June 19, 2006
Soma: An Anarchist Therapy
From Susan over at Easy Bake Coven: With
difficulty walking, and half-blinded from torture by the Brazilian
military dictatorship, 79 year-old Roberto Freire continues to develop
somatherapy, completing his life’s work. Incorporating the ideas of
Wilhelm Reich, the politics of anarchism, and the culture of capoeira
angola, Soma is used by therapists organized in anarchist collectives
to fight the psychological effects of authoritarianism. Nick Cooper traveled to Rio de Janeiro, Salvador, Bahia, and São Paulo to find the
exercises, principles, voices, and movement of somatherapy. Back Story. See the documentary.
I’m glad to have discovered this work. My own work delves deeply into Reichian principles of body armoring and suppressed emotions. As Reich said, the real problem behind fascism and authoritarianism is severe body armoring. A dissolution of body armor results in things like pleasurable body-centered emotional integration, polymorophous sensuality, sex positive and loving personal and communal relationships.
I’m glad to have discovered this work. My own work delves deeply into Reichian principles of body armoring and suppressed emotions. As Reich said, the real problem behind fascism and authoritarianism is severe body armoring. A dissolution of body armor results in things like pleasurable body-centered emotional integration, polymorophous sensuality, sex positive and loving personal and communal relationships.
