Body Mind Integration in the Personal Growth Process

Does the matter mind? I mean, does the mind matter? That is, what's the matter with the "mind over matter" attitude, and what's the matter if matter (the body) doesn't mind? Okay, I'll put the questions a little less pun-like and paradoxical. How often does it seem that our body is just something for our mind to use to achieve certain ends? And from the way the body minds at times, do we too often lack confidence that it's really going to cooperate with our plans? Or, even though we may try to "listen to our body," does it still surprise us when the massage therapist finds knots, "rubber bands," and sticky layers of achiness in areas we thought minded us the most?

So how do specific muscle fibers develop areas of pain or nagging tension without our being aware of it? A relatively new field of science has shown that where it comes from actually has as much to do with our thoughts, feelings, and beliefs (about self and others) as it does with physical events! I'd like to describe for you in laymen's terms a number of psycho-physical-emotional ("body-mind") dynamics and how they relate to the personal growth process:

a) How these body-mind connections are formed.
b) How the body develops "holding patterns" and stores experiences.
c) How we release stored experiences and holding patterns, both temporarily and permanently.
d) How we can most effectively use these body-mind connections in personal growth process.
e) What has all this to do with actualization of our ideals; achievement of life goals; attainment of the highest levels of awareness? (Hint:see last two paragraphs.)

There is a whole other realm of communications within ourselves, between the various aspects of ourselves that would behoove us to pay attention to. Why? Because to increase the effectiveness of these "inner-communications" will greatly accelerate our achievement of any goal we set. In the long run - considering the process of psycho-spiritual integration - this development is essential. For some, it comes naturally without self-analysis and so on. For others, especially those who enjoy mental exercise, it is actually more requisite of applied self-knowledge. This will become more apparent in the following paragraphs. (The balance for the more thinking-oriented types is found in body-awareness enhancement and related development.)

I'll begin by clarifying a few often used terms as well as the basics of the applicable physiology, and then let this flow into the inner workings of the body-mind relationship. As regards the term body-mind, the brain is here considered only a major part of the Mind. As such, the mind includes all systems for communicating (including on the feeling level) between the brain and the body. It also includes all systems for communicating with others/the environment as well as any "sixth sense" apparatus as applicable. As regards the physiology of muscle tension, "contractedness" or "excess tension" refers to that amount which is in excess of a muscle fiber's need for proper muscle tone and normal functioning.

My muscle tissue becomes contracted when it (and my body-mind) is "holding on" to the memory of an event or long-term conditioning. How so? The most potent example of this is how the body reacts in trauma: my breath gets held, and there is a sort of suspended animation or shock effect that I go into relative to the world continuing on around me. It's as if my reaction is "This can not be real, so I'll protect myself by not being here (present in my body, especially where it hurts so much)." My body physiology responds to this command ever so perfectly, suspending pain, and perhaps even the memory of the event. My muscles contract around the sensory apparatus and neurotransmitter chemicals, or nerve signals. This includes the signals of the proprioceptor apparatus which is responsible for telling me (my brain) about muscle tonus, excess tension, and imbalance in muscle positioning and coordination.

It's as if a siege has been laid on the muscle fiber's community and its communications. The muscles (or some of their fibers) of that area stay locked into a pattern that holds on to that past event - into a "holding pattern." To it, the future (all subsequent experience) is effectively associated with that event, and with the mental/emotional data related to the event. In order to move into the present, the muscle area will experience the pain as the shock effect wears off, sometimes gradually, sometimes not. As we "move through the pain" we are given blatant opportunity to review the experience, feel the feelings, to make decisions about how it occurred, about how to avoid such events in the future, etc. This is called "completing" or "integrating" the experience.

We may wait many years to integrate the experience in our body-mind however. And some experiences may never be completed in a lifetime. The questions arise: "When is it important to do so, why, and how does it happen?" Before I answer when and why, I want to cover the how's of body-mind communications dynamics. The why's will probably become apparent as we go along. But we've jumped ahead of ourselves a bit in this discussion, so I'll go back to discussing the amazing way in which memory is stored in the body's cells, in muscle fibers.

The nervous system, upon command of the mind, reacts to its initial impressions of the experience and locks up the area(s) associated (by the mind) with the event. It does this to varying degrees, and it may also do this very gradually as conditioning is experienced over a period of days or even years. The emotional component plays an essential role in this process, especially in holding patterns initiated in early childhood. During this period of our growth, our mental apparatus is not sufficiently developed to resolve complex situations or provide understanding of parents' and others' interactions. At this time we may take everything much more intensely personal, including many things that may not have been so intended at all by others. Hence, we may, for example, associate being left alone with the idea that there is something wrong with us. This can actually be stored in the musculature in the form of grief, anger, powerlessness, fear or other feelings that were not okay to feel and/or express in or childhood. (More on this example later.) And that is precisely why the storage happens. A judgment was felt on that feeling or expression as coming from an authority (parent or role model) to us. So the emotion "gets stuck with judgment," to put it in short.

It gets stuck, in fact, in the past. It can get stuck to the extent that we can react to present experience as if we felt that the (past's) painful experience is about to happen. This unconscious preoccupation of muscle areas protecting against past fears will cause, among other effects, aging due to lack of circulation. You might say that our "present awareness is not circulating" in that area.

To summarize the foregoing body-mind experience:

1. The mind interprets stimulus, and if it perceives it as overwhelming due to previous experience/conditioning that says in effect, "pain is forthcoming,"
2. the associated emotions are called up to sufficiently motivate/empower the next action; that being
3. the nervous system shuts down the sensory apparatus so that as much pain as possible/necessary is kept from being felt.
4. The associated musculature contracts in whatever way is perceived as most protective, until
5. the mind gives permission to allow the pain/emotion(s) to be felt and dealt with - when there is felt sufficient safety to do so - and the musculature and nervous system of that area now begins to relax, resume normal functioning and to release the tension and the need to hold on. This is where integration of the experience begins.

It is important to note here that, for most people, most all of this occurs without awareness of it happening. Step five would be the biggest exception to this: We might notice a great sense of relief and feel noticeably more relaxed. It is in this step that bodywork can play such a facilitative, if not critical, role. "Bodywork" refers to therapy that is applied primarily to/on the body, either by a therapist, or by oneself. This includes massage, deep tissue therapy, movement therapy, and yoga, to name a few. In fact, bodywork can enable one to become very conscious of the whole body-mind experience. This occurs as the different levels of our being (mind, emotional body, physical body) learn to communicate spontaneously, and as we "stay in the present moment." It is also important that the bodywork therapist convey a message critical to this process. This message comes through the therapist's presence and hands and says, "I am willing to be here for you, and compassionately accept without judgment every single cellular iota of just exactly who you are, on every level that you are willing to open up to."
   
When the therapist presses into your skin and muscle, you have the opportunity to engage your sensory system into that area with your conscious awareness. You do this by breathing deeply, slowly, but comfortably as you imagine the energy of your fully inhaled breath going into the area of focus. As you exhale you focus simply on feeling whatever you feel in that area. The idea is to feel it as if for the very first time (and it very well may be) with no expectations or preconceptions of what you might feel or of what might happen next. The more open you can be in this way, without judging or analyzing the various thoughts, feelings, or sensations you may notice, the more present you can be with your body. "Just breathing and noticing," I like to say.

Into this area that has been protected so well, now enters your presence. Its armor has for years withstood perhaps even the loving energy of friends and practitioners. But now for the first time comes your own permission to let go, not as just wishful thinking, but as the breath of compassion, allowingness, and mindfulness. The fibers begin to expand in this energy of total acceptance, as if to respond, "Maybe it's safe to be here again; maybe I won't be judged or used for feeling as I do." Now feelings may arise to conscious experience and be released, flashes of the past may arise to be seen in balanced perspective, and tensions ooze out to be let go of. Sometimes only the latter one or two may come up/out. The therapist at such times hears a lot of sighs, pleasant "ahhhh's," or quiet sobbing from new realizations of self-acceptance. The muscles soften in response to feelings of relief.

Often times, especially for those who were well trained to withhold expression of grief or pain or even joy, the feeling releases may occur very gradually over a period of days or even weeks. In any case memory flashes may or may not occur, or they may occur later and not be recognized as related to the bodywork experience. This recognition is not necessary for the healing to complete. What is important is the completion, the personal dynamics of which is unique to each individual's process.

Another phenomenon that may occur a day or so after deeply affecting bodywork is that of the nervous system beginning to conduct the pain signals that were held back for so long. This is a natural part of the system's re-connecting/re-awakening process. But just as is true on the emotional level, the pain only needs to be experienced once (if at all) as part of the completion. Some people, however, may take a number of sessions of processing over a period of time to "get it all out." It's as if each muscle fiber involved represents one aspect of that whole experience or issue.

The body's cells respond to our individual thoughts and beliefs ("solidified thoughts" attached to the body-mind by an emotional charge). Each cell carries a memory of the time in the womb, and maybe for a while afterwards, when there was a very high degree of safety, warmth, spontaneity, and intimacy. For cells to remember that, they need the mind's permission to release all subsequent programming that negates that feeling/memory. The emotional component needs permission to be experienced and/or accepted.

By sending the message of permission into the cells, the momentum for "re-membering" is initiated. Now, the body and mind begin to unconditionally accept one another, especially concerning the particular area in question. Otherwise, what we generally have is the mind's domination of the body if there is only a one-way communication. With domination over the body the usual result is further separation until the body rebels with disease, strained connective tissue (muscle tendons, ligaments, etc.) under stress, or even broken bones due to contractedness and inflexibility during physical trauma. Improved relationship communications as regards the different aspects of oneself truly is preventative medicine. Such "inner-personal communication" promotes inner teamwork, with the inner child playing an essential role.

Like a child with a chip on his shoulder, a muscle won't be just told to relax and forgive and let go. We have to sit with him, accept our child's emotional state for what it is and allow the feelings without judging him as wrong for having them. If we are genuine and patient our child considers trusting us. Once the child feels sufficiently accepted and loved, s/he lets go of the feelings. That done, s/he's ready and raring to go play, to get on with life, to be spontaneous and intimate again. We should have such enthusiasm in each of our cells. And if we approach our hurt muscles and organs in the same way, I believe we get comparable results.    

As the muscle fibers become functionally present and as more"response-ability" to life is trusted to that area of the body, daily experience changes. If that area was associated with abandonment, for example, the process of healing would bring more trust that life would "be there for us." That support would be trusted without our feeling obligated, guilty , afraid that it won't last, or angry that it isn't real. This in turn, frees up our capacity to seek/allow nurturing without generally doing things that only end up reinforcing the underlying, emotionally charged belief that support is not to be there.

With release (step five, the initiation of completing the body-mind experience) underway, we begin steps six and seven: re-evaluation and re-direction. With the holding-pattern given new freedom, there is also the opportunity to let go of the associated limiting belief pattern as in the example above. Re-evaluation allows the perceptual filters that color our experience to open up so that more avenues of response are realized. Re-direction, the choosing of the appropriate new avenues, would be the natural thing to do if it weren't for any tendencies to learn the hard way.

I know about learning the hard way. So, I may need to be on guard for old habits while very consciously making new choices. Here is where positive thinking and affirmations, imagery, etc., serve an important role as reminders of my capabilities, resources, and goals. My body may also give warnings via the areas of previous release, should I be unconsciously entertaining old ways. Better yet, it feels good when I'm on the right track. I have to listen in order to know.

I believe that the most effective way to permanently let go old patterns is to find the purpose or "the lesson" that was learned in carrying that pattern, and then to fully appreciate the personal growth born out of that pattern. The pattern was as effective a way, as could be created, to cope with a situation. So even the pattern itself is honored, as a past coping mechanism, even as an old friend. But it is an old friend that we are saying good-bye to, and therefore needs grieving, along with all the addictive/compulsive behavior that met our needs. There are various techniques to formalize/ritualize this process of seeing all of our life as purposeful and meaningful, of grieving, of letting go, etc.

The re-evaluation and re-direction process can be made more conscious and thereby more powerful by various self-selected/designed personal programs. I recommend a wholistic, gestalt approach that is in line with one's spiritual approach to life and that includes the body therapy that is most appropriate to one's needs. Professional counseling may or may not be necessary for completing the last two steps of the process. This depends on the emotional complexity of the causative event(s) related to the area(s) (of the body) in question. While the body-mind's protection will generally not let go in an unsafe place, deep tissue-affecting therapies should be engaged only by those who are prepared to deal with strong emotional content.

As far as answering the earlier question, "When is it important to complete experiences?": The simple answer is, "When you're sick and tired of being sick and tired," or smart enough to know better, before that point is reached. It could be when you've tried everything else on the physical level without success. The best time, I believe, is when you're looking for deeper answers to life's challenges. The latter is a result of increased listening to one's whole self. With this kind of awareness, the body doesn't have to go through the attention-getting process that usually creates some kind of sudden disruption in our usual routine. This, and most other aspects covered in this essay, are expanded upon in detail, as well as related to the larger picture of psycho-spiritual progress, in the book, "Working Guidelines to Integration."

In summary, I'd say that what really matters in the personal growth process is the relationship among the three basic levels of our earthly experience -- the mind, the emotional body, and the physical body. The mind may access the spiritual truths of the utmost importance to all life, but it is only through the body that such truths are made relevant in the world around us. In this sense, we are all channels of light and love. It is only through the emotional body that emotion will flow to motivate us to do so -- provided it is sufficiently fee of insecurities (as to basic needs) to do so. Thus the bridge, between idealization (of the highest principles, qualities, healing, inventions, etc) and actualization, relies on effective "inner-personal communications." Cooperation between God and man and between man and man cannot be clearly honest and thereby effective, if man is not honest and cooperating within his own Being. With such self-honesty comes clarity of mind: purpose and meaning concerning our past experience, and how it relates to both the present and to future goals, is much more apparent.
   
Thus the need for body-mind integration. Two applicable expressions here are "As Above -- So Below," and "The issues are in the tissues." The body serves as a perfect feedback system for what is happening on "higher" levels, and the best health insurance is learning how to listen to our bodies. Body therapies, including massage, are highly facilitative of tuning the body-mind relationship. Then we are better able to flex with life's stresses, instead of reacting out of habit patterns as manifested in the body musculature. As we release and complete age-old experiences that have been stored in such holding patterns, we are better able to maintain momentum that achieves our goals. As we drop the completion-preventing judgments of the past, the present becomes more safe; purpose and meaning are better seen in all of our life, in all of our Being.

©7-92 Chris Pringer in Massage Magazine  

Professional Bio: Chris Pringer has been a student of multi-level self-healing since 1973, and has practiced professional massage and healing facilitation for others since 1984. This includes exploring personal challenges and self-healing methodology. His primary interest is Body Centered Psycho-Spiritual Process.

Chris is a licensed massage therapist, registered Hypnotherapist, and Reiki Master. He has studied (mostly informally) eastern & gestalt psychology and existential in philosophy. He is trained in massage and related bodywork and body-centered psychology (1,370 hrs+), as well as in various forms of energy work, hypnotherapy, and aromatherapy. He does basic grounded "troubleshooting" of the musculature (as appropriate for a massage therapists application) for injuries and chronic conditions.