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VICKY STEVENS
Vicky Stevens has been a Certified Trager Practitioner since 1991. She has been involved in body focused therapy for over 12 years and has taken additional training in the following areas:
WHO
MIGHT BENEFIT FROM A TRAGER?
TRAGER WORK: ESSENTIALLY A FEELING STATE by Megan Eoyang (thanks to The Trager Institute for sharing this article)
("TRAGER" is a registered service mark of the Trager Institute.)
What is TRAGER work?
Pain, whether long-lasting or fresh and sharp, cause tension or contraction in the body and in the mind. So can pressures at work or home, history, attitudes and serious health challenges like multiple sclerosis, cerebral palsey, Parkinsonism, polio and genetic or accident - caused body differences. Fear of pain and concern about its impact on daily life increases contraction.
Often this contraction is beyond the control of our conscious mind. If it were conscious we would simply and fully relax whenever we wished to do so. Our unconscious - the body's maintenance engineer and defender - very soon recognizes that the pain is continuous. It then puts the contraction on automatic pilot, and goes about its other business of pumping and balancing the organs, glands and fluids, responding to invading viruses and bacteria, pulling us back from accidents, and preparing us to defend ourselves or run away from perceived attacks and dangers. The contraction is by then firmly in place and "forgotten."
Milton Trager, M.D., spent 60 years as a lay practitioner and later as a medical professional, exploring with clients and patients the relationship among gentle movement and expansion, pain, contract, and the autonomic nervous system (which he associates with the unconscious mind). He was convinced that it is the mind which maintains the contractions, and it is therefore the mind which will free them.
Dr. Trager spent over 15 years teaching others how to access and communicate the feeling state of "open, effortless and free" to client's bodies and minds. He said this special feeling state "is like the measles" you have to catch it from someone who has it." TRAGER practitioners develop and constantly expand the filling state in their own bodies and minds - the better to share it with their clients.
To communicate this feeling state, practitioners use the language of movement; gently rocking, swinging, stretching and pressure. They work within the client's pain-free range to provide a sense of how it feels to be able to move freely and painlessly.
Gentleness and extensive body movement allow the client to give up muscular and mental control, and to sink slowly into a very deep state of relaxation, continuing to move in this state, the unconscious as well as the conscious learns that it no longer needs to contract in order to escape pain or worry.
Some of the movement education work is done with the client experiencing the movement while lying on a massage table. In addition the practitioner teaches the client simple ways of moving that allow them to bring back the feeling state in their daily activities.
The 90's are complex, exciting and occasionally exasperating times. How would it feel to live in them with less tension and contraction in our bodies, minds and hearts? How might that influence the way we come in contact with others in our lives? And how far might that ripple of pleasure and effortlessness travel?
For more information about the TRAGER Approach, the TRAGER Institute's Certification Program, and/or a referral, please call: (519) 652-2706.
..."In 1985 I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia...I feel more relaxed and flexible...Trager has allowed me to enjoy walking, biking, skating and swimming..." -- P. Clements
..."I have found considerable relief from headaches, T.M.J. syndrome and asthma...Trager helps me to lead a healthier life..." -- D. Morrison
..."She has taught me new ways of dealing effectively with life in general. I would highly recommend Trager with Vicky to anyone..." -- K. Weston Reg. N.
..."With a history of 3 heart bypass surgeries...I have experienced much relief from the pain...I am very pleased with the results in only 4 visits..." -- H. Leeming