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BMR is founded on the building blocks of therapeutic modalities dating back to the early 1900’s. These modalities and their forefathers share a common understanding – the body suppresses stressful experiences not only in the mind but in the body and the body is innately designed to release stored experiences as a means to achieve increasing states of balance, function and vitality. Hellerwork - a form of bodywork that evolved out of Rolfing, was developed by Joseph Heller, a former NASA aerospace engineer. Like Rolfing, Hellerwork utilized deep-tissue massage but added exercise and dialogue as a method to help others access and release attitudes, feelings, and past traumas that were stored in the body. In 1934, Wilhelm Reich – an Austrian psychoanalysis and student of Freud, combined psychoanalysis with breath, movement and bodywork to clear the suppressed memory of trauma stored in the body. In 1949, German engineer Moshe Feldenkrais published his first book entitled, Body and Mature Behavior: A Study of Anxiety, Sex, Gravitation and Learning. “It is my contention” said Moshe, “that the unity of mind and body is an objective reality, that they are not entities related to each other in one fashion or another, but an inseparable whole while functioning.” In 1956. John Pierrakos and William Walling - physicians who also trained in Reichian analysis, co-created with Alexander Lowen the Institute for Bioenergetics which utilized touch and special exercises to help people become aware of places in their body where they unconsciously held suppressed energy from past experiences and release it. At age 80, Alexander Lowen concluded “You have to take care of your body. You can't do it all in your head. Talking therapy alone is limited.” In his book, Breathing, Movement and Feeling, he states "… the personality is expressed through the body as much as through the mind. An individual cannot be divided into a mind and a body. Yet our studies of personality have concentrated on the mind to the relative neglect of the body." In the late 1960’s and early 70’s, the treatment of body memory was catapulted into the healthcare system by Dr. John Upledger – an osteopathic physician who developed Cranial Sacral Therapy. Those treated with CST often released body memory including suppressed emotion. Upledger viewed stressful or traumatic experience in part as “a combination of physical and emotional forces which if not released would become stored in the tissues of the body as an “energy cyst”. Also in the early 70’s, John F. Barnes – a physical therapist, was developing the Myofascial Release approach which emphasized the treatment of fascia - a connective tissue which surrounds and interconnects every structure in the body. In an article called The Body Remembers, Barnes states “I believe the body remembers everything that ever happened to it.” The therapeutic world discovered evidence of body memory long before science. But science has recently experienced breakthrough discoveries that are redefining human anatomy and its function. As it turns out, the body is not a combination of bones, nerves, muscles and organs existing separately and functioning independently. On the contrary, it is a highly advanced communication system, completely interconnected and functioning as one system. The brain was once thought to be the source of intelligence and communication in the body. Science has now discovered that every cell is like a mini brain capable of receiving and transmitting information that forms consciousness – a complex integration of thought, emotion and sensation which forms human experience. When you perceive an experience as overwhelming or threatening, the intelligence of every system in your body, every cell, participates in storing these thoughts, emotions and sensations till a later date when you are able to fully experience it. The storing of experience in the body is commonly referred to as body memory. Body Memory Recall integrates over a hundred years of pioneering techniques in the field of therapeutic bodywork, psychology and science and evolves them into one refined approach that directly supports the transformation of body memory and the patterning of past experiences. What is involved in the BMR approach? Body Memory Recall (BMR) incorporates therapeutic bodywork, dialogue, movement, breathwork, essential oils and exercise. BMR bodywork is a unique integration of Myofascial Release, Cranial Sacral Therapy, Visceral Myofascial Release, Unwinding, Energy Work and Massage. The approach provides a full spectrum of touch from off body to light touch to deep tissue that directly supports the release of body memory from all systems of the body. Initial contact is light to establish trust and a therapeutic connection whereby the energy systems of the therapist and client merge. This merging creates a heightened state of awareness in which the therapist and patient can feel where body memory is stored and release it. Sensitivity, patience and finesse are used rather than force which communicates safety to the patient and encourages them to release the protective tensions that keep body memory stored. A light touch also allows the therapist to feel for the activity of the freeze response – a state of muscular tension that is keeping past stress stored in the body. As the freeze response begins to release, muscles soften and the therapist increases pressure and stretch to the body three-dimensionally – a process called unwinding. Unwinding refers to the movement of the body in all directions as it relaxes, lengthens and transmits stored energy through its cells and tissues. As muscles relax and lengthen, connective tissue restrictions are encountered. To release restrictions, the therapist maintains pressure and stretch over time – 3 minutes or longer. As the body unwinds, the therapist’s touch progressively deepens to encounter tensions and restrictions within organs, ligaments and bone. Off body techniques are used to unwind the human energy field and related chakras which are the epicenters of stored body memory. Guided breathing into the chakra centers is used to support a release. Dialogue is provided in the form of questions at opportune moments that help the client connect with their body and discover creative solutions to old patterns as they surface during treatment. Essential oils are placed to the spine, feet and chest before or after a treatment to support the release and integration phases of body memory transformation. Exercise is recommended to help the patient re-educate their posture and strengthen weak muscles for optimal stability and alignment. I have discovered that many of the symptoms and behavioral patterns commonly experienced are related to body memory that has accumulated for years. Benefit to the Client In his book “Waking the Tiger”, PhD psychologist Peter Levine notes how animals release the stress of an experience immediately after its over, but humans tend to hold stress in the body for years - even for a lifetime. BMR improves flexibility, eliminates pain, improves nerve function and circulation, restores alignment, improves posture and decreases stress and anxiety. BMR also significantly increases energy and vitality. In his book “Why is this happening to me again”, Michael Ryce, Ph.d. states that as much as 90% of a persons energy is used to store body memory. Once body memory is released, a person gets that energy back and can use it to create in the present rather than protect from the past. BMR is often the missing link to improve past difficult plateaus or challenging conditions that fail to resolve from other approaches. It compliments massage therapy, chiropractic, physical and occupational therapy, acupuncture, yoga and counseling. Because of the time they have available for hands-on treatment, Massage Therapists in particular can integrate BMR into their practice with exceptional results. The BMR curriculum is 172 hours of training divided into nine seminars. Each seminar provides training in BMR bodywork, functional medicine, subtle energy awareness and exercise. Mastery requires practice and experience providing and receiving BMR treatment. Being treated provides an invaluable understanding of the approach and the transformational process. Presently, BMR is on the cutting edge of mind body therapy with only a hundred or more therapists trained so far. It’s an exciting evolution that promises to be the foundation of advances yet to come. “I truly believe that Jonathan Tripodi is on the cutting edge of tomorrow’s world of medicine. I had three major surgeries when I was younger. If I had access to this type of treatment then, I would not have chosen to be operated on. Today I am free of pain in my legs, neck and shoulders with no surgery. My friends are amazed at my transformation.” ~ Eve Painter, BMR Client “I just had to write and let you know about the great feedback I’ve gotten already, only two days after the BMR 1 seminar. I have seen five clients and have easily integrated BMR into every session. My touch was more deliberate, intentional, slower and I stayed longer at the barriers. I have noticed subtle changes and my clients gave me some very positive feedback. One example is a client who has been coming to me for over a year. Since her car accident, she has had many challenges. She usually talks a lot during her treatments but while doing a BMR technique on her neck she quieted down. She then told me she was experiencing panic and had a memory of the car accident. Her breathing changed and she got quiet once again. She called me later in the day to tell me she noticed a big change in how she held her body and a major decrease in pain. I left the seminar very excited and now I am even more so. I have found a renewed passion for my work and I am on my way to my own personal healing.” Paula Francis, LMT Case Study: I recently treated a 45 year old woman with a history of multiple head, neck and shoulder trauma in a BMR 1 class. I was demonstrating a cervical unwinding technique and she volunteered. A history and evaluation was done prior to the demo. The most significant trauma was a concussion at age 11 resulting in bed rest for 10 days. Also, she had delivered two babies naturally at home. Her labors were over 20 hours each and she pushed for 4 hours with each one (30 minutes of the pushing phase is considered normal). Notable evaluation findings were restricted cervical range of motion, forward head carriage with rounded shoulders, moderate thoracic compression and hyperextension of the knees with forward pelvic carriage. The treatment began with gentle cervical traction. Protective responses began to release around her neck and extended deep into the thoracic and pelvic tissues. After the demo, she reported feeling very relaxed and students noted a dramatic improvement in her cervical range of motion. The next day in class, she reported having a vivid awareness during her treatment of “how much my labors had hurt me” she said. Following that awareness she experienced a sense of understanding and acceptance regarding that experience. The second day after her treatment she reported to the class with utter amazement that her urinary bladder incontinence that she had suffered with since the birth of her second child 20 years ago had completely resolved. Two years later, I followed up with her. She reported that her incontinence remained resolved and that her exercise routine included jumping jacks and rebounding on a trampoline without leaking urine. She doubted that she ever would have connected her incontinence to the body memory of tensions in her neck and thoracic spine and the emotional suppression of injuries from her labor. After 20 years of incontinence, she did not believe it was something that would have ever resolved.
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The name Body Memory Recall was inspired in 1997 by my father during one of our creative brainstorms. I was developing a new approach that integrated my training in physical therapy and multiple mind-body techniques which, collectively, supported the innate self healing mechanisms of the body to release stored stress that had accumulated from past experiences. Since then, Body Memory Recall (BMR) has developed into an innovative mind-body approach that is helping individuals transform memory patterns of pain and stress into vital states of health and creative living. 
Author: Jonathan A. Tripodi, BA, BS, NCTMB specializes in the treatment of body memory at Global Healing Therapies & Seminars in Virginia Beach, Virginia. He is a certified provider of education by the National Certification Board for Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork and teaches his Body Memory Recall approach nationwide. He earned his bachelors degree in movement and sports science in 1991 from Purdue University and a bacherlors degree in physical therapy in 1992 from the University of Evansville.