Rhythmic Anthroposophical Massage: History, characteristics and applications of this alternative medicine
- 2019
"Through rhythmic massage, the intention is established to improve the connection of the soul and spirit with the physical body."
“True healing massage is an art, as healing is always, not a technique. Although naturally it is based on the mastery of a specific technique, as with all arts. ”
- Dr. Margarethe Hauschka
In this article we will talk about the Anthroposophical Rhythmic Massage .
In the quest to improve our health, and in view of the difficult times that can be lived today, we are increasingly exploring the functioning of our body and the different tools and studies that come from different cultures throughout history. Today at our hands. Currently, we are victims of accelerated rhythms of life and the demands they impose on our day to day. However, with the advancement of science and the development of consciousness, the need to gather all the facets of the human being when it comes to attending to health problems is increasingly known. The care of our body is meaningless if our mind and spirit are not taken care of .
In this way, different techniques that have proven to obtain good results begin to make their way around the world as a form of therapy.
This is the case, among others, of the Anthroposophical Rhythmic Massage .
Anthroposophical Medicine
Anthroposophical medicine is a form of alternative therapy created in 1920 by the Croatian doctor of philosophy Rudolf Steiner, and developed jointly with the Indonesian doctor Ita Wegman . This form of medicine is based on hidden notions and extracts from Steiner's spiritual philosophy, what he called Anthroposophy .
Anthroposophical Medicine treatments include exercise techniques, counseling psychology, preparations of ultra-diluted substances (similar to those used in homeopathy ), and anthroposophical rhythmic massage that we will see below.
According to anthroposophical medicine, the past lives of patients can directly influence their current state of health, and the course their diseases take is also closely related to their karmic destiny .
The pharmaceutical drugs of anthroposophy are prepared according to the ancient notions of alchemy, and influenced by homeopathy.
Anthroposophic Rhythmic Massage
The Anthroposophical Rhythmic Massage was the creation of Ita Wegman. In collaboration with Steiner, he founded the clinic in Switzerland where this technique began to develop, thanks also to the admission of Dr. Margarethe Hauschka, who collaborated with Wegman for twelve years. It would be Dr. Hauschka who, in 1962, would open the first Anthroposophical Rhythmic Massage school in Boll, Germany.
During the disease, the distribution of heat in the physical body is altered from its natural organization. Thus, the temperature in the different parts of the body serves the massage therapist as a diagnostic indicator.
This practice uses dynamic breathing with a soft contact, which penetrates deeper tissues. The movements are circular and are fixed more in the suction than in the pressure, in order to influence the flow of fluids in the body . In that way, the vital processes of the different tissues are stimulated.
Characteristics of Anthroposophic Rhythmic Massage
One of the main differences between the Anthroposophic Rhythmic Massage and a conventional massage is that the therapist often acts on one part of the body to influence another. For example, the excess temperature caused by tension in the head, neck and shoulders is usually accompanied by a decrease in the temperature of the thighs, calves and feet. By directing the temperature to that part of your body you can achieve a balance and gradually relieve tension in the upper portion of the body.
The Anthroposophic Rhythmic Massage is directed to the action of the different members that constitute the human being. These are:
- The physical body, related to the earth element;
- The subtle or etheric body, related to the water element;
- The astral or mood body, related to the air element;
- The higher self or individual body, related to the fire element.
In this way, the gaseous, hydric and caloric organisms that are in charge of many vital, emotional and spiritual processes are stimulated through massages in the terrestrial organism.
In each person two forces can be found that represent a polarity. One of them is the Neurosensory System, located in our head, which is responsible for condensing and catabolizing the different vital processes, and the other is the Motor Metabolic System, comprised of the abdomen and body members, whose processes are dissolution and anabolization It is between these two forces that the rhythm of harmony develops in our body.
Applications of Anthroposophic Rhythmic Massage
This medicine is applicable as a treatment for different health conditions, both acute and chronic, and also as an accompaniment in the constitution of the individual and the different transitions of life. Anthroposophical Rhythmic Massage can be applied during pregnancy, in the care of children and the elderly, and for those who are in the last stage of their lives.
Among the conditions that may benefit from this practice, we find stress, anxiety, physical pain, migraines, allergies, imbalances in the immune system, cancer, eating disorders, depression, hormonal imbalances, respiratory conditions such as asthma and pneumonia, among others.
For best results, a series of regular treatments, preferably weekly or every fifteen days, is recommended.
Anthroposophic Rhythmic Massage Study
The science of Anthroposophic Rhythmic Massage is complex, since it involves complex concepts drawn from numerous sciences. As with everything that relates to health, it must be treated with great care and dedication.
Practitioners of this discipline must refine their ability to perceive phenomena and feel with their hands the subtle rhythms of the body . In that way they can be coupled to these elements and enhance the inherent healing forces of the human being. It is also necessary that those dedicated to Anthroposophical Medicine have a degree in conventional medicine as well.
In addition, within the different areas of study of this technique, students are introduced to Cosmology, Embryology, Anthroposophy, the seven Vital Processes, the Planets, the organ systems, the polarities in Health and Disease, Medicinal Plants, the Art and the Eurrhythm.
Currently, the practice of Anthroposophical Rhythmic Massage has spread throughout the world, reaching 2000 to be documented in 80 countries.
Countries such as France, England, Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Brazil and the United States present in their health systems this medicine that already has almost 2000 years of existence. So you have no excuse not to incorporate this alternative medicine to the list of options in your health care.
AUTHOR: Lucas, editor and translator of the great family of hermandadblanca.org
SOURCES:
- https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medicina_antropos%C3%B3fica
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthroposophic_medicine
- http://www.rhythmicalmassagetherapy.co.uk/default.aspx?PageID=14
- https://www.wemystic.com/es/masaje-ritmico/
- http://rhythmicalmassagetherapynorthamerica.org/rhythmical-massage-therapy/
