.
If you want to have any chance of making progress alone, you will
need to be willing to take on your personal defensive layer. This
means, having a basic level of discipline when you set up a session
for yourself. You will need to plan it out and commit to completing
it. While practising, you will need to check that you are breathing
deep and remaining present. Most of all, you will need to ensure
that, when your mind is coming up with reasons why you should
stop early, instead of doing that, you use this as a signpost that you
need to go deeper.
If you can do this - if you can learn to work constructively with your
own resistance, and use it as a signpost for when to really focus, then
you can create immense change working on your own.
However, this said, it is important that you are open to feel. If you
have a strong "no" to the feelings held inside, this will not support
you to grow. So, while it's not usually the case that you need to feel
all that is repressed inside of you, you do need to be open to feeling
in order for Bioenergetics to work.
It's normal for people to find Bioenergetics quite a struggle to begin
with. I'm not going to sugar coat it for you. You will likely hate
it, and this is a normal human reaction. But, hopefully, with each
session that you complete, you begin to notice positive changes in
how open and how grounded you feel, and how you relate to others.
Hopefully, your mind will see that the rewards outweigh the benefits
and you will persevere, continuing to become the most beautiful and
powerful being you can be. That is my wish.
Grounding
Thus far we 've looked fairly extensively at how Bioenergetics works
to remove the charge from our muscle system, that which has ac
cumulated from trauma and conditioning. However, there are other
ways that Bioenergetics works to free us from the past. We will now
look at some of these, starting with "Grounding."
Most people, on an inner level, spend their days managing all the
feelings that they have pent up inside of them. This is all done in the
upper body. It's like their whole body, from the solar plexus up, is a
sealed container and all that can be done with all the anxious energy
inside, is to just keep it moving around so that it doesn't become
overwhelming. But this is not how it is supposed to be.
The lower half of our body - our belly, pelvis, legs, ankles and feet
- should connect us to the earth and allow excess energy to flow
away naturally. When the muscles of these areas are open, you actu
ally feel a constant flow of energy in your lower body. You feel like
you're connected to the earth. But all these muscle groups become
riddled with holding and dead zones too. And so we become cut off
from the earth.
Therefore, grounding ourselves is another key principle and core
function of Bioenergetics. All it involves is getting all the lower
body muscles more and more open, so that we no longer have to
manage our anxiety, but can simply allow it to flow away to earth.
Once you get to the exercises in this book, you will notice that, the
first chapter aside, we start with the feet and work up. This is to sup
port the grounding process, thus increasing the release!
When one element of our body's team has become cut off, the think
ing mind will endeavour to take on its role. Over time, this can have
extreme consequences.
For example, our spine not only keeps us upright but also keeps us
feeling like we have the right to take a position for ourselves. When
we lose awareness of our spine, our mind will attempt to maintain
this feeling of our right to individuality. But it will do so by creating
a lot of tension, especially in our neck and shoulder area.
Over time, if we remain cut off from our belly or our spine, our mind
will simply create more and more stress and tension in our lives,
especially in our upper body. People suffering in this way may try to
get their back and shoulders more relaxed, perhaps through massage,
meditation or yoga. But, as we can see, this is really just putting a
band-aid over the issue. Once we have more awareness of our spine
and our belly, our mind can relax. It no longer needs to try and take
on these roles. Our upper body will relax, and stay relaxed.
The belief in our mind that we need to strongly control our feel
ings in order to get social needs met results in us contracting around
these somatic centres. For example, we may develop a lot of tension
around the throat and neck. We might learn to tense our belly or we
might bloat it out with unhealthy foods. Some people learn to keep
the muscles between the shoulder blades tight, so that their hearts
can't open.
Okay, so now that you've heard all about how much positive change
Bioenergetics can create, it's time to get down to the exercises
themselves.
For this book, I'm basically assuming that you will be working
largely on your own or perhaps with a friend or partner, but not with
someone experienced or qualified in this field.
This is fully do-able and, with willpower, you will be able to create a lot
of positive change. But I would also like to mention that it will be in
valuable if you can at times come along for a group or a one-to-one ses
sion with someone who is experienced. Not only might you learn more
exercises but you will also get feedback on how you can improve the
postures you already know. This can be incredibly useful as it is so easy
to slip into bad habits and then you don't get the change you deserve.
Creating a Schedule
Something that supports most people massively with Bioenergetics
is to create a daily or weekly schedule. Actually write something
down, or create a chart that you can tick off when complete. It can be
very satisfying to fill those boxes in! Before you do this, look prac
tically at how much time you can commit. Maybe you can actually
only do one 30-minute session a week. That is okay. Just create a
schedule for that.
If you know that your willpower is weak then you can also try in
cluding belly and backbone exercises - like Bear Crawl and Belly
Activation - in your daily routine from the beginning. As you be
come more aware of your belly and your backbone you will find it
easier to hold to a path that will at times be uncomfortable.
The Right Attitude when Practising
While practising Bioenergetics try to have a meditative attitude. As
much as you can, stay focussed on the feeling of your body, while
breathing through the mouth. Try not to be judgmental about how
it feels. Try not to get involved in analysis. Simply keep breathing.
Keep being present in your body, and keep accepting. This is the
ideal. And, of course, because we are human and this is an intense
and confrontational practice, at times it will be hard to simply ac
cept. But do what you can and continue regardless.
When the discomfort gets too much to breathe through, then you
know that this is your limit. It's the length of time to set on your
timer. I will give average lengths of time to hold a pose for most
exercises as we go along. But be aware that this is just an average
and that it is best to see how long works for your body. As you con
tinue along your journey with Bioenergetics, you can progressively
increase the length of time you hold the posture, or increase the num
ber of repetitions. Please make sure you are familiar with the section
in Chapter 2 entitled, "The Edge of the Comfort Zone."
Here is a list of what you will need if you're to complete most of the
exercises in this book:
Here is a list of people who will need to get medical advice prior to
trying Bioenergetics:
Question: I've been practising an exercise for a while now and want
to go deeper with it. Should I do it for a longer period of time, or
increase the number of repetitions?
These two postures, the Bow and the Arch, form a truly powerful and
transformative practice. If your only knowledge ofBioenergetics was
the Bow & Arch, and you practised it daily, you would find yourself
considerably transformed over time. This is because it slowly re
leases the charge from key areas of our muscle system.
One thing that many people find confusing about the Bow & Arch
is the way that different names have arisen over time for the two
postures. Some practitioners call the Bow - the Arch ! Some call the
Arch, the Ground-reach, or Forward Bend. Other variations exist.
It's all good. There is no single, worldwide organisation that controls
Bioenergetics so these things are somewhat inevitable.
The Bow & Arch will slowly and progressively remove this charge
leaving us feeling more and more secure in our bodies. It's great to
do, whether you are feeling anxious or not.
Method:
� This posture has two variations from 4.2 , above
- one obvious and one more subtle.
� Firstly, instead of putting your arms up above
your head, you make gentle fists and place
them in the small of your lower back. It's as
though you were using your arms to push your
lower back forwards.
� Secondly, and more subtly, instead of pushing
your pelvis fully forwards, you bend your knees
slightly more and keep your pelvis a little back,
as though you were more "sitting down" on it.
You press your lower back forwards instead.
� This variation can be done with Arch (4. 1 ) as a
counter-stretch if desired.
4. 5 Vibrating Arch
This variation of the regular Arch posture (4. 1 ) can support a spon
taneous shaking release from the legs.
Method:
� Hang forwards in the Arch pose,
4. 1 , checking the usual elements
of the posture.
� Now, gently bring your hands to
the floor in front of you, taking
roughly half of your weight. The
best is to rest on the area between
your l st and 2nd set of knuck
les, counting from the wrist. This
helps stop your wrists from locking, which can happen if you put
your palms flat down. Keep your neck loose, head just hanging.
� Gently lift your ass, while straightening your legs, and see if a
natural vibration comes into your legs. If so, allow this. If not,
don't worry. You can adjust the distance between your hands and
your feet if desired, to see if this encourages spontaneous shak
ing to occur.
� When the ding comes, gently come up into the regular Bow pos
ture for the same length of time. Repeat 3 times.
4. 7 One-Legged Arch
Method:
rr Lean forwards into the regular Arch
pose.
rr Drop both palms to the floor, sup
porting y<hlr weight roughly evenly
between your hands and feet.
rr Keeping your left leg firm, lift your
right leg behind you, stretching up as
far as you can.
rr At the ding, come up into the regular Bow pose.
rr At the next ding, return to the Arch pose with palms down, and
this time lift the left leg.
rr Return to the Bow posture at the ding. Repeat 3 times. For the
final Arch, you can keep both feet and palms on the floor.
4. 8 Bow & Arch with Expression
Just as we can make slight alterations to the postures, to see if our
body releases more, or slightly differently, so we can also add an el
ement of expression to the Bow & Arch. The Arch position does not
lend itself to release, as we are leant forwards with our throat some
what closed. But the Bow position is good for release. You need
to ensure that you are practising in an environment where you can
make noise without disturbing others.
Here are some different ways you can add an element of expression
while in the Bow posture:
Before we start working our way through the body, it will be helpful
to go through the variety of "Rest Positions" that are made use of,
either between postures, or to close an exercise with.
For the latter, you might choose the Shaking posture, 5 .4. Or the final
Psoas Release posture, 8.7, posture 3 .
Adding this stage i s useful because the body frequently likes to re
lease more once the exercise you've been doing is complete. If you
put a gentle release exercise in, like those suggested above, you may
find that your body starts to shake spontaneously for a while, and this
is great. After this, you can go into relaxation. Give it a try.
Now let's look at some Rest Positions. With these postures you don't
need any equipment, timing or repetitions.
Method:
rr Lie flat on your back with
the back of your head resting
on the floor and your arms
relaxed b:, your sides, with
palms facing up. Have the
soles of your feet flat on the
floor with your knees up.
5.2 Diamond Leg Posture (Supta bada Konasana)
This posture is a great way to integrate after opening up the back
and, indeed, can be practised in its own right. It may be done with
your lower back flat on the floor, or with a bolster under it.
Method:
r Lie on your back and bring the
soles of your feet together, with
your heels close to your ass.
r Allow your knees to fall to
the side naturally, not forcing
them down.
r Close your eyes, breathe gently through the mouth and feel
your body.
Method:
r Lie flat on the floor with
your legs outstretched
and your arms relaxed by
your side, palms facing
up. Ensure that the back
of your head rests on the
floor and that your neck is
relaxed. Your eyes are closed.
5.4 Shaking Posture
Shaking the body is a great way to allow integration after a posture
while also keeping your energy moving. And there is a "right way"
to shake in Bioenergetics!
Method:
rr Stand upright with your feet roughly shoul
der-width apart. Breathe through the mouth
quite deeply in and out and feel into your
legs. Look for any sensation of trembling
or shakiness. If you find it, then allow it to
propagate up your body, creating a vertical
shake. If there's no feeling of shakiness in
the legs, this is fine. Simply begin to gently
shake your body up and down.
rr While shaking, continue to breathe deeply
in and out through the mouth and continue
to put your attention on your body. The
practice will usually feel quite intense if
you are really staying present. It's import
ant to try and relax your neck so that your head can just bob up
and down like it's just another part of your body.
rr Note: Do not shake your body from side to side. This type of
gentle release through shaking requires a vertical shake with the
neck loose. This method of shaking resembles that which ani
mals use instinctively when releasing shock from their system
(see Pol yvagal theory if interested). Side to side shaking is occa-
sionally used for a different type of release.
rr You may well have to "fake it until you make it" and this is fine.
If you would like to see people shaking correctly in this manner,
perhaps look online for videos of people doing the first stage
of Osho Kundalini Meditation. Osho was a great proponent of
shaking. Incidentally, shaking the body was also a cornerstone
practice of the Subud religion of Indonesia, who called it "lati
han." Followers would shake for hours at a time as a practice in
its own right. You can also look up Ratu Bagus, a "shaking guru"
in Bali, if you're interested.
5. 5 Child Pose
I make use of this great, integrating posture in several of the exer
cises in this book. It is also found in many Yoga traditions.
Method:
rr Kneel down on the floor. You
should have your feet close to
gether, perhaps with big toes gen
tly touching. Your knees can be
spread apart or close together. The
former will stretch your hips flex
ors more.
rr Now, gently lower your upper body until your forehead touches
the floor. Simultaneously, gently stretch your ass towards your
heels. Relax your arms and allow them to lie on the floor, either
in front of you or behind.
The Feet and Ankles
Our feet and ankles are key areas of the body, often overlooked in
exercise routines. Our feet are where we ground ourselves, where
we make contact with the earth. If there's a lot of holding in our
feet and ankles it will not be easy to feel grounded and safe in our
body. It will also be difficult to discharge emotional stress back to
the ground. Releasing the charge from our feet and ankles is a key
element of Grounding - see Chapter 2.
Warm Up, Rest Position & Closing: You don't need to be warmed
up before beginning this exercise. At each ding, before moving on
to the next stretch in the sequence, walk normally for a few sec
onds. To close, simply sit or lie down for 3-5 minutes, breathing and
feeling your body. Alternatively, you might like to shake your body
first (5 .4).
Notes: Each of the following stretches uses the same basic format.
Before starting Ankle Stretch 1 , walk slowly around the space for
one ding, breathing through the mouth and staying really conscious
of your body. At the ding, you move into Ankle Stretch 1 (see below).
With the next ding, you walk normally for a few steps and then go
into Ankle Stretch 2. With the next ding, once again you walk a few
steps normally and then go into Ankle Stretch 3, and so on.
Roughly in the middle of each stretch, for around 20-30 seconds, you
do the following. Make gentle contact with a wall or something sim
ilar, so that you have support. Stop walking, close your eyes, check
your knees are slightly bent, breathe deeply through the mouth, and
really feel inside, all the time maintaining the stretch to the max.
Feel right into any areas that are starting to ache. Facing your feel
ings in this way is really healthy. Stay like this for 20-30 seconds and
then, maintaining the stretch, open your eyes, walk on and continue
until the ding sounds.
6 .1 Ankle Stretch 1 - Walk on Toes
Method:
� Walk on your toes, keeping your heels
as far off the ground as you can. Don't
let them down until the ding sounds.
Don't forget to stop in the middle as
described above.
Warm Up, Rest Position & Closing: It's good to have your legs
and feet at least a little warmed up before starting. Use Rest Position
5. 1 for one ding in between reps. To close, simply lie flat out in Rest
Position 5.3 for at least 3 dings, breathing and feeling your body.
Method:
r Lie on your back in Rest Position 5 . 1 . Remain in this pose for
one ding, breathing and feeling your body. Your eyes may be
open or closed.
r Now, lift both legs so that your upper legs are at right angles to
your body and your knees are bent at 45 degrees.
r Keeping your legs steady, flex both feet up and down from the
ankles, as far as they will move. Move them together, following
the breath if you desire.
r At the ding, return to 5. 1 .
r Perform 3 reps of the same exercise, breathing and feeling into
your feet and ankles the whole time.
r To close, lie in Rest Position 5.3 for 3 dings.
6. 8 Ankle Rotation
Timing & Repetitions: Use a 20-second ding to begin with and
perform 3 reps.
Warm Up, Rest Position & Closing: It's good to have your legs
and feet at least a little warmed up before starting. Use Rest Position
5. 1 for one ding in between reps. To close, simply lie flat out in Rest
Position 5 .3 for at least 3 dings, breathing and feeling your body.
Method:
r Lie on your back in Rest Position
5. 1 . Remain in this pose for one
ding, breathing and feeling your
body. Your eyes may be open or
closed.
r Now, lift both legs up so that your
upper legs are at right angles to the
body and your knees bent at 45 de
grees, as in 6. 7.
r Keeping your legs steady, rotate
both of your feet from the ankle in as wide a circle as you can.
r Rotate in one direction, clockwise or anticlockwise, for one ding,
and then rotate in the other for one ding.
r When you've rotated your feet in both directions, for one ding
each, then return to Rest Position 5 . 1 for one ding.
r Complete 3 reps.
r To close, lie down in Rest Position 5.3 for 3 dings.
6.9 Foot Shaking
Timing & Repetitions: Use a 20-second ding to begin with and
perform 3 reps.
Warm Up, Rest Position & Closing: It's good to have your legs
and feet at least a little warmed up before starting. Use Rest Position
5. 1 for one ding in between reps. To close, simply lie flat out in Rest
Position 5.3 for at least 3 dings, breathing and feeling your body.
Method:
rr Lie on your back in Rest
Position 5 . 1 . Remain in this
pose for one ding, breathing
and feeling your body. Your
eyes may be open or closed.
rr Now, lift your right leg, such
that it is in the same position
as in 6. 7 and 6.8 above. Leave
your left leg down. Keeping
your right leg fairly steady,
shake your right foot vigorously from the ankle in all directions
until the ding.
rr At the ding, lower your right leg back down, bring your left leg
up and shake the left foot as above.
rr At the next ding, lie with both legs in Rest Position 5. 1 for
one ding.
rr Repeat three times.
rr To close, lie back in Rest Position 5.3 for 3 dings.
6.1 0 C-Walk Ankle Stretch
The C-Walk, or Crip Walk, is an urban dance movement created by
the Crips street gang of Los Angeles. It is also an excellent way of
taking out holding in your ankles and lower legs. Check YouTube for
lessons on How to Do It.
The Legs
Like the ankles and feet, the legs are both important and largely over
looked. And not just because, without them, we could not easily get
around. Most therapies that work with the body don't give anywhere
near enough attention to the legs. Not only do they usually have a
huge reservoir of charge, especially the backs of the legs. But also, if
the legs are energetically clear, then they really allow us to discharge
a lot of daily stress. Once our legs are relatively free of holding we
can be much more functional, even when our lives are really intense.
As mentioned above, the legs are usually riddled with holding pat
terns, especially the backs of the legs. In truth, the whole back of the
body, from the heels up to the neck is a vast dumping ground for our
ego. All the stuff we want to keep hidden, all the feelings we haven't
expressed - it's all in there.
Let's look at some great exercises to help us get our legs clear. Some
of these exercises will inevitably work other areas of our body too.
This is fine.
7 .1 Leg Stretch 1
Method:
r Begin in Rest Position 5. 1 for one ding.
r Then, stretch your legs towards the ceiling, trying to keep them
dead straight through the knees and at right angles to the trunk
of your body.
r The soles of your feet should be horizontal.
r Keep the stretch going until the ding, then return to Rest
Position 5. 1 .
7. 2 Leg Stretch with Toe Hold
Method:
r Bring legs off the floor with knees
bent.
r Reach up and gently take your big
toes in your hands.
r Keeping hold of your toes, gen
tly stretch your legs as straight as
you can.
r Maintain this stretch until the ding,
then return to Rest Position 5 . 1 .
7. 3 Thigh Stretch
Method:
r Lift legs as in Leg Stretch 1
above , ensuring that your legs
are straight through the knees
and at right angles to the body.
Now, widen your legs to the
sides, creating a 3-way stretch.
r Maintain this stretch until the
ding, then return to the Rest
Position 5 . I .
7 .4 Leg Stretch with Arms Reaching
Method:
r Note that this particular stretch is
usually more powerful when done
with eyes open and focused on a
point on the ceiling.
r Lift legs as in Leg Stretch 1 above.
Simultaneously raise your arms
towards the ceiling, keeping your
palms facing each other and shoul
der-width apart.
r Keeping your back and head on
the mat, reach up with your arms as far as possible, all the time
maintaining the leg stretch too.
r Maintain this stretch until the ding, then return to Rest Position 5 . 1.
This completes the series of leg stretches that may easily be run to
gether. If you have been doing them, or some of them, as a series,
then it's important to close the series properly. Allow your body to
stretch out fully in 5 .3 for at least 5 minutes.
Important: If you have issues with your legs or back, do treat this
exercise with respect. Check in with a medic if you're concerned.
Equipment: You will need a free stretch of wall to sit against. There
should be nothing fixed to the wall that your ass could rest upon,
such as an architrave. Make sure that your feet feel firm on the floor -
so that you can't slide down.
Method:
rr Sit unsupported against a wall.
Your knees should form a right
angle, so that your upper legs are
horizontal, parallel to the floor,
and your lower legs are vertical,
ankles beneath your knees. Your
back and the back of your head
should be flat on the wall. Your
arms are rested with your hands gently resting in your lap, simi
lar to a meditation pose. Do not apply pressure to your upper legs
with your hands. The posture looks just like sitting on a chair, but
without the chair!
r Keeping your eyes open, breathe deeply in and out through the
mouth. Feel your body, in particular the muscles that are getting
activated.
r Complete one ding, then gently push out from the wall and hang
forwards in the Arch pose for one ding.
r Complete 3 reps of these two postures.
r To close, simply sit or lie down for at least 3 minutes, remaining,
as always, breathing and feeling your body.
r Note: While this exercise is less intense if you bring your back
higher up the wall, personally, I recommend that you keep your
ass at knee height.
r Note: This pose may well bring on spontaneously shaking in the
legs. This can be a little scary at first, but rest assured that it's
good, and simply a deeper release taking place. Keep breathing
deeply through the mouth.
r Be aware that for most people this posture is very intense, espe
cially at first. It's fine to start with just 15 seconds if needed and
slowly work the time up.
7. 7 The Crouch
Crouching down is practised as part of daily life throughout much of
Africa and is very healthy for your lower back and your legs.
Method:
,r, Stand upright with your feet
flat on the floor.
,r, Slowly drop your ass as low
as you can, keeping your
heels on the floor. At the
same time, reach out with
your arms, keeping them
horizontal, with palms fac
ing down. Hold the posi
tion, breathing fully in and
out through the mouth, for
one ding.
,r, At the ding, come into the
Arch pose (4. 1 ) for one ding.
Repeat 3 times.
,r, To close, sit or lie down in 5.3 for a minute or two.
7 .8 Toe Crouch
Timing & Repetitions: Begin with a 20-second ding and work up
to 3 minutes. 3 reps is good. Rest in the Arch position (4. 1 ) for one
ding in between reps.
7. 9 Trust Reach
Timing & Repetitions: Begin with a 20-second ding and work up
to 3 minutes. 3 reps is good. Rest by standing upright, with a slight
bend in the knees, for one ding in between reps.
Warm Up, Rest Position & Closing: Make sure you are warmed
up before you begin. There's no Rest Position. To close, come into
Child Pose (5.5) and rest there for at least 2 minutes, before coming
into Lying Down Pose (5.3) for another 3 minutes.
Method:
r Begin in Tabletop pose, with your palms and lower legs flat on
the floor, and your back horizontal. Your upper legs and arms
should be close to vertical, with your hands underneath your
shoulders. Ensure there is nothing behind you that you could
possibly hit when you begin kicking.
r Lifting one leg, kick backwards and slightly upwards while say
ing out loud "Get off my back," in the language you spoke as a
child. Free associate, saying out loud any words that come into
your mind.
rr Alternate between legs, giving 2 or 3 kicks with each, before
swapping over. Continue expressing and free-associating.
rr Do this exercise for around 1 to 2 minutes, or until you feel gen
uinely empty. Ensure that you keep expressing throughout. It's
important to make sound with this exercise, even if not distinct
words. Grunts are fine.
rr When complete, slowly come into Child Pose (5.5) for at least
2 minutes, keeping your eyes closed, breathing and feeling your
body. Then turn over into and lie in 5.3 for a further 3 minutes.
rr With this exercise, it is not usually necessary to do repetitions.
It's better to try and exhaust yourself totally in one burst.
The Pelvis
Any level of sexual trauma, or any feeling of "not being okay" about
our sexuality, tends to create holding in the pelvic area. And, because
the pelvis is so important, these blocks can create disproportionately
large negative effects within us. Our sense of natural aliveness may
be much lower than it should be. Or we may find our mind becoming
overly sexualised, while our body remains a no-go area where we
simply block out natural feelings.
The reality is that nearly everyone on our planet has been brought up
in a sexually repressive environment, and this is not natural. Many
cultures and religions actually perpetuate themselves by inducing
guilt and shame about sexuality in the young.
To really heal on a deep level, at some point you will have to work
with sexuality. It is such a major issue that it really cannot be
avoided. Otherwise, it will simply become a huge "elephant in the
room," an unacknowledged but ever-present block, deeply affect
ing our life.
When we work with the pelvic area, the focus is slightly different
from many of the other areas of the body. There is even more em
phasis on breathing and feeling. You really cannot do these exercises
like an automaton and expect good results. You will need to keep
feeling into the whole pelvic area throughout. The approach has to
be more subtle than in other chapters, more yin. In the following
exercises, practice really keeping your awareness in the pelvic area,
gently striving to feel as much as you can.
Equipment: These exercises are done lying down and you will need
a surface that is firm but not uncomfortable. Two or three yoga mats,
one on top of the other, works well for most people.
Warm Up, Rest Position & Closing: There's no need for any
warm-up. As you move from one position straight into the next, nei
ther is there a need for Rest Positions. To close, you simply lie flat
out with limbs outstretched (5.3) and totally relax for at least 10
minutes, remaining, as ever, feeling your body.
8 .1 Pelvic Rotation
Method:
r Lie back on the floor in Rest Position 5. 1 . Have your eyes gently
closed and your arms relaxed by your sides, palms facing up.
The back of your head should be on the mat.
r Following the breath, gently rotate your pelvis forwards and
backwards, keeping your tailbone on the floor the whole time.
This means, as you breathe in, you raise your lower back off
the mat, keeping your tailbone down and taking your perineum
(the point between your anus and your genitals) down towards
the mat. As you breathe out,
you reverse this, bringing
your lower back down and
your perineum upwards.
.- From the side, it would
seem that your pelvis is
gently rotating backwards
and forwards, using your
tailbone as a fulcrum. It's important that your tailbone stays on
the mat the whole time.
.- Stay following the breath with this movement and remain feeling
into your pelvic area until the ding.
That completes the Pelvis Release Sequence. Now let's look at more
exercises we can do to release tension from the pelvic area.
The 4 positions in this sequence are all found in different parts of this
book. They are drawn from the work of Alexander Lowen, although
I have created this sequence myself. Find images of the postures in
the individual chapters where they appear.
Warm Up, Rest Position & Closing: You don't need to do any
specific warm-up for this sequence. There's no Rest Position either.
You simply move from one position into the next at each ding. After
you've done your reps, to close, you can either lie flat out (5.3) and
relax for at least 3 dings, or you can go into the final position from
the Psoas Release Sequence (8.7) and allow your body to release for
a while. After that, lie flat out and relax for at least 3 dings.
Method:
r Position 1 - OLP (5.2): Lie on the floor in the Diamond Leg
Posture, but with the bolster under your lower back. Close your
eyes, keep your attention on your body and breathe quite deeply
through the mouth. Remain in this posture for one ding, relax
ing as much as you can. Remember that the bolster you use
should allow your tailbone to rest on the floor, if not straight
away, then shortly after lying over it. Remain in this posture
for one ding.
r Position 2 - Reverse Lower Back Stretch (9.3): Now, lift your
ass and move the bolster from under your lower back to right
under the tailbone. Then bring your tailbone back down on top
of it. Bend your knees and gently bring them towards your chest,
bringing your hands around to clasp them. Your knees and ankles
should be gently touching. On the out-breath, gently pull your
knees a little more towards your body, softly compressing your
belly. Take care with this posture, especially if you have any his
tory of pain or injury in your belly or intestines. Remain in this
posture for one ding.
r Position 3 - Leg Stretch 1 (7. 1): Relax your arms and bring
them back to your sides. Straightening your legs, bring them up
at right angles to the trunk of the body, straightening through the
knees as much as you can. The soles of your feet are horizon
tal and facing the ceiling. If spontaneous shaking starts to occur
then allow it. It's good! Maintain this posture for one ding, con
tinuously trying to keep your legs as straight through the knees
as possible.
r Position 4 - Thigh Stretch (7.3): Keeping your legs vertical and
straight, now stretch them wide, into a V shape, creating a 3-way
stretch. Maintain this posture and all 3 directions of stretch for
one ding.
r Complete 3 repetitions.
r Once the reps are complete, you can either begin resting in 5.3
or first go into the final Psoas Release posture (8.7 #3) to allow
some extra release to take place. When you are ready to rest, sim
ply lie flat out with limbs outstretched (5.3) for at least 3 dings,
breathing gently and staying present in your body.
Method:
r Stand upright with your feet
about shoulder-width apart
and your knees a little bent.
Try to have the outsides of
your feet roughly parallel.
r Now, flick your pelvis for
wards from the hips, as you
breathe out, simultaneously
making the sound "Wuh ! "
r A s you breathe in, bring
your pelvis fully back, with
out sound.
r Ensure that your back re
mains loose, but also rela-
tively static. It is not that most of your body is rocking back and
forth. It is just your pelvis and upper legs that move. This can be
tricky at first, especially if your lower back is quite tense, but you
will get the knack of it if you stick with it.
r Continue for at least 1 0 minutes, ensuring that you make this
"Wuh" sound with each forward movement. Stay present in your
body while you're doing it.
r To close, simply lie down (5.3), relax and stay breathing and feel
ing your body for 1 0 minutes. You may add a stage of Shaking
(5.4) before this if you wish.
This exercise can also be done with a partner, facing each other
and moving your pelvises in sync. It's good to keep eye con
tact if you like to create more energy between you and make it
more intense.
8. 6 Pelvic Hold-up
This is another great release pose for the pelvis and also the legs and
lower back.
Timing & Repetitions: Start with one minute and work upwards
as you feel. It's good to do 3 reps with a rest period of one ding in
between each.
Warm Up, Rest Position & Closing: You don't need to be warmed
up to perform this exercise. Begin in Rest Position 5 . 1 and return
to this posture for one ding in between each rep. To close, simply
lie down in Rest Position 5.3 for several dings, relaxing and feeling
your body.
Method:
r Start in Rest Position 5. 1 .
r Now, raise your tailbone
about 3 inches (75 mm) off
the floor, simuhaneously
pointing your toes so your
heels come off the floor as well. Breathe in and out through
the mouth.
r Hold the position for one ding, breathing quite deeply and feel-
ing your body.
r Return to 5 . 1 for one ding.
r Complete 3 repetitions.
r To complete, lie stretched out in Rest Position 5.3. Close your
eyes and stay present in your body.
Music: Gentle, oceanic music can support the release with this
exercise.
Timing & Repetitions: Start with a one minute ding and work up to
two minutes. It's not necessary to do repetitions with this sequence,
but if you have time you may remain in the final posture for up to 20
minutes, or even longer.
Warm Up, Rest Position & Closing: You don't especially need
to be warmed up for this series of postures. This sequence begins
in Rest Position 5.2 , Diamond Leg Pose (DLP). You also return
to this posture for one ding in between Postures # 1 and #2. To
close the sequence, simply lie flat out in Rest Position 5.3 for at
least 5 dings.
Method:
r Begin in 5.2 for one ding.
r Posture #1 - At the ding, lift .--f"';-,
:��re #1\,,�j
your tailbone about 2 inches s)
(5 cm) off the floor and keep it
up. Do not lift it more than this.
At the same time, squeeze your
shoulder blades towards each
other, taking your upper back
slightly off the floor. Breathe in
and out quite deeply through the
mouth and feel into your pelvis,
especially the area around the
hips. Maintain this posture for
3 dings.
r At the third ding, lower your
tailbone to the floor, relax your
shoulder blades and return to
Rest Position 4i.2 for one ding.
r Posture #2 - Keeping your tailbone on the floor, and the soles of
your feet softly pressed together, gently lift your knees upwards.
Note that you need to keep the outsides of the soles of your
feet touching, so your knees probably will not move so much.
Maintain this gentle stretch, again breathing in and out through
the mouth quite deeply, for 2 dings.
r At the second ding, come straight into Posture #3. No Rest
Position is needed this time.
r Posture #3 - Lift your knees and alter your leg position so that
the soles of your feet are now flat on the floor. Your feet should
be gently touching or no more than about one inch (2.5 cm) apart.
Your knees should be high and gently touching. Now, keeping the
soles of your feet flat on the floor, allow your knees to slowly fall
outwards, feeling for a point where spontaneous shaking starts to
take place. This has to be done softly and with awareness. Really
feel into your legs as the knees slowly separate. Your feet should
remain planted flat on the floor. If the inner part of the soles come
off the floor, then you have moved your knees too far.
rr It may be tricky to find a point where spontaneous shaking be
gins. You cannot force it. But stick at it and it will happen. It is
not something that you can force.
rr When you do find a point where your body begins to shake of
its own accord, then remain in that position and allow this shak
ing to continue. You may find that it changes as you go along.
Perhaps it starts with the legs shaking side to side, and then you
find your back wiggling, and then find your ass gently bumping
up and down on the floor. Have an attitude of seeking and al
lowing, rather than trying to make anything happen. Keep your
breathing nice and deep, through the mouth, and keep feeling
into the pelvic area.
rr Continue with this posture for 5 dings at least. If you have time
you may extend this to 10 dings or even more.
rr To complete the sequence, you simply stretch out and relax in
5.3. Remain there for at least 10 minutes, breathing naturally and
feeling your body.
Method:
� Lie with your back on the
floor in Rest Position 5 . 1
but with the bolster under
your tailbone.
� Now, begin to bounce your
tailbone up and down on
the bolster, lifting it a cou
ple of inches up and letting
it drop. Start doing it around once every two or three seconds
and then gradually increase the frequency until you are going
as fast as you can. It is healthy to make natural or spontaneous
sounds with this exercise. The way to do this is to simply feel
into your throat and make a sound without thinking about how
it will sound.
� When complete, put the bolster to one side and allow your body
to stretch out in Rest Position 5.3. Relax completely. Give your
self at least 5 minutes rest time remembering, as ever, to stay
present in your body, feeling what's going on.
8. 9 The Pelvic Wave
The Pelvic Wave is a wonderful old exercise that has been a favourite
of many Bioenergetic Therapists over the decades and has accrued a
variety of names. I call it the Pelvic Wave because I think this one is
the most descriptive.
This exercise may be done on its own, or at the end of more intense
exercises and sequences, as a way to integrate and rebalance before
going into relaxation.
Music: Playing some oceanic music can help you go deeper with
this exercise. I frequently use the track Ocean Lost Wave by the Sth
Galaxy Orchestra.
Timing & Repetitions: Start doing the exercise for 5 minutes and
work up to 30 minutes or more. There's no need for repetitions.
Warm Up, Rest Position & Closing: You don't need to warm
up. There's no Rest Position. To close, simply sit or lie down,
breathing gently through the mouth and feeling your body, for 5 to
1 0 minutes.
Method:
� Stand upright with your shoulders and arms relaxed and a slight
flex in the knees. Your eyes may be open or closed. Breathe
through the mouth and feel your body.
� Now, move your pelvis forwards, as though it were being pushed,
and allow the rest of your body to simply follow. When your
pelvis returns to the back, move it forwards again and continue.
The idea is that only your pelvis moves with intention, rather as
though someone is pushing it, and that the rest
of your body simply follows along.
r Try to keep your neck relaxed. When you've
got the hang of this exercise, your head will
simply flop forwards and back, following the
movements of the pelvis.
r Keep going until the ding. With eyes closed,
your body may feel like a piece of seaweed
being gently buffeted by the waves of the
ocean. It should be very -relaxing, though you
may also become aware of where tensions are
being held in your body.
r To close, simply sit or lie down for 5 to 10 minutes. Keep your
eyes closed, feel your body and breathe naturally.
8 .1 0 Pelvic Flicking
This is a simple pelvic exercise that will increase your pelvic mobility.
Warm Up, Rest Position & Closing: You don't need to be espe
cially warmed up for this exercise. Neither will you need a Rest
Position. To close, simply return to standing upright, with knees
slightly flexed. Breathe and feel your body for one ding.
Method:
.- Stand upright with your eyes open and a little flex in your knees.
Have your pelvis cocked slightly backwards .
.- Now, flick your pelvis to the left and then to the right, rather like
in African dance. Hold each movement for a second or two .
.- Continue until the ding, staying in touch with the feeling in your
body throughout.
.- To close, simply return to the starting position and remain up
right, breathing through the mouth and feeling your body.
'\ I
\
'
I I
' -- I
'
The Belly
This fiery reactivity of the belly centre is usually a concern for our
ego-dominated mind. It's always on the lookout for anything which
could negatively affect how people perceive us, and this fiery belly
centre is a big worry ! When you start to work at a belly level you risk
being more fiery in life, less concerned about what people think of
you, and more determined to not take in others ' negativity.
Music: None is needed for the First Stage. For the Second Stage,
some deep Tibetan chanting can be useful, such as Yamantaka by The
Gyoto Monks. For the Triple Opener, I recommend you download
the Grunt Track mentioned in the Resources section of this book.
Method:
� First Stage: Stand upright with your feet spread greater than
shoulder-width apart and your knees bent. The outsides of your
feet should be roughly parallel and your spine upright, leaning
neither backwards nor forwards. This posture is frequently found
in martial arts, where it is known as "ma bo," or "Horse Stance."
Your eyes may be open or closed, but most people find that eyes
closed is easiest to begin with.
� Now, remaining in this position but with your body relaxed, start
to simply feel into your belly while breathing fairly deeply in and
out through the mouth. See if you can find any level of sensation
in your belly and, if you can, try to use this as an "anchor," a way
to remain present in this area. You may find that you can feel no
Triple
Stages Opener
Music: You may like to play Track 3 from Osho Dynamic Meditation
while jumping.
Warm Up, Rest Position & Closing: There's no Rest Position, but
it's good to make sure that you're nicely warmed up before starting
Hoo Sound Jumping. This means that you need to both stretch and
do some level of cardio. Jogging around the room for a little is fine.
To close, simply let your body shake (5.4) or relax lying down for at
least 5 minutes (5.3).
Method:
r Stand upright with your arms raised above
your head.
r Now, jump up so that your feet leave the floor.
When they come back down, ensure that your
heels hit the floor, creating a vibration up your
legs. That's to say, don'tjustjump and land on
your toes. Your toes can hit the floor first as
you come down, but the heels must also make
some level of impact.
r As your heels come down, focus on your solar
plexus and make the sound "Hoo." Continue
-�
jumping at a rate of at least one jump every
two seconds.
r Keep your arms fully raised throughout. Don't
allow them to come down.
r Note: This exercise can prove to be too much
for your knees if you do it for ten minutes
every day, as many Osho followers found out
as they grew older. If you're concerned that
it's too much for your joints, then you can also
lift your heels and bring them down, but keep your toes on the
floor throughout.
r Also note: This exercise is traditionally done with eyes closed.
If you find yourself moving around the room a lot, as is common
when you really go for it, ensure that the space is safe for you to
do this before you start.
r When complete, close by simply sitting or lying down with eyes
closed for 5 minutes. Alternatively, you may do some shaking
(5.4) before going into relaxation.
9. 3 Reverse Lower Back Stretch
This well-known lower back stretch, popular with Alexander Lowen,
also works the muscles of the belly, so I'm including it in this chap
ter. Here we'll do it with a counter-stretch, but you can also do it on
its own or with a Rest Position.
Timing & Repetitions: Start with one minute and work up or down
from that as you feel. Do three reps, remaining in the Rest Position
for one ding in between each.
Warm Up, Rest Position & Closing: You don't need to be warmed
up for this exercise. In between each rep, move into Rest Position
5 .2 but with a bolster planted under your lower back. To close,
simply put the bolster to one side and lie down flat out (5.3) for
2 dings.
Method:
,... Begin by lying down on your back with the soles of your feet
planted and your knees up ( 5 . 1 ). Place a bolster, such as a firm
rolled-up yoga mat, under your tailbone.
,... Now, keeping your knees bent, bring them up towards your chest,
until they are gently compressing your belly. Bring your hands
around to softly hold your knees close to your body.
r Slowly and carefully,
pull your knees into
your body, gently com
pressing your belly.
Take care with this
posture, especially if
you have any history
of injury or similar in
your belly or intestines.
Keep your knees and ankles gently touching the whole time.
r Stay in this posture for one ding.
r For the Counter-stretch, bring the soles of your feet back down to
the floor where you started. Lift your ass a little and slide the bol
ster up the body until it's under your lower back. Gently lower
your body back down over the bolster, allowing your tailbone
to touch the floor. Now, adjust your leg position until you're in
the DLP (5.2 with bolster). Remain relaxing in this position for
one ding.
r When you've completed 3 reps, simply lie out flat in 5.3 and
relax for at least 2 dings.
Equipment: For this exercise, you will need a Foam Roller. It should
be around 6 inches, 150 mm, in diameter.
Timing & Repetitions: Start with one minute and see how that
feels. Feel free to increase that up to 10 minutes as you become ex
perienced. No repetitions are needed.
Warm Up, Rest Position & Closing: It's good to be at least a lit
tle warmed up before starting this exercise. There is no need for
a Rest Position. Spending time closing this posture is particularly
important. Make sure that you do this. Lie flat out with your limbs
outstretched (5.3). Breathe naturally and stay present in your body.
Do this for at least 5 minutes.
Method:
rr Place the Foam Roller on the floor and lie over it, face down. The
roller should push right up into the belly cavity, midway between
the bottom of your rib-cage and the hips. Allow your head to face
either to the left or to the right. It doesn't matter which.
r Breathe through the mouth, in and out, and try to completely
relax in this posture. Try to surrender to the feelings that come.
r Roughly midway through, gently tum your head to the other side.
r Maintain for one ding, making sure that you have turned your
head once in that time.
r To close, come up gently onto your elbows, put the Roller to one
side and tum over. Lie on your back in 5.3 and simply relax for
at least 3 dings.
The Lower Back
Of all the areas of the body, the lower back is the place that has by
far the most holding and the most dead zones. It is the great dumping
ground of our ego. All the trauma our brain has stored away, all the
conditioning we've been subjected to, all the feelings we deny or
repress - a big chunk of it ends up in the lower back. Yes, holding is
distributed across all muscle groups, but the lower back is certainly
one area that bears the brunt of it.
One reason for this is likely that we don't easily see our lower back.
At an ego level, we are mostly concerned that we look good, and that
means a smiling face, an open chest and an upright posture. When
we meet the world, they don't see our lower back. And, indeed, it's
very hard to see our lower back ourselves. So, this makes it the ideal
place to dump all the garbage!
But, of course, just because we don't easily see it, does not mean it's
not there. If we don't take steps to open up the muscles of our lower
back and allow the feelings held there to once again flow, then this
repository of trapped feelings will eventually wreak havoc.
Important: The lower back has muscles that are very easy to pull,
possibly because most people have so much repressed there that it's
hard to feel what's going on. Be careful with these exercises and do
check in with someone medically qualified if at all concerned.
Important: If you have any current or past health issues with your
back you will need to check in with a suitably qualified person be
fore undertaking this exercise.
Whichever you choose, you will need a stable and not uncomfort
able bar over which you can safely lean backwards. If you 're using a
sofa, then it is the back of the sofa that you lean over, your feet on the
opposite side to the cushions. The height is not critical, but it should
be between the height of your crotch and the height of your mid
back. You will likely need to put a firm cushion on top to ensure that
the bar is not uncomfortable. You also need to take responsibility to
ensure that you feel safe - that whatever you choose to use, it is not
going to fall over. It will be hard to really let go in this exercise if
you are worried about the stability of the thing you are leaning over.
Warm Up, Rest Position & Closing: It's good to have your body
fairly well warmed up before this exercise. To close the exercise, or
as a Rest Position if you're doing reps, you make use of a sequence
of two postures - Squat and Arch. They are described below. Make
sure you use them. It's important with this exercise that you really
take care of yourself.
Method:
r Move your sofa away
from the wall, so that you
can stand behind it at a
distance of at least two
feet (60 ems).
r Standing with your back
to the rear of the sofa
and, using your arms
as support, slowly lean
backwards over the sofa,
keeping at least your toes
on the floor.
r IMPORTANT - Our backs
are very sensitive, so en
sure that when you first
do this posture, the part of
your back which touches
the top of the sofa is the base of the shoulder blades and not
lower down. You don't want to put excessive pressure on your
lower back when you start this exercise.
r Slowly let go control until you are simply hanging over the back
of the sofa. You may keep your arms by your side, partly taking
your weight, or you may hold them above your head, increasing
the stretch.
r Close your eyes and breathe deeply through your mouth, feeling
your body. Keep your toes on the floor throughout, although you
may lift your heels if you wish.
r When you hear the ding, come up slowly in the following fash
ion. First, if your arms aren't already by your side, bring them
there and begin to take the weight off your upper body. Now,
slowly raise your upper body back towards the vertical. When
your upper body is vertical, slowly crouch down, bending your
knees, and breathe through the mouth, keeping your awareness
on your body the whole time. When you feel stable, straighten
your legs and lean forwards into the Arch position and remain
there for one ding.
Method:
� Lie down on your back in 5. 1. Breathe through your mouth gen
tly and feel your body.
� Now, lift your back right off the floor and place the Foam Roller
under your hips.
r Next, lift your upper body off the floor, using your elbows and
forearms to take your weight at first.
r Now, slowly roll your body so that the roller moves up your back
towards your shoulder blades. You may need to move the posi
tion of your feet as the roller moves.
r As the roller travels slowly up your back, look for any point
where spontaneous shaking begins and then remain on that point
until the ding.
r You may have your neck relaxed with your head hanging back,
or you may have your head up. Experiment with both to see how
they feel.
r When the ding sounds, gently remove the roller and lie back flat
on the floor with your legs outstretched (5.3). Breathe gently
through the mouth and remain feeling your body for one ding.
The Shoulders & Upper Back
Several of these issues are not yet commonly related to shoulder and
upper back tension in mainstream psychology. So I would like to
briefly expand upon the first in particular.
As well as a physical heart, pumping blood around our body, we
also have an "energetic heart," located in the centre of our chest. If
you've ever experienced deep grief, it often appears to manifest as a
"dam breaking open" in this area. There is a feeling of deep sadness,
literally pouring out from the centre of our chest. Many people also
experience love as manifesting from this area. Thus it seems that the
"heart opens" in this way.
In like manner, the heart also appears to be "kept closed" from the
region of the back directly behind the area it appears to open from.
That's to say, the area between the shoulder blades. What I see,
working with clients, is that if I get them to work the muscles in this
part of the body, it begins to mobilise the emotional pain held inside
of them.
How we keep these muscles tight, and our heart thus closed, is by
thinking and doing a lot. There is a circuit in the body from the head,
down through the neck and out through the shoulders to the hands.
When we spend our waking hours thinking and doing a lot, we keep
this circuit active. The area between our shoulder blades remains
tense, and our personal pain remains trapped inside of us.
This strategy to keep our pain hidden is obviously not a good long
term proposition. It can also lead to us burning out, through pushing
our body and mind to keep busy. So, in this chapter in particular, we
will be looking at ways that we can open this area of our body.
Before we get into the exercises themselves, I would briefly like to
remind you of two of the principles of Bioenergetics mentioned in
Chapter 2 of this book - grounding and compensation. These are par
ticularly significant when seeking to reduce tension in the shoulder
area, so please consider rereading these sections.
Now it's time to look at some great exercises specifically aimed at re
leasing stuck feelings and energy from the shoulders and upper back!
Important: If you have any history of shoulder issues then it's im
portant to check with a doctor prior to trying out this sequence.
Timing & Repetitions: Start with a 2 -minute ding. Feel free to work
up to 5 minutes as you become more experienced with this exercise.
This sequence may be done with or without repetitions.
Warm Up, Rest Position & Closing: It's good to warm your body
up at least a little before starting this sequence. There is no Rest
Position. To close, you should spend at least 2 dings standing, sitting
or lying down, as ever remembering to keep feeling your body.
Method:
rr Stand upright with your knees slightly bent
and your feet about shoulder-width apart,
a nice grounded stance. Breathe in and out
through the mouth and feel your body for
one ding.
rr 11.1 - Shoulders Forwards: Now, gently
pull your shoulders forwards, as though you
are trying to get your shoulders to touch
in the centre of your chest. Don't use your
hands or arms as levers, but rather allow
your arms to follow, resting where they will.
The stretch needs to come from the shoul
ders, not the arms. Keep pulling your shoul
ders gently together, not allowing any time
to relax. Keep a gentle pressure going until
the ding. Keep breathing through the mouth.
rr When the ding sounds, let the stretch go
with a deep sigh, throwing your arms down.
rr 11.2 - Stretch 2 - Shoulders Backwards:
Now perform the reverse stretch. Stretch
your shoulders backwards, trying to get your
shoulder blades to touch in the upper middle
of your back. Perhaps imagine that there's
a walnut between your shoulder blades and
you really want to crack it! Maintain this
stretch, not slackening off for a moment.
When the ding sounds, once again release
the stretch with a vigorous exhale and a I I
brief throwing down of your arms. 11 .2
r 11.3 - Stretch 3 - Shoulders Up: This
time you're going to bring your shoulders
up, as though you 're trying to get them to
touch your ears. Allow your arms to sim
ply hang where they will. Imagine per
haps that you're auditioning for a part in a
Frankenstein movie. Get them as high as
you can. Maintain the stretch, until the ding,
and then release it as before.
r 11.4 - Stretch 4 - Shoulders Down: This
final stretch is the opposite of the one be
fore. Stretch your shoulders down towards
the floor, rather as though you have heavy
weights attached to your wrists. Maintain
the stretch until the ding, like before. No
resting.
r Closing: When the final ding sounds, you
can choose to either remain standing or to sit
or lie down. If you would like to add some
extra release before closing you could spend
one or two dings doing Teenager Release
( 1 1 .5) or Shaking (5 .4) before closing.
Whichever you choose, make sure you con
tinue to breathe deeply through the mouth
and feel your body. So many people simply
space out at the end, and this interrupts your
integration of the exercise. Remain like this
for at least 2 dings.
r Note: When you are experienced with these
stretches, they may be intensified by per
forming either the Jaw Stretch ( 1 3 .2) or
Fake Smile ( 1 3 . 1 ) exercises at the same
time.
1 1 . 5 Teenager Release
Our teenage years are very important. They are the time when we
progressively throw off the influence of our parents or other caregiv
ers we may have had during our childhood. Although teenagers are
still usually under the control of their parents, they are increasingly
ready to drop the behaviours their parents taught them and to begin
to forge their own identities. This is an important psychological pro
cess and, for many adults, it is not complete.
So, in this exercise, you will walk around the room slowly, really
lifting your shoulders up to your ears and then throwing them down,
with a grunt. Exaggerating the movement in this way creates a re
lease. It should feel good.
When you are experienced with this exercise, you may choose to
focus on the final years before leaving the parents behind. To do
this you exaggerate the downward throwing of the shoulders and the
level of anger still further. It's like you've really had enough of being
controlled now !
You can do this as a stand-alone exercise, or go into it after complet
ing the Shoulder Release Sequence above.
Music: You don't need to play music with this exercise, but if you
do have a loud, rebellious track you can put on in the background,
this can help you to get into the feeling. I recommend Killing in the
Name Of, by Rage Against the Machine. Be aware that you may pre
fer something rebellious with less swearing in it.
Warm Up, Rest Position & Closing: As mentioned, you can use
the Shoulder Release Sequence above as a warm-up to this exercise.
Otherwise, you simply need to make sure that your upper body is
warmed up and fairly loose. There is no Rest Position. To close, lie
or sit down for roughly the same length of time that you performed
the exercise for.
Method:
� Before beginning, walk around the room trying to feel like you're
an angry teenager. Perhaps imagine that your Dad is telling you
to do your homework, or your Mum is on your back, nagging
you to tidy your room. Whatever works for you. Now, as you
walk, begin to stamp your feet. Not so hard that you might hurt
yourself, but enough so that you can feel it. At the same time,
begin to lift your shoulders up towards your ears and, as you put
each foot down, throw your shoulders
down at the same time. The arms just
follow along in this movement. It is the
shoulders that do the actual work.
.- Add also a grunt as you stamp down,
just like someone who is angry about
being told what to do. Remember, this is
not full-blown screaming and shouting,
but rather making a physical gesture of
protest. You grunt, you stamp your feet
and you throw your shoulders down.
Stamp your feet and throw your shoul
ders down at a rate of around once every
one or two seconds.
.- It is also good to make an ugly face. Stick your lower jaw out,
screw up your face. Show the world how ugly you can be.
.- Maintain this posture, sound and movement until the ding sounds .
.- When the ding does sound, you can either go into relaxation -
shaking, sitting or lying down for at least one ding - or you can
exaggerate these movements and go into an Expression Stage (see
below). If you want to do this Expression Stage, you need to ensure
that you are in a space where it will be okay to make loud noise.
.- Expression Stage - Stand still and begin to speed up the shoul
der movements, while opening your mouth and allowing a sound
to come out. You no longer need to stamp your feet, but your
shoulders should move up and down at a rate of about two or
three times a second. Try to simply allow sound to come out,
rather than forcing it in any way, or thinking about how it should
sound. Allow the sound to come, without judgment, and also
allow it to get stronger or weaker.
.- The Expression Stage can continue for two or three minutes.
After this, allow yourself to go into relaxation for at least 1 0
minutes. You can shake your body gently, sit down quietly or lie
down on the floor. Whichever you do, ensure that you stay pres
ent in your body, feeling what's going on.
Music: Not essential, but you may find some loud, rebellious rock
music can help you to release.
Warm Up, Rest Position & Closing: Before performing this ex
ercise, it's important that your shoulders, arms and upper body are
warmed up. You could do exercises 1 1 .7 and 1 1 .8 first, or similar.
There is no Rest Position. To close, come forwards into Child Pose,
5.5, for at least one ding.
Method:
r With your body warmed up, come to kneeling with your ass up
away from your heels.
rr When you 're ready, begin to "dig" your elbows backwards, one
after the other, as though there is something on your back and
you want to get it off. Do a couple of practice digs first to make
sure it's not painful, and then you can really go for it. As you
make each dig backwards, say the phrase "Get off my back!" in
the language you spoke when you were young. Also free associ
ate. It's important with this exercise that you make sound.
rr Note: Often I see people twisting their whole upper body while
doing this exercise, but this lessens the release. Your upper body
should remain relatively static, without being rigid, and the
movement comes from your shoulders.
rr Once you get going, you may find that the digging movement al
most seems to take you over. It's great when this happens. Allow
yourself to shout out anything that's in your mind.
rr When the ding goes, bring your ass down to your heels and lean
forwards into the Child Pose (5.5), with your feet close together
and your knees wide apart. Remain in this posture for at least
one ding. Have your eyes closed and breathe and feel your body.
Afterwards, you can lie for another ding, either in the foetal po
sition or just flat out on your back (5.3).
1 1 . 7 Shoulder Rolling
Timing & Repetitions: Start with 1 minute in each direction. You
can work up to 5 minutes. Repetitions are not needed but can be
done if you wish.
Method:
.- Stand upright in a grounded position with a little flex in your
knees, eyes open looking ahead. Breathe deeply through the
mouth. Try to engage your belly as you breathe. Deep, constant
breathing is very important in this exercise .
.- Now, begin to make circular motions of your shoulders, bringing
them up towards your ears and then forwards and down, rotating
them in side-view. Make these rotations as wide as you can. The
movement is from the shoulders so your arms just follow, relatively
relaxed. Continue, breathing deeply through the mouth, for one ding.
rr When the ding sounds, stop rotating in that direction and rotate
the other way - your arms come up, then move back and down
and around. As before, allow your arms to just follow, relaxed.
Continue for one ding.
rr When the ding sounds, you can close by just continuing to stand,
now with your shoulders and arms simply loose and hanging.
Have your knees very slightly bent and breathe through the
mouth feeling your body.
rr As an alternative to closing, you may continue with the next ex
ercise, 1 1.8, and then close after that.
Warm Up, Rest Position & Closing: You don't need to have a
warm-up exercise, but this release can be a good way to complete
any of the other exercises in this chapter that are done standing up.
No Rest Position is needed. To close, remain standing, with your
arms and shoulders now relaxed. Breathe and feel your body.
Method:
rr Stand upright with your eyes open and a little flex in your knees.
rr Now, lift both arms above your head and stretch them back.
Allow your forearms to travel down from your elbows towards
your upper back, as though you're trying to pick up a weight
from your shoulders.
rr When ready, gently throw both arms forwards and down, allow
ing them to travel fully behind you. When the down-swing is
complete, bring them back up again to where they started. Make
a sound as you throw your arms down, as though releasing a load
from your shoulders.
rr Continue swinging down and bringing your arms back up for
one ding.
rr Note: As you begin each down-swing, have the feeling that
you 're throwing something you no longer need off your shoul
ders. Really let it go.
rr At the ding, to complete, stand upright with your arms by your
sides, relaxed. Have your eyes either open or closed. Breathe
through the mouth and feel your body for one ding.
1 1 . 9 Reverse Prayer and Reverse Arm-Lift
This pair of exercises are another great way to open up muscles all
around the neck and the shoulders. They may be done on their own
or added to other exercises, such as the Shoulder Opening Sequence,
1 1 . 1 - 1 1 .4. Feel free to complete with some Teenager Release, 1 1 .5,
if you desire.
Warm Up, Rest Position & Closing: You don't need a warm-up
for this pair of postures. There is also no Rest Position. You simply
move from one to the other. To complete, allow your body to gently
shake, 5.4, for a couple of minutes, then sit or lie down and relax.
Method:
.- We begin with the Reverse Arm-Lift. Standing up, gently clasp
your fingers together behind your back, keeping your arms nearly
straight but with a small amount of flex in the elbows .
.- Now, begin to pulse your arms up, as far as you can easily reach,
and then back down, to gently tap your tailbone. Breathe deeply
through the mouth and feel your body.
r Continue pulsing in this way, fairly quickly, until the ding.
r When the ding sounds, change into the Reverse Prayer position.
Lift your arms above your head and press your palms gently to
gether. From the elbows, drop your lower arms so that they are
pointing backwards, with the palms still together.
r Now, keeping your upper arms vertical and fairly steady, pulse
your lower arms up and back, such that your fingers point back
and then point straight up. Point back and then point straight up.
Breathe deeply through the mouth and keep feeling your body.
r Continue with this Reverse Prayer pulsing until the ding, then
return to Reverse Arm-Lift pulsing.
r Complete 3 reps. You may choose to do one rep walking around,
then either one or two standing to increase the intensity of the
exercise.
r To close, stand and do the Shaking posture, 5.4, for a couple
of minutes, remembering to keep breathing deeply in and out
through the mouth. Then either sit down or lie down for 5 min
utes, closing your eyes and feeling your body.
,
The Neck & Throat
The neck and throat are key areas of our anatomy in psycholog
ical terms. The modem world, with its preponderance of screens
and keyboards, has progressively become more and more "thought
based." More than ever, we tend to live in our heads, thinking our
way through life. But our body often has feelings contrary to the
mind's ideas of what we should do. For most people, their mind's
reaction to these feelings is simply to try and exert more and more
control over the body, rather in the manner of an overbearing teacher
with a class of rebellious kids.
The neck, the junction between the head and the body, becomes the
battleground for this conflict. Both the muscles at the back of the
neck and the musculature around the sides of the neck develop layer
upon layer of holding patterns. Our necks become tense and rigid as
our minds maintain their ongoing struggle to hold everything down.
Our throat too suffers, though this has been going on for much lon
ger. Generation upon generation of young children in the West has
had the right to voice an opinion suppressed. We have had so little
experience of speaking our truth that most people don't really know
what they do want. They simply react to any perceived sense of con
trol or authority, either in compliance or rebellion.
Method:
rr With your back to the sofa or Bioenergetic Stool, put your hands
along its spine and gradually lower yourself down, exactly as in
10. 1. Ensure that the ridge of the sofa is located immediately be
neath where your shoulder blades end. This is important because
if you balance your weight lower down your back, you may pull
muscles in your lower back. If desired, with practice, you may
lower the balance point - but in this specific exercise this is not
especially useful.
.- Once you're in position, if you wish you can allow your arms to
reach out above your head, to deepen the stretch still further.
.- As soon as you are settled in the position, open your mouth as
wide as you can and begin to make a deep hissing sound from
your throat. Keep your mouth stretched as wide open as you can
throughout. At times there may be an urge to close the mouth
a little, but do your best to resist this and to keep stretching.
You may notice at some point that an area of holding around the
throat or neck releases.
.- Remain in this posture with your mouth stretched fully open for
one ding.
.- When you hear the ding, slowly close your mouth, bring your
arms back to your sides, and use them to slowly bring yourself
down into a crouch to rest for one ding. Then move for one ding
into the Arch pose, 4. 1 .
.- Repeat this sequence 3 times.
.- To close, simply spend one ding in the crouch and one in the
Arch 4. 1 .
1 2. 2 Neck Stretch
This exercise makes use of the Bioenergetic principle of stretching
a muscle with awareness. If you have a history of neck issues, then
consult a doctor before trying this stretch.
Method:
r Sit down comfortably, either on the
floor or on a chair. Now, reach up with
your arms, interlink your fingers and
place your hands on the back of your
head with your elbows to the front.
r Now, gently pull your head down
as far as it will go. Don't pull too
hard - rather maintain a gentle, sus
tained pressure. Although your throat
will likely be compressed, it should still be possible to breathe
through the mouth. Keep your awareness on your neck area and
really feel into the muscles there.
r Remain in this posture for one ding.
r When the ding sounds, gently let go of your neck and slowly
bring your head back upright. Remain breathing and feeling your
neck for one ding.
r Repeat 3 times.
Warm Up, Rest Position & Closing: There's no need for any
warm-up or Rest Position with this exercise. To close, simply re
move the bolster, lie back and relax for at least one ding.
Method:
r Lie down on your back on a carpeted floor or yoga mat. Have
your legs stretched out and arms relaxed by your sides, palms
facing up. Place the bolster, a rolled-up yoga mat, underneath
your neck, in such a position that your whole neck is in contact
with it.
r Now, close your eyes, relax and stay focussed on your body as
you gently breathe in and out through the mouth. With each out
breath, have the intention to surrender your head and neck a little
more. Continue for one ding.
r When the ding sounds, gently lift your head, remove the bolster
and lie back down again, relaxing totally for one ding.
Warm Up, Rest Position & Closing: It's important to have your
body a little warmed up before beginning. In between each stretch
simply keep your head upright, breathe and feel. At the end of the
sequence give yourself a few minutes to relax sitting down, feeling
your body.
Method:
rr Stand upright with your feet firm on the
floor, about shoulder-width apart, and
with a slight bend in your knees. Breathe
through your relaxed mouth and feel your
body. Come back to this position for one
ding after each stretch.
rr Stretch 1: Place the palms of your hands
on your temples and push your head back.
Stretch 1
Your elbows should be to the front rather
than to the side. Ensure that your head
doesn't actually move by tensing your
neck muscles to resist the movement. Push as hard as you feel
comfortable to do and create equal tension in your neck muscles
to prevent movement. So, to be clear, there is no actual move
ment in this exercise - we simply create pressure and resistance
in the muscles of our neck.
rr When the ding sounds, let your hands go with as loud and ex
pressive a sound as you feel comfortable to make. Actually throw
your hands down as you make the sound,
as though you were throwing something
old out of your very being. Then remain
standing and relaxed until the next ding.
r Stretch 2 : Take your left hand and place
it on the left side of your head, with the
base of your palm pushing to the right,
just to the front of your ear. Don't put
pressure on your actual ear. Have your Stretch 2
elbow to the side.
r Now, push your head to the right and,
like before, tense your neck muscles to
prevent your head from actually moving.
Maintain the pressure and the resistance
until the ding.
r As before, when the ding sounds, release
your hand and throw both hands down
with a loud sound of release. As before,
remain standing for one ding.
r Stretch 3 : Now take your right hand and Stretch 3
place it on the right side of your head, the
base of the palm just forwards of the ear
once again. Push to the left this time, and
once again, with your neck resist mov
ing. Maintain the pressure for one ding.
r When the ding sounds, release as before.
r Stretch 4: This is the big one. Take
both hands and interlink your fingers.
Now, placing them right at the back of
your head, with your elbows to the front,
begin to pull your head forwards and,
once again, tense your neck muscles Stretch 4
to resist. Pull as hard as you feel confident. Remember, there's
no actual movement because you also tense your neck muscles
equally strongly to resist. Maintain the pressure for one ding.
rr Release in the same way, throwing both of your hands down with
a loud sound.
rr To complete, sit down comfortably, close your eyes and focus on
the natural movements of your belly while you breathe. Do this
for at least 3 minutes.
Warm Up, Rest Position & Closing: There's no need for a warm-up.
I recommend 6 reps, taking maybe 20 seconds to simply stand up in
between each one. At the end, it's important to sit or lie down and
relax for around 10 minutes.
Method:
r Decide which hand you would prefer
to use to stimulate the reflex and give
it a thorough clean, especially the
first two fingers. Then place the first
two fingers down into your throat.
Allow them to go as far as you can
easily reach.
r Using the pads of your fingertips, begin
to make gentle circles on the inside
front of your throat. Continue this until
you succeed in stimulating the reflex.
Remove your hand and allow the reflex to complete. You do not
need to continue the stimulation for so long that you actually
vomit, just enough to stimulate the reflex.
r Once the reflex has completed, stand for around 20 seconds.
Then begin again and stimulate another gag reflex, until you
have completed 6.
r To close, simply sit or lie down and relax, continuing, of course
to feel your body and breathing however feels natural to you. Do
this for at least 5 minutes.
1 2. 6 Growling Release
Developing your ability to growl like an animal can create powerful
energetic effects. As we shall see again, when we get to the chapter
on Primal exercises, many simple things that animals do serve to
keep them healthy and strong. Be proud to be a primate!
Likely the most useful thing that learning to growl can give you is
the reopening of the channel between the belly and the throat. There
is a natural connection between these areas of the body early in life,
but we learn to shut it down as our parents or society induce in us a
fear of natural expression. It is this channel that, when open, most
puts us in our power in life. It gives us the ability to simply speak our
truth and to hold our ground.
Method:
rr Stand upright with your legs about shoulder-width apart and
your knees slightly bent. Have your eyes open, breathe through
your mouth and relax your lower jaw. Have your arms relaxed
and hanging by your side.
rr Now, begin making the lowest sound you can in your throat and
add a vibration to it, such that it sounds like an animal growl.
While you make the sound, feel into your belly area. Continue
for one ding.
� At the ding, simply remain standing with your knees bent.
Breathe and feel into your body for one ding. Alternatively, you
may sit down and do the same if you wish.
� To close, you can either remain standing or sit or lie down.
Breathe and feel your body.
The Face, Eyes & Head
With the head, we complete our tour of our body. It's been quite a
journey. And it's by no means over yet! One of the exciting things
about our head, and our face in particular, is that the tensions we
hold here affect a lot of other areas of our body. This is because, for
most of us, we are very concerned with our facial expression. Our
face is where we meet the world, and most of us have been socially
conditioned into trying to maintain a happy face, regardless of what
we 're actually feeling inside. Over time, this creates quite a tension
in the face. And because we are maintaining this false, happy look by
repressing feelings into many areas of our muscle system so, as we
work on the face, these areas can release too. This is exciting news!
The smile is actually a very powerful gesture. When we lift the cor
ners of our mouth, we open an energetic circuit in our heart centre, in
the middle of our chest. It relaxes us and creates a good feeling. This
is very likely why smiling is such a universally accepted symbol of
goodwill and contentment.
In the ancient Chinese Daoist tradition, smiling was practised as a
meditation, either with a gentle smile on the lips, or simply imagin
ing it inside. This latter version was known as the Inner Smile. With
the Bioenergetic version, we make it more of a physical exercise.
Method:
� Walk slowly around the room,
breathing through the mouth and
keeping your awareness in your
body, feeling.
� Now, raise the corners of your
mouth, creating a big smile. Don't
worry about whether you feel like
smiling or not. It is just an exer
cise. Keep the corners of your
mouth up, as high as they will go,
compressing the cheek muscles.
Maintain the stretch, still slowly walking around, and breath
ing through the mouth until you hear the ding. (Note, you will
need to keep your mouth slightly open so that you can breathe
through it).
� Remember, for this exercise to really create a release, you will
have to fake smile to the absolute max and not let up until the
ding. Perhaps, you could imagine you're working the front desk
of a corporate hotel chain, and you have to smile all day, or else
you'll get the sack!
r If you wish to do reps, you can go back to walking, without the
smile, for one ding, then return to the Fake Smile.
r To close, stand, put your feet about shoulder-width apart, and
begin to shake (5.4). Keep breathing deep and really keep your
awareness in your body, feeling everything that's going on.
Continue shaking for 2 dings.
Method:
r Stand in the Bow position (4.2 ). Your
arms should be above your head, par
allel and with palms facing front, and
also stretching back behind the ears.
Your pelvis is pushed forwards and
you stick your chest out. Your neck,
however, is upright and your eyes are
open, looking straight ahead. Breathe
in and out through your mouth and
keep feeling into your body.
r Now, while maintaining the Bow po
sition, open your mouth as wide as
you can, exactly as in 13 .2 . Keep it
stretched wide open for one ding.
r At the ding, gently bring your arms down, straighten your body and
allow your jaw to relax. Now, beginning the movement with your
head, slowly lean forwards until you are in the Arch position (4. 1 ).
r Complete 3 reps and then take at least 5 minutes of rest. You can
allow your body to shake, or you can just sit or lie down.
1 3. 4 Jaw Stretch with Eyes Wide Open
This variation on the Jaw Stretch ( 1 3 .2) creates an additional release
by also stretching the eyes wide open.
Warm Up, Rest Position & Closing: There's no need for a warm-up
or Rest Position. To close, make sure you have at least 5 minutes
downtime, sitting, shaking or lying down.
Method:
r Stand upright with your
feet wider than shoul
der-width apart. The out
sides of your feet should
be roughly parallel. Bend
your knees to bring your
ass lower. Keep your
backbone upright.
r Now, imagine that you
are a big, angry dragon.
Maybe something has woken you up early and you're really not
happy about it.
r Imagining your arms are your dragon wings. Bring them
forwards.
r When ready, perform the following actions simultaneously...
lean forwards, extend your neck, bring your arms back, stick
your tongue out and hiss from the throat, while your eyes spit
fire. Do this for one full out-breath. You may need to practice it
a few times to get the feel for it. What's particularly important is
that you really extend your neck and stick your tongue out while
hissing loud from the throat. This is where the release comes
from. At the end of the out-breath, return to the starting position
for the in-breath. Repeat until you hear the ding.
rr Once complete, allow your body to shake for a few minutes, then
sit or lie down. You have just completed the Dragon's Breath!
1 3. 6 Gargoyle Release
This exercise is very similar to the last one, Dragon's Breath, but it is
usually done sitting. The posture is taken from that of a gargoyle, a
type of grotesque mini-statue found on medieval religious buildings
to ward off evil. The word "gargoyle" also refers to the throat, and
this exercise is excellent for opening the throat up. In addition, it's
a great "quick fix" when you've been sitting down working at the
computer and you want something to loosen you up. Just make sure
your workmates don't see you, unless they're into Bioenergetics!
Warm Up, Rest Position & Closing: There's no need for a warm-up,
neither a Rest Position. To close, just spend a few minutes sitting,
feeling your body, to integrate the exercise.
Method:
rr Sit down on a chair with your feet flat on the floor and your eyes
open. Alternatively, you may sit on the floor or a cushion. Breathe
in and out through the mouth. Your
hands should be in your lap.
r Now, in one movement, extend
your neck, open your eyes as wide
as possible, open your mouth as
wide as possible, stick your tongue
out and down the chin, and hiss
from the throat. Maintain the re
lease for one full out-breath.
r At the end of the out-breath, return
to the start position, sitting relaxed,
for one full in-breath. Then repeat
until the ding.
r Once complete, sit and relax for a few minutes. Remember, don't
space out! Breathe and feel your body.
r Tip! Check that your tongue is sticking right out and down your
chin. Often, I see people doing this exercise but their tongue
stays partly in. You don't get so much of a release like that.
Jaw tension is associated with pride and inflexibility. It's also symp
tomatic of repressed anger. The exercises we will be using to re
lease that tension, like much of Bioenergetics, function by actually
increasing the tension to the point where the muscles start to release
naturally.
Equipment: You will need a piece of clean cloth to chew on for the
final exercise.
Method:
rr Sit down on a chair or a cushion.
rr Jaw Release 1 - Stick your lower jaw out aggressively, like a Pit
Bull terrier. Push it out as far as you can and from your throat
make a growling sound. Allow your facial expression to radiate
aggression. Maintain this stretch and growl for one ding.
� At the ding, allow your face to relax for one ding. Move your jaw
around if this feels good.
� Jaw Release 2 - Do the same as Jaw Release 1 but this time,
while growling, also move your lower jaw from side to side.
Maintain for one ding, then relax your jaw for one ding.
� Jaw Release 3 - Repeat Jaw Release 2 but this time with a piece
of clean cloth in your mouth to chew on. Maintain for one ding.
� To close, simply relax your face, remain sitting and breathe and
feel your body for 5 minutes.
1 3. 9 Masseter Release
The Masseter muscles are located on either side of the face and are
the principal muscles we use when chewing food. They run from
the lower edge of the cheek-bone down to the jaw. Back in the early
days of Body-based Therapy, it was often said that anger was re
pressed into these muscles. I don't know if this is strictly true, but
certainly these muscles are often tense and there is a way to release
that tension.
Warm Up, Rest Position & Closing: It's good to have your body at
least slightly warmed up before doing the Masseter Release exercise.
You don't do reps so there's no need for a Rest Position. To close,
just remain sitting, breathing and feeling your body.
Method:
r With your body at least slightly
warmed up, sit down on a chair or
the floor.
r Now, locate the Masseter muscle on
either the left or right side of your
face. The best way to do this is to
find the lower edge of your cheek-
L.
bone, and then feel about one inch [; ·
(25 mm) down from here, or about
midway to your jawbone below.
Look in an anatomical textbook, if you're not sure. It is quite a
big muscle. It's important, when we start with the exercise, that
you are not grinding into the jawbone or cheek-bone.
r Make your right hand into a fist. You will be grinding into the
Masseter muscle with the middle set of knuckles. These are the
knuckles nearest to the middle of your fingers.
r Place these knuckles onto the muscle, on the right side of the
face, in between the jawbone and cheek-bone and grind them
around, while keeping your mouth open and allowing sound to
come out.
r Start gently and then increase the pressure until you're at the
maximum you can bear.
r IMPORTANT: You must keep your mouth open and make some
level of sound throughout this exercise. When something gets
painful, we often close our throat and shut off making sound.
This locks feelings inside and is not healthy in this exercise. So,
ensure your mouth is open and that some level of sound is com
ing out before you begin applying pressure.
r Continue grinding for one ding. Rest for one ding and then repeat
with the other hand and the other side of the face for one ding.
r Complete by relaxing your jaw, breathing and feeling your body
for at least 5 minutes.
r Note: You can also do this exercise with a friend, getting them to
sit behind you, supporting your head with one hand and grinding
into the masseter with the other. Use hand gestures to ask for
more or less pressure.
Timing & Repetitions: You won't need dings for this one. 5 reps
is good.
Method:
r Sit down, either on a chair or a cushion. Have your backbone and
head upright, your face looking straight ahead.
r Close your eyes and allow your head to simply drop, such that
your chin travels towards your chest as far as it will naturally go.
Try not to force the head to drop, but
rather to allow it to simply fall by re
laxing your neck muscles. Stay in your
body, feeling what happens as you let
go and your head drops. Be fully pres
ent with the experience.
,.. Ensure that only your head drops. The
rest of your body remains relaxed but
stationary.
,.. After your head has been in this
dropped position for about 5 seconds, open your eyes and bring
it back up, so that you come back to the starting position.
,.. Repeat 5 times and then close by sitting in the starting position
and just feeling your body for 2 minutes.
This is another great exercise to help you relax your neck and head
after working on the computer. Go easy with it the first few times.
This sequence of four simple eye stretches can be very powerful. It's
important to maintain the stretch and to continue breathing through
the mouth.
Timing & Repetitions: Start with a 2-minute ding and work up to 7
minutes. Repetitions are not needed
Warm Up, Rest Positions & Closing: It's good to be at least slightly
warmed up before commencing this exercise. No Rest Positions are
needed. To complete, simply sit with your eyes closed for 1 0 min
utes. Keep feeling your body. Alternately, if you prefer, you may lie
down, outstretched and relax for 1 0 minutes.
Method:
r Sit down on a chair or cushion. Have your backbone and head
upright, your eyes open facing the front.
r Eye Stretch 1 - Keeping your head facing front, look as far to
the left as you possibly can. Keep stretching your gaze to the left
for one ding. Do not look anywhere else. You may find this eas
ier to do if you place an object at the extreme left of your gaze.
This can be an "anchor" for your gaze. Try not to move your
head at all.
r Eye Stretch 2 - When the ding sounds, return your gaze to the
front for a few seconds and then look to the far right.
�,.. ' �.
_...... .........
( ,, )
(,. .. ) < .. )
r Eye Stretch 3 - When the ding sounds, return your gaze once
again to the front briefly and then look up, as far as you can with
out moving your head.
r Eye Stretch 4 - When the ding sounds, return your gaze to the
front and then look as far down as you can.
r At the ding, close the exercise by either lying down, eyes closed
and relaxing, or by sitting, eyes closed and relaxing. This can be
a powerful exercise, so I recommend you spend at least 1 0 min
utes relaxing before continuing with your day.
r Note: What is frequently difficult is to ensure that your head re
mains facing forwards while your gaze is to the side. In practice,
you just have to trust that it is, as if you move your gaze to check
you break the stretch.
Warm Up, Rest Position & Closing: Your body should be at least
slightly warmed up and you should not be too sleepy. There's no Rest
Position. To close the exercise, simply relax back, still lying down,
with your eyes closed. Remain like this for at least 1 0 minutes.
Method:
r Lie down with your arms by your side and legs stretched out
lengthwise. Ensure you are not too uncomfortable, but also not
so comfortable that you might fall asleep. Have your eyes open
and keep them open throughout this exercise. Look straight up
at the ceiling.
r Without moving your head, begin to rotate your gaze in one di
rection, making sweeps that are as wide as possible. You can
start slow and, if you feel confident, begin to speed up the ro
tation. Remember that your head stays relaxed, but it does not
move. Only your eyeballs move. You may breathe in through the
nose or mouth, whichever feels most comfortable. Breathe out
through the mouth. Try to keep feeling your body throughout.
Maintain the rotation for one ding.
r W hen the ding sounds, begin to rotate your eyes in the opposite
direction. Once again, start slow and increase the speed of rota
tion if you feel confident. Maintain for one ding.
r To close this exercise, close your eyes, lie back and relax for at
least 1 0 minutes.
(. .. )
Whole Body Techniques
Having worked our way through the body, from the feet up, now
it's time to look at some Bioenergetic exercises that work the whole
body, or more than just one area of it. Remember, though, that just
because an exercise focuses on one area of the body doesn't mean
that its effects are limited to that area, physically or psychologically.
Many of the exercises in this book work in multiple areas of our
body and psyche.
This is a great exercise that can be done pretty much anywhere, even
in your workspace. It only takes a minute and it can help to release
tensions that naturally start to accumulate while we work.
Method:
r Sit down on a chair or on the floor and spend
a few seconds really breathing and feeling
your body. If you're in a chair, make sure
that your feet are firm on the floor.
r Now, as you breathe in through the mouth,
tense every muscle you can access in your
body, from the tips of your toes to the top
of your head. Include especially your face.
Pull every muscle tight and hold that pos
ture for 10 seconds.
r Note: With some body areas - eyes, mouth,
hands, etc - you will need to choose which way to tighten them,
there being at least two options. You may wish to tighten those
muscles one way in one rep, and another way in the next rep.
r After 10 seconds, breathe out and relax, consciously trying to
let go and to feel your body as much as you can. Do this for 10
seconds.
r Complete 3 repetitions.
r To close, simply remain relaxed for one or two minutes, breath
ing and really feeling your body.
1 4. 2 Dog-Lion Release
This is a great release and also an excellent way to integrate the
upper and lower halves of the body. Although the Dog posture is
commonly found in Yoga, which you may be familiar with, please
ensure you do it the "Bioenergetic way," as described below.
Warm Up, Rest Position & Closing: You don't need any warm-up
for this exercise, nor a Rest Position. To close, come into Child
Pose (5.5).
Method:
� Note that in this pair of postures only your palms, your toes and
the balls of your feet should be in contact with the floor. The rest
of your body stays off the floor throughout. Your fingers should
point forwards.
� This exercise starts with the Dog pose, which is similar to the
Down-facing Dog posture commonly found in Yoga. Have
only your palms and the toes and balls of your feet on the floor.
Straighten your arms and legs fully. Your heels should not touch
the floor, so that on the out-breath you can press them towards
the floor, stretching the backs of the legs. Dipping your chest a
little can help to open up the shoulder blades more. Have your
neck relaxed and your head simply hanging.
r Remain in this posture, with your arms and legs fully stretched
until the ding. Keep pressing your heels towards the floor, espe
cially on the out-breath.
r When the ding sounds, come into the Lion pose. You drop your
crotch, keeping it off the floor, and raise your upper body. You
keep your palms and toes on the floor - they do not move from
where they were in the Dog pose. Lean slightly forwards on your
hands. Open your eyes and mouth wide, stick your tongue out
and roar from the throat. Look aggressive. Hold this pose, roar
ing like a lion, until the ding and then return to the Dog pose.
r Complete 3 reps without any Rest Position. To close, come into
Child Pose (5.5) with knees wide. Remain like this, breathing
and feeling, for 3 dings.
Warm Up, Rest Position & Closing: You don't need to be warmed
up, nor is there a Rest Position. To close, as in 14.2 , simply come
into Child Pose (5.5).
Method:
� Come into the "tabletop" position, with both palms on the floor
facing forwards. Your hands should be under your shoulders and
with a small amount of flex at the elbows. Your knees and feet
are on the floor, with your knees directly under your hips and
your toes pointing backwards, or tucked as you prefer.
� Now, move your body into the Cat pose. Arch your back upwards
as much as you can. Simultaneously, bring your head down, pull
ing it towards your crotch. Have the feeling of being oppressed,
of being told what to do. Continue to stretch into this pose for
one ding.
r With the ding, move quickly into the Cow pose. Bring your back
down, as far as you can and, simultaneously, raise your head
right up. Lean forwards on your hands, stick your tongue out
and down, and roar. Roar for your freedom. Show the world that
you're not going to take being oppressed any longer. Maintain
this for one ding.
r Complete 3 reps.
r To close, bring your ass back towards your heels and come
into Child Pose, 5 . 5 , with your knees wide and your feet close
together.
1 4.4 Tantrum
The final three exercises in this chapter introduce some emotional
expression elements to your practice of Bioenergetics. They have
been favourites of therapists working in this field for decades. These
exercises will need to be done in an environment where you can
make shouting and screaming noises.
Music: If you wish you can play some loud, aggressive music in the
background to support the release.
Timing & Repetitions: With this exercise, it's best not to use a ding
track, but rather to continue until you are simply exhausted. For
most people, this takes around 20-30 seconds. There's no need to do
repetitions.
Warm Up, Rest Position & Closing: It's good to warm your body
up before you start the Tantrum exercise. There's no Rest Position.
To close, simply lie back on the floor in 5.3. As usual, breathe
through the mouth and feel your body. Remain like this for at least
3 minutes.
Method:
� Lie back on the mat in the Classic Leg Rest pose, 5. 1 .
� When you feel ready, begin these three bodily movements in
sequence:
er Kick your heels down into the mat, one after the other
er Maintaining the kicking, make fists and begin to pound them
down into the mat, one after the other.
er Finally, maintaining the other two, move your head from side
to side, as though looking from the left to the right.
� While doing these three movements, you must also make
sound. This is very important. Open your mouth and scream
and shout.
� Continue these three movements, with constant screaming, until
you feel exhausted. In fact, do them so intensely that you try to
exhaust yourself. This may well take only 15 or 20 seconds and
this is fine. If you're still going at around one minute, then you
can anyway come to a stop.
� To close, lie back on the mat with your limbs stretched out (5.3).
Continue to breathe through your mouth and stay present in your
body, feeling what's going on. Remain like this for at least 3
minutes. If you wish, after a couple of minutes, you can roll over
onto your side and get into the fetal position.
1 4. 5 Pillow Bashing
This exercise will support you to hold better boundaries for your
self. It's important to do it in an environment where you can shout
and make noise. It's one of those classic therapeutic exercises that
certain comedians love to make fun of, but it actually can provide a
deep level of release. It can be done as a stand-alone practice, or as
the conclusion of other Bioenergetics exercises, such as the Shoulder
Opening Sequence, 1 1. 1 - 1 1.4, or the Teenager Release, 1 1.5.
Equipment: You will need one good solid cushion that won't easily
burst open. It also needs to be firm enough that you can bring both
fists down on it hard without hurting yourself in any way. My pre
ferred cushions for this exercise are moon-shaped Zafu cushions,
filled with buckwheat hulls and stitched strongly together. You can
find them online easily if you don't have a Yoga store nearby.
Method:
r Kneel on the floor, or a mat, with the cushion in front of you.
r Now, make two fists, with your thumbs on the outside, and place
them next to each other. It's important to not interlock your fin
gers, or you may hurt yourself when you bring your hands down.
r Come up on your knees, so your upper legs are vertical.
r Raise your fists, keeping them side-by-side, and stretch back
as far as you can. It's important to stretch right back as this in
creases the release.
r Now, bring your fists down hard onto the cushion. Shout the
word "No!" as powerfully as you can as you hit the cushion. Try
to involve your belly in the sound.
0-
/
r Repeat and continue at your own speed, but not taking too long
between strikes. Remember to not interlock your fingers and to
stretch right back with your arms each time you go up.
r Continue until you feel exhausted or the ding sounds.
r To close, push the cushion out of the way and lean forwards
into the Child Pose, 5 . 5 . Stay in this posture, breathing through
the mouth and feeling your body, for several minutes. If you 're
aware that a lot is still going on inside, then, after this, lie down
on your back, relaxing with your limbs outstretched.
Note: Be aware, when working with anger in this way, that it is quite
normal to feel vulnerable or tearful afterwards. Allow this.
Equipment: You will need an old towel with a knot tied in one
end of it. Generally, a fairly long and lightweight towel is easiest
to use. This exercise is best done on a fairly solid floor, perhaps a
wooden one.
Timing & Repetitions: Like the previous two exercises, it's good to
do this exercise until you feel that any internal pressure or anxiety has
drained away. 30 seconds to a minute should be adequate. There's no
need for repetitions.
Warm Up, Rest Position & Closing: It's good to be at least slightly
warmed up before beginning this exercise. No Rest Position is re
quired. To close, simply sit or lie down, breathe through the mouth
and remain feeling your body for 2 minutes.
Method:
� Stand up with the towel in your right hand
(left hand if you're left-handed). Hold it
by the end that isn't knotted.
� When you're ready, swing the knotted
end up above your head and bring it down
hard, making a grunt sound as it hits the
floor.
� Continue, at your own pace, until you feel
you have had a release, or use a 30-second
ding.
� When complete, sit or lie down and put
the towel to one side. Breathe and feel
your body for a couple of minutes. You
may have your eyes open or closed.
Primal Activation Exercises
The instinct to suck is activated from our DNA when we are born.
Similarly, our instinct to breathe, urinate and defecate begin at the
same time. But whereas these other instincts continue for as long as
we live, the instinct to suck at the mother's breast lasts only for a few
years. And, for some of us, we may even never get to fully use it, if,
for example we weren't breastfed as babies.
When our instinct to suck is blocked, during our early years, our
ability to nourish ourselves throughout our lives is deeply affected,
and not just physically. Our capacity to feel good about ourselves, to
receive wealth, to go for what we want are all impaired. Performing
Bioenergetic sucking exercises can support your brain to "repro
gram" itself at a deep level to allow in what nourishes you.
The basic sucking exercise can be done at any time of day. You can
even do it in bed, upon waking. It is usually done lying down, though
you may also experiment with doing it sitting.
Method:
r Lie down on a mat or bed. Ensure that you are comfortable.
Allow your body to relax.
r Now, stick your tongue fully out and down your chin. Gently
close your lips and suck your tongue back in quickly so that it
makes a ''tupp" sound. It can take a little while to get the hang
of it. Your body will remember just how to do this with a little
practice. Don't be discouraged if it doesn't come at once.
r Continue lying down, performing the sucking movement roughly
once every two seconds, until the ding. Keep feeling your body
while you do it.
r Note: This exercise can be more powerful if you do it with eyes
open, gently focused on a point on the ceiling. It is also fine to do
it with eyes closed, feeling what's going on inside.
r Also note: Sometimes people report feeling like they "can't
breathe" soon after starting this exercise. They start to panic and
stop the sucking movement. Actually, you will be able to breathe
fine, in and out through the mouth. But this exercise can be so
powerful that it brings any form of energetic block in the throat
. , .-•
�
c.. . )
to the surface. If you feel like you can't breathe while doing it,
just persevere gently, making sure that you are allowing air to
enter as you open your mouth.
rr To close, simply stop the sucking movement and relax back,
stretching your arms and legs right out. Continue to breathe and
feel your body. Do this for at least I O minutes.
Timing & Repetitions: Start with a 3-minute ding and, as you get
experienced with this sequence, you may increase up to 20 minutes.
There 's no need for reps.
Warm Up, Rest Position & Closing: You won't need a warm-up or
a Rest Position. To close, as in 1 5 . 1 , simply stop the sucking gesture,
stretch out your arms and legs and rest, still feeling your body (5.3).
Do this for at least 3 dings.
Method:
rr Position 1 - Sucking with Knee Rocking - Lie on your back on
a firm mattress or Yoga mat. Bring your knees up towards your
chest, such that your lower legs are roughly horizontal. Have
your arms lying by your side, with palms facing up. Close your
eyes, breathe through your mouth, relax and feel your body.
rr Now, begin the sucking gesture, 1 5 . 1 , roughly one time every 2
seconds. At the same time, rock your knees gently towards your
chest and away. As your knees
gently rock forwards, you suck
your tongue in. As your knees
rock back down, again suck
your tongue in. Continue for
one ding, really feeling your
pelvic area as you continue
these movements.
r Position 2 - Sucking with
Pelvic Rotation - When the
ding sounds, continue sucking
but bring the soles of your feet
to the floor (5. 1). Now, as you
suck in, rotate your pelvis gen
tly down. As you suck in the
next time, rotate your pelvis
back up. This pelvic rotation is
exactly as in 8. 1 , so I won't de-
scribe it more here. Ensure that you really stay present in your
body, feeling throughout. Continue for one ding.
r Position 3 - Sucking with Knees Flicking Outwards - When
the ding sounds, continue sucking but cease the pelvic rotation
movements. Keeping the soles of your feet on the floor, bring
them together so that they are gently touching. With each suck
ing gesture, as your tongue comes in, flick your knees gently
outwards and allow them to come back together. In this exercise,
you do one flick of the knees outwards each time your tongue
sucks in. Remember to stay really present in your body, feeling
what's going on. Continue for one ding.
r When the ding sounds, you close the sequence by stopping the
movements and simply stretching your limbs out (5.3). Breathe
gently through the mouth, keep paying attention to any feelings
in your body, lie back and relax. Remain lying down like this for
at least 3 dings.
rr Note: This can be an intense process that can bring up a lot of
feelings that have been stuck in your body from early infancy, or
even before. Do give yourself any downtime you need to inte
grate before going back to your daily life.
rr Also note: If you wish you can add contracting your anus to any
or all of the above exercises. This will increase the degree of
primal activation. As you suck your tongue in, you contract your
anus. As you bring your tongue back out, you relax your anus.
1 5. 3 Bear Crawl
This simple exercise, found in many bodywork traditions, can re
ally support you to develop your core, both physically and ener
getically. Bears, like many other mammals, have a natural way of
moving that constantly strengthens their physical and energetic core
in their belly. Aside from developing your core, on a physical and
psychological level, it also increases integration between the upper
and lower halves of your body.
Method:
r Begin in the Dog posture (see 14.2). Your palms and toes should
be at least 3 feet ( 1 metre) apart.
r Now, lift simultaneously one hand and the opposite foot and
move forwards, placing both back down on the floor at the same
time. Next, do the same with the other hand and foot. Continue
moving forward in this way.
r After a while, move backwards in the same way, always moving
one hand and the opposite foot at the same time.
r Note: Keep your feet and hands well apart. For most people, this
means they don't get closer than 2 feet (60cm) throughout. This
is not monkey crawl!
r Note also: It may well take a little while to get used to this way
of moving around on all fours. Take your time, and keep check
ing you've got it right. You won't achieve much unless you get
the movement correct.
r Continue until the ding and then close
the position by coming into Child
Pose, 5.5.
1 5. 4 The Right to Exist Exercise
This exercise, like the sucking exercise, makes use of a primal ges
ture to create deep change. Like the sucking exercise, it works deep
underneath the conscious mind.
In today's world, there are a lot of people who feel, deep inside, that
they don't really have the right to be, that they aren't really allowed
to do their thing in life and to get their needs met. They may also
believe that they don't have the right to hold safe boundaries.
The bottom line is that they don't feel or believe that they have the
right to assert themselves in life. This usually comes from the con
ditions of their early childhood. The Right to Exist exercise starts to
reprogram that negative belief at a pre-verbal level. It works simul
taneously the belly, pelvis and lower back areas.
Timing & Repetitions: Start with 2 minutes and increase the time
as you feel confident. You can go right up to 20 minutes if you wish.
There's no need to do reps, but feel free to experiment with reps if
you wish. If you do, then you can use the Arch pose (4. 1) in between
repetitions.
Warm Up, Rest Position & Closing: It's good to at least warm your
hips up before starting. Move them around, forwards and backwards
and side to side. Ideally, I also recommend that you do the first two
stages of the Belly Activation Sequence (9. 1) before beginning this
exercise. You don't need a Rest Position. To close, it's good to do
some shaking (5.4) and then sit or lie down.
Method:
rr Stand with your feet greater than shoul
der-width apart and your backbone up
right. Your knees should be bent and
the outsides of your feet roughly par
allel. Have your arms relaxed by your
sides, with your arms facing forwards,
your palms open as though receiving
something.
rr Keeping your knees bent, bring your
hips back and then flick them forwards
on the out-breath. As you come for
wards, expel a deep grunt. The pel
vic movement is identical to 8.5 but
the sound is deeper. At the same time,
allow your face to have an ugly, atavistic look. Stick your lower
jaw out and relax your tongue. To increase the effect, also allow
your mind to think "I have the right to get what I need" and sim
ilar thoughts. Continue until the ding.
rr Note: Ensure that your whole body is not moving backwards and
forwards. Your back and lower legs should not be rigid, but they
should be relatively static. The movement happens solely in the
hips and upper legs.
rr To close, bring your feet together and allow your body to shake
for a few minutes, 5.4. Then you may sit or lie down for an
other 5 - 1 0 minutes, remembering to keep feeling your body and
breathing through the mouth.
Exercises That You Can
Do Later in the Day
For those of you who would like to have some form of practice to
do late in the day, I can recommend the following. Look online for
more information.
Having worked our way through the body, from the toes all the way
to the crown of the head, I will now give you some suggestions on
how to create a daily workout for yourself. Remember, by far the
best way to make progress is by practising Bioenergetics frequently
over a good length of time. It's quite common to get big releases
when you start, but you must also be prepared to embark on a slow,
steady and thorough journey with Bioenergetics. There are no quick
fixes here.
People are different. Not everyone can proceed at the same speed.
So, if you find the suggested weekly workouts below too much for
you, then simply reduce the ding times a little and continue.