Breema Intensive in Bühl, Germany

Every year people from all over the world gather to study, practice and deepen their relationship to Breema. This year Jon Schreiber, Director of the Breema Center and author of many books about Breema, will participate in the Bühl Intensive along with Pari Schneider (the organizer of this Intensive) and many other Breema instructors, practitioners and students.

Pari said that this will be the 13th annual Breema Intensive in Bühl. He and the other European Breema students are very excited that Jon is coming this year.

I asked him why someone should consider coming to this Intensive:

Pari: Because of the current world conditions, it seems there is more desire for finding something real. It seems like material things have not provided what people really want from life. There is an opening—people are seeking more conscious insight in their life, more understanding, asking the question, "What does it mean to be here on this planet?"
At the Intensive, we are doing Breema for ourselves, experiencing ourselves anew in the presence of another person. The moments of presence while I am doing Breema give me a taste of my own existence instead of a thought or concept about it. In these Intensives love arises for the simple fact that we are, with appreciation for being together with each other, having an alive experience of life—actively practicing and bringing the Breema principles alive.
There is so much beauty in exploring life in a new way. If I can let go of my concepts about how life should be or how I should relate to others, I may have a new experience of life.

I also asked Roxanne Caswell and Birthe Kaarsholm, Breema instructors who come to the Bühl Intensive every year, what it's like to be a part of this five-day retreat:

Birthe: Breema "retreat"  is really the right word for it. The atmosphere created in class also extends outside the class time. Often the material of the classes comes alive in a relaxed, informal way during meals together and walks in the evening.

Roxanne: It's a very wonderful, unique way to relate to other people—more essentially, rather than with the usual currency of the story of the personality.We emphasize one principle for each morning and afternoon class during the five days. It's a great way for students to really experience what a Breema principle is, and how it can be worked with in the class and brought into their lives.

Birthe: The atmosphere carries everyone with it. It's the opposite of everyday life, which carries us in the unconscious direction—here we're all supported to be more present and to drop "extra."

Roxanne: People return year after year, to deepen their relationship to Breema. There is something really accessible for all levels. When people come back from an Intensive their relationship to Breema is much stronger, and their desire to be present grows. I always come back with body, mind, and feelings more balanced. I feel relaxed, but charged up with life!

How can I make the time that I spend with my clients truly rewarding, satisfying, and meaningful to us both?

I asked Jon Schreiber, Director of the Breema Center and Breema Clinic. Here's what he has to say in response:

Breema is based on an amazingly practical common-sense approach to the body and to life. There is nothing that we need to do in life that should be uncomfortable or painful to our body. But in fact, most of the things we do in life fall into that category! They end up damaging us or draining us. Breema actually teaches you how to do things in a way that is enjoyable for you, and increases your energy rather than draining it.

Each of us has an instinctive intelligence that operates in the body, and the possibility to enter a deeper, more meaningful, or higher level of consciousness than we typically spend our life in. Breema's philosophy and practice constantly orient us toward this bigger picture. It saves us from reducing clients to the set of problems they are presenting themselves with. The more the practitioner is free from identifying with what the client's identified with, the better it is for both of them. At those times, I can see that my client may have back pain, but at the same time is alive, is actually much healthier than not healthy, and is part of a much larger Life. The more this is not just a concept for me, but informs how I move, how I touch, how I am when I am with them, the more they are affected by that and oriented toward a larger perspective of what's actually going on in their life. It decreases their fear of possible consequences of their problem, and that alone is a big support for the healing process, which takes place within the client himself.

In practicing Breema, and working with its philosophy and principles, you know you've helped when you experience that you were supported to become more present. This definite knowing that we did something that was useful and helpful doesn't come from what we observe with our eyes and senses about the recipient, or from our conjectures. It comes from putting the principles like Mutual Support and No Judgment into practice. The natural confidence that comes from seeing that both the client and the practitioner have benefited makes doing bodywork very joyful—moving it from a job to something that you are doing that really supports your own life.

I spoke to a couple of Breema practitioners who also practice other forms of massage, bodywork, and yoga. They told me of their experiences and how they benefit from Breema, no matter what form they are practicing:

Eileen Sendrey

Before I started studying Breema I was studying massage and teaching yoga, and have practiced it in different therapeutic settings. I probably wouldn't be practicing massage professionally if it wasn't for Breema, because it was Breema that taught me that I am included in the session. Until I learned that, massage seemed like too much work, because I was thinking about the client and forgetting about myself. I've been practicing for 20 years, and I don't think I would have this kind of relationship with bodywork if it wasn't for Breema. Not only am I included and taking care of myself, but I actually benefit from giving bodywork, because of Breema.

Rather than talking about being present in an abstract way,  Breema gives me really simple tools to actually experience being present to my own experience. When I am doing other forms of bodywork I can relate the Breema principles to that bodywork, and doing massage and bodywork becomes a quiet time that supports me essentially.

Before Breema, my yoga practice was full of force—but studying Breema opened up a quality of being rather than just doing.  The emphasis on understanding and verifying things for myself gave a whole new orientation to bodywork and to teaching yoga. I became a lot more available to listening to myself, and able to be more present when I teach yoga, and with my clients. The emphasis on learning from my own direct experience, not from theory, has helped me learn so much more, both about the body and about myself.

Diahna Fortuna

I mostly do massage at Google, practicing a number of different massage techniques, using my Breema experience to support me to be present in the session. When I notice that my mind is wandering, I register my breath to come back to the body, or  begin to work with one of the Breema principles, like Body Comfortable or Single Moment/Single Activity. Some of the inspirational material from the philosophy will come alive, like the titles of Self-Breema, for example: This Moment Is, I Am. I almost always do a Breema hold on my clients' feet, and I find that I am always really present during that hold—I can rely on it to help me be more connected and present. Some other aspects of Breema bodywork also come in while I do massage, and they always remind me to come back to my body and breath.

Breema for Bodyworkers workshop with Jon Schreiber will take place at the Breema Center Saturday April 12 from 10am-4:30pm. More information, details and registration here.