Bioenergetic Analysis Physical exercise, as has long been known, is also important to mental health. It stimulates endorphin production and facilitates deeper breathing, which is an important component of many anti-depressive therapies. Bioenergetic analysis is one modality that specifically explores the relationship between physical and mental health. It aims to free the energy trapped in these tensions using exercises and therapy addressing core issues in an attempt to create lasting physical and personality structures that are solid yet flexible. It begins with movement.
Movement increases respiration, which brings energy to the body.
Suppression of movement or respiration cuts off feeling and emotion. A person who has been suppressing emotion, feeling, and movement for a long time, and has become depressed, has gradually been shutting down, entering a milder, more prolonged shock state. To break someone out of this shock state, a bioenergetic therapist usually starts with an exercise to open breathing. A helpful exercise is the scissor kick. After several repetitions of this, the client has no choice but to breathe from the diaphragm.