Fixity and flow

Peter Levine makes the argument that bracing, pain, fixity are mutually exclusive with movement, emotion, energetic flow.  He argues if a child feels an emotion too overwhelming to feel, perhaps growing up in a family where anger isn’t allowed, they’ll tense their body to not feel their feelings.  Those feelings than become stuck, unmetabolized, unprocessed, frozen in time.  These emotions can then show up in the out-sized reactivity of triggers.  I believe physical bracing remains with unprocessed emotions, and these emotions are only metabolized when we are able to feel without being consumed or flooded.  For example, instead of being completely absorbed in the movie, being aware of I’m watching a movie, this is what’s going on, while also feeling the feelings of the movie.

My right achilles tendon would always feel inflamed after ballet.  A few months ago, I tried a technique where I imagine placing my mind in a body area of interest, and asking, what knowings would you like to share? The answer I got from my right achilles was fear/terror.  I cried and my achilles since then has never felt irritated/inflamed from ballet.  Similarly, a few months ago, when I asked my left hip what knowings it would like to share, the answer I got was rage.  I felt energetic opening and flow and I haven’t experienced discomfort in my left hip in the same way.