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Each and every individual’s life story has been mapped and grafted into their own unique physical structure, whether that was a history of sporting activities, playing an instrument, ballet or a computer operator who has molded his body perfectly into the shape of his office chair.
What
is less well documented is how our thoughts, feelings and emotions lock
themselves into our bodies. Take the recent SARS outbreak and ongoing economic
slump. Did anyone notice the sullen faces and slumped postures of our political
leaders? It was as if the wind was taken out of their sails and they were
carrying a ton of weight on their spines, our major support structure!
The spine contains all the vital wiring of the body that drives the movement. The central nervous system runs right down the center of the spine. When there is a crisis, and our support system collapses, that vital information to our tissues will become impaired and pain is usually the signal that all is not functioning well. Your body slows down, and you start to look and feel old before your time.
In Chinese medicine the seat of anger is the liver (liverish), the seat of fear is the kidney, the seat of worry is the spleen and the heart is of course the seat of love and compassion. Each body part, particularly the joints where the movement stems from, has an emotional attachment – certain memories get locked and blocked in the system. A client who insisted I didn’t touch his throat had been traumatized at birth due to oxygen starvation as the umbilical had wrapped around his throat on delivery – he was less than 3 minutes old when he was revived!
The
shoulder joint is the most mobile in the body. It has to be, because at
birth you are at your widest there and you need to wiggle through that
narrow canal. Psychologically the shoulder is the area where the body
expresses frustration on discontent. I have a Malaysian friend who couldn’t
move her shoulders in internal and external rotation. They felt as if
the glenohumeral joints were super glued! No amount of stretching was
going to help without huge pain and resistance. She was brave enough during
the tough economic climate to resign and travel to her favorite places
in Southern Europe. I saw her last week. She has full range of motion
in both shoulders and did nothing conventional to rehabilitate them!
The elbow joint is said to express flexibility and spontaneity in life. The more flexible we are, the more we can go with the flow and adapt with our surroundings.
Stiffness in the neck psychologically reflects rigidity in attitude (we all know who they are!).
The large intestine is responsible for eliminating waste and in terms of emotions about forgiveness and letting go of past and present stresses, which can stifle your own “life force”. Those that cannot let go end up with constipation and irritable bowel problems.
As body workers this mind/body link becomes more of a fascinating challenge. You cannot work one without influencing the other.
