Outreach project for body stress release
“After the first day the caregivers already started noticing positive changes in those who had received BSR."
BRIGETTE Blaeser, a body stress release (BSR) practitioner who lives in Mondeor, recently volunteered her services, along with seven other BSR practitioners, to visit Ikwezi Lokusa Special School in Mthatha in the Eastern Cape.
“Our aim was to give three sessions of BSR to each learner at the school, many who have cerebral palsy. This is the minimum number of sessions to really get the body to start self-healing,” said Brigette.
The learners who attended were between the ages of six and 21 years. They either had cerebral palsy, TB in the spine, hydrocephalus, muscular dystrophy, extreme scoliosis or mental challenges.
“Some of these learners are wheelchair-bound, some able to walk with crutches and others manage to walk without any aid, depending on their condition. None of us had worked on people in this condition previously, but we adapted to the best we could, and the results were amazing.
“After the first day the caregivers already started noticing positive changes in those who had received BSR. They were more ‘alive and animated’ and moving more easily. By the third day, word had spread among the learners. They were queuing up outside the physio room where we had set up our portable BSR beds, some trying to snake in extra releases. Even though the language barrier was a real challenge, the universal language of love rang through,” she added.
“Recognisable changes were their limbs that had been locked in spasm started straightening out, and they were able to move more freely. Hands that had been locked in spasm were opening as the muscles released,” Brigette said.
According to Brigette, there are 240 children at this school with no physiotherapist. There are only two physio assistants who aren’t qualified. “We are planning on going back, again on a voluntary basis, in April 2019. I can quite honestly say it was such a rewarding experience for us all. To see children and young adults able to move limbs that had never moved previously was a very moving experience for us.”
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