Holding the breath, or not breathing deeply enough, combined with muscular tension in the diaphragm and throat, shuts off the voice as a way to contain strong feelings and suppresses the life force. Breathing exercises, heavy physical exertion and using the voice for singing, humming, yelling, screaming or repeating strong vocal expressions can help to open the throat and deepen the breath.

One way we isolate body awareness and feelings is by keeping excessive energy in the head with compulsive thinking and ruminating, accompanied by unconscious tightening of the neck muscles. Meditation, plus mindfulness, neck and head loosening, grounding and centering exercises can create greater mind-body balance to alleviate this condition.

Holding in, holding back, not feeling and not expressing the emotional currents that are part of life can cause stagnation and ill health by not realizing the emotional connection to tension and holding patterns in the muscles and organs of the body. Massage, body awareness exercises and expressive movements that can be as simple as hitting, kicking, bouncing and trembling are ways to get in touch with the feeling needs of the body.

Randy Usem is a licensed massage therapist in Tucson, and he has been trained and certified as a Radix practitioner by the Radix Institute.  For more information, call 520-312-9563 or visit Armorless.net and TucsonMassageAndBodyTherapy.com.