1. 1 What is RADIX ® ? Randy Usem RADIX Teacher 520-207-7911 randyusem@yahoo.com www.radix.org

2. 2 RADIX® RADIX is a neo-Reichian personal growth discipline that is founded on the holistic principle of mind/body unity. RADIX work allows for a very rich diversity of verbal and non-verbal techniques customized for each client’s changing needs. These techniques increase centering and grounding, body/emotional awareness, physical movement and vocalization.

3. 3 Goals of RADIX 1. Restoring the rhythmic flow of the life force or ‘Radix’ throughout the body and assisting the student to become conscious of the many ways they facilitate or inhibit the flow. 2. To experience and integrate feelings 3. To improve posture, decrease body pain and discomfort, and increase lung capacity 4. To improve muscle health by releasing toxins stored in muscle tissue 5. Stay present, be fully alive and heal the mind/body split that inhibits emotional aliveness

4. 4 Wilhelm Reich, M.D. RADIX education is rooted in the pioneering work of Wilhelm Reich, M.D. during the first half of the 20th century. Reich discovered relationships between body processes and emotional functioning that proved seminal for the holistic movement that followed. He was ahead of his time in his work on the relationship between emotional stagnation and degenerative disease, and his work on healthy sexual functioning was revolutionary.

5. 5 Muscular Armor At the root of emotional stagnation was what Reich called “muscular armor.” Muscular armor refers to chronic tension in the musculature that blocks the natural flow of emotions through the body. Reich found that direct work on a person’s musculature and breathing helped allow and experience blocked emotions. He developed interventions to free the natural emotional expressiveness of the body by loosening the muscular contractions. This allows longheld feelings to flow through the body and leaves the person feeling more alive and better able to establish contact with themselves and others.

6. 6 Charles Kelley, Ph.D. In the early 60s, Charles Kelley contributed to the development of Reich’s theories. He developed group and individual growth techniques based on Reich’s conceptual model. Specifically, he advanced the understanding of relationships between vision and feeling. He realized that it is crucial that we are connected to and ‘alive’ in our eyes; and that this visual aliveness is central to our consciousness and well being. RADIX has grown into an effective tool for uncovering the natural expression and creative energy that are blocked by rigidity and stagnation.

7. 7 Mind/Body Relationships It has been demonstrated that emotions accompany physiological changes. Fear can create heart palpitations. Anger can elevate blood pressure. In certain situations blocked anger and fear can lead to a stroke. Ulcers and gastrointestinal disturbances have often been ascribed to emotional factors. Arthritis, asthma, hives, tuberculosis and even the common cold may often have a psychosomatic component.

8. 8 Emotions and Cancer Some cancer studies show that fear, hate, and guilt underlie many forms of cancer. It could be said that “nice guys” may be more prone to becoming cancer victims than people who express their emotions directly.

9. 9 Psychosomatic Illnesses Some findings show that people suffering from depression can be brought out faster with physical movement than by any type of psychotherapy. Psychosomatic illnesses seem to result from long-term sustained internal stress brought about when unacceptable emotions are repressed. However, all manner of psychological impairments and neurotic behavior can be attributed to this same process. These findings have been documented for more than the past 20 years.

10. 10 Muscular Structure The ‘radix’ is the life energy that flows through the body longitudinally, uniting body, mind and spirit, and being experienced as thinking, feeling, and action.

11. 11 Emotions in Children Infants and young children need warmth and touch of a loving environment that encourages and supports their development. They need freedom to risk, explore and do what is spontaneous and natural.

12. 12 Emotions in Children For most children, the free expression of feelings and emotions is denied or punished by unknowing parents and society. As a result, children learn to hide and deny their true feelings in order to survive. They shut out emotional contact and deny feelings and self expression. The true or real self which is the part of us that is alive, energetic, creative and fulfilled is not allowed to emerge.

13. 13 Emotions in Children As children learn to suppress their emotions they develop tension in their muscles and organs. When caregivers punish the natural expressions of fear, anger and pain, the child learns that it is not safe to express such feelings.

14. 14 Emotions in Children Example Parent says, “If you don’t stop crying I’ll give you something to cry about.” The child responds by holding their breath, tightening their jaw, tightening their chest and choking down feelings in their throat. Repeating this threat over and over again creates the body armor Reich discovered. These blocked emotions never get expressed and consequently are never discharged.

15. 15 Emotions in Adults The habitual pattern of repressing emotions is what most adults experience. The pattern is repeated and reinforced whenever adults are confronted by a situation that brings up an emotion or feeling of unpleasantness or that is threatening to the self. The development of rigid patterns of holding against unwanted feelings limits the experience of pain and PLEASURE as well as the expression of these emotions. The same parts of the body block expression of pain and PLEASURE. Releasing these blocked areas open the body to fully experience and express PLEASURE.

16. 16 RADIX & Spirituality When we can deeply surrender to the life force flowing through us in the present moment, we feel our feet touching the earth, we feel the breeze on our face, and we see the brightness of the earth and sky. We have a sense that our life energy is connected to a larger life energy of the universe. In this sense a RADIX session can result in a meeting with one’s spiritual self.

17. 17 RADIX & Spirituality RADIX work is not about making you happy. Rather it is about experiencing and engaging with the intensity of life. The reasons people do RADIX work is a desire or yearning to grow and experience life more fully and to develop a more harmonious relationship with self and others.

18. 18 RADIX Teaching RADIX teaching is about surrendering to what you are experiencing, and when you are able to surrender you experience a deep connection with self and this develops into a genuine love and acceptance of who you really are and your own uniqueness.

19. 19 Conclusion RADIX can be seen as a bridge between the physical, the psychological and the spiritual--a way of linking body, mind, and spirit. It’s been described as an adventure in feeling, an expansion of awareness and a leap into self acceptance. Deep pain, fear and anger may be contacted in this process and, as they are, joy, love, trust, and spiritual awareness all have more space to grow.

20. 20 Conclusion The body is a ‘frozen’ history of our life experiences and the body doesn’t lie and is a direct route to unconscious material.

21. 21 References Research Report, Dr. Franz Alexander, Director of the Psychiatric and Psychosomatic Research Institute, Mt. Sinai Hospital, Los Angeles Research Report, Drs. Eliot Corday, Sanford Rothenberg, and David Irving Cedars of Lebanon Hospital, Los Angeles Report on Cancer, April 1971, Dr. George Solomon, Associate Professor of Clinical Psychiatry, Sanford University of Medicine, and Dr. Claus Bahnson, Director of the Dept. of Behavioral Sciences, Pennsylvania “Cancer and Emotions,” Dec. 1965, Cancer News Journal

22. 22 Thanks for your interest in RADIX® For more information go to: www.radix.org