I have done a few unwindings lately, including the one today. All in all, they have been interesting, but as people do more, it is easier and they go further.
My client today has been to me for massage, Reiki, and meditation. This was her second time unwinding, and the effect of it was truly spectacular.
Unwinding is a strange method of releasing energy that the body stores from every experience. It needs to be released because it does have an effect on how one acts and reacts. Unwinding goes through a lot of motions, putting the body back into positions similar to those that created the energies in the first place. It is through these positions that the energies are released.
If one has not done this before, it takes a time or two before one gets comfortable with the process. Where many therapies have the therapist leading the subject through the process, here, the therapist is just following the subject. The subject is the one that is doing all the work, and this is unusual for the subject to get used to. In many cases, it takes a bit for the subject to feel free enough to to move freely.
Imagine standing in an open area. Maybe you start swaying, letting your body move as it wants to. Maybe your arms come up. Maybe they swing around. You might almost consider it free form dancing. Maybe you feel you can't continue standing so you let yourself sink to the ground. You start rolling around, turning this way and that, letting yourself go where you feel you need to be. Maybe you curl into a ball, or stretch out. Maybe you tuck your head under you and arch your back. Maybe you shout things that just want to come out, or cry, or laugh. This is basically what happens during an unwinding. The job of the therapist is to follow, and help. They will assist in getting into positions if the subject needs to, or help by pushing the process further. They will also keep the subject safe by keeping them from running into walls and such. (For more information in Unwinding, see this article.)
Now, my client was a little unsure going into her first unwinding, but today, she at least knew what to expect. The last time, when she needed to go to the floor, she got herself down. This time, she just fell back against me and let me ease her down.
She started rolling around and ducking her head under. I could sense that she wanted to go upside down (something I did four times in the classes), but she didn't trust me enough to head into it. As she got to that point, she started to go there, but turned to the side instead.
One thing she was doing was opening her eyes a lot to see where she was. (When one does this, it takes you out of the mode. Basically anything that distracts one during the process pulls you out of the process. Even minimal distractions breaks up the continuity of the unwinding. Say one is going through some movements and the strap on your top starts to come down, taking the conscious thought to fix it takes you out of the unwinding. I remember when I did this in classes. As I was coming off the table upside down, my swimsuit started grabbing on the back of the table and came somewhat down. I could have stopped to fix it, but that would have taken me out and then I would have had to go back in. One of the people in our group of therapists fixed it.)
So, looking at what she was doing, I came up with an idea. I went and got one of the blindfolds that I use when I teach now and then, and blindfolded her. This helped as it made her let go and just let the unwinding happen.
She did a lot of rolling around and at one point started hitting at the floor. She told me later that she was pushing away darkness.
When it finally wound down, she was feeling much calmer. She had come in stressed because her mother in-law was visiting. Now, all the stress was gone and she was able to handle the situation. Cool.
I find as I do more of these therapies, I see more amazing things.