Breema: The Essence of Harmonious Life

By Mara Bright

Whenever someone asks me what Breema is, I say, "It feels like a cross between contact improvisational dancing and Tai massage, but really you have to experience it for yourself." This comparison to other modalities came to my mind after the first time I received Breema from a certified practitioner on the floor of the library where I worked. Fully clothed, I enjoyed a series of leans, brushes, holds and stretches choreographed as separate and complete sequences and strung together to flow like a dance.

Unlike most other styles of bodywork, Breema aims not to fix anything. It is nondiagnostic. Instead, the emphasis is on the practitioner making her own body comfortable throughout the sequence, remembering that she has a body and that her body breathes, and returning again and again to that awareness. For the practitioner, then, Breema becomes an opportunity to practice mindfulness, being present in each moment without judgment. In this atmosphere of full acceptance of what is in the moment the client naturally relaxes and receives exactly what she needs, trusting in the wisdom of her own body to balance and harmonize itself according to its needs. In this way, Breema requires no effort, and the practitioner also receives recharging and renewal as a result of a session. Breema is generally practiced in silence, so that both bodies can participate in the experience filly without distraction. Both practitioner and recipient report enormous well-being, harmony and nurturance at the end of each session.

Underlying Breema bodywork is a philosophy based on Universal Principles that can be reduced to the simple wish to be present in each moment. Understanding that the body is the vehicle through which we experience sensation, Breema reminds us again and again to return to body and breath if we want to awake to the present moment. More often than not, we are caught in the incessant and complicated ranting of our minds with little or no awareness of the present moment. Practicing Breema brings the practitioner's attention back to her own body and to the present. By keeping in mind the nine Breema principles, which are a distillation of Universal Law, the practitioner has concrete tools for deepening her awareness. The nine principles are: Body Comfortable, Full Participation, No Extra, No Force, Non-judgment, Mutual Support, Single Moment Single Activity, Gentleness and Firmness, No Hurry - No Pause.

Contained in each Breema principle is the essence of every other Breema principle. In this way they are hologenic, echoing the hologenic nature of the body, in which each part contains the intelligence of the whole. So that, for example, when the practitioner brushes the client's leg, the client's whole body is receiving the brush. Nothing exists in separation; it is only the mind that would insist so.

Included in Breema are a series of sequences designed to be practiced on one's own body, called Self-Breem. Based on the same nine principles, they offer each person who practices them the opportunity to deepen her relationship to her own body as a pathway to experience life in the present moment. Self-Breema exercises can be practiced by everyone. The Breema Center in Oakland, California, where Breema originates, has published a collection of self,-Breema exercises in a book called S.if Breema Exercises for Harmonious Life Of interest and tremendously supportive is another title available from the Breema Center called Breema Essence of Harmonious Life by Jon Schreiber, director of the Breema Center.

The session I received two years ago on the library floor has led to both my partner and me becoming certified as Breema practitioners and to our adopting Breema as a way of life. Breema is slowly making its way to the east coast. There are already a few practitioners in New England. The Breema website (www.breema.com) is a good source of information about Breema and provides a state-by-state listing of practitioners.

Mara Bright and Luc Bodin practice Breema in Wendell and Amherst, MA. You can reach them at 978/544-9705. Mara runs groups for writers that incorporate self-Breema and writing.