ABSTRACT
This chapter contributes an interesting overview of functional relaxation referring to psychosomatic medicine. Functional relaxation is introduced as psychodynamic body psychotherapy, which involves a combination of movement, perception and rhythm leading to balancing of the autonomous nervous system. The method was influenced by Viktor von Weizsäcker’s anthropological medicine (1940). Enhanced body awareness is used to access implicit body memories, feelings and personal bodily needs. Individual body perception is verbalised as a dialogue between the patient, her/his body and the therapist wherein personal biographical experiences find their embodied meaning. The main field of application is psychosomatic medicine.
