How Passive Joint Release and Deep Stretching Can Unlock Psychosomatic Patterns

Bodymind Therapy Berlin – Deep Stretching

In Bodymind Therapy, the body is never viewed as isolated from the psyche. This becomes especially clear when working with joint stiffness or muscular tension. What may seem like a purely physical issue—such as limited hip mobility or chronic tension in the shoulders—is often an expression of deeply rooted psychological patterns. The body remembers. It protects, holds back, and withdraws through tension, immobility, or collapse.

At the heart of this approach are the so-called psychosomatic functions—core developmental capacities that integrate body awareness, emotional regulation, and relational experience. When these functions were disrupted or not fully supported during early development, the body often compensates by holding tension, especially around the joints. This tension can appear as either chronic hypertonicity or hypotonic collapse.

One of the most common expressions is rigidity—a kind of inner bracing the system uses to maintain control or safety. But the opposite can also occur: areas of the body that lack tone, feel disconnected, or collapse under stress.

When the Body Defends Itself

One of the central psychosomatic functions is protection and defense. When a person has experienced emotional threat or learned early on that certain impulses or emotions aren’t safe, the body responds with defense. This often shows up as chronic holding in areas like the shoulders, knees, or jaw. The tension is not just mechanical—it’s a form of emotional bracing. The body is saying: “I can’t let go—it’s not safe.”

Holding Boundaries

Another essential function is that of setting boundaries. The body needs to sense and maintain a personal boundary to distinguish itself from others. When someone struggles with saying no, gets lost in relationships, or constantly shifts between merging and withdrawing, we often see chronic tension in areas like the elbows, arms, or knees. These are physical regions that symbolically support distancing or pushing away. High muscle tone here can reflect rigid relational boundaries, while low tone may reveal a tendency to collapse or allow too much in.

Staying Centered

The function of centering is vital for staying grounded in one’s being. It allows a person to feel and act from a stable inner base. When this capacity is underdeveloped or blocked, it’s common to find excessive tension in the pelvic area, lumbar spine, or deep muscles like the psoas. This pattern often corresponds with difficulty accessing authentic feelings, a fear of losing control, or a sense of being emotionally “not quite there.”

Allowing Connection

The function of relational connectedness also has strong bodily expressions. For those who fear intimacy, who have experienced unsafe closeness or enmeshment, there is often chronic tension in the chest, especially around the sternum or upper thoracic spine. The heart is “armored” to prevent contact. Breath becomes shallow, and emotional presence diminishes. The tension functions as a protective wall against feeling too much.

The Role of Passive Joint Release and Deep Stretching

This is where passive joint Release and deep stretching come into play. These techniques don’t just release physical tension—they create an opening for new somatic and emotional experiences. When a joint is gently supported and invited to soften, it creates a space for something different to happen. What was once frozen, held back, or avoided may begin to move again.

For example, releasing the psoas can bring up early themes of autonomy, control, and denied will. Releasing tension in the elbows may awaken the ability to say “no,” to define space, or to reclaim agency.

This work requires deep attunement. Any physical release may also open emotional vulnerability. That’s why it’s essential to proceed slowly, with presence, breath, and verbal reflection. In Bodymind Therapy, the goal is never the performance of movement, but the integration of what is alive.