page stable
In life, he argues, we often find ourselves in a fight-or-flight state and unconsciously become stuck there. Rather than using massage to dissolve life’s “knots” (or bound energies), Amaral directs the client’s focus to specific areas that are experiencing trauma. “Most people are taught to ignore how they feel and push forward to achieve their goals,” he says. “It helps me get my mind and body back in sync.”
Similarly, psychologist Peter A. Levine, Ph.D., says, “Trauma is perhaps the most avoided, ignored, downplayed, denied, misunderstood, and untreated cause of human suffering.” Decades ago, he developed something called somatic experience to assess where a person is “stuck” in the fight, flight, or freeze response and help the body release it.
Through daily group sessions at Hacienda Altagracia, Amaral guides us through a variety of exercises, including a scan of the seven chakras, an hour of meditation, and visualization exercises. My inhales and exhales have never felt so deeply. A recent study from Stanford University has shown that slow breathing has a calming effect, and this is the first time I’ve experienced this on a deep level.
It’s like closing all the tabs you have open on your iPhone (your life’s traumatic experiences, stresses, and challenges) so that the built-in battery can function most effectively. And I feel in control of this freedom. “So many people are in the future and in the past, but to be present in the present moment, that’s where you have the most power. That’s where you have the most access to energy,” Amaral says. In our real lives “being there” is a tall order, but in this part of utopia there are no distractions.
