CLASS MATERIALS

Mindfulness has been a widely researched topic for over 4 decades in academic contexts. Of course, for thousands of years, it has been the subject of many writings and teachings in the realm to wisdom traditions. One straightforward way to understand it is as the engine of meditation; or said in a different way, the action process which aims towards a meditative state or attitude.

Mindfulness can be viewed as three basic components:

• a subject (the person paying attention);

• an object (that which one is deliberately paying attention to); and

• the way or the manner in which attention is focused.

The subject of course is oneself. The way attention is paid within a process of Mindfulness has been described as: curious, nonjudgmental and/or novelty-seeking (looking for new aspects in familiar situations).

The relationship between the object and the way attention is focused has been described as a mindfulness-device, which really means that it is one of the many ways our attention can be trained towards a mindful state of being. A mindfulness-device can constitute attention to: our breathing, an aspect of our perception (like the stream of thoughts or an emotion), the condition of one or more of our body parts, etc. The objective is to maintain a more deliberate quality of focus to reduce or avoid uncontrolled and unobserved cycles of thought streams and emotions.

Through an awareness discipline like this, not only can subconscious patterns of perception and reactivity be brought to the fore, a certain receptivity to a broader underlying intelligence is possible.

This is reflected and evidenced through insight, inspiration, and creativity.

Said a different way, Somatic Mindfulness describes a bodywork-relevant cycle of mindful attention and also the receptive ways this attention is directed.

Somatic Mindfulness is a term used to represent an evolution of the bodywork approach originated and taught by Milton Trager, MD and that other masters developed further. It is often referred to as tragerwork.

Over more than four decades since he started teaching it, many practitioners have refined, enhanced and widened the scope of the work. Dr. Trager described his work as one that helps release physical and mental patterns of tension, and also that facilitates deep relaxation. He would refer to his work as psycho-physical integration; the integration of mind and body.

A Somatic Mindfulness session begins with the facilitator seeking to establish a certain connection with what could be called the underlying intelligence of everything. Milton used to call it "hook-up".

Another way to describe it is to seek to enter a state of receptivity in order to connect with the sources of insight, inspiration and/or creativity.

This is in essence the aim to achieve awareness without labeling, judging or categorizing.

Instead it is a way to see things for what they are, not what they are supposed to be. This is what is now commonly referred to as Mindfulness. What is unique about Somatic Mindfulness is that part of the technique of practice is to maintain, what could be called Mindfulness-in-Action, throughout the bodywork session.

Nowadays this type of mindful interaction in a bodywork session is also referred to as Somatic Therapy.

The basis of this technique, on one end, is a point of view that affirms the natural tendency of the body for self-repair, to stay as healthy as possible, and to be efficient in its relationship with gravity.

We can call this natural tendency, the body's underlying intelligence. This has also been referred to as the unconscious.

On the other hand, there is a recognition that mindful attention, not only promotes states of mental stillness and peace of mind, it also assists with an efficient distribution of such underlying intelligence through mindful awareness of sensation. The focus is body-mind integration through the exploration of the current space in a body for sensations of serenity, comfort, fluidity and ease wherever and to the level they can happen.

The process is an invitation to rediscover and validate, within a body's current possibilities, gentle and pleasant ways of being.

Considering the points of view expressed so far, a working theory for the way Somatic Mindfulness approaches the body can look like the following:

• The body possesses an underlying intelligence. In other words, there are processes within the body which happen without the need of our direct intervention (i.e. heartbeat, digestion, tissue repair, etc.). This can be referred to as the unconscious underlying intelligence.

• This intelligence also regulates the functions of our muscular structure. It could be said that our bodies are designed to be efficient with gravity, and that through sensors or senses (proprioception, interoception), the information of the condition and location of the different body parts is distributed. This can be visualized as a continuos feedback cycle of communication between the central nervous system and all body structures. The nervous system's central command receives the pertinent information about the condition and location of a part of the body, and sends the underlying intelligence "code" to attend to the situation as needed. Said in a simpler way, this feedback cycle of communication identifies where and how is any part of the body; and facilitates the distribution of a "code" of intelligence to the site in order to repair or enhance the detected condition as needed and to the extent possible.

• Muscular structures have the capability of contracting and extending to create movement and adapt to our current lifestyles. Muscles contract as a defense mechanism, or to accomplish a physical feat. In urban life, one known cause of muscle contraction is chronic stress. The issue is not that a muscle contracts, as this is its natural function. The problem is for it to stay contracted longer than necessary, even when the source of the reaction is no longer active. Somatic Mindfulness proposes that such contractions remain active for several possible reasons: (i) the nervous systems's command center is sending the signal as usual, but the feedback continues to be that "danger lurks" (likely because the mind continues to relive it); (ii) another possibility is that some sensors in the area are "dormant", and so the command center is not receiving complete where-and-how information, and thus cannot efficiently deploy the relax-and-repair commands as it applies. This is the result of adaptive intelligence where the brain stores experiences in the body in order to ensure species survival. The body’s role is not to make us happy; it’s to help us stay alive. This underlying intelligence can be referred to as our subconscious.

• This feedback cycle of communication can be assisted so as to activate the appropriate underlying intelligence code and help relax or repair muscular structures. This is possible by conveying sensations that the body associates with well being, and with mindful awareness of this traveling sensation. It could be said that the way Somatic Mindfulness views the value of bodywork is that the sensations invited by therapeutic touch stimulate the corresponding sensors or nerve endings, and thus the mind-body feedback communication cycle can be reactivated. The improved communication cycle does not consist of classifying as negative the current condition of a group of body structures. Instead, it is simply about aiding the propioceptive cycle through enhanced awareness of current qualities and characteristics. Once the cycle of communication is flowing, we delegate the relevant modification to the underlying intelligence of the body. We do not concern ourselves with the outcome. Our responsibility is to assist the communication cycle, raising awareness of new sensations, and trusting that the body's own intelligent system will know what to do. This is a process of engaging with conscious intelligence.

• Considering that there is a direct relation between our emotional and the physical aspects, the described process is also relevant in an emotional context. It can be said that our current body condition, posture, flexibility... in short, our relationship with gravity, is a direct result of the experiences we've lived so far. This is easy to corroborate if we look at the results, for example, of a disciplined exercise routine, or the lack of it. It is also evident, that if an important emotion has been experimented, the experience produces corresponding sensations and effects in the body. In this sense, it could be said that the current condition of our body reflects our emotional journey overtime. Based on this it could be suggested that: (i) if a chronic emotion has certain effects in a part or parts of the body, and (ii) if enhancing awareness through sensation in those structures can attract and circulate the body's underlying intelligence, and (iii) if that process helps to improve the current condition of those structures, then (iv) the associated emotion will also transform.

• Chronic habits and experiences make up our current body conditions by repetition. This is by design, and as mentioned before, it is part of our adaptation and survival. The process then to redesign our posture, flexibility, in short, our relationship with gravity, is through new repeated information through new sensations, and an efficient circulation of the body's underlying intelligence. As mentioned, meditative disciplines in action, using sensation as the bridge, can assist on this communication cycle.

• No movement is too small. Somatic Mindfulness moves are deceptively simple when observed externally. Their power resides on the bodyworker's intention and attention. What determines the extent and cadence of each move is the degree of tension on each edge of the movement pendulum. Find the rhythm that happens just inside of the edges of tension, and stay there. The art of Somatic Mindfulness resides in staying just short of the place where tension begins. This promotes agreeable sensations of freedom, flexibility, lightness and/or softness which can remind that area of the body of how it feels when it is at its most healthful and invite it to embody an alternative way of being. There is always a degree of pleasant sensations possible within any tension pattern. Soft, light hands are key. This is where Somatic Mindfulness excels and in that context, start small, no movement is too small.

• You have to have it, to give it. Somatic Mindfulness moves are a conduit. Science suggests that states of being are transmitted through touch. One of the pillars of this work is that mostly, our intention is to transmit a mindful way of being. Somatic Mindfulness moves are just a conduit for that. There are sensations associated with every state of being. Stress has its particular ones, and so do inspiration, despair, delight, fear, or bliss. The sensations of a Mindfulness state are sure to be like softness, lightness and fluidity. We are aiming for muscles without "mind" behind them. So it is the facilitator's job to develop such an internal way of being in order to be able to transmit it.

• Always pay attention to your inner condition. While the aim in Somatic Mindfulness is to transmit a mindful state of being, it is also true that not always are we able to reach them so easily. We all have a variety of circumstances we manage every day and while our intention might be one of equanimity, it is likely we will have days we feel off, or sad or frustrated or angered. The good thing is that mindfulness can be practiced in such days. The significance of transmitting our inner condition through touch can be stated in a different way. Paying attention in a nonjudgemental way applies to ourselves as well, and that action is the value. In other words, while it is lovely to transmit peace of mind, this one of many possibilities. The real benefit is in transmitting a mindful state which is one of curiosity, openness and wonder. So, we are not in a process of developing a measured level of peace or equanimity or any other ideal state. we are in a process of developing openness to how it is and wonder of how it can be. We stay in a constant state of inner inquiry; How am I? How is it? How could to be? What is softer? What is freer? What is lighter?

• To try is to fail. These were some of the favorite words of Milton Trager. A way to understand them is that we don't concern ourselves with the outcome. Our job is to illuminate how it is, not to try to change it. That's not to say that we don't prefer the experience of change in tissue and to see the improvements that this work causes in out clients. We in fact in a way aim for such changes. It's just that what makes this work powerful is our intention. And our intention is not to judge something broken and to fix it. Our job is to embrace it just how it is, and to see whether we can help find within the current state of things, sensations that invite the body to become the best version of itself it can be. This is what tragerwork master Dean Juhan calls the "pleasure principle". Not to be confused with a freudian sentiment, this principle states that no matter the condition of a body structure, there is always the potential to find a sensation that reminds it of what its natural, pleasant, functional, efficient way of being is.

The theoretical cycle of traveling sensation, as understood through the Somatic Mindfulness lens, can be summarized as follows:

• Akin to autopoiesis, the body is a system that operates through an underlying self-organizing intelligence.

• This underlying intelligence is distributed throughout the body through a communication system.

• The communication system can be enhanced through mindful attention.

• The object of mindful attention is sensation.

• This process can be understood as a form of systemic integration where attention is the bridge to the mind-body connection. The process of recognizing, through sensation, the condition of body structures by a central hub of awareness, activates and helps distribute the body's underlying intelligence.

• The interactions of body structures conform the system that is the body, and those interactions have an effect on the functions of each individual component. This dynamic is the process of self-organization. The level of fluidity in such interactions determines the level of harmony within the system. Harmony or homeostasis is the natural tendency towards balance of the system. Lack of harmony is expressed as rigidity or chaos.

• As touch professionals, we promote harmonic self-organization of an intelligent system, not the application of remedies. When we interact with the body of our client, we become part of the active system during that period as another component. Considering that such interaction has an effect on the function of the other components of the system, the way that we interact is important. This is where our intention becomes relevant. Our state of being is transmitted and depending on the quality of that state, such will be the effect we have on the system we are interacting with.

This is why it is important to maintain a constant open, curious and receptive inner inquiry.

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Somatic Mindfulness Awareness Experiences: all techniques aim to asses how it is and have no “fixing” agenda to it.

• Weightless Sculpting is a way to initiate the interaction with our client’s body. It is performed by allowing our hands to fall softly on the skin and begin the sensory conversation through body-initiated (as opposed to arms and hands) movement.

• Space Awareness is the process of exploring the current easy and comfortable range of movement and space in the body’s moving parts (such as between bones of the hands and feet).

• Joint Freedom seeks to use gravity to assist in the exploration of the current range of effortless joint movement.

• Weighing Trust builds a sense of safety and comfort between the client and the therapist through safe temporary release from weight.

• Untethered Gravity offers a sense of freedom from unconscious constraints.

• Traveling Communication explores the paths of sensations through the body’s soft tissue communication network.

• Elastic Bounce tests the smallest viable degree of elasticity in the body.

• Inner Hugging invites the body’s inner soft tissues to experience themselves in relation to their adjacent structures.

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The therapy is in the falling: Gravity does the work. We invite gravity and then follow it as it falls. The feeling of weightless falling invites the body to disengage and truly rest.