Unwinding - What are your experiences?

[pueppi]

Would anyone mind placing some examples of unwinding, how long the session was and how the client reacted as well as how you (the therapist) facilitated the unwinding?

I took a somatics course a number of years ago, and I'd like to see if there are similarities.

Thanks in advance.

[BJB-LMP]

I'm so intrigued by this too -- how long it can go on, how the MT facilitates it, how many sessions it might span, emotional effects, etc. (Not to run over your thread P!)

[moogie]

Well....I don't do the unwinding myself but I do go every 2 weeks to see a therapist who does myofascial unwinding on ME! I go on a regular basis because it is the only type of bodywork that has ever helped my "gimpy" shoulder. My shoulder is badly inflammed all the time and the unwinding is the only work that doesn't stir it up even more.

The session usually lasts 60-75 minutes. The unwinding goes on for some time even after the session is over.

I know people mention emotional releases a lot in connection with unwinding but I've never had that happy to me and I've been getting in done for several years now. The closest thing to an emotional release I've ever experienced is that one time when she was doing a move where I was side-lying and she had abducted and extended my leg, I had a release of my anterior hip and I "knew" somehow that it had an emotional connection but it didn't really impact me emotionally....if that makes sense??

Angie

[maestra]

I've only been unwound twice. Once seated and once supine. I think I prefer seated as it had a more pronounced effect IMO.
I haven't had an emotional release during the unwinding... but have had a couple small moments during regular MFR work that it seemed an "emotional" connection was made with the work... when it seems like a feeling is stored in the tissues of a certain area and when that's accessed, I felt a small wave of emotion.
But my JFB MFR therapist didn't have to worry that we'd disrupt the people across the hall... it was as fleeting as a butterfly.

[Blisss]

Maestra, what did your unwinding look & feel like? I don't think I understand this concept.

[maestra]

I believe the concept that my JFB MFR therapist was trying to get across to me is that they approach the body 3 dimensionally. (Forgive me if I'm not using the right words, I'm not JFB MFR trained myself yet, not even a single class. Hope to someday afford to go though!) I have had some MFR training through Bob King of CSMT, but what I'm learning through my JFB trained friend is in some ways familiar and yet in other ways new and exciting.
Anyway, she had me seated on the edge of the table and she put her hands on my shoulders and proceeded to slightly move my body in a small spiral... going to where in my body she felt restriction... lingering there until the body released it. Before moving on to a wider spiral. I believe she also placed a hand on the top of my head to test the restriction, ROM, there as well.
Since my whole body seems to have a spiral pattern going on anyway, I believe that the unwinding really helps. And yes I asked my chiro and he confirmed that I do have spiraling issues, and have had them for as long as I've been coming to him, which I believe is something over 12 years.
It was interesting that as she worked on me... all sorts of vertebrae in my spine started to realign themselves. The supine version involved her holding my neck... and it's a lot more subtle IMO. Thus why I prefer the seated.
As for what it felt like, it felt very slow and gentle... very graceful... like the dance I've always heard that MFR was supposed to be.
Emotionally I remember that it felt like the unwinding was an opening of one's self to one's own potential. Giving yourself permission to just... Be.
I'm planning on visiting my JFB MFR trained friend in the next week... now I've got a hankering to be unwound again!
Did that help Blisss?

[Pandoras_Gift]

How did you feel afterwards? Any lightheaded or dizzyness? The closest one that does it is 45 minutes away, I am very tempted to make an appointment, but as always, that means getting back in the car!

I am also thinking about taking the class, so I would definitely look at getting a session before I take it...

[Blisss]

Thanks, Maestra. Unwinding seems to cross a broad spectrum of experience. Yours seemed to be an internal experience, while on another thread people talked about clients unwinding off the table and onto the floor. I'd love to hear more experiences, to get the whole picture. Thanks so much for sharing yours!

[maestra]

How did you feel afterwards? Any lightheaded or dizzyness?

How did I feel afterwards? I felt good, more flexible and more aware of my body in relationship to how it moved and occupied space. (That 3 dimensional thing again.) Did I feel light headed or dizzy? Nope, I felt relaxed, more graceful... and yet also more grounded.

The closest one that does it is 45 minutes away, I am very tempted to make an appointment, but as always, that means getting back in the car!

Well, I am sure there are JFB MFR trained therapists closer, but mine is 3.5 hrs away (one way). Thus why I only get to see her every other month or so when I visit my sister.
Would I drive the 45 minutes to see a JFB MFR therapist I heard was good? You bet! It doesn't make me feel tired or anything like a Swedish might. It is more "interactive" during the session, which I enjoy. And when I'm done I get a kick out of experiencing the difference in ROM... but I wouldn't have a whole lot of reservations about driving home. (But hey if you can get someone to drive you, why not take advantage of it?)

I am also thinking about taking the class, so I would definitely look at getting a session before I take it...

Yeah, I would definitely look into getting a few sessions actually... IMO, I'd try to do about 3. It tends to be very slow paced, yet I think that's what makes it so profound... you have to wait for the body to release, for the restriction to be found and for the relationship of your body to space to unfold. There is an intuitive element to it, and you may find your body wanting to move into certain positions during the session in order to bring about a fuller release. Listen to your body and communicate it to your therapist. Set up a code word, don't be afraid to tell them to "Halt" if the work becomes too intense. Each person unwinds at their own pace, be patient with yourself. Most of all, enjoy it! And don't forget to report back!

[StressSolutions]

In MFR classes, esp the classes that that JB teaches, a lot of people unwind as soon as he touches them, which in my opinion, wastes a lot of class time. You see, he'll call someone up to demo a technique, and they'll take off...without a demo of the technique.

It can be quite subtle, quite dramatic, violent, quiet, loud, funny, sad, etc. I've seen the "patient" fighting the "therapist", getting off the table and run across the room, collapse on to the floor. That person was hired 3 months later to be a TA.

I saw a guy during the scapula release (picture sidelying on the edge of the table, therapist pulling the scpula towards the ceiling) swinging his arm round and round like a windmill. If he had caught his therapist with one of those, she'd have gone flying.

People strangling, choking, crying, screaming, roaring like an airplane.

But some are quite contained, just gentle moves, twists, turns, etc.

Smells, tastes, etc will occur, sometimes.

[moogie]

It can be quite subtle, quite dramatic, violent, quiet, loud, funny, sad, etc. I've seen the "patient" fighting the "therapist", getting off the table and run across the room, collapse on to the floor. That person was hired 3 months later to be a TA.

I've been getting MF unwinding done on myself for several years now and I've never come close to experiencing anything like this. I always find it relaxing and other than one "emotional" release where it simply happened and I knew that it was emotional connection, I've only experienced physical releases.



Angie

[Blisss]

I wonder if the "dramatic" unwindings only happen in the setting of the large workshops with John Barnes present. Kind of like "speaking in tongues" happens at revivals, but not when people are praying at home?

For the MFR practitioners on the forum....StressSolutions, MarionFM, WaltFritz, AGWLMT and others.....when your clients unwind, is it a subtle or dramatic experience?

I've never received MFR. I think I would enjoy the experiences Moogie & Maestra describe, but the idea of unwinding dramatically doesn't appeal to me at all.

[StressSolutions]

There have been a number of folks go onto the floor at study groups, with no JB present. Other than in spirit. Lots more energy there, with 4 or more people in a treatment room.

I've never unwound, nor have I taken unwinding, and they say that you can't take someone where you have not gone, BUT I have had some folks unwind. So far no one has been too loud or physical.

If you don't want to unwind dramatically, then you wouldn't. But they say the best results occur when you are able to "take off your brakes".

[jdcan]

For the MFR practitioners on the forum....StressSolutions, MarionFM, WaltFritz, AGWLMT and others.....when your clients unwind, is it a subtle or dramatic experience?

Subtle, maybe a jerk - similar and of the same duration (sometimes double; still, just a few seconds) as a "sleep jump." The only exception was at a Barnes' class when my partner shook and landed on the floor and continued shaking.

[Pandoras_Gift]

Was there any explaination to why there was such a reaction from these people? It sounds like they were getting the "demons" out of their system!

There was nothing like this happening in the classes I took, it was based on Robert Kings teachings...

But back to this discussion it is really interesting, and I am glad to hear of the possibilities, even though I am almost scared to get a session!

[maestra]

There was nothing like this happening in the classes I took, it was based on Robert Kings teachings...

All my official MFR classes were through Robert King & the AMTA-WI, and I've never seen anything like that happening in their classes either.
I'll be seeing my JFB MFR trained friend next week, I'll ask her about the unwinding again.

[jdcan]

Was there any explaination to why there was such a reaction from these people? It sounds like they were getting the "demons" out of their system!

I think he said it was just their way of releasing. I use MFR because of the physical results. I was one of the few in class that "didn't get" the energetic aspect. When my partner fell off the table, I thought to myself "what in the world is she doing?"

[Pandoras_Gift]

I got in contact with the MFR therapist listed closest to me, she said that the first session would be 1 1/2 hours $150. Then the following sessions could be 1, 1 1/2, or 2 hours! She only practices JFR MFR! I guess it is worth a shot to see what it is all about! For that price, I guess I would recoup the $$$ quickly to pay for the class!

[WaltFritz]

When clients unwind, it is difficult to say that they tend to do this or that. The true nature of unwinding, placing yourself in a safe place to feel and move, would contradict expecting a stereotypical response for all. Some feel very subtle internal motion or awareness, others move powerfully through space. Some therapists see, and expect, unwinding from their patients, others never see it. While not an essential part of MFR, patients frequently state that it helps them deepen their feel, as well as often taking them deeper into the causes of their pain.

I taught a seminar this past weekend for some pediatric therapists. The first technique I demo'd, just 2 hours or so into the class, over half of the therapists experienced some degree of unwinding. Quite a shock to them. A number of them said afterward that, as they were holding the technique on their lab partner, that they did not feel anything until I came around and put my hands on theirs. Then the motion took off. Did I unwind them? No, I just gave them a sense of what a soft feel was like, and things took off from there. A few voiced the question as to whether their partner was moving them, but they quickly realized that this was not the case. This is what I like so much about MFR and unwinding, watching therapist's and patient's faces light up when they get the feel.

[MarionFM]

I have not taken an unwinding seminar as such, but as Mick says, there is generally a lot of unwinding at JFB seminars. I think I have said elsewhere that extreme unwindings can be a little unnerving to those who did not know what to expect.

That said, unwinding is the release of trapped emotion in the tissue, or tissue memory. If you had been involved in a bad MVA, you might appear to be re-creating the motion(s) that happened at the time of the accident. That might result in you almost somersaulting off the table, your legs going in one direction and your arms in another. Unwinding often facilitates healing.

I would say that the majority of unwinding is subtle. (Mine is anyway!) The first time my neck unwound, I was convinced the practitioner was moving me. Now I find that when I do early morning stretches before I get out of bed, it seems more like unwinding.

Think of a cat, stretching, arching their back, turning from side to side - lmost fluid in their movements.

They say that you are in control at all times, so you are most unlikely to do something of which you would be embarassed later.

[maestra]

Well... let me preface this by saying I've only ever had one emotional release on the table ever... and even that was just a little "eye leakage" about 2 years ago (with my friend Angie).

But had to rush home and tell ya'll I had a 2 hr MFR session this afternoon with my JFB trained friend, Angie.

Yeah it finally happened, 10 years after my first hearing that people could have an emotional release on the table... today, I actually cried while on the table receiving a treatment.

This preceded an unwinding like I've never had before. I found myself assuming the position of 3 different injuries.

1. An injury to my lower back while I was loading something into my car while in MT school...yes, about 10 years ago!
2. A fall while leaving a clients home which lead to chronic issues with my left ankle... this chronic issue is at least 5 or more years old.
3. A MVA about 2 years ago... in which I had not been restrained.

During the session twice I unwounnd so that more than half my body was off the table... and in the end I unwound right down onto the floor. Yeah, I knew it could happen... but didn't expect it to happen to me!
And I am glad I read about such things happening here, or I might have been freaked out about it despite reassurances from my friend.

Wow, what a day! I think I'm still processing everything!

[Pandoras_Gift]

Maestra -

How many sessions have you had prior to this one?

[maestra]

I'm afraid I couldn't venture a guess of the exact number off the top of my head. Sometimes it's months between visits, and then sometimes it's monthly. Often we are able to arrange our schedules so that I can get a couple treatments in the 4 or 5 days I am in the area. (She's 4 hrs south of me, one way.) And we've taken to doing 2 hr sessions as well. I might try to ask her the next time we talk how many sessions she thinks I've had... see if she has a better grasp of the actual number.

But today's session, was really profound. I think it'd even qualify as... mind-blowing!

[maestra]

Pandoras_Gift,
I talked with my JFB MFR friend Angie this evening... and here's some more background for you.
She started her JFB training in 2000. I think it must have been 2001 or 2002 when I found out she offered MFR. Since I'd taken Robert King's MFR courses, and always had good results from them I asked her to do MFR on me whenever we got together. I encouraged her to make MFR available to her regular clients, because I thought it produced even better results. I kept encouraging her to use it because she got such awesome results with it. Still up until that point the biggest release I'd had was a couple tears slipping out of my eyes while she was doing a "hold."
I was just getting MFR because it felt good and loved the freedom & ROM I had after a session.

I didn't start receiving MFR more regularly until a couple years ago. I'd been in a MVA the end of January 2005. I determined at that time that MFR was the way to go... as I wanted to heal as quickly as possible.
Session length increased from 1 hr to 1.5 hr... then to 2 hr sessions.

Anyway, looking back on it now, it's been been maybe 12-15 sessions? It's hard to figure out because as I mentioned sometimes (in the winter due to road conditions or in summer due to work schedules) I don't get to see her for months... and other times I see her twice in a week for 2 hour sessions. I tend to get down for a visit now about every 4-8 weeks.

However, I think everybody progresses and unwinds at their own rate. I also have to say that Angie and I over the years have built up quite a bond. Seriously, more than once we've called or e-mailed the other only to hear, "I was just thinking about you!" It's happened twice today as a matter of fact!

She recommended I get John's book, "Healing Ancient Wounds: The Renegade's Wisdom." It's available thru Amazon.com... so I will probably order that next week.

Both JFB MFR trained therapists that I know personally, have experienced my massage as well, and both have told me they definitely feel that I have an aptitude for this kind of work.

It used to be if I was trying to do a massage that was more therapeutic in nature I'd end up falling back to swedish. These days it seems that whenever I'm not getting the results I want with swedish that I'll fall back on my MFR training. I think this is an exciting breakthrough for me.
I liken it to, when you're learning another language and you catch yourself thinking in that language without having to translate into it from English.

[AGWLMT]

ok, I am gonna try this one.

What Walt said is how it works. What Maestra said is also what happens.

I also teach an introductory class of JFB MFR in a massage school near me. Even in this group of students, there is some unwinding. The group energy does contribute to the 'ease and intensity' of the unwinding.
I also host a study group in my office once a month. There is at least 5 people present each time. Someone often unwinds to the floor, but not always. My own practice is JFB MFR. I have some some who unwind and some who don't. Unwinding can be whole body or regional. Most clients experience some regional unwinding. It happens when the space is there and the client is safe, whatever that means for each person. I do not unwind my clients.

In my own treatments, starting from my first class 10years ago,the unwindings were heartbreaking, wrenching, painful. I was in a bad marriage, had internalized much of the situation. I had also had pain much of my life, daily pain. Oh and I had been an MT for 11 years. deep tissue work mostly. Over time the pattern of unwinding changes. Sometimes I know what is being released, mostly not. Sometimes the unwinding has been "out there" and others like a slow graceful dance.

I do know I have learned alot about my approach to life by observing how much fight was in my unwindings. As I learned to surrender to the unwinding, let go of the fight, that ability transferred to my life. It was the most profound change of any of the therapies, talk and otherwise, I have tried.

So I guess, unwinding looks different for everyone, and each time.

Good topic, hard to answer though!