A Revolutionary Approach to Mental/Emotional Well-Being

Body & Health

Jun 12

The first time I received a Breema Bodywork treatment, a serious physical injury I'd sustained two months earlier virtually disappeared without a trace. But even more remarkable was the psychological/emotional effect I experienced. I remember saying to myself "Thirty years of psychotherapy in 20 minutes!" The weight of the mental and emotional stress I had been carrying was so significantly decreased, I felt like I had been given a new life! These initial experiences led me to devote the following four-plus decades to a concentrated study of Breema, its underlying principles, and its potential for physical, mental, and emotional health improvement and maintenance. And after 45 years of using Breema in clinical practice, I can say that I have never been disappointed by the results.

It's certainly quite surprising for most of us to discover that a physical modality can have such a direct, immediate, and enormous impact on our mental and emotional health. "How does it work?," most of us want to know. The answer to this question is both simple and at the same time, multifaceted.

I would like to examine this question, and at the same time, introduce you, bit by bit, to some of the angles that make Breema the most unique health improvement method I've ever encountered.

Let's begin with Breema's Nine Principles of Harmony, the foundation on which everything rests and from which it all begins...

The first Principle of Breema is Body Comfortable. Here, I need to mention right away, that this (and every Principle) applies equally to both the Breema Practitioner and to their client/patient. Just by the practitioner's emphasis on constantly and uninterruptedly maintaining and increasing both their own and the client's comfort during a session, conditions are created in which the client is able to release tension and patterns of thought, feelings, and postures and movements that have had a long and tenacious hold on them. There is a feeling somewhat akin to sinking into the most comfortable bed imaginable. The recipient is able to relax so profoundly, that a significant supply of energy that was previously trapped as tension in the muscles, joints, nerves, as well as in nearly all the body's other systems, is released and made available for repair, rejuvenation, and an overall strengthening that is balanced by an increased resilience.

In a word, we become more able to cope with the stresses and demands of our life, both the ordinary and the extraordinary.

The practitioner facilitates this major change by creating it, not just in the recipient, but also in their own body, mind, and feelings moment after moment, in the course of the Breema session. The synergistic effect is remarkable—the recipient's inner intelligence (yes, we all have that, though most of us are totally disconnected from it!) immediately picks up on the living example of the practitioner, who is actually modeling the very healing response that the recipient needs, and is able to produce the same response in their own body, mind, and feelings. The results are at times subtle, and at times, very dramatic. In most cases, the recipient is able to perceive an immediate, positive response. Unlike many healing methods in which the recipient has to wait a long time until they can finally discern whether the method is working for them, one rarely has to wait in order to sense that Breema is the right fit.

Jon Schreiber, DC, is the Director of the Breema Center, and of the Breema Clinic. He has used Breema Bodywork as the primary method of health improvement at his Rockridge clinic since 1981. He teaches Breema around the world, and has written many books on Breema and health. He collaborates with Alexandra Johnson, M.D. in his clinical practice, where he treats patients with the goal of helping them achieve maximal physical, mental, and emotional health.