In this article, we discuss the symptoms of an armored chest and the techniques that are commonly used to De-Armor the area.
The chest is a location of our body that may react strongly on grief, heartbreak, longing, rage, or sadness. Most of us know the expression that someone is not able to “get things off their chest.” It means that they cannot let go; things keeps bothering them.
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Not only can the chest area become overly tight and “feel heavy,” but when armored it’s also the region that is associated with our breath, notably with shallow breathing, which usually brings discomfort, lack of energy, and in the long run possibly also illness, such as high blood pressure or palpitations. Chest breathing or shallow breathing also unconsciously keeps us in anxiety-mode.
“Opening up the chest” is the primary way of De-Armoring this area, which is done by intensively mobilizing and stretching the chest muscles (the pectorals), and the intercostal and shoulder muscles. In addition, massage and acupressure will be used.
Another important technique is to work with the breath, that is, teaching the person to start breathing differently, such as rather using abdominal breathing with deep inhales and exhales. And finally, inducing the gag reflex such as commonly used in Throat De-Armoring, which may be an additional effective option to release the chest.
Mind also that the chest is an erogenous zone, both in men and women, which is then rather addressed as the breasts (and nipples). Hence, depending on the emotional issues or trauma that lie behind the armoring of this area, Chest De-Armoring may rather be a form of Sexual De-Armoring related to sexual trauma. It’s something to be aware of as a therapist, because it may change one’s sequence of working or approach in the De-Armoring treatment.
