We often show up in therapy at the end of our rope. We find ourselves saying “I don’t want to do this anymore! or I need to break this pattern! or I don’t want to keep feeling sad, depressed, anxious, etc.” Naturally we are focused on what we don’t want and don’t always take the next step of clarifying what we do want. Not only, I want to feel better or I want to be happy but can we identify more specific wants like: “I want to trust in myself and others” “I want to know my intentions and be able to follow them” ‘I want to feel secure and safe”. 
The Bodynamic system of body psychotherapy gives me a way to identify and then access those statements of what I do want to experience. And then I have a roadmap of specific muscles to engage in order to support the growth and change I want.
Bodynamics has studied the sequences of growth and development from infancy onward. In Bodynamics we look at how we approach the solving of the tasks of growth and learning in relational, psychological and physical development. And how the strategies we developed for navigating relational/emotional situations forms our character.
To give an example, when we are around 7 years old we are we are forming opinions and rules and arguing for them. It’s a way of exploring why things are the way they are. We notice differences in opinions and lifestyles in families, school, neighbors, and peers. If that time in our lives we have adult support and guidance for exploring what we think, and how to be comfortable with differences, we grow into adults who can know what we think, can express our opinions easily, and learn from others opinions. If we have had disruption or not all the support we needed during this time we will continue into our adult life to feel unsure of what we think or feel and will experience its hard to express what we know. Or if the disruptions and lack of support occur when we have begun already begun to develop skills in this realm, it may send us in the opposite direction. And as adults we have strong opinions on everything, which we freely dispense to others fueled by a strong need to always be right.
Bodynamic’s calls this stage of development Opinion and it blossoms from 6 to 8 years of age. Each stage in Bodynamics is the intersection of psychological, physical and relational growth and development. That growth propels the tasks and skills we work to master.
When we are met supported and attuned to by our adult caregivers we come to mastery that gives us the experience and confidence to feel:
- The sense of secure being.
- Feeling a trust in yourself and in others.
- Being curious and engaged with the world, inspired by your impulses and ideas.
- Being able to know and follow your own intentions, actualize what you want.
- Finding a balance in your heart of love, sensuality and sexuality and the expression of.
- Knowing what you think and being open to new information. Being able to argue for what you know.
- Finding your place, at times as a leader of groups and at times as a member. Experiencing solidarity with others as well as individuality.
These statements articulate what healthy development feels like. In my sessions with clients I can teach the use of specific muscles and movements that will resource and support the issues that are challenging in one’s life.
If you would like to learn more about this amazing work, make an appointment for a free consult with me. I will tell you more and help you experience in your body the skills that you have been trying to cultivate through talk, insight and thinking.