What is Mindfulness Based Body Psychotherapy?

Mindfulness Based Body Psychotherapy works with the principle that there is a complete unity between the physical and mental aspects of being human.  That all of your past and present experiences, as well as your way of dealing with them, are reflected not only in your thoughts and feelings but also in the way you move, how you breathe, behave and how your body has been shaped. Mindfulness Based Body Psychotherapy regards the dis-ease in your body as a doorway to access emotional and psychological material. It might be a relief for you to realise that things you thought you were stuck with such as: personality patterns, emotional pains, habitual behaviours or ways of thinking can change.

With Mindfulness Based Body Psychotherapy, your body is seen less like a ‘bag of misery’ and more as a ‘store house of wisdom’.  Your body becomes a part of the solution that leads to wellbeing for your whole being. Mindfulness Based Body Psychotherapy is also easy and feels right.

Which Dis-eases can Mindfulness Based Body Psychotherapy? 

You may have sometimes noticed a subtle sense that your body feels tense, heavy, stuck, squashed or like there’s a battle going on inside. These sensations are common and are giving us information about what is going on below the surface.  However because the sensations are, at first, subtle, you can easily dismiss them or distract yourself.  As a result they can get stronger and more frequent and in the long term, result in unpleasant symptoms right through to serious problems that affect your wellbeing, including:

• Pain in your muscles, chest or abdomen that is triggered by stress.
• Recurring states of anxiety, panic, depression or sadness.
• Disorders like Irritable Bowel Syndrome, forms of dermatitis and high blood pressure.
• Unwanted behaviours such as: explosive temper, self harm, or eating disorders.
• Emotionally hurting people close to you, even though you don’t mean to.

How does Mindfulness Based Body Psychotherapy work?

The first step is to build a working relationship that feels safe, trusting and relaxed.  With that relationship in place then your body begins to cooperate.  This means that your bodily sensations such as contraction, pain, heaviness or pressure begin to reveal new and useful information.  Often these sensations began at a time when you didn’t know what to do with them, and the best you could do was to hide them.  This made perfect sense then.  Now, that you have more resources, you have an opportunity to explore new ways of dealing with old sensations.  You also have a chance to constructively work with any parts of you that have been fighting internally.  Ultimately, you re-examine your basic beliefs and discover new ones more in keeping with the quality of life you want.

The changes that you have been looking for gradually begin to happen naturally in the course of living.

What happens during a session of Mindfulness Based Body Psychotherapy?

A wide variety of methods may be used, including:

• Focusing techniques to help you get in touch with your bodily sensations.
• Listening to your body and learning what it means.
• Observing the precise quality of your experience and what it might be connected to.
• Reporting what happens in your body in response to certain statements or movements.
• Getting to know the various parts of your personality and how they interact.
• Receiving, at least for the moment, the experiences that you have been missing.

Usually during a session you will enter a state called mindfulness, similar to mental relaxation.  In mindfulness things slow down and you will be able to comfortably observe your experiences and report on them while staying relaxed. Experiences in mindfulness are different from ordinary consciousness; they are unforced, spontaneous, informative, naturally interesting and likely to have meaning. Touch, when appropriate and agreed upon, may be applied to an area of tightness in order to support it.  When your body senses that it is being supported, it usually releases the tension naturally and easily.  You never feel ‘done to’.

All methods combine to help you regain the healthy Self-regulation that at one time became disturbed.