It is known that Reichs beliefs did not found support in the medical community, although, according to Kelly (1979), nowadays there is no serious work that would refute this theory.
«The brief psychological dictionary», on the contrary, is very concrete in determining the source of energy for emotional reactions: «The level of energy mobilization (activation) of the body, necessary for the emotional functions, is provided by the autonomic nervous system in its interaction with the structures of the brain that makes up the central substrate of emotions28.» Further we will discuss the nature of bodily sensations in different emotional states.
For reasons of scientific correctness and consistent implementation of the phenomenological approach, which will be discussed below, I prefer to think about what is felt in the body when experiencing, in a different way. This is a kind of subjectively felt substance that is noticeably collected in the forehead with anxiety, in the back of the head with overcontrol of the situation, in the temples with irritation, in the chest with resentment and grief, in the stomach with fear and jealousy. I call it «the substance of the heat-heaviness, or «HH», by the main (though not only) sensations that accompany its movement and concentration. However, the term «HH» sometimes have to be replaced by the more general one «energy, because it is the strength of the body response that correlates with the amount of «HH», gathered in a particular place.
This is something that determines the quantitative characteristics of the experience. It is the mass, involved in the experience of «HH», depends on how upset the state of a person. Gathering in certain places in the process of forming of pathological charges, it becomes the source of an unpleasant weight and unpleasant heat. When relaxing, the same «substance moves to the periphery of the former focus of tension and determines the feeling of «a pleasant heaviness and «pleasant heat, described by Schultz in the book «Autogenic training». It is the HH substance that is distributed in the body in the process of calming down (we will talk about it at the therapeutic phase), acquiring the characteristics of light, air, liquid or even a thick mass, spreading in all directions, sometimes painful at first, and filling the periphery, like the long-awaited rain, irrigating fields suffering from drought.
The body is the contour map of the soul
The idea that each area of the body is simultaneously a zone of consciousness, is known since ancient times. These are Indian ideas about chakras as special energy centers, which are simultaneously centers of consciousness; Chinese ideas about energy channels in which the psychic energy Shen circulates, etc. The idea of the heart as an organ of consciousness is developed in Orthodoxy. (St. Archbishop Luke (Voino-Yasenetsky); not recognized canonically.
The observations by Ferenczi, Reich and Lowen, who developed the «somatic approach» in psychoanalysis29, are significant in the context of this discussion. These authors considered the relationship between muscle tension and mental function in general. Reich formulated the thesis about the functional identity of muscle tension and emotional block. Lowen came to the idea of «functional unity of character and muscle rigidity pattern.» Earlier Freud assumed that «Self» is bodily first of all («Self and Id»): «Self», undoubtedly, is generated by bodily feelings, its sources mainly lie on a body surface». A little later we will mention Henri Bergson, who also spoke about the effects of muscle tension in the process of experiencing (back in 1889).
Those authors, consistently seeking to supplement the «analysis from above with the «analysis from below (the expression by Sandor Ferenczi), revealed the relationship between the levels of the body and experiences of various kinds. They were mainly investigating in the surface of the body: «relaxation exercises (Ferenci), study of «muscle shell (Reich), poses, body positions (Lowen).
The good and evil book
Where do the equivalents of different states find their place?
Head:
forehead anxiety
temples irritation
back of the head responsibility, the need to control the situation
top of the head osteochondrosis of the spine, «poor nutrition of the head (later we will talk about the origin of psychic bodily sensations)
Chest: resentment, anxiety, spite, anguish, grief.
Abdomen: solar plexus area fear, anger.
Archpriest Eugene Popov tried to present a list of «sins against the ten commandments of God.» In this book30 there were 1087 pages. If we consider that the beginnings for sins and the beginnings for neuroses are often the same, the list of neuroses may be no less. And each of them «rents its area of the body. Each SPT work provides new material for the creation of a detailed atlas of «continents and «islands of experiences of the human body. Here are the most common ones, although if you want you can make a detailed map of the passions. The body acts as the «contour map, which describes the location of the structures of consciousness.
The body is a beautiful reference point. In the register of the body marks there could appear even little things like the consequences of undeclared gratitude to the abandoned places (say, school) or discarded containers (boxes, bottles, packages). These areas are located on the sternum below the level of the nipples. Hands from shoulders to fingertips are reference points for recording relationships with trees, herbs, amphibians, birds. If a person uses a tree in their household without a sense of gratitude to it, the right humerus is tightened with a birch bark, and it turns out that shoulder is bound for a reason. If a person once burned the grass, the area of «shoulder girdle hurts. The sins to the birds are recorded below in the forearms, to the animals in the legs.
So, we can assume that the «book of good and evil, which, according to the beliefs of Christians, angels and demons read on the Day of judgement and where all the sins and virtues of a persons are recorded, are they themselves, the bodies of their souls. SPT, using psychocatalysis, helps the patient «to read this book before it is read to them, and to change its content, to decide which pages are to be included
The periodic system of experiences
In the periodic system by D. I. Mendeleev, the qualities of some elements, such as sodium, potassium, rubidium, cesium, are similar. All these elements belong to the same category of alkali metals. However, they repeat their qualities on new registers, having a new core charge and a new number of electronic shells. The commonality of their characteristics is explained by the fact that at the external level of all these elements have the same number of electrons that can connect with other elements. The repeatability of the characteristics of experiences in the human body resembles the repeatability of the characteristics of chemical elements in periods. The experiences are found in strictly defined parts of the physical body. The experience of a seemingly close orientation, such as anger, irritation, anger, differ precisely in the fact that they occupy different territories. Irritation is concentrated in the temples, spite in the chest, anger in the stomach.
In the periodic system by D. I. Mendeleev, the qualities of some elements, such as sodium, potassium, rubidium, cesium, are similar. All these elements belong to the same category of alkali metals. However, they repeat their qualities on new registers, having a new core charge and a new number of electronic shells. The commonality of their characteristics is explained by the fact that at the external level of all these elements have the same number of electrons that can connect with other elements. The repeatability of the characteristics of experiences in the human body resembles the repeatability of the characteristics of chemical elements in periods. The experiences are found in strictly defined parts of the physical body. The experience of a seemingly close orientation, such as anger, irritation, anger, differ precisely in the fact that they occupy different territories. Irritation is concentrated in the temples, spite in the chest, anger in the stomach.
It is known that clinical psychotherapy differs, say, anxiety and fear. What is the criterion of their differentiation? Fear is objective, anxiety is objectless. In SPT, these states, which are distinguished by the patients themselves, show their non-identity in a special way. They are experienced at different levels of the body: fear at the level of the abdomen (animal), worry at the level of the heart (soul), anxiety at the level of the forehead (head).
There are several such «rows.»
Multipolarity of experiences and dreams
In somatic analysis some dreams can be traced to an interesting phenomenon: the different parts of the dreams correspond to sensations in different areas of the body. As an example, there are some dreams of M., a young man, who was prone to drunkenness. He dreams that he is between two slopes of the mountains, in front of him there is a big pile of shit, and behind him there rolls a huge ball.
When asked about the feelings associated with each part of the dream, he replied as follows. The image of «the pile of shit corresponds to the feeling in the forehead. There is a plate of parabolic antenna there. This corresponds to his experience of self-concern: «I am aware of it, I understand it. I do not want to get there,» says the patient.
The feeling, associated with the image of «a huge rolling ball, is experienced in the stomach. There is a huge heavy lump of fear.
The slopes of the mountains, as components of the frightening landscape, are «invested by the same charge as «the ball.»
Such observations allow us to admit that the state (which has arisen for internal reasons or in response to an external situation) can be experienced at several levels. For example, a person can simultaneously be anxious (at the level of the head), be worried (at the level of the heart) and be frightened (at the level of the abdomen). Three experiences of one situation irritation in the temples, annoyance in the chest, anger in the abdomen. Three «images of dreams can correspond to them, as a kind of «triptych on a common topic.
This phenomenon of multipolarity of an experience can explain the fact that in dreams there are a lot of plot changes that are difficult to explain logically. Such changes can be «a roll call, «a conference of the centers when each of them «reports the situation in its own way. The breaks in a dream can be associated with passing «the initiative.» Change of a plot means that «other channel begins to show: at first it was, say, the forehead that broadcast the program, then it was the turn of the stomach, and then heart began its program.
This is an alternative to the case where the influence of the centers is summed up and a «landscape is created with multiple characteristics, as in the case of M.
Greed and stinginess
It is an interesting fact how differently can a person be influenced by similar disasters, e.g., greed and stinginess. Greed is in the hands (the desire to grab turns the hands into hooks), and stinginess is in the heart (the desire to hold the achieved turns the heart into a capsule). Perhaps such observations can give rich material not only to doctors, but also to teachers of ethics and morality, philologists, and other specialists.
The apparent duplication of concepts in language, according to topographic psychology, is justified by the fact that each word, if it is filled with real content (if its existence is given some life energy of native speakers), corresponds to a special place in the body of human consciousness. Despondency, grief, sadness, sadness, melancholy it would seem synonymous, but the appeal to the feelings reveals their non-identity to each other (they receive energy from different zones, have different «weight and «color).
The kaleidoscope of images
The perceived formations vary in:
size from a pinpoint to larger than the volume of the body
consistency from gaseous to rocky
color from white to black across the spectrum
time of occurrence from a few seconds to decades ago
the part of the potential, absorbed by this formation from 1 to 99%
visualized images lump, tangle, plate, plate, weights, radishes with a three-meter root and lush poisonous green foliage, jellyfish, octopus, spreading its black tentacles, hedgehog, dragon, bull, aircraft, etc.
Such data give the idea that descriptions of frogs in the abdomen, snakes in the heads, lumps in the throat, bags on the shoulders, etc., given by the unfortunate hypochondriacs, neurotics and psychotics, are not a sign of their madness or neurosis, but represent only one aspect of their state, experienced by almost everyone, including the so-called healthy people, though, not so meaningful and understandable for each of them.
Likewise, looking at the drawings of surrealists with their strange, at first glance, subjects (for example, the body in the form of a chest of drawers by Dali, or deformed bodies by Shemyakin), you come to the conclusion that they are a kind of version of realism, which is the realism of internal sensations (healthy or unhealthy is another question).
It also becomes clear which contours of inner feelings are transmitted in some modern toys and cartoon characters, usually distorted in specific way. What is «secretly felt with closed eyes, animators make «clear and visible with open eyes. So are the «good and «evil creatures with too developed chewing apparatus, blindfolded and with a shell on the back, like ninja turtles, etc.
The layers
A number of formations consists of layer or composite elements. A woman with elongated proportions of the body (a sign of asthenic type), but quite energetic chin (epiradical) gained a huge amount of mass in the back of her head (responsibility). Obviously, this state prevented her from doing everything perfectly. On deciding to calm down, she felt those sensations departing down along her back. The wave passed. But there were some pebbles remained in that place.