Adela Gorodzinsky on the value of including the body in psychotherapy

Adela Gorodzinsky.

Adela, you’re a bioenergetic therapist. Can you give us a little bit of information about yourself as a practitioner?

I am indeed a certified bioenergetic therapist. I have also become a local trainer and I have a private practice. I have been practising bioenergetics for over 22 years and I find it quite satisfying, engaging, intriguing, and I'm quite passionate about.

 Why is it so important to your life and how do you think it can help others?

I came into bioenergetics because I was a Trager practitioner which is also a kind of body work. I’ve always been interested and engaged in the body since I was a little girl: my mom introduced me to exercise classes and I used to love being outdoors and do things with my body.

 And bioenergetics gave me the understanding of why I was doing the things that I was doing. Because it puts together our behaviour, our body language, our energy with the emotional, mental and spiritual content of our beings. It's like having a roadmap and understanding why we're travelling in the way that we're traveling.

 Who do you think would benefit from this kind of therapy?

I'd say people who want to feel better if they're suffering from depression, anxiety, or if they're feeling anger but they don't know how to express it properly and it’s destroying their relationships.

 Bioenergetics can help people who want to mend and enhance their relationships and people who are interested in having a better life for themselves and feeling pleasure and joy in a much fuller way.

 What’s the significance and the function of the body and bioenergetic therapy?

Our bodies hold our histories and they’re a product of past generations. We inherit genetic material from our parents and our grandparents. But we also shape our bodies according to our own histories.

 And we have a body language. We have a posture and a poise that expresses either our abilities or our limitations. We can express fear with our bodies, sadness, anger, joy, excitement. And so as a therapist, we are trained to be able to help people read their own bodies and, through doing certain movements and exercises, enhance the breathing, express the any kind of impulses that we want to have that have been stalled by some reason, allowing those blocks to be unblocked.

 You’re attending the Massachusetts Society for Bioenergetic Analysis’ conference to give a keynote speech. Tell us about that.

This society is a very active society, and the conference they organize is held in Boston for people who live in North America, New Zealand or Australia. It has also had people coming from Israel and Colombia.

I love attending because it's a small conference, so we get a chance to interact with each other and to see the progress of the work.

This year’s conference runs from April 21 to the 24th and I was approached by Laurie Ure, one of the organizers, to be one of the two keynote speakers. I’m going to be talking about the language to be used for all the different sexual orientations and gender identities. People who have different gender identities or sexual orientations have always existed, but we as a North American society have not really acknowledged them. And now there is a whole language that we can use to honour and recognize people the way they’d like to be.

I feel very honoured to be invited to give this talk. And especially now, as the pandemic subsides a little in North America, it's going to be quite amazing to get together in person.

Can you tell us about the award you received from the Jewish Community Centre in London, Ont.?

I still feel a bit humble about having received the award. It’s called the David Rubin award. David Rubin was a philanthropist and his legacy lives on in the Jewish community.

When the pandemic began, the Jewish Community Centre approached me to see if I could lead relaxation and movement classes, because they I had previously given a workshop on that. So I immediately said yes, and I started teaching on Zoom. At that time, it was really weird teaching into a computer, and it took about three or four classes to get more proficient. But eventually, it became a wonderful group, and I continued to do it even up until this day.

The centre gave awards to people who were frontline workers during the pandemic, and because I continued my therapy practice as well – safely of course – I was recognized.

What would you say to someone who's thinking about bioenergetic therapy but has yet to take the plunge?

I would say set up a 10 to 15 minute free consultation and talk to the therapist. See if you get a feel for them. Maybe set up an appointment come to one session. The therapist will guide you into some movement, and you’ll have the chance to acknowledge your body and see how the body is so connected to the mind. And the body doesn't lie!

How I found my way to Bioenergetic Therapy

I have been asked several times, how I found my way to Bioenergetic Therapy, so I would like to share the shortened version with you.

While I was practising as a registered massage therapist (one of my several incarnations), I had a client who was in the Bioenergetic training program in our city.

I wanted to know something about this therapy, thinking it would be helpful in my massage work with this client. I was invited to attend a workshop weekend.

The week before the workshop, my mother died and I almost cancelled.

With encouragement from my client, who felt this would help me with my grief, I attended.

The International trainer leading the workshop that weekend worked with me. It was such a powerful and profound experience, it moved me to  enter bioenergetic therapy soon after.

I realized as my therapy progressed, there was more to work on than my grief over the loss of my mother.

Several years later, I entered a Bioenergetic training program, and here I am today, a practising CBT.(Certified Bioenergetic Therapist)

I am so grateful for what bioenergetic therapy has brought to my personal and professional life.

 Mitzi O`Keefe CBT

A client's perspective of Bioenergetic Analysis

I have struggled with depression and anxiety for as long as I can remember.  I have longed to be loved, but always doubted the authenticity and security of love when it was offered.  I married a partner who was himself damaged, and could not love me nor treat me with the respect and caring that I longed for.  I feared intimacy with him because I felt helpless and powerless in the face of it.  I was chronically depressed.

Working with a bioenergetic therapist, I was able to open myself to the early wounds to my heart and my sense of being, I was able to mourn the damage and loss that these wounds caused me, to energize my body and spirit, and begin a path to healing.

Read Laurie Ure's new article, Strengthening Personal Boundaries

Laurie Ure has just published an article in Psychology Today, “Strengthening Personal Boundaries: A Bioenergetic Approach.” Laurie talks about how boundary violations have a profound impact on our mental health, and how bioenergetics can help.

Laurie says:

“As a bioenergetic therapist incorporating a mind-body approach, I help clients express boundaries physically and verbally. When it was first developed in the 1950s, bioenergetic therapy focused on the developmental trauma stemming from childhood boundary violations. Although its founder, Alexander Lowen, didn’t use words like boundaries or trauma, he acutely understood the impact of these violations on mental health."

We encourage our readers to take a look at her article on Psychology Today.

Reintegration after a year and a half of lock down

Many people are experiencing excitement and/or fear about the loosening of restrictions as the pandemic recedes.

As bioenergetic therapists, we understand that it is important to feel and express your feelings appropriately in relation to the new freedoms.

If the main feeling you experience is fear, the fear has to be dealt with before you can feel your excitement and pleasure. How do you do that? it’s important to express your feelings in a grounded way rather than keeping them bottled up. To be grounded is another way of saying that a person has their feet on the ground. In a broader sense, grounding represents an individual's contact with the basic realities of their existence. 

The immediate result of being grounded is to increase your sense of security. That makes it more possible to let down into your feelings and to express them.

As well as the exercises previously shared on our blog, we are including an exercise to express your feelings in a grounded way.

Exercise

Breathing is an important factor of bioenergetic therapy. We are going to describe an exercise that will help you to expand your breathing and your expression of feelings. 

While you are lying on the floor, put your legs up in the air.

Image from Vibrant Health by Dr. Alexander Lowen and Leslie Lowen.

Your knees should be slightly flexed. Bend your ankles and, on an in breath, push your heels toward the ceiling. 

Release your knees a little and breathe out. Repeat several times. 

If you find that your legs are shaking or vibrating, it can happen and it is a normal part of this exercise. 

When you are breathing out, you may become aware of an inner sound. Try to let that sound come out. That is the beginning of your expression. 

When you finish the exercise, take note of any sensations in your body.

Let us know how this exercise has been for you.

Read Laurie Ure's new article, How Bioenergetic Psychotherapy Unlocks the Feelings Carried in Your Body

On Better Humans, Laurie Ure, a Certified Bioenergetic Therapist, shares a new article titled “How Bioenergetic Psychotherapy Unlocks the Feelings Carried in Your Body.” Using a science-based approach, her article explores the mind-body connection as a healing modality.

To read her article, visit the Better Humans website.

Bioenergetic work during the pandemic

Why is Bioenergetic work especially helpful during the Pandemic?

Bioenergetic work is especially helpful now, during the pandemic, because it was developed with the intention to connect our life story from both our mind and body. 

For most of us, the pandemic has affected all levels of our being: we have had to learn to think “virus” in a much more serious way than ever before. We have had to act differently and refrain from many physical activities our bodies were used to doing.  Some of us have had to ‘reach-in’ deeply, in order to develop a stronger spirituality – one that can sustain us during these times. 

Bioenergetics teaches us how to identify our inner most emotions and provides a safe environment for us to express them without fear of judgement, rejection, discrimination, etc.

 - Adela

What exercises have been helpful for me?

I have been practising grounding and sounding at all physical levels: standing up, sitting and also while lying on the floor with the soles of my feet against the big physio ball. 

The idea is to bend the legs while inhaling - and as I exhale through my mouth, I allow my sound to come out of my throat, and I stretch the legs to feel their strength, feel held by the ground, connect my whole being; and let go of any fear, sadness, or anxiety.

 - Adela

Do you have a daily practice?

Not exactly.

When I wake up I take three deep, slow breaths and have a full body stretch, releasing whatever sound is there. Generally it is a sigh.

If I am feeling low energy, I will do several straight leg kicks in my bed, to get my energy moving. If my breathing feels smoother and more open, I will move to a grounding exercise.

Dr. Alexander Lowen, the founder of Bioenergetics, did 200 straight leg kicks every day and he was one of the most energetic, alive people I  ever met. He lived and worked into his 90s!

I then sit on the side of my bed and notice my breathing.  I end with a grounding  exercise (there is one illustrated in this blog) and proceed with my day. I skip the straight leg licking if my energy level feels good.

During the day, if I feel distressed, anxious, sad, angry or out of sorts in any way, I go over an exercise ball (back extension) to open my breathing and let whatever sounds are there be expressed.

I follow that by going into the child prayer position before slowly coming to a standing position, uncurling one vertebrae at a time, with my head being the last to uncurl.

Generally once is enough for me to find relief, but if not, I will repeat both exercises again.

Before bed I like to do a grounding exercise.

If you’re looking for more exercises to incorporate into your life, there is an excellent manual of Bioenergetic Exercises called The Way to Vibrant Health by Alexander Lowen MD., and Leslie Lowen. You can purchase it at www.lowenfoundation.org

 - Mitzi

How do you stay engaged with the bioenergetics community right now?

Locally, we have a meeting of our society four times a year. During the pandemic, we have been meeting on Zoom. Regionally, that is North America and New Zealand (Nanziba) I sit on a  steering committee which meets monthly on Zoom. I then make a report to my local society.

Internationally, we have a conference every 2 years, alternating between North America, South America and Europe. This year, it will be a virtual conference coming from Brazil in October.

Every year, there is a Professional Development conference, one in Europe, North America and South America, open to all members of the IIBA (International Institute).

 - Mitzi

What recommendations do you have for people who would like to acquaint themselves with the practice now?

To begin with, I would suggest reading about bioenergetics. You can find many recommended books, paper, journals and podcasts on our CCSBA website.

You can check out workshops and exercise classes on our website, other society websites and the IIBA website.

You might want to check out the link to the virtual International conference coming up in October. You do not need to be a member to attend.

You could also arrange for a consultation with a therapist. It would not be in person at the moment with most therapists. Many are working on Zoom during the pandemic.

 - Mitzi

How can these practices help me cope with fear, anxiety, uncertainty and depression during the pandemic?

Fear, anxiety, stress and depression live in our body. Our body is a vibrant, alive organ. To stay healthy we need to move, exercise - there is lots written on the benefits of exercise; what about the benefits of bioenergetic exercise? Bioenergetic exercises help us get in touch with our feelings — after all, our feelings live in our body and our thoughts live in our mind.

Along with the virus, COVID-19 has brought anxiety, fear, uncertainty and depression to the general public. The main psychological impact to date is elevated rates of stress and anxiety.

So how do bioenergetic exercises work? What will they do to your body and how will they help with your feelings? All of our emotions affect our mind and our body. Our feelings and thoughts sometimes cause our muscles to contract as a reaction of defence towards our unexpressed emotions. Tension will cause our breathing to be held, and this holding and lack of expression, may create anxiety. The bioenergetic exercises target held muscles. With the assistance of a therapist one may learn to breathe more fully and express the held emotions. When we express our emotions, our feelings of anxiety etc. decrease. Regular bioenergetic exercise may decrease the negative emotions that are trapped in our muscles. As we let go of the tension in our body and express our emotions, we increase the aliveness in our body. Engaging in bioenergetic exercises on a regular basis may help in reducing stress and anxiety by making you more resilient and able to deal with the stress that COVID creates in all of us.

 - Vicky

What are some ways Bioenergetic practice can help me feel more in control in these uncertain times? 

These uncertain times bring feelings and impulses with it.  There has been an increase of depression, marital conflicts, impatience, anger, loneliness. Some people are having difficulty dealing with their feelings that have intensified during the pandemic. Bioenergetic practice assists people to stop repressing their feelings and to express them appropriately.  In bioenergetic practice, people learn to breathe more deeply and to let go of tightness in the body.  This leads to being able to feel more and to express more feeling appropriately.  In this way, they are in control of what and when they will express a feeling.

Also, bioenergetic practice can help with handling impulses.  During this difficult time, many couples are at home with each other every day and if there are children the whole family is together all the time.  That can be very difficult and members of the family may have negative impulses.  From their impatience and frustration they may have an impulse to hit someone or to scream at them.  People living alone also may experience impulses that are not in their favour.  In order to deal with their impulses people may drink and eat too much or worse may have suicidal impulses.  Not all impulses are safe to express.  Bioenergetic practice teaches people to contain an impulse.  This involves ways of being grounded so that they are able to contain words or actions that they would regret later.  Deep regular breathing also helps to make room to hold an impulse.  Learning how to contain an impulse means that the person is in control of their expression and impulse, and in control of themselves.

- Marilyn

Expectations

By: Adela Gorodzinsky, CBT, R.P.

“Whatever it is you’re seeking, won’t come in the way you expect it.”   — Haruki Murakami

How many Mothers’ Days have you woken up expecting certain things to happen - either for yourself, or from you towards others?

How many times, while in relationship, have you expected your significant other to fulfill your certain needs, only to be disappointed because what you were expecting did not happen, or did not happen in the way you wanted it to happen?  

My experience has been that when I have and think about an expectation, it usually does not work for me.  However, when I take the time to notice what my body is feeling and listen to the messages it is giving me, I ‘ground’ in reality and I know that I can trust.  

Yes, I can trust that whatever happens, in any way it may happen, and I am going to be OK.  Once I can ground myself in trust, the miracle occurs; yet not at the time that I wanted it, but at the time that I needed it!

Bioenergetics has taught me to manage anxiety, fear, sadness and even excitement and joy.  Doing my daily Bioenergetic exercise routine, including: stretching; grounding; and emotionally connected movement, it has trained me to feel at peace.

Exercise 1: Basic vibratory and grounding exercise

Stand with feet about 10” apart, toes slightly turned in so as to stretch some of the muscles of the buttocks. Bend forward and touch the floor with the fingers of both hands as in figure 2 above. The knees should be slightly bent. No weight should be on the hands; all the body weight is in the feet. Let the head drop as much as possible.

Breathe through your mouth easily and deeply. Make sure to keep breathing. (Forget about breathing through your nose for the time being.)

Let the weight of your body go forward so that it is on the balls of the feet. The heels can be slightly raised.

Straighten the knees slowly until the hamstring muscles at the back of the legs are stretched. However, the knees should not be fully straightened or locked.

Hold the position for about one minute.

Are you breathing easily or are you holding your breath? No vibrations will occur if you stop breathing.

Do you sense any vibratory activity in your legs? If not, try slowly bending the knee a little.

— Exercise from The Way to Vibrant Health: A Manual of Bioenergetic Exercises by Alexander Lowen, M.D., and Leslie Lowen,

TRAUMA INTO THE BODY - HEALING INTO RELATIONSHIP

Trauma Into The Body – Healing Into Relationship

Recently, on my way to the bioenergetics workshop in Montreal, Quebec, led by international trainer Violaine De Clerck, I had an experience that left me feeling dumbfounded and isolated.

My flight was cancelled because of a major snowstorm, as were most flights that day. How was I to get to the workshop on time? With my bioenergetics training, I soon realized I needed a sense of connection to help me through this experience. I called my colleagues who were also travelling to the workshop from other cities. We talked about our known skills for self-soothing, and it was this connection with my colleagues that grounded me enough to be able to calm myself and deal with the stress that I was feeling.

Interestingly enough, this experience fit right in with the theme of the workshop, “Trauma Into The Body – Healing Into Relationship”. Every morning at the beginning of the workshop, the group of 12 participants was led into a grounding dance, and we could feel how important it is to have strength in our legs to move in the world and stand up for ourselves. It is this connection we feel with the earth through grounding exercises and connection with others that enables our agency.

In her warm way, Violaine described the polyvagal theory and taught us a few techniques that proved to be very effective. The purpose of the techniques was to facilitate people feeling safe and grounded. It is only within safety that healing can occur.

The whole workshop was very satisfying because of Violaine’s exceptional teaching style, and opportunities for experiential practice, theoretical discussion, and connection.

Welcome to our new website!

We are happy to have a forum to introduce bioenergetic analysis to those who have no previous experience with this psychotherapeutic modality, and to keep those familiar with it informed about workshops, conferences, therapists, training programs, and all things bioenergetic in our area.

We also have links to what is happening around the world.
We welcome inquiries and requests for articles you might like to see posted on our website.

These pictures were taken at a recent lunch where we gathered to say au revoir to a long time member of our society (CCSBA). Carol is moving to New Brunswick where she will continue the practice of bioenergetics in her new home. We will miss her and wish her lots of joy in her future endeavors.