Thomas Claire, in his outstanding book, Bodywork, writes about the benefits of the Trager Approach. "Individuals who receive Trager report an increased sense of relaxation, vitality, mental clarity, and creativity. They experience what they describe as a place beyond relaxation: "peace." Many find that as the physical blockages in their bodies are removed, they feel emotionally freer, too. As the body and mind become better integrated, the client feels better balanced and whole."
A brochure from the Trager Institute describes the Trager Approach as "A Method for Every Body ... which often achieves excellent results for people with a wide range of conditions, such as everyday aches and pains, poor posture, limited movement, normal aging processes and muscle spasms. It is great for the pure enjoyment and relaxation of it. Trager has also helped many people with serious conditions including back pain, depression, multiple sclerosis, cerebral palsy, postpolio syndrome and Parkinson's disease as well as sports injuries."
Trager is a very gentle and respectful bodywork, honoring and listening to the wisdom inherent in each person's body/mind. For people with backgrounds of abuse, Trager can be a helpful and safe bodywork to begin with. If you have had abuse and are wanting to try some bodywork, it is important to ask what kind of experience and training a practitioner has had in doing bodywork with survivors of abuse.
