Domain

Explanation

Remarks

What is bodymind?

• Basically, it is layman term describing the interconnections between the seemingly separate entities of the body & the mind

What are the parts of the bodymind?

• It is made up of aggregates:

1. Physical body
2. Mind

• Healthy to be self-aware of aspects of body (motion, joints, muscles, patterns, structures) & mind (feelings, emotions)

Why do I need to know all these? I know myself, don’t I?

• Do you truly know yourself & your body?
• Trained physicians can pick our characters by studying our bodies & motions using body-reading process

What is this interconnection between the body & the mind?

• It has been termed as the structural integration of the body & the mind or Rolfing pioneered by Ida Rolf
• Rolfing seeks to release locked emotions within parts of the body through massage to achieve natural balance

1. Our emotions give impressions
2. Over time, impressions produce habit patterns
3. Habit patterns are structurally integrated into the body structure
4. The body holds the locked emotions in various parts
5. Constrains what & how we feel, repeats itself over experiences & time

What affects the bodymind?

• According to Ken Dychtwald:

1. Inheritance: genetics
2. Activity: positions, experience
3. Emotions: feelings, state of consciousness
4. Nutrition: food intake quality & quantity
5. Environment: surroundings of non-living, living & people

• We have little control over inheritance
• Environment, nutrition & activities can be chosen according to emotions
• Hence, emotions factor has the single largest effect on the bodymind fusion

What are the ways of separating the bodymind?

• The whole of bodymind can be separated into parts in the following ways:

1. Left-right: sectioning the body into left & right portions
2. Top-down: sectioning along the waist
3. Front-back: sectioning along the sides
4. Head-body: sectioning along the neck
5. Torso-limbs: sectioning torso from the four limbs

• Try examining yourself, notice the stronger (more often utilised) & weaker (less often utilised) portions - strive for balance

What are the implications of the legs?

• The legs are the emotional support, the foundation of the bodymind - grounding
• All motions originate from the abdomen - the base of emotions
• Three-point supports of heel & front sole points
• Injuries to heels & knees correlate to distress
• Observe your legs, motions & injuries carefully, take goo care especially in distress
• Recommend: stretching leg muscles through bending & touching toes

What are the implications of the pelvis?

• The pelvic is the primal survival energy
• Normal pelvis is almost horizontal like a stable bowl

What are the implications of different chakras?

• A chakra is a bodily channel that depicts specific life energy associated with a part of the body
• The human spine has a hollow (canalis centarialis) that connects the bottom to the crown of the head
• Along this hollow, seven chakras have been discovered that require sequential release from the bottom to the crown for the full realisation of the life energies locked within our bodymind

1. Muladhara: basic survival well-being @ anus
2. Svadhisthana: sexuality, preliminary relationships @ groin
3. Manipura: emotions, drive, social @ navel & lower back
4. Anahata: feelings, expression, love @ chest
5. Vishuddha: mental communication, expression, mind @ throat
6. Ajna: intelligence, awareness @ brain
7. Sahasara: spirituality, self-motivation @ crown