Bodywork therapy sessions in Berlin, Prenzlauer Berg, to work on chronic pain, post surgery recovery, anxiety, depression, dealing with challenging times.

Making changes in your life starts by tuning inward 

Getting to the root of what you are experiencing 

The way you live your life right now is the sum of years and years ofrepetition: past events left an imprint on you, and it lead to specific patterns of being and reacting to the world that you carry until today. These automatic responses are held in your way of moving, your thoughts, your reactions, it’s a whole way of being that is embedded in your body. Because they were learnt as a way to adapt to past situations, these patterns are not adapted to your life anymore, and the efforts you unconsciously do to keep them protecting you can create stress, physical tensions, even chronic pain from moving, being, and tensing in fixed ways. It is rare that these habits get challenged, because we are so used to them that they somehow became who we think we are. We then stay stuck in repetitive loops, not knowing how or what to change. The experience we have of life becomes narrower, maybe even predictable, we start to experience anxiety, stress, physiological issues.

In a bodywork process, I help you identify those blocks, and through different tools (touch, breathing and guiding your attention) I teach you to let go of what you learnt as an automatic reaction. Together, we get to address what is at the root of what makes you suffer, and you learn to release what those patterns are covering - emotions, fears, resistances, undigested history…

How does a Grinberg method bodywork process work with these patterns? 

In a process, I use different tools to guide your attention (touch, breathing and movement, speaking), in order to address the specific challenges you are experiencing. The sessions aim to give you back the responsibility for your own well-being so that you can feel empoweredinstead of helpless: you get to learn to manage both physical pain and emotional stress in your daily life, and to shift your experience. Fear and pain become ressources for you to use.

In a process, you learn to become aware of what you are doing when you are in the situations you want to change, you get familiar with how your body and your mind create your reaction, and eventually learn to drop those efforts and allow yourself to open to new possibilities. Your body can then use the energy it was using to hold these habits to recover and process what it needs to digest. By touching and pinpointing areas that are tense or reactive, I guide you to release them, to breathe through the tricky sensations and feelings, and you get to develop a deeper understanding of your own mind-body connection. We also talk throughout the sessions, diving into the experience you are having, and getting really clear about what is actually happening for you. The sessions help you shift perspective on your situation, get new input and energy, and guide you to stay present with what is there, giving you space to move through it, instead of staying stuck in holding everything together to avoid pain or fear to arise at all costs. 

A bit more about the Grinberg Method

The method I work with, the Grinberg Method, is a somatic bodywork methodology that was created by Avi Grinberg in the 1980s. It is a method that looks at the individual from a holistic standpoint, addressing the body and the mind as one. It aims to teach people body attention so that they can learn to stop the repetitive and automatic habits that keep them from living their life to the fullest. In a nutshell, the method helps you by:

  • identifying the life challenges you are facing, and getting clarity about what’s really happening.

  • teaching you to expand yourbody attention, and finding resources in yourself to face these challenges.

  • reframing your experience of fear and pain, so that they can teach you to expand instead of blocking you.

  • learning to let go of limiting habits and tensions to allow your body to get back the energy that was used to hold them. This allows you to digest and recover whatever these tensions were covering.

  • offering you a new approach to address chronic pain, injuries and recovery.

  • Supporting and developing your qualities and specific abilities: these will be needed if you want make changes in life - being clear, brave, playful, ambitious…

More about the method www.grinbergmethod-sessions.com

International and independent association of Grinberg Method Practitioners https://www.iagmp.com/

Not in Berlin? Read about online sessions and about my work in Köln

Frequently asked questions (price, potential aims for a process etc.)

Clients testimonials

Learning from your body with the Grinberg Method —

BOOK YOUR FIRST SESSION
A person with a large chest scar and stretch marks is being examined or touched by another person wearing a blue shirt.
A woman giving a massage to a man lying face down on a bed near a window.
A woman performs a shoulder and neck massage on a man who has his eyes closed, in a peaceful indoor setting with soft lighting.
A woman and a man practicing an exercise indoors with large windows and plants in the background.
A person receiving physical therapy or massage, lying on a treatment table, while another person holds their arm, gently manipulating it.
A woman gives a shoulder massage to a man with closed eyes in a room with beige curtains and a window in the background.
A bodywork therapist examines a male patient's abdomen, both smiling, in a soft setting.
A woman performs a manual therapy on a man by touching his shoulder, with both individuals in focus indoors near large windows.
A woman inspecting a man's knee indoors, with plants and a lamp in the background.
A therapist looking at the feet of an individual, in a bright therapy room with large windows.

 FAQs

    • PHYSICAL CONDITIONS, PAINS AND TENSIONS + RECOVERY WORK
      Headaches, back pain, digestion issues, sleep issues... any kind of chronic disturbing sensation you're experiencing can be addressed via the angle of body work and body attention. I also work post injury or operation to help the body recover well and fast.

    • CHALLENGING EMOTIONS AND STRESS
      If you find yourself stuck in repeating emotions and reactions to specific situations, we can address them in an embodied way.
      These are a few examples of potential aims for a process: stress management, anxiety, heartbreak, panic attacks, being afraid of losing control, struggling to set boundaries, being constantly angry...

    • STRUGGLING TO REACH AN AIM/PROJECT
      If you want to achieve something and are struggling to go for it. Think about a big exam, a professional project, something that your heart is calling for but that you're too afraid or insecure to manage to achieve. Maybe you are procrastinating, or feeling disheartened at the prospect of the work ahead, maybe you are lacking the confidence to push through it. All of these are responses to fear and are not allowing you to live your life to the fullest.

    • LEARNING A NEW APPROACH TO CREATIVITY + GUIDING YOUR AMBITION
      Writers blocks, stage fright, feeling uninspired and like you've lost the spark... these are all themes I'm personally familiar with, and things that we can work on wonderfully with body work. Oftentimes, our ambitions are hindered by our way of perceiving ourselves and the world, and we get stuck into ways of being that don’t serve our projects.

      I offer a pack of 10 sessions for creatives, focusing only on their creative goal. More info about this coming soon!

  • The first session is about one hour and a half, and is divided in two parts : we first discuss together about why you came, so that we can have a clear picture of what is going on in your body and your thoughts, the tensions, the struggles there are. I'll be looking at the sole of your feet at the same time, as this allows me to ask more precise and relevant questions.

    Then comes about an hour of body work, a kind of massage where I touch the muscles and the body in general, ask you to be aware of your breathing, to contract or relax specific areas, and teach you to pay attention to things you’re usually not aware of. By working on this, we can see what you are doing in the situations we talked about at the beginning, and I teach you very concretely how you can stop repeating these automatic efforts in your life, at the same time as really dropping some tension and deeply relaxing the body.

  • The sessions have to be frequent in a process, every week or other week so that we can work effectively and focus on what it is you want to change. The first month, especially, I recommend to come once a week, as we are learning to undo things that need your focus and dedication.

    In terms of how long a process takes, every body and path is unique in its length. How much time you will need to stop something that has been holding you back differs: some mechanisms have been in place since your childhood, and they might need some time to be unlearnt, and for others, changes might happen in only a few sessions. I always suggest coming for four sessions once a week to see if this approach is for you, as you will most likely be able to see some changes in that time if my approach works for you.

  • One session (60 minutes) costs 80 €, and there are packs of 5 and 10 sessions available, that each cost 385€ and 750€.

What clients say

  • « Instead of feeling pain at a relatively high intensity all the time, I now feel changes throughout the day and week in the level of pain and in its center in the body. This allows me to lead a more active lifestyle, exercise more, and be less immersed in the experience of pain and a sense of incapacity and stagnation.

    N., 40 years old.

  • "I feel that choosing the people I want in my life has become more accurate. Gradually, toxic or unpleasant relationships give way to relationships that make me feel good about myself

    N., 40 years old

  • " Paying attention to my body helps me reduce stress and anxiety, and make better real-time decisions about my life. In addition, the connection between the physical pains and my mind and my history became clearer and more tangible.

    J., 40 years old, therapist

  • "

    A., 31 years old, manager in an NGO