Free yourself from the 7 shells

Observing his patients, Reich delved into the origin of human suffering and proposed actions to cure and prevent it. On the one hand, he said, we have let ourselves be carried away by the rational, for the intellectual; for another, the lust for power and domination They have led to wanting to extirpate spontaneity and the primary impulses of freedom and pleasure in creatures.

Every time they reach out to grab life, something gets in the way: the solid wall raised by a cold, authoritarian and repressive society. Each frustration is stored as a scar and, little by little, the wall is internalized.

reich called breastplate to that inner wall that is psycho-emotional, but also physical: Anchored in the muscles, it prevents the flow of vital energy, blocks contact with the outside and with our being. A wall to protect us from frustration, and that keeps us fearful of our sensations and perpetuates a rigid and anti-vital society.

We generate a shell that prevents the flow of vital energy between our being and the outside.

reich divided the shell into seven segments: eyes, mouth, neck, thorax, diaphragm, abdomen and pelvis, each of them related to emotions and disorders that he called biopathies.

The vital moment in which the stressful impact occurs determines the severity of the consequences: Impacts in the fetal stage produce serious organic diseases, during the first eight or nine months they can cause blockages in segments with a better therapeutic approach, and after the ninth month they will translate into somatizations: migraines, gastrointestinal diseases, painful menstruations…

The technique that Reich developed integrates body, mind and emotions in a process of personal growth that encompasses the subject as a whole and their relationship with the environment. The purpose is to recover balance and mobility, release emotions and restore pulsation and the ability to contact oneself and with life.

The characteranalytic vegetotherapy It is carried out through individual and group sessions. are performed emotional muscle movements linked to life experiences following the different segments from top to bottom, with the support of hyperventilation and massage, stimulating the vagus nerve, which controls involuntary movements.

In this way it is achieved spontaneous emergence of repressed emotionswhich when rationalized allow progress in the unlocking of the armor and the free flow of energy.

Exercises to connect with emotions

These simple exercises that we propose will allow you to detect the armor in your body and connect with emotions that you do not let flow.

Eyes

Sit upright facing forward; turn your head as much as you can without forcing, sweeping the view to one of your sides, and continue with the eyes until you also reach the limit. Then return in the same way: first the eyes and then the head.
Do your eyes move continuously or in small jumps? The first will be a sign of flexibility; the latter expresses armor related to impatience and fear the anxiety caused by seeing the world around us. This first segment –which includes the telereceptors: eyes, ears and nose– It is formed during intrauterine life, childbirth and the first days.He massagewhich Reich used to get in touch with the tensions, begins here to descend following the segments and the emotional story.

Mouth

looking in a mirror, raise your chin a little and open your mouth without forcing it, jaw dropping. If there is no armor, the muscles in front of the ears will allow them to open, leaving at least three fingers between the teeth. Otherwise, the mouth will open too little.If you breathe slowly you can perceive emotions and tensionsvery probably connected with feeding, with unsatisfied sucking, with anger and the disappointment of an early weaning. That is why an acting or neuromuscular movement used in vegetotherapy sessions consists precisely in imitating the suction, key to affectivity and sexuality in the oral stage in which this segment is formed.

Neck

The neck It is a bridge through which energy ascends generated in the lower segments towards the mouth and eyes. feeling of strangulation and distressof narrowing, perhaps related to birth, to getting stuck, can be perceived as follows: lie on the floor on your back and rest your head on a small cushion. then spin it to one side and the other as quickly as possible, letting it fall to each side: if this causes nausea or dizziness, it is a sign of tension.The armoring in this area is related to the frustration of orality during the first three years. Hence, the acting for this segment is to verbalize the word “I” lowering the arms towards the couch.

In the Reichian vegetotherapy sessions, neuromuscular movements are suggested to reconnect with repressed emotions.

Chest

Stand in front of the mirror and aspire to the maximum holding in as much air as you can. watch yourself. Then expel all the air and observe your attitude again. Many times we hide fears under defiance attitudes, puffing out the chest and clenching the fists; on the contrary, the defeating attitudes They are visualized in postures of slumped shoulders, sunken chest, signs of low thoracic breathing to slow the entry of energy and as form of self controlto avoid punishment for abandoning oneself to impulses. Although this shell is structured from the third year of life, it originates around the second year, linked to phenomena of contact with one’s own body, with the world and with others.

Diaphragm

The diaphragm, in addition to being the key muscle for breathing and precisely for this reason, connects the rational and the instinctive, The conscious and the unconscious. It is, then, the most important vital channel in addition to regulating respiration, neurovegetative phenomena and being connected to the main vital organs. Its origin is linked to the castration anxiety although develops during adolescence. The more armored it is, the greater division there will be between our head and our emotions. You can get a first approximation inhaling and breathing forcefully, forcefully and continuously, charging you with energy: Do you feel dizzy, maybe nauseous or even feel a sense of panic?

Abdomen

Take a slow, deep breath and then exhale it without pulling in your belly. Observe your sensations by repeating this exercise several times, trying to relax your back and sides. The abdominal muscles play a role in reducing genital pelvic sensations. A gentle and constant belly massage while breathing can release old pain and sensations accumulated over a long time of anger, fear, sadness.In the clinical sessions of Reichian therapy, actings –always suggesting them, without representing them so as not to deprive the patient of their spontaneity– such as nasal breathing (inhaling and exhaling through the nose), which releases the abdominal muscles and the diaphragm.

Pelvis

It develops in adolescence and concentrates the involuntary sensations that sexuality displays when expressing itselfby exchanging vital energy. This armor show your attitude to the worldyour way of walking, of being, of containing yourself or letting go of life. You can perceive the flow of energy by placing yourself Standing upright with feet slightly apart and knees bent comfortably. Put your hands behind your back and grab them to lean forwardbreathing calmly. You may feel a pull in the back of your legs, even pain, depending on the tension accumulated. If you keep taking a deep breath, your legs may start to shake.a sign that the tension subsides.