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was a lesson for my nervous system which then was reinforced by living differently through my body afterward. It was more than a treatment for my physical body as it worked on my mind as well which, in turn, affected my body’s function.
The phrase “One doesn’t have to feel bad to feel better,” comes to mind as, although comfortable, I continued to receive the sessions regularly. Not only did I remain pain- free, but I also noted increasing fluidity, grace and lightness in my body, qualities that had been shut down through restricted habituated movement patterns which were compensatory responses to injuries and to surgeries which I had as a child.
That first Trager session was May 13, 1987, and my latest was just two days before beginning to write this chapter. Discovering The Trager Approach changed the course of my life significantly. It made me interested in, curious about, and aware of how I moved in my body; who I was towards myself as I lived in my body; and how all that impacted my movement experience, either by limiting it or by opening it up to new potential, like doing Yoga.
My body was feeling better and the deep relaxation fostered by the sessions facilitated the release of deeply seated muscle holding patterns that clearly had subconscious emotional counterparts. The insights I gained were game-changing. The work took me into foreign territory. Terrain that was inside of me, not outside, and which connected me to what was and what wasn’t comfortable. The Trager Approach’s capacity to provide a safe context for my body-mind to assess, re-organize and let go of dysfunctional muscle holding patterns that manifested as functional limitation and pain was extra-ordinary, comfortable, pleasurable. It facilitated a ‘remembering’ of my body’s inherent coherence and, once it felt safe, my body naturally migrated toward more balance and harmony. I
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