Bioenergy is modern method psychotherapy, rooted in the techniques of Wilhelm Reich, the Austrian psychoanalyst who enriched psychoanalysis with the so-called body-work. The creator of bioenergy - American psychiatrist and psychotherapist Alexander Lowen (born in 1910) - was his patient, then a student and collaborator. Taking from Reich the basic concepts of the energetic basis of psychophysical processes, he developed his concept of psychotherapy and founded the Institute of Bioenergetic Analysis in New York in the 50s. Over the next thirty years, several dozen similar institutions emerged in many countries.
Bioenergetics considers the functioning of the human psyche in terms of body and energy, considering the source of neuroses, depression and loss of self-identification to be the suppression of feelings, which manifests itself in the form of chronic muscle tension that blocks the free flow of energy in the body. In early childhood, specific skills of avoiding pain, despair and fear and ways of obtaining security and love from others are manifested and then reinforced. They lead to the development of a person’s character structure, which consists of an often distorted image of the world and one’s own personality, rigid patterns of behavior and feelings, as well as patterns of “self-control” that limit the vitality of the body, also called the “shell of character.” Thus, a person’s physical appearance symbolically reflects his psyche. Therapy consists of learning about character structure and “revitalizing” emotions frozen in the body. This leads to the release of large reserves of energy previously spent on restraining bodily impulses, which can be used in less stereotypical, more creative forms of adaptation and development of individuality. Of particular importance is the restoration of free breathing, the violation of which is closely related to fear. The goal of therapy is to unblock the limitations of personality development. The focus is on the development of the ego and its integration with the body. Satisfying basic emotional needs and personal aspirations without extra costs energy is associated with a realistic orientation in the surrounding world. A mature personality has contact with the internal energetic pulsation of the body and changing feelings. She is able to equally control their expression and turn off self-control, surrendering to the flow of spontaneity (for example, during orgasm, in creative ecstasy, etc.). She has equal access to both unpleasant feelings: fear, pain, anger and despair, and to pleasurable experiences: sex, joy, love and compassion. Bodily expression emotional health is grace of movement, good muscle tone, good contact with the people around you and with the ground under your feet (in the terminology of bioenergy this is “grounding”), clear eyes and a soft, pleasant voice.
Keeping a methodology close to modern psychoanalysis, bioenergetics uses touch and pressure on tense muscles, deep breathing and special poses. The patient performs exercises that expand body awareness, develop spontaneous expression and psychophysical integration. A complete individual bioenergy therapy program lasts approximately three years. Its completion, in addition to comprehensive education, is mandatory to obtain the right to use bioenergy in therapeutic practice.
S.V. Koleda
Introduction
"Wise people will read
live by your past
yours appearance,
gait, behavior.
Property of nature -
self-expression. Even
the smallest detail
body shows something.
A man's face is like a mirror
reflects what's going on inside."
Ralph Waldo Emerson
In this book I will try to show that health has a spiritual side. We will see that the subjective feeling of health is a feeling of pleasure received from the body, which sometimes reaches the level of joy. It is in such states that we feel connected to all living beings and to the whole world. Pain, on the contrary, isolates us from others. When we are sick, we not only experience symptoms of the disease, but we also find ourselves isolated from the world. We will also see that health is manifested in the graceful movements of the body, in the “radiance” of the body, as well as in its softness and warmth. The complete absence of these qualities means death or fatal disease. The softer and more flexible our body, the closer we are to health. As we age, our body becomes rougher and we approach death.
Aldous Huxley describes three types of grace: animal grace, human charm, and spiritual charm or grace. Spiritual charm is associated with a feeling of satisfaction higher order. A person's charm is expressed in his attitude towards others and can be more accurately defined as kindness and personal charm. We know the charm of animals from observing their lives in the wild. I love watching the squirrels play among the trees. Few people can even come close to the grace of squirrels and their confidence in movement. The nimble flight of swallows inspires our admiration. All wild animals have an excellent ability to move perfectly. According to Huxley, a person's true grace comes when he "opens himself to the spirit of the sun and the air" rather than deforming our body and hindering the manifestation of our innate spirituality.
However, people do not live and are certainly not able to live on the same plane as wild animals, to whom (according to Huxley) all the sweat of animal grace belongs. Such is the nature of man, he must live a conscious life. This means, as Huxley writes, that “animal grace is no longer sufficient for life and must be supplemented by a conscious choice between good and evil.” Is natural behavior, full of charm, possible if there is no basis - the charm of the body? When a person consciously adopts a style of behavior full of grace, but it does not come from a feeling of bodily pleasure, his charm is just a facade, built in order to surprise and attract others.
Before you eat the Forbidden fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, as we read in the Bible, man lived in paradise without self-awareness, like other animals. He was innocent and knew the joy of living in the form of goodness. Along with the knowledge of good and evil, responsibility for choice came to him, the man lost his innocence, he became aware of himself and lost peace. The harmony that existed between man and God, between man and Nature was broken. Instead of blessed ignorance, homo sapiens Now I have problems and illnesses. Joseph Campbell attributes part of the responsibility for the loss of harmony to the Christian tradition, which separated the soul from the body: “The Christian division of matter and spirit, the dynamics of life and spiritual values, natural charm and divine grace, essentially destroyed nature.”
Behind the Christian tradition is the Greco-Semitic belief in the primacy of the mind over the body. With the separation of consciousness from the body, spirituality becomes something intellectual rather than a vital force, while the body becomes meat on the skeleton or, in terms of modern medicine, to the biochemical laboratory. A body without a spirit has a low level of vitality and is completely devoid of charm. His movements are mechanical, since they are guided to a greater extent by consciousness or will. When the spirit enters the body, it trembles with excitement, becomes like a stream flowing down the side of a mountain, or moves slowly, like a deep river spilled over a plain. Life does not always go smoothly, but when a person is forced to force his body to move by willpower all day long, this means that his bodily dynamics are seriously disturbed, and there is a danger of illness.
Alexander Lowen
Psychology of the body. Bioenergetic body analysis
Preface
Bioenergetics is a modern method of psychotherapy, rooted in the techniques of the work of Wilhelm Reich, an Austrian psychoanalyst who enriched psychoanalysis with the so-called body-work. The creator of bioenergy - American psychiatrist and psychotherapist Alexander Lowen (born in 1910) - was his patient, then a student and collaborator. Taking from Reich the basic concepts of the energetic basis of psychophysical processes, he developed his concept of psychotherapy and founded the Institute of Bioenergetic Analysis in New York in the 50s. Over the next thirty years, several dozen similar institutions emerged in many countries.
Bioenergetics considers the functioning of the human psyche in terms of body and energy, considering the source of neuroses, depression and loss of self-identification to be the suppression of feelings, which manifests itself in the form of chronic muscle tension that blocks the free flow of energy in the body. In early childhood, specific skills of avoiding pain, despair and fear and ways of obtaining security and love from others are manifested and then reinforced. They lead to the development of a person’s character structure, which consists of an often distorted image of the world and one’s own personality, rigid patterns of behavior and feelings, as well as patterns of “self-control” that limit the vitality of the body, also called the “shell of character.” Thus, a person’s physical appearance symbolically reflects his psyche. Therapy consists of learning about character structure and “revitalizing” emotions frozen in the body. This leads to the release of large reserves of energy previously spent on restraining bodily impulses, which can be used in less stereotypical, more creative forms of adaptation and development of individuality. Of particular importance is the restoration of free breathing, the violation of which is closely related to fear. The goal of therapy is to unblock the limitations of personality development. The focus is on the development of the ego and its integration with the body. Satisfaction of basic emotional needs and personal aspirations without unnecessary expenditure of energy is associated with a realistic orientation in the world around us. A mature personality has contact with the internal energetic pulsation of the body and changing feelings. She is able to equally control their expression and turn off self-control, surrendering to the flow of spontaneity (for example, during orgasm, in creative ecstasy, etc.). She has equal access to both unpleasant feelings: fear, pain, anger and despair, and to pleasurable experiences: sex, joy, love and compassion. The bodily expression of emotional health is grace of movement, good muscle tone, good contact with people around you and with the ground under your feet (in bioenergetic terminology, this is “grounding”), clear eyes and a soft, pleasant voice.
Keeping a methodology close to modern psychoanalysis, bioenergetics uses touch and pressure on tense muscles, deep breathing and special poses. The patient performs exercises that expand body awareness, develop spontaneous expression and psychophysical integration. A complete individual bioenergy therapy program lasts approximately three years. Its completion, in addition to comprehensive education, is mandatory to obtain the right to use bioenergy in therapeutic practice.
S.V. Koleda
Introduction
"Wise people will read
live by your past
your appearance
gait, behavior.
Property of nature -
self-expression. Even
the smallest detail
body shows something.
A man's face is like a mirror
reflects what's going on inside."
Ralph Waldo Emerson
In this book I will try to show that health has a spiritual side. We will see that the subjective feeling of health is a feeling of pleasure received from the body, which sometimes reaches the level of joy. It is in such states that we feel connected to all living beings and to the whole world. Pain, on the contrary, isolates us from others. When we are sick, we not only experience symptoms of the disease, but we also find ourselves isolated from the world. We will also see that health is manifested in the graceful movements of the body, in the “radiance” of the body, as well as in its softness and warmth. The complete absence of these qualities means death or terminal illness. The softer and more flexible our body, the closer we are to health. As we age, our body becomes rougher and we approach death.
Aldous Huxley describes three types of grace: animal grace, human charm, and spiritual charm or grace. Spiritual charm is associated with a feeling of satisfaction of the highest order. A person's charm is expressed in his attitude towards others and can be more accurately defined as kindness and personal charm. We know the charm of animals from observing their lives in the wild. I love watching the squirrels play among the trees. Few people can even come close to the grace of squirrels and their confidence in movement. The nimble flight of swallows inspires our admiration. All wild animals have an excellent ability to move perfectly. According to Huxley, a person's true grace comes when he "opens himself to the spirit of the sun and the air" rather than deforming our body and hindering the manifestation of our innate spirituality.
However, people do not live and are certainly not able to live on the same plane as wild animals, to whom (according to Huxley) all the sweat of animal grace belongs. Such is the nature of man, he must live a conscious life. This means, as Huxley writes, that “animal grace is no longer sufficient for life and must be supplemented by a conscious choice between good and evil.” Is natural behavior, full of charm, possible if there is no basis - the charm of the body? When a person consciously adopts a style of behavior full of grace, but it does not come from a feeling of bodily pleasure, his charm is just a facade, built in order to surprise and attract others.
Before eating the forbidden fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, as we read in the Bible, man lived in paradise without self-awareness, like other animals. He was innocent and knew the joy of living in the form of goodness. Along with the knowledge of good and evil, responsibility for choice came to him, the man lost his innocence, he became aware of himself and lost peace. The harmony that existed between man and God, between man and Nature was broken. Instead of blessed ignorance, homo sapiens Now I have problems and illnesses. Joseph Campbell attributes part of the responsibility for the loss of harmony to the Christian tradition, which separated the soul from the body: “The Christian division of matter and spirit, the dynamics of life and spiritual values, natural charm and divine grace, essentially destroyed nature.”
Behind the Christian tradition is the Greco-Semitic belief in the primacy of the mind over the body. When consciousness is separated from the body, spirituality becomes something intellectual rather than a vital force, while the body becomes meat on a skeleton or, from the point of view of modern medicine, a biochemical laboratory. A body without a spirit has a low level of vitality and is completely devoid of charm. His movements are mechanical, since they are guided to a greater extent by consciousness or will. When the spirit enters the body, it trembles with excitement, becomes like a stream flowing down the side of a mountain, or moves slowly, like a deep river spilled over a plain. Life does not always go smoothly, but when a person is forced to force his body to move by willpower all day long, this means that his bodily dynamics are seriously disturbed, and there is a danger of illness.
True grace of the body is not something artificial, it is part of a natural person, one of the divine beings. However, if it is once lost, it can be found again only by returning its spirituality to the body. In order to do this, you need to understand why and how his charm was lost. But since it cannot be found lost item, if you don’t know what exactly you’ve lost, we must start by studying the natural body, in which movements, feelings and thoughts are fused into something unified and full of charm. We will study the body as a separate, self-regulating energy system, which is closely related to environment and on which its existence depends. Looking at the body from an energetic perspective will allow us to understand the essence of bodily charm and spirituality of the body without mysticism. This will lead us to the knowledge of the connection between sensitivity and charm. In the absence of sensitivity, movements become mechanical, and thought becomes an abstraction. We can, of course, instruct a person whose soul is full of hatred with the commandments of love, but it is difficult to expect that there will be any benefit from this. However, if we manage to restore his spirituality, love for his neighbor will blossom in him anew. We will also study some disorders that destroy a person’s spirit, reduce the charm of his body, and undermine his health. Focusing on charisma as a criterion for health will allow us to understand many of the problems in emotional life that impair health, as well as to develop charm that improves it.
Alexander Lowen (December 23, 1910 – October 28, 2008) was an American psychotherapist.
Alexander Lowen was born in New York, into a family of immigrants from Russia. Received legal education— Bachelor's degree in science and business from the City University of New York. Studied in a character analysis class. In 1951 he received his doctorate in medicine, having studied at the medical school of the University of Geneva.
Creator of the Bioenergy Analysis method and one of the founders of the International Institute of Bioenergy Analysis. Researcher on sexuality issues. Author of a number of books on body-oriented psychotherapy.
In his method, Lowen combines work with the body and the psychoanalytic process.
Books (11)
Love and orgasm
Sexual immaturity, anxiety and conflict on sexual grounds, the emotional expression of sexuality, as well as the nature and function of orgasm and its connection with the human psyche - these are the main themes of the book by the famous psychologist Alexander Lowen, the result of twenty years of research.
Betrayal of the body
The body is abandoned when, instead of bringing pleasure and being felt as valuable, it becomes a source of pain and humiliation. In such cases, the person refuses to accept or identify with his body. He turns away from him. He may ignore the body or try to transform it, give it a more desirable appearance, by dieting, losing weight, etc. But as long as the body remains an object of the ego, although it may serve as a source of pride, it will never provide joy and satisfaction " living" body.
Psychology of the body
The most famous psychologist, the founder of the powerful direction of modern psychotherapy, sums up the work of his entire life. Through numerous compelling examples, he shows how by combining sexuality and spirituality, any of us can return to a natural and perfect life.
Body and soul, morality and sex - harmoniously interpenetrate and complement each other in natural state. And this book is written about how to achieve this.
Read this book - it can truly renew your heart.
Joy
In this book, Dr. Lowen shows and tells how, with the help of a set of simple and pleasant exercises, you could recapture the feeling and state of natural joy (seemingly lost forever with childhood), release the energy of feelings enslaved by various stresses, harmonize your personal life, gain confidence and happiness.
Collection of bioenergy experiments
Are you tired of doctors and medications?
Do you want to help yourself?
Then this book is for you!
Alexander and Leslie Lowen will tell you how to improve your health bioenergetically with the help of simple, accessible and original exercises.
Do you want to find physical and mental balance?
This book will help you!
Sex, love and heart: psychotherapy for heart attack
“By depriving your heart of love, you are putting your life in danger,” is Dr. Lowen’s warning. Man in pursuit of success Western civilization sometimes loses touch with one’s own nature, which leads to stress, numerous diseases and sudden death
How to avoid this, filling life with warmth and satisfaction, is what this book tells
Therapy that works with the body
Dr. Lowen examines the most common symptoms, such as headaches and low back pain, and shows how you can get rid of them by reducing the muscle tension that creates them. Illustrated with schematic drawings of bioenergetic exercises, this book should bring freedom, confidence and joy to thousands of men and women.
Pleasure. Creative approach to life
Written with extraordinary clarity, emotion and sincerity, this book is dedicated to pleasure, a feeling inextricably linked to a fulfilling creative life, for “the capacity for pleasure is also the capacity for creative expression.” This is extremely relevant, since the desire for power characteristic of many people, competing with the desire for pleasure, suppresses creativity and causes muscle tension. The exercises offered in this book will help the body rediscover its natural freedom and spontaneity, helping a person become more open to pleasure and enjoyment of life.
The book will be a pleasant read both for professional psychologists and simply for thoughtful readers interested in psychological issues.
Physical dynamics of character structure
Book genre " Physical dynamics character structures” is defined by its author, the famous American psychiatrist, practicing analyst and body-oriented psychotherapist Alexander Lowen, as bioenergetic analysis. Based on the psychoanalysis of Sigmund Freud, in particular on his position that “I am primarily an expression of the bodily Self,” and the vegetative therapy of Wilhelm Reich, Lowen formulates the basic bioenergetic principles analytical therapy, establishes connections and their patterns between the structure of the body and the characteristics of personal manifestations. These connections determine the so-called character structure.
Reader comments
Irina/ 03/17/2018 In St. Petersburg, psychologist Sergey Alekseevich Marachev. Uses a body-oriented approach, Gestalt, cognitive psychotherapy and something else. It helps very well with aggression, resentment, and self-esteem. Not only does it help you emotionally and physically get rid of painful things. But it’s also very structured and clear to lay everything out and understand in your head. It helps to eliminate negative beliefs very well.
Elena X/ 9.11.2015 Hello! Please tell me a bioenergetic therapist in Novosibirsk.
Guest/ 12/9/2014 In Samara, Victor Delevi is a physical psychotherapist. High class professional
Olga/ 10.23.2014 Recommend a body therapist in Nizhny Novgorod.
Eugene/ 09/12/2014 Elena, look here, for example: http://samopoznanie.ru/schools/telesno-orientirovannaya_psihoterapiya_samara/
Elena/ 05/06/2014 Please tell me, is there physical therapy in Samara? Very necessary!!!
Evgeniy Potashko/ 01/24/2014 Tell me, in Belarus, does anyone know any asthma therapists?
Svetlana/ 01/13/2014 The Moscow community of bioenergy analysis is holding a summer festival dedicated to the memory of Alexander Lowen.
We invite psychologists, psychotherapists, doctors, teachers, HR specialists and students of specialized areas to receive:
Fourteen days of intensive training and warm communication in a picturesque location on the banks of the Volga
More than 10 trainers from Moscow, Samara, Nizhny Novgorod, Sao Paulo, Cologne, New York and other cities.
More than 20 trainings, seminars, master classes corresponding to the main works of A. Lowen.
Vivid impressions, new knowledge and new contacts.
Bodily practices that bring back long-lost childhood holiday feelings!
The festival will last two weeks - from July 13 to July 27, 2014.
/index.php/kontakty
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com//537584819605849
Svetlana/ 11/26/2013 Recruitment for the new group of the Moscow training program in bioenergy analysis continues! The second four-day seminar of the international training program on BA for new group will take place February 20 - 23, 2014. Presenter - Konrad Oelmann (International IIBA trainer). Look detailed information on the official website of the Moscow BA community A. Lowen:
http://bioenergeticanalysis.ru
Svetlana/ 10/28/2013 Dear readers of Alexander Lowen’s books, as well as those interested in bodily psychotherapy and bodily practices! Enrollment in the group of the Moscow training program on bioenergetic analysis is open!
The first four-day seminar of the international training program on BA for the new group will take place on November 1 - 4. Presenter - Rebekah Berger (International IIBA trainer).
Subject:
A Brief History of Bioenergetic Analysis – Its Roots in Freud and Reich
Grounding, vibration, energy flow and energy blocks. Various types Grounding.
The development of the concept of "grounding" from Lowen's early work to the present day.
contacts: Moscow community of BA A. Lowen https://www.facebook.com/pages/Moscow-community-bioenergy-analysis-ALouen/537584819605849
http://bioenergeticanalysis.ru
Alena Glukhova/ 09.25.2013 Enrollment for the International Training Program on Bioenergy Analysis by A. Lowen is open in St. Petersburg www.vk.com/baspb
An introductory seminar on the Fundamentals of BA will be held in St. Petersburg on April 18-19-20, 2014.
www.vk.com/baspb
Irina/ 08/12/2013 I was lucky enough to meet a psychotherapist who practices telesco. My neurosis, which tormented me for a year, went away in two sessions. It's incredible, but true. It is treated with two exercises, breathing and visualization.
Olga/ 07/24/2013 Does anyone know bioenergy therapists in St. Petersburg?
Svetlana/ 06.24.2013 Workshop about which we're talking about next message, will be held in Moscow on September 15, 2013. Organizer of the event, Moscow Society of Bioenergy Analysis A. Lowen.
Alexander Lowen
Psychology of the body. Bioenergetic body analysis
Preface
Bioenergetics is a modern method of psychotherapy, rooted in the techniques of the work of Wilhelm Reich, an Austrian psychoanalyst who enriched psychoanalysis with the so-called body-work. The creator of bioenergy - American psychiatrist and psychotherapist Alexander Lowen (born in 1910) - was his patient, then a student and collaborator. Taking from Reich the basic concepts of the energetic basis of psychophysical processes, he developed his concept of psychotherapy and founded the Institute of Bioenergetic Analysis in New York in the 50s. Over the next thirty years, several dozen similar institutions emerged in many countries.
Bioenergetics considers the functioning of the human psyche in terms of body and energy, considering the source of neuroses, depression and loss of self-identification to be the suppression of feelings, which manifests itself in the form of chronic muscle tension that blocks the free flow of energy in the body. In early childhood, specific skills of avoiding pain, despair and fear and ways of obtaining security and love from others are manifested and then reinforced. They lead to the development of a person’s character structure, which consists of an often distorted image of the world and one’s own personality, rigid patterns of behavior and feelings, as well as patterns of “self-control” that limit the vitality of the body, also called the “shell of character.” Thus, a person’s physical appearance symbolically reflects his psyche. Therapy consists of learning about character structure and “revitalizing” emotions frozen in the body. This leads to the release of large reserves of energy previously spent on restraining bodily impulses, which can be used in less stereotypical, more creative forms of adaptation and development of individuality. Of particular importance is the restoration of free breathing, the violation of which is closely related to fear. The goal of therapy is to unblock the limitations of personality development. The focus is on the development of the ego and its integration with the body. Satisfaction of basic emotional needs and personal aspirations without unnecessary expenditure of energy is associated with a realistic orientation in the world around us. A mature personality has contact with the internal energetic pulsation of the body and changing feelings. She is able to equally control their expression and turn off self-control, surrendering to the flow of spontaneity (for example, during orgasm, in creative ecstasy, etc.). She has equal access to both unpleasant feelings: fear, pain, anger and despair, and to pleasurable experiences: sex, joy, love and compassion. The bodily expression of emotional health is grace of movement, good muscle tone, good contact with people around you and with the ground under your feet (in bioenergetic terminology, this is “grounding”), clear eyes and a soft, pleasant voice.
Keeping a methodology close to modern psychoanalysis, bioenergetics uses touch and pressure on tense muscles, deep breathing and special poses. The patient performs exercises that expand body awareness, develop spontaneous expression and psychophysical integration. A complete individual bioenergy therapy program lasts approximately three years. Its completion, in addition to comprehensive education, is mandatory to obtain the right to use bioenergy in therapeutic practice.
S.V. Koleda
Introduction
"Wise people will read
live by your past
your appearance
gait, behavior.
Property of nature -
self-expression. Even
the smallest detail
body shows something.
A man's face is like a mirror
reflects what's going on inside."
Ralph Waldo Emerson
In this book I will try to show that health has a spiritual side. We will see that the subjective feeling of health is a feeling of pleasure received from the body, which sometimes reaches the level of joy. It is in such states that we feel connected to all living beings and to the whole world. Pain, on the contrary, isolates us from others. When we are sick, we not only experience symptoms of the disease, but we also find ourselves isolated from the world. We will also see that health is manifested in the graceful movements of the body, in the “radiance” of the body, as well as in its softness and warmth. The complete absence of these qualities means death or terminal illness. The softer and more flexible our body, the closer we are to health. As we age, our body becomes rougher and we approach death.
Aldous Huxley describes three types of grace: animal grace, human charm, and spiritual charm or grace. Spiritual charm is associated with a feeling of satisfaction of the highest order. A person's charm is expressed in his attitude towards others and can be more accurately defined as kindness and personal charm. We know the charm of animals from observing their lives in the wild. I love watching the squirrels play among the trees. Few people can even come close to the grace of squirrels and their confidence in movement. The nimble flight of swallows inspires our admiration. All wild animals have an excellent ability to move perfectly. According to Huxley, a person's true grace comes when he "opens himself to the spirit of the sun and the air" rather than deforming our body and hindering the manifestation of our innate spirituality.
However, people do not live and are certainly not able to live on the same plane as wild animals, to whom (according to Huxley) all the sweat of animal grace belongs. Such is the nature of man, he must live a conscious life. This means, as Huxley writes, that “animal grace is no longer sufficient for life and must be supplemented by a conscious choice between good and evil.” Is natural behavior, full of charm, possible if there is no basis - the charm of the body? When a person consciously adopts a style of behavior full of grace, but it does not come from a feeling of bodily pleasure, his charm is just a facade, built in order to surprise and attract others.
Before eating the forbidden fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, as we read in the Bible, man lived in paradise without self-awareness, like other animals. He was innocent and knew the joy of living in the form of goodness. Along with the knowledge of good and evil, responsibility for choice came to him, the man lost his innocence, he became aware of himself and lost peace. The harmony that existed between man and God, between man and Nature was broken. Instead of blessed ignorance, homo sapiens Now I have problems and illnesses. Joseph Campbell attributes part of the responsibility for the loss of harmony to the Christian tradition, which separated the soul from the body: “The Christian division of matter and spirit, the dynamics of life and spiritual values, natural charm and divine grace, essentially destroyed nature.”
Behind the Christian tradition is the Greco-Semitic belief in the primacy of the mind over the body. When consciousness is separated from the body, spirituality becomes something intellectual rather than a vital force, while the body becomes meat on a skeleton or, from the point of view of modern medicine, a biochemical laboratory. A body without a spirit has a low level of vitality and is completely devoid of charm. His movements are mechanical, since they are guided to a greater extent by consciousness or will. When the spirit enters the body, it trembles with excitement, becomes like a stream flowing down the side of a mountain, or moves slowly, like a deep river spilled over a plain. Life does not always go smoothly, but when a person is forced to force his body to move by willpower all day long, this means that his bodily dynamics are seriously disturbed, and there is a danger of illness.
True grace of the body is not something artificial, it is part of a natural person, one of the divine beings. However, if it is once lost, it can be found again only by returning its spirituality to the body. In order to do this, you need to understand why and how his charm was lost. But since it is impossible to find a lost thing unless you know exactly what you have lost, we must begin by studying the natural body, in which movements, feelings and thoughts are fused into something unified and full of charm. We will study the body as a separate, self-regulating energy system, which is closely connected with the environment and on which its existence depends. Looking at the body from an energetic perspective will allow us to understand the essence of bodily charm and spirituality of the body without mysticism. This will lead us to the knowledge of the connection between sensitivity and charm. In the absence of sensitivity, movements become mechanical, and thought becomes an abstraction. We can, of course, instruct a person whose soul is full of hatred with the commandments of love, but it is difficult to expect that there will be any benefit from this. However, if we manage to restore his spirituality, love for his neighbor will blossom in him anew. We will also study some disorders that destroy a person’s spirit, reduce the charm of his body, and undermine his health. Focusing on charisma as a criterion for health will allow us to understand many of the problems in emotional life that impair health, as well as to develop charm that improves it.
SPIRITUALITY OF THE BODY
Bioenergetics for Grace and Harmony
Alexander Lowen
PSYCHOLOGY OF THE BODY
bioenergetic body analysis
Institute of General Humanitarian Studies
Moscow 2004
UDC 615.8 BBK 88.4 L 81
Lowen A. Psychology of the body: bioenergetic analysis of the body / Translated from English. S. Koleda - M.: Institute of General Humanitarian Research, 2000 - 256 p.
The most famous psychologist, the founder of the powerful direction of modern psychotherapy, sums up the work of his entire life.
Through numerous compelling examples, he shows how by combining sexuality and spirituality, any of us can return to a natural and perfect life.
Body and soul, morality and sex, harmoniously interpenetrate and complement each other in a natural state. And this book is written about how to achieve this.
Read this book - it can truly renew your heart.
ISBN 5-88230-143-2
© A. Lowcn, 1990
© Institute of General Humanitarian Studies, design, translation,
Preface
Bioenergy is a modern method of psychotherapy, rooted in the techniques of the work of Wilhelm Reich, an Austrian psychoanalyst who enriched psychoanalysis with the so-called body-work. The creator of bioenergy - American psychiatrist and psychotherapist Alexander Lowen (born in 1910) - was his patient, then a student and collaborator. Taking from Reich the basic concepts of the energetic basis of psychophysical processes, he developed his concept of psychotherapy and founded the Institute of Bioenergetic Analysis in New York in the 50s. Over the next thirty years, several dozen similar institutions emerged in many countries.
Bioenergetics considers the functioning of the human psyche in terms of body and energy, considering the source of neuroses, depression and loss of self-identification to be the suppression of feelings, which manifests itself in the form of chronic muscle tension that blocks the free flow of energy in the body. In early childhood, specific skills of avoiding pain, despair and fear and ways of obtaining security and love from others are manifested and then reinforced. They lead to the development of a person’s character structure, which consists of an often distorted image of the world and one’s own personality, rigid patterns of behavior and feelings, as well as patterns of “self-control” that limit the vitality of the body, also called the “shell of character.” Thus, a person’s physical appearance symbolically reflects his psyche. Therapy consists of learning about character structure and “revitalizing” emotions frozen in the body. This leads to the release of large reserves of energy previously spent on restraining bodily impulses, which can be used in less stereotypical, more creative forms of adaptation and development of individuality. Of particular importance is the restoration of free breathing, the violation of which is closely related to fear. The goal of therapy is to unblock the limitations of personality development. The focus is on the development of the ego and its integration with the body. Satisfaction of basic emotional needs and personal aspirations without unnecessary expenditure of energy is associated with a realistic orientation in the world around us. A mature personality has contact with the internal energetic pulsation of the body and changing feelings. She is able to equally control their expression and turn off self-control, surrendering to the flow of spontaneity (for example, during orgasm, in creative ecstasy, etc.). She has equal access to both unpleasant feelings: fear, pain, anger and despair, and to pleasurable experiences: sex, joy, love and empathy. The bodily expression of emotional health is grace of movement, good muscle tone, good contact with people around you and with the ground under your feet (in bioenergetic terminology this is “grounding”), clear eyes and a soft, pleasant voice.
Keeping a methodology close to modern psychoanalysis, bioenergetics uses touch and pressure on tense muscles, deep breathing and special poses. The patient performs exercises that expand body awareness, develop spontaneous depression and psychophysical integration. A complete individual bioenergy therapy program lasts about six years. Its completion, in addition to comprehensive education, is mandatory to obtain the right to use bioenergy in therapeutic practice.
G. I. Koleda
Introduction
"Wise people will read your past life by your appearance, gait, behavior. The property of nature is self-expression. Even the smallest detailmewshows something. The person's face is reflected in the mirror. what's going on inside."
Ralph Ialdo Emerson
In this book I will try to show that health has a spiritual side. We will see that the subjective feeling of health is a feeling of pleasure received from the body, which sometimes reaches the level of joy. It is in such states that we feel connected to all living beings and to the whole world. Pain, on the contrary, isolates us from others. When we are sick, we not only experience symptoms of the disease, but we also find ourselves isolated from the world. We will also see that health is manifested in the graceful movements of the body, in the “radiance” of the body, as well as in its softness and warmth. The complete absence of these qualities means death or terminal illness. The softer and more flexible our body, the closer we are to health. As we age, our body becomes rougher and we approach death.
Aldous Huxley describes three types of grace: animal grace, human charm, and spiritual charm or grace. (Aldous Huxley, The perennial Philosophy, New York, 1954.) Spiritual charm is associated with a sense of satisfaction of the highest order. A person's charm is expressed in his attitude towards others and can be more accurately defined as kindness and personal charm. We know the charm of animals from observing their lives in the wild. I love watching the squirrels play among the trees. Few people can even come close to the grace of squirrels and their confidence in movement. The dexterous flight of swallows arouses our admiration. All wild animals have an excellent ability to move perfectly. According to Huxley, a person's true grace comes when he "opens himself to the spirit of the sun and the air" rather than deforming our body and hindering the manifestation of our innate spirituality.
However, people do not live and are certainly not able to live on the same plane as wild animals, to whom (according to Huxley) all the sweat of animal grace belongs. Such is the nature of man, he must live a conscious life. This means, as Huxley writes, that “animal grace is no longer sufficient for life and must be supplemented by a conscious choice between good and evil.” Is natural behavior, full of charm, possible if there is no basis - the charm of the body? When a person consciously adopts a style of behavior full of grace, but it does not come from a feeling of bodily pleasure, his charm is just a facade, built in order to surprise and attract others.
Before eating the forbidden fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, as we read in the Bible, man lived in paradise without self-awareness, like other animals. He was innocent and knew the joy of living in the form of goodness. Along with the knowledge of good and evil, responsibility for choice came to him, the man lost his innocence, he became aware of himself and lost peace. The harmony that existed between man and God, between man and Nature was broken. Instead of blessed ignorance, homo sapiens now has problems and illnesses. Joseph Campbell attributes part of the responsibility for the loss of harmony to the Christian tradition, which separated the soul from the body: "The Christian division of matter and spirit, the dynamics of life and spiritual values, natural charm and divine grace, essentially destroyed nature." (Joseph Campbell, The power of Myth, New York, 1988.)
Behind the Christian tradition is the Greco-Semitic belief in the primacy of the mind over the body. When consciousness is separated from the body, spirituality becomes something intellectual rather than a vital force, while the body becomes meat on a skeleton or, from the point of view of modern medicine, a biochemical laboratory. A body without a spirit has a low level of vitality and is completely devoid of charm. His movements are mechanical, since they are guided to a greater extent by consciousness or will. When the spirit takes possession of the body, it trembles with excitement, becomes like a stream flowing down the side of a mountain, or moves slowly, like a deep river spilling over a plain. Life does not always go smoothly, but when a person is forced to force his body to move by willpower all day long, this means that his bodily dynamics are seriously disturbed, and there is a danger of illness.
True grace of the body is not something artificial, it is part of a natural person, one of the divine beings. However, if it is once lost, it can be found again only by returning its spirituality to the body. In order to do this, you need to understand why and how his charm was lost. But since it is impossible to find a lost thing unless you know exactly what you have lost, we must begin by studying the natural body, in which movements, feelings and thoughts are fused into something unified and full of charm. We will study the body as a separate, self-regulating energy system, which is closely connected with the environment and on which its existence depends. Looking at the body from an energetic perspective will allow us to understand the essence of bodily charm and spirituality of the body without mysticism. This will lead us to the knowledge of the connection between sensitivity and charm. In the absence of sensitivity, movements become mechanical, and thought becomes an abstraction. We can, of course, instruct a person whose soul is full of hatred with the commandments of love, but it is difficult to expect that there will be any benefit from this. However, if we manage to restore his spirituality, love for his neighbor will blossom in him anew. We will also study some disorders that destroy a person’s spirit, reduce the charm of his body, and undermine his health. Focusing on charisma as a criterion for health will allow us to understand many of the problems in emotional life that impair health, as well as to develop charm that improves it.
Spirit and matter are united in the concept of charm and kindness. In theology, kindness is defined as “divine influence emanating from the heart in order to revive it, bring it closer to God and preserve it.” She can also be defined as the divine spirit of the body. This spirit manifests itself in the natural charm of the body, as well as in the person’s gratitude to all living beings. Charm and kindness are a state of holiness, integrity, connection with life and with that which is divine. A. these concepts are synonymous with health.
