Introduction
In the field of the session, there are words I often hear from those who come carrying low-back pain or stiff shoulders:
“I don’t know how to let go of the force.” “I don’t understand why there’s so much force in me.”
In most cases, the person is not deliberately putting force in. If anything, the wish is “to let go if possible.”
Even so, the body keeps putting force into the same place, and keeps sending out a sign as pain or stiffness.
A Body That Cannot Release Even When Trying To
Once a session begins, a body that feels it “doesn’t know how to let go” reveals several shared features:
- Awareness has left the body and gathered up toward the head
- The toes are cold, and the sense of pressing the floor is faint
- The center of gravity is forward, and the body leans slightly ahead
- The pelvis is tilted forward, with sustained tension around the lower back and shoulders
Even without any awareness of putting force in, the body cannot stop “the posture of continuing to support,” “the posture of continuing to try hard.”
In this state, even when told to “please let go of the force,” it is natural not to know where, or how, to release.。
“Not Knowing” Is Not Because Sensation Is Poor
The more chronic the tension in the lower back or shoulders, the more often words like these are spoken:
“I have no sense that force is entering here.” “Even when touched, I can’t quite tell.” “It’s been like this for a long time, so I thought this was normal.”
This is not that sensation is dull. It is the result of living, over a long time, together with that tension.
Past stress, adaptation to the environment, unconscious bracing and enduring. Such things pile up, and the body has learned “the state of continuing to put force in” as a safe choice.
That is precisely why the sensation arises of force being present without the reason being clear.
Being Touched Changes How Force Is Released
As the session progresses, a change like this sometimes occurs quietly:
- The breath naturally deepens
- The sensation of the soles of the feet returns
- The weight of the body transmits to the floor
- Words grow fewer
What is happening here is not “the result of trying to let go of force.” It is a state in which the body is remembering, on its own, the place to release force.
The force that the head had been “trying to let go of” is quietly released from the body’s side.
Being Touched, the Body Teaches
What is interesting is that the session does not try to force a release of tension.
First, where the weight is now, and where the body keeps supporting, are confirmed together with the body.
As the session progresses, a change like this sometimes occurs quietly:
- The breath naturally deepens
- The sensation of the soles of the feet returns
- The force in the lower back and shoulders partly loosens
- Words grow fewer
What is happening here is not “the result of trying hard to let go of force.” It is a state in which the body notices the reason it had been continuing to use force, and begins, little by little, to release it.
When Force Begins to Release, the Way of Using the Body Changes
What is interesting is that, at the same time as the change in the lower back and shoulders, voices like these are heard:
“Standing is easy.” “My shoulders feel as if they’ve dropped.” “For the first time, I noticed that force had been entering unconsciously.”
This is not a story of pain alone being removed. It is a sign that the way of using the whole body is beginning to change.
For force to release is neither slackening nor collapsing of posture. It is a state of being able to use force where it is needed, only as much as is needed.
Conclusion
When low-back pain or stiff shoulders are present, the tendency is to think “I must stretch more,” “I must let go of force more.” But in most cases, the problem is not a lack of awareness or effort. It is simply that the body itself has not yet finished telling why the force is there.
In the session, rather than teaching “how to release,” what is looked at carefully, while touching, is whether the conditions are in place for the body to let go of force with a sense of safety.
For anyone in whom, right now, such a state continues —
- wanting to release the force in the lower back or shoulders, yet not knowing how
- not knowing why there is tension, even for the person concerned
- repeating the same pain again and again
— checking the reason from the body’s side, once, is one option.