Fear

In chronic blocking of fear, the face may be set by a series of chronic muscle spasms in a mask of defiance or an expression of frozen fear. In the case of defiance, the muscles around the eyes may be rigid in order to maintain a narrow focused look or a permanent frown; the mouth and jaw may be tight and grim, the chest rigid and unmoving; the total expression suggests "I am in control," "I am tough." In the second case, of frozen fear, the eyes may be fixed in a wide open position with the eyebrows up in a permanent expression of astonishment or arrogance (a close look at arrogance often reveals the fear expression); the jaw may be pulled back timidly and maintained there by tension of the muscle under the chin; the chest may be rigidly "popped up," but without the massiveness of anger, as if the breath has been sharply pulled in but then held.

It is not always clear why some people block fear by being stuck in its opposite, defiance, while others seem to be stuck in the fear itself. The person who is stuck in defiance has probably repressed fear in a stage of childhood, say between one and five years old, when the musculature is fairly well developed and the behavioral option is open for the child to express angry defiance. When the person seems to be stuck in frozen fear, the block has occurred earlier, in infancy, in some cases perhaps even as early as the first weeks of life if the mother or environment has been frightening.

Anger

In chronic blocking of anger, the same attitude may occur as in the defiant kind of fear blocking: the person blocks both fear and anger, asserting control of both. But in blocking anger, the defiance may be much more heavily anchored in the form of a more massive musculature in the shoulders and chest and a more ferociously defiant mask in the face. Sometimes the person will look extremely tough, even frighteningly so. (The experience of therapy, though, shows that in many cases the person is quite "muscle bound" by the block to anger and may have difficulty even in hitting the mattress vigorously). The opposite kind of blocking occurs when the person has become submissive and placating. Here the body musculature is mainly quite loose and mobile. Movements may be wriggling or squirmy, as if embarrassed, eager to please. This is not to say that anyone who is eager to please, or whose manner is gentle, is repressing rage. But when a person seems to be stuck in these attitudes and also has locally tight musculature and sensitivity to pain in the upper back and shoulders, they are probably frightened of feeling anger and letting it out.

Grief

In chronic blocking of grief there is often the same "tough guy" attitude as mentioned above, with the face stuck in a more sulky or pouting expression. This person is afraid of showing vulnerability, but some signs of it usually "sneak out" around the protective armor. Where there is not strong muscle armoring, the blocking is more specific: The eyes tend to be glazed and there may be excessive blinking in an attempt to lubricate eyeballs dry because of blocking in the tear ducts. The jaw is held rigid to prevent the trembling which occurs in crying. The muscle underneath the chin is often bunched up because tears are so frequently swallowed back. Frequent nausea may be experienced since the muscles which block crying are involved in vomiting. Sometimes there is a fixed expression of cheerfulness in the face, with the cheeks in a spasm accompanying a perpetual smile. Again, it is healthy to be able to express cheerfulness and smile: it is only a block when the expression has become stuck instead of being part of a range of expressions.

Joy

The blocking of joy is familiar as the picture of depression, of being "down in the mouth," or having the grim facial expression of the "killjoy." It is surprising how such attitudes may be stuck so severely that even to act joy, as in the walking exploration suggested above, may be quite impossible. Of course, depression may be appropriate in a not very joyful world, but if joy is chronically blocked the person cannot cheer up and reach out even when things are going well. The real sign of blocked joy is when positive remarks or declarations of happiness are made in a morose, gloomy manner.

Most people have a quite complex layering of emotional blocks anchored in the muscle armor at different stages of their life history.

A basic understanding of emotional blocks and of how they work in a given individual is possible if you bear several basic principles in mind.

Channeling

The concept of blocks suggests that they stop something being channeled through the body. Wilhelm Reich, who first discussed the concept of "character armor" thought that the something which was blocked was "life energy." But this concept leads too easily to suppositions that human beings function like dynamos or batteries or induction coils. I prefer to think in terms of emotion itself being channeled, flowing like a stream or occasionally gushing like a geyser. The word "emotion" means literally a "movement out." "Expression" means literally that something is "pressed out." Obviously, when we clamp our mouth shut against an impulse to yell in an inappropriate place, we are imposing a block across the movement of sound. Any emotional movement functions similarly. Whether the flow of emotion is ultimately of information, vibrations, wave-pulses, or even of time has yet to be scientifically established. However emotion is explained it: (1) moves; (2) follows particular channels in particular expressions; and (3) can be held by muscular tensions.

This concept is useful as a guiding principle for observation. For example, observe someone with massive blocking in shoulders, chest and arms. What emotion is channeled in this area of the body? True, all four basic emotions involve some movement of the arms and chest: the arms may reach out in joy, hold the hands over the eyes in grief, strike out in anger, or be used as a shield to cower behind in fear. But careful analysis may show that the shoulders and arms have, in their own way, an observable emotional expression. Just as we can see readily that a person's face expresses joy or sadness, so we can often see that the shoulders and arms seem ready to strike out; that they tend to be held in nervously close to the body, that they reach out expressively at any opportunity; or that they tend to hold each other as if comforting in grief. You can observe what main emotion the arms seem to be expressing and at the same time see how this emotion is inhibited: the massive arms which seem ready to push or strike out but seem muscle-bound; the slender arms which seem to want to reach out and pull the world in but do not seem to be backed up with any power from the shoulders.

On the mattress you can explore what emotions get channeled to which parts of your body and where you impose blocks. One simple exploration is: bring your hands into the area of your heart as you breathe in, then reach them out to your partner as you breathe out. Do this repeatedly. You may well find that quite soon your reaching out takes on a specific quality: your hands may tend to make fists and your arms shoot out in a pushing away motion; you may find as you reach out that your fingers stretch and you feel some longing; and so on. At the same time you may feel some blocks to whatever impulse you have evoked: perhaps weakness in the shoulders, or a tendency to restrict your breathing, or a tension in your hands. Here you are experiencing both a channeling function in your arms and a blocking function.