Emotional Gymnastics®, a registered trademark, is a somatic and preventive approach. The soma, a word of Greek origin, means “living body” or “sensitive body”. This is a different gymnastics from classical gymnastics because it takes into account all the dimensions of our Being (physical organism, emotions, sensations, thoughts) and connects them in an inseparable whole.

Emotional gymnastics® helps to release muscle stiffness, especially those of the posterior muscle chain. By loosening them, it allows the body to regain a better osteo-articular and muscular balance. This work leads to “developing the awareness of the body that we are” and gives the body the possibility of naturally evacuating the emotional memories that it has retained for several years in order to regain a sense of well-being.

Loosen the muscles by practicing slow, simple and effective movements

Thanks to the practice of slow movements, without forcing and at your own pace, we become aware of how the different parts of the body move in space and discover how the body is organized according to the experience in connection with the emotional history of each one. .

The GÉ® therefore allows to discover without judgment the state in which our muscles are and how they behave. Do they move more or less easily? Are they working too much or not enough? Do they seek the help of other parts of the body to move in space?

So, because we are consciously sensing what is out of balance in our body, we can change this muscle state for the better, because even though our muscles are stiff and deformed, they remain malleable. Thus, thanks to the practice of slow, precise movements adapted to the exact physiology of our muscles, we release muscle stiffness and restore flexibility to retracted, shortened or atrophied muscles. The deep and superficial muscles of our body thus regain their ease and vitality. We can therefore free ourselves or at least be relieved of a large number of ailments such as: back pain, neck pain, digestive problems, arthritis, osteoarthritis, fibromyalgia and many others.

Bring length to the muscles of the posterior muscular chain (CMP)

Fortunately, we can, if we want, by practicing the GÉ® give back to the retracted muscles of this chain of the length and rebalance its muscle tone. 

Mademoiselle Françoise Mézières (1909-1991), was the first to discover polyarticular muscle groups that she called muscle chains. She was also the one who made the astonishing discovery of the posterior muscular chain (CMP). “Nested within each other, they are like strings that control the amplitude of our movements. By dint of contracting, they tend to shrink, hence the appearance of muscle pain and also compression and deformation of the spine (lordosis, scoliosis, etc.) ”

We have an extraordinary strength in our body, it is located behind, in the back: the CMP. Unlike the muscles in the front of the body, those behind are all placed in the same direction and overlap each other like the tiles on a roof. This chain of muscles starts at the top of the skull and extends all the way down the neck, shoulders, back, buttocks, legs to the tips of the toes.

These are the muscles that give shape to our body. They are attached to the bones and pass through the joints. Moreover, 97% of the muscles of the CMP are polyarticular, that is to say they cover more than one joint. This is why, it is not surprising to note that if the chain is shortened the joints will suffer unfortunate consequences. Especially since all the gestures we do in everyday life constantly solicit them, accentuating their tone. If we let time do the work without taking care of our CMP, it will inevitably compress us under the weight of the stiffness it has accumulated. Joint deviations will be felt, vertebrae will deviate from their axis, functional lesions may appear (osteoarthritis, tendonitis, herniated disc, lumbago, sprain and others) and serious organic lesions may even set in. 

The body will become deformed and we may think that it is normal that as we age we suffer all these inconveniences causing pain and preventing the vital energy from circulating well in our body. With the practice of GÉ®, it will result that the joints will unlock, the vertebrae will gain space and perform their rotational game better, and the body will regain its axis.

Evacuate emotional memories:

Each person has their own neuromuscular organization. This was established according to his emotional experience. Indeed, from the day of our birth, our body began to react to family and social pressures, then modeled itself by adapting to the accumulated tensions. When certain muscles stiffen or become dead zones, we inhabit our bodies in a fragmentary way.

This can cause discomfort, muscle stiffness, constant fatigue and sometimes even depression. Fortunately, we have the capacity to change and to break free!

Emotional Gymnastics® allows our body to evacuate the emotional memories that it has kept for several years. The process of emotional liberation is always done when the person is ready, internally, to evacuate the repressed emotions from their body and these can then take different forms of expression: crying, laughter, slight tremors, feelings of heat or cold. They can also be expressed in dreams, the door between the body and the unconscious.  

This emotional liberation which occurs spontaneously is a definitive liberation from past sequelae. We can hardly change the story of our life, but if we want to, we can free our bodies from the traumas of the past and regain a sense of wholeness.

Develop perceptions other than visual ones by refining your proprioception

In the practice of Emotional Gymnastics®, far from trusting our eyes, we particularly encourage the awakening of muscular sensitivity and our bodily intelligence. In addition to the five basic senses, one-dimensional senses, we awaken proprioception, which is found in the tendons that attach to the joints, in the ligaments that connect the bones to each other, and in the muscles of sensory muscle receptors that inform the brain about the position of each part of the body in space. There is also interoception (the state of our organs) and exteriorception (coming from the skin and the body).

In addition to discovering how we are organized in our body, the practice of Emotional Gymnastics® allows us to develop the proprioception of our body. Moving parts of our body without having recourse to the eyes opens us to other areas of our being, to our feelings, to new sensations and widens the range of our perceptions. By refining our proprioception, we develop our body awareness and we better inhabit all parts of our being and regain a feeling of fullness.

This somatic approach is more preventive but can nevertheless have therapeutic effects. It is completely complementary with a path in psychology, psychoanalysis, etc. While it is good to free your head, it is just as important to allow your body to evacuate the emotional memories that have buried themselves in the depths of the muscles. This neuromuscular exploration will allow the person to progress more quickly on the road to recovery and / or to self-knowledge.

Emotional Gymnastics® is also complementary with these other approaches: chiropractic, physiotherapy and among alternative medicines: homeopathy, acupuncture, osteopathy, massage therapy and reflexology.

It was in 1976 that the term “soma” was rehabilitated by Thomas Hanna and who drew this term from the Greek philosopher Hesiod for whom the notion of “soma” meant “living” body. T. Hanna published in the 80s the review Somatics and later a book entitled “Definition of the term Somatic“, In The Somatic, Paris: Inter-Éditions (1989).

The proprioception evidenced by Emotional Gymnastics® is based on the scientific research of Dr Charles Sherrington (1857-1952), a British doctor and scientist recognized for his contribution in the field of physiology and neuroscience, who qualified this capacity exceptional “muscular sense” and who integrated it into his scientific presentations on proprioceptive sensitivity.

Emotional Gymnastics® is inspired by the following influences:

• The Mézières method
• Antigymnastics
• The Sensory Awareness method

Emotional Gymnastics® is a preventive approach aimed at all those who want to get to know themselves better, but also for people who want to keep in good shape. It is also intended for all those who have aches, back problems, neck, insomnia, osteoarthritis, fibromyalgia, fatigue or who experience constant fatigue.

It may also be suitable for athletes, who would benefit from providing more length and flexibility to the muscles of their posterior muscle chain in order to exercise their discipline better and avoid injuring themselves or developing joint problems. She teaches the person movements that she can do herself at home.

Although it offers individual sessions, the practice of this body approach is above all a group work, in which each person finds himself with himself. At the start of a group session, each participant expresses how he feels about his body, and if applicable, his need to work in a particular region. The practitioner takes into consideration the requests of the participants to create the session. The movements are described in the form of an oral invitation without being demonstrated. Each person performs the movements according to their abilities, at their own pace, and this without ever forcing anything. In this individual work done in a group, there is no room for competition or comparison. On the contrary, this work has a rather playful character.

The movements experienced can be practiced while lying, sitting, standing or on the side. Some movements will sometimes be accompanied by accessories such as tactile balls, tennis balls, foam balls and different sizes of sticks, etc. We start working on the right side and before doing the left side, we take the time to feel the sensations that each movement arouses and we discover that each side looks the same, but behaves differently. During the sessions, there are moments to verbalize the sensations that each movement arouses in order to become aware of and integrate them. We also become aware of the different sensations that the other participants experienced while practicing the same movement. Thus, this sharing of expression of sensations between participants opens us to a range of sensations other than those we have experienced.

Emotional Gymnastics® is an intelligent and preventive gymnastics which allows, without ever rushing anything or anyone, to release muscular rigidities and to restore flexibility and vigor to the retracted and shortened muscles of our body.

This training is recognized by the Quebec Department of Revenue and by the Department of Human Resources and Social Development Canada. To be eligible for this training, it is necessary to have practiced GÉ® over a period of 4 cycles of 10 sessions on a regular basis and to have a high school diploma and a post-secondary diploma or the equivalent.

Before the acceptance of an application, an interview will be granted to the person to determine if they are suitable to become a practitioner in GÉ®. If this is the case, he will be given a detailed description of the GÉ® training program. At the end of the training, a diploma is given to each participant certifying that he is able to practice the method of Emotional Gymnastics®.

The training is given by Martine Veilleux, practitioner, trainer and instigator of the GÉ® and author. A graduate in Somatic Education from the University of Quebec in Montreal, Martine Veilleux has been teaching conscious slow movement in groups and individuals for over 16 years.