"The Heart of Rosen Method Bodywork is remembering who you are.
And out of that you find more possibilities for how you live your life with freedom and ease."
- Sandra Wooten
Senior Rosen Method Bodywork Teacher
What is Rosen Method Bodywork?
Rosen practitioners use gentle, non-manipulative touch to meet and connect with where someone is holding tension in their body. Instead of trying to ‘fix’ or change anything, Rosen practitioners bring awareness and interest to these places, inviting the person to be curious about what is held there, and why they might have had to hold themselves in this way.
In life, if we don’t feel safe, for any reason, we start to put ourselves away. May be we sensed we were “not allowed”, our spontaneous expression and feelings were not welcome; we were too much, not enough, didn’t feel welcome or wanted, so we used muscle tension to make ourselves smaller, to hide, to protect ourselves from painful feelings and experiences which would otherwise have overwhelmed us. We learnt to hold back, down, or in, and over time, this tension became an unconscious habit, posture, or barrier, which is reflected in how we are in life now.
The Rosen practitioner meets the person and the tension with kind, respectful touch, and attuned words informed by the connection, to remind the muscles of the holding, and the possibilities. When there is safety and awareness, the muscles relax, there is ease in the breath, the person can have a deeper or inner experience of themselves, from which feelings, images, sensations and memories can emerge, allowing what has been unconscious to become conscious again, resulting in more aliveness, emotional healing, new possibilities for living your life and an ease in being yourself. Rosen Method offers a safe way of opening up and reconnecting, not only to self but to others too.
Potential Benefits of Rosen Method Bodywork
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Relaxation and greater ease in breath, body and self
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Pain and stress release, reduced anxiety
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Deepening awareness
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Support around painful emotions
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More Joy, love, vitality, humour and aliveness
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Self-acceptance and compassion
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Trust
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Learning to receive
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Reclaiming a voice
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A greater range of emotions and self-expression
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An experience of safe, healing touch
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Greater capacity for intimacy
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Being more comfortable with vulnerability, our own and others’
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Release from negative, limiting beliefs and patterns
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Ability to set and maintain healthy boundaries
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Personal transformation
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Accessing inner resources of support and strength
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Embodied wisdom
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A sense of wholeness
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More choice and possibility
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Being comfortable in your own skin
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Living a more fulfilling and aligned life
At certain times in our lives we may need to maintain our levels of tension and the sense of “self” that these boundaries provide. Rosen would not be recommended if:
If you have a severe mental health problem
If you are in a time of crisis (such as a very recent bereavement)
If you are in the first year of recovery from alcohol or drug addiction
When would it not be advisable to receive Rosen?
During a session
Rosen Method sessions typically last an hour and take place in a quiet room on a massage table. The client lies under a blanket or sheet, wearing underwear (and additional clothing, if desired).
Contact is gently made through the blanket initially, giving the client time to 'arrive', and for both client and practitioner to begin to be aware of areas of holding, areas of interest.
The practitioner uses listening, sensing hands to locate areas of holding, feeling for subtle changes in breath and muscle tension from moment to moment. At the same time, the therapist acknowledges the client's experience verbally and invites the client to share realizations aloud. Sometimes clients laugh or cry, experience memories or feelings linked to the holding. With the practitioner's support, the client learns to recognise that this holding may once have been appropriate but is no longer necessary. Clients can see, hear and experience themselves more deeply, and sometimes have a profound sense of connection.
As the session draws to a close the practitioner lets the client know they are coming to the end, then slowly takes their hands away, covering the client fully once more. The client is invited to take a little time on the table before getting up and getting dressed.
A practitioner will ask a prospective new client about themselves: what brings them to Rosen, as well as questions about health issues and other relevant information, before setting up an appointment. This is also an opportunity for the client to ask any questions or raise any concerns that they may have.
Before a session
Each session is a unique experience for both client and practitioner. Sessions are as varied as the individuals who come to experience them. But you can expect the following:
What happens in a Rosen session?
- Madeleine Bolander
“It is neither the therapists hands that are magic, nor the client’s body. It is the meeting between these two that makes something magical come to be.”
- Marion Rosen
“Sometimes a transformation takes place in one session, and at other times it takes years, slowly, bit by bit, opening a little at a time. Many of the people that are students or clients do this work for their own growth and some come with pain or are stuck in their lives. They are searching for something new, not knowing what that is. They have hidden their “jewel”, and often they find it again through this work. This is what we call their truth, their being, their self - everything that enables them to live a life full of possibilities.”
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My experience of Rosen has been profound. If I had not experienced it I would not quite have believed what it did for me. It enabled me to gently re-experience and truthfully name some old emotional wounds that I had held within my body for many years. In touching and naming these wounds with the help of Jane I was able to heal tensions and pain in my body and in my spirit.
Magical.
- AF, Chief Executive, Local Government
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I had been through a challenging four years, my emotional health was affected and I needed help. The Rosen Method and Jane's treatments gave me a safe environment to release emotions that felt locked within my body.
After my second treatment I had an experience the next day which is hard to describe, a powerful sensation in the lower left shoulder. It went on for about five minutes, although I wasn't quite sure what had happened, it felt like something had been released. The treatment allowed me to be vulnerable in a safe place. Jane is reassuring and professional.
- P.B. Leamington Spa
Rosen really helped me to join up the dots in different areas of my life.
Something woke up in me, I had an awakening, of something dormant that’s been sleeping. Jane's facilitation of this was powerful and quite incredible, it’s like I am present in my life. I’m able to be much more engaged with my daughter, able to give her more time and attention.
The effect has been liberating.
- GR, IT Consultant
I’ve found Jane to be very empathetic and non-judgmental, and found her work using the Method to be really helpful in coming to terms with formative events spread over many years, some in conscious memory, others unconscious. The effect has been a welcome release from the discomfort that these memories could arouse.
I soon came to feel that ‘something’s changed’. I felt easier in my mind as I went about daily life. I’m glad that I continued with the sessions as the process is evolutionary. Each session has added subtle changes of mindset, which I can only describe as opening up new ways of seeing myself and relating better to others. Looking back, I’m aware of having a more laid-back outlook on life generally and am dealing with challenging situations more calmly. These benefits seem to come from being more accepting of past events that had previously troubled me. I now feel more fully aware of life around me and less inwardly focused. For me, it’s still a work in progress but the change is real and I’m confident there’s more to come. I’d recommend anyone to give it a try.
- S.B, Retired Engineer
I found weekly Rosen sessions to be a gentle and effective way of revealing and progressively releasing long-held patterns of tension. It was a joy to experience Jane’s sensitive attunement and intelligent presence.
- RH, Linguist
Working with Jane is the best thing I’ve done to help with my mental health. I’ve struggled with complex PTSD for most of my life and have done loads of other therapies, all of which have given me greater insight into my condition and many skills, but nothing has really helped me manage the emotional flashbacks I have…. Till now.
I don’t really understand how it works but Jane’s use of Rosen is a very gentle therapy and with it I’ve been able to revisit traumatic events in a very safe and gentle way which has avoided my being traumatised all over again. Something fundamental has shifted in me. I’m finding I’m getting better and better at managing my flashbacks by connecting with other people instead of hiding away from people in shame.
Jane is more of a ‘fellow traveller’ than a traditional therapist. She holds my hand, both literally and metaphorically when I’m exploring something difficult that comes up in a session. She is very kind, compassionate and extraordinarily skilled.
I’d recommend her to anyone wanting to move on from unhelpful emotional patterns.
- LG, Learning and Development Consultant
A big “Thank You” for all your kindness and support, I am so deeply grateful for the work we have done in helping me process and release all the difficult stuff that I carry. You are very skilled and attuned in your work, with such a strong yet nurturing presence; holding, supporting and gently challenging.
- SW, Counsellor, Birmingham
Something as simple and as profound as knowing I can be comfortable, can ask for what I need and want, that I don’t have to endure or put up with things, and that I can accept and receive help...let myself be cared for.. this is what I am learning through Rosen, with Jane, and it’s huge.
Jane is a really skilled practitioner; kind, gentle, and very perceptive and sensitive. I’d definitely recommend her and Rosen.
- F.T.
Through her gentle touch, and the kindness Jane shows through her words and presence, she invites me to be curious about my body, my relationship with it, to explore my body's responses, delve into the emotions and memories and understand how that has played out in my life.
A Rosen session with Jane is like finding out something I always knew about myself but didn't know. It has been a rich journey so far, and I (we) have uncovered layers of myself and indeed shed some layers of beliefs that were not true about who I really am, and this has allowed me to live with more freedom and clarity. Thank you, Jane.
- Karen, Nottingham
I've truly appreciated our connection and my sessions with you. Gently touching, revealing and helping me to navigate those deep parts of myself that so often lay unattended and holding me with such nourishing care. Thank you Jane for your gifted practice and care..
- Sara
Every Rosen Therapy session I have had with Jane has gifted me with a big building block in my physical, emotional and spiritual healing journey. Rosen allowed me to safely and gently access and integrate emotions of which my consciousness was not even aware of. As a professional and as a person Jane is able to create a safe and caring environment for ALL emotions and memories to be welcomed - even (and especially) the ones I would usually try to suppress. I felt that Jane´s presence and attunement helped my body and my mind to unearth deeply buried holding patterns. Being given the space to really feel those has helped me immensely to create more space and more wellbeing within my whole self. THANK YOU!
- Christina