Body Stress Release Retha Bodenstein Pta East

19/01/2026

Your posture isn’t from bad habits.

It’s from childhood emotions your body never forgot.

When you experienced overwhelming emotions as a kid, rejection, abandonment, humiliation - your brain saved that protective position as your DEFAULT.

The problem?

Those positions are primitive reflexes that should’ve turned off by age 3.

Emotions can change posture because survival circuits in the brain directly control muscle tone and movement patterns.

When the brain senses threat stress or overwhelm it does not think in words.

It prepares the body to survive.

Strong emotions tell the body to protect itself.

The brain tightens some muscles and shuts down others to keep you safe. If that state lasts too long the body forgets how to move normally.

The posture you see is the emotional state being held in the muscles.

•Abandonment → Curved spine & forward head
•Rejection → Slouched shoulders & hollow chest
•Humiliation → Pelvis tilts forward, body collapses
•Betrayal → Military posture, always braced
•Injustice → Stiff, frozen, locked joints

Posture is not just about strength or stretching.

It is also about whether the nervous system feels safe enough to release protection.

When emotional threat stays high the body chooses defense over alignment automatically.

19/01/2026

Body Stress Release

Pain doesn’t have to be something you’ve lived with for years before it starts affecting how your body functions.

Sometimes it begins after a fall, an accident, or a sudden strain. Other times it builds quietly over time as stiffness, tension, or restricted movement that keeps returning. In both cases, the body adapts by tightening to protect itself — and that’s often where pain and dysfunction start to settle in.

Body Stress Release works with the nervous system to help release these protective tension patterns. This allows the body to restore movement, reduce pain, and recover more effectively, whether the stress is recent or long-standing.

Body Stress Release can support the body after:

• injuries, falls, or accidents
• sudden physical strain or overload
• ongoing back, neck or joint pain
• stiffness and restricted movement
• fatigue that doesn’t improve with rest
• tension patterns that keep returning

If your body hasn’t felt quite right since an injury or has been compensating for longer than it should, that’s a signal worth listening to.

WhatsApp me on 082 558 5686 to book a Body Stress Release session.
🔗 More information: www.rethabsr.co.za

18/01/2026

Science now confirms what many have long felt: the body keeps the score of every stress it has endured. Each worry, heartbreak, or unresolved fear leaves traces not just in memory, but in muscles, hormones, and the nervous system itself. Over time, the body adapts to survival mode, staying alert even when no real threat remains. Thinking alone cannot switch that off.

Researchers studying trauma and chronic stress found that the autonomic nervous system plays a central role in this process. When under repeated pressure, the body floods itself with cortisol and adrenaline, keeping heart rate and alertness high. Eventually, this state becomes the “new normal,” leading to exhaustion, anxiety, inflammation, and poor immune function.

Therapists and neuroscientists emphasize that healing stress isn’t intellectual; it’s physiological. Practices such as deep breathing, mindful movement, therapy, and grounding exercises help regulate the body from the bottom up, signaling safety back to the brain. Once the body feels secure, the mind begins to follow.

The most powerful shift happens when awareness meets physical release. Crying, stretching, shaking, or even long walks can help the body complete stress cycles that thinking cannot. True calm isn’t achieved through overanalyzing emotions; it’s restored by teaching the body that it no longer needs to fight to survive.

The body holds memory, but it also holds wisdom. Every moment of stillness, every conscious breath, is a step away from survival and a step toward peace.

17/01/2026

I’m super excited to share that I’m now a qualified Access Bars® Practitioner🎉✨️

Access Consciousness Bars is a separate modality that works directly with mental load and unconscious patterns — especially the constant thinking, looping, and internal pressure many people live with daily.

Practised in over 170 countries worldwide, this work can create noticeable mental quiet, a sense of space, and a different relationship with stress that many people don’t realise is possible.

Access Bars is completely independent from Body Stress Release and will be offered as its own service, giving clients another powerful option for nervous system reset and mental relief.

I’m genuinely excited to bring this into my practice from 1 Feb🩵🌀💙

17/01/2026

Complaining literally rewires your brain for negativity by strengthening neural pathways for negative thoughts, making them a default, and can shrink your hippocampus, crucial for problem-solving and memory, according to Stanford research. It also releases the stress hormone cortisol, which impairs immunity, elevates blood pressure, and increases risks for heart disease and obesity, impacting your overall health and cognitive function.

🗂️How complaining changes your brain:

📑Rewires for negativity: Each complaint reinforces neural pathways, making it easier and more automatic to think negatively, a process called neuroplasticity.

📑Shrinks the hippocampus: Habitual complaining can shrink the hippocampus, the brain area vital for learning, memory, and problem-solving.

📑Damages the prefrontal cortex: Chronic negativity can shrink the prefrontal cortex, which governs focus, decision-making, and emotional regulation.

📑Triggers stress: Complaining releases cortisol, shifting your body into “fight-or-flight” mode, which over time harms your immune system and increases risks for chronic illnesses like heart disease, diabetes, and obesity.

🗂️The cycle of negativity:

📑Negative plasticity: Complaining creates a negative feedback loop, making you more efficient at harmful habits and seeing the world through a bleak lens.

📑Impact on others: Negativity is contagious and can also damage the brains of those who listen to complaining for extended periods (over 30 minutes), affecting their hippocampus too.

17/01/2026

🌸Beginning again is not about erasing the past. It is about integrating what you learned and choosing coherence over habit. It is the decision to realign your life with who you have become, not who you were trying to survive as.

Growth does not ask for urgency.
It asks for truth, presence, and the courage to move forward without guarantees.

And that choice, subtle, conscious, intentional, changes everything.

DM - Daily Motivation by Alice

17/01/2026

I like these tips....🩵🌀💙

17/01/2026

Stop silencing yourself to keep the peace. 🩵🌀💙

Silencing your voice can come at a hidden cost.

Research shows that self-silencing is rising among women, leading to serious health consequences. Suppressed emotions and unspoken struggles are linked to autoimmune diseases, heart issues, chronic fatigue syndrome, mental health disorders, and even premature de*th. When needs and feelings are constantly ignored, the body reacts, and stress accumulates in ways that manifest physically and mentally.

It isn’t weakness to speak up.
It’s a lifeline, a safeguard, and a step toward self-preservation.

Because health isn’t just about diet or exercise, it’s about honoring your voice, your boundaries, and your needs.
Every word you reclaim is a shield for your mind, heart, and body.

17/01/2026

❇️ Vitamin C Deficiency – Signs & Symptoms
🔹 Skin & Blood Vessel Changes

→ Easy bruising due to fragile blood vessels
→ Petechiae or small skin hemorrhages
→ Delayed wound healing
→ Dry, rough skin in chronic deficiency

🔹 Oral & Gum Signs

→ Bleeding gums (early and common sign)
→ Swollen, tender, or inflamed gums
→ Gum recession
→ Loose teeth in severe or prolonged deficiency

🔹 Immune & Healing Effects

→ Frequent infections
→ Poor immune response
→ Slow recovery from illness or injuries
→ Increased susceptibility to respiratory infections

🔹 Musculoskeletal Signs

→ Joint pain or stiffness
→ Muscle aches and weakness
→ Bone pain, especially in severe deficiency (scurvy)
→ Joint swelling due to bleeding into joints (advanced cases)

🔹 General & Systemic Symptoms

→ Fatigue and weakness
→ Low energy levels
→ Unexplained body aches
→ Poor appetite

🔹 Mental & Mood Changes

→ Irritability
→ Low mood or depressive symptoms
→ Difficulty concentrating or brain fog

🔹 Why Vitamin C Deficiency Happens

→ Inadequate intake of fruits and vegetables
→ Poor dietary habits or restrictive diets
→ Malabsorption disorders
→ Smoking (increases vitamin C requirement)
→ Chronic illness or alcoholism

🔹 Diagnosis

→ Clinical evaluation based on symptoms
→ Dietary history assessment
→ Blood vitamin C (ascorbic acid) levels when needed

⚠️ Medical Disclaimer
This information is for educational purposes only and does not replace professional medical advice. Consult a qualified healthcare provider for diagnosis and treatment of vitamin C deficiency.

17/01/2026

16/01/2026

Access Bars (From February 2026)

Many people cope well on the outside, yet internally their minds never really switch off.

Constant thinking, replaying conversations, problem-solving, or mental tension can be just as exhausting as physical strain — even when life appears “fine.”

This is often a nervous system that hasn’t been given enough space to settle.

Access Bars is a gentle nervous system modality that works primarily with the mind, helping to quiet mental noise and create space for the system to reset. For some people, this shift in mental activity allows the whole body to relax more deeply as well.

It’s not about trying to stop thoughts.
It’s about removing the pressure that keeps them running.

Access Bars sessions are opening soon and initial availability will be limited.
WhatsApp me on 082 558 5686 to secure one of the first sessions.

15/01/2026

If you’ve worked with me and felt a shift in your body, stress levels, or overall wellbeing, I’d truly appreciate a short review.🩵🌀💙

Your words help others feel safe taking that first step, and they help my practice grow in an honest, heart-centred way.

You can leave a review here on your Body Stress Release experience with me 👉 https://maps.app.goo.gl/Lbk1Fyg3ZQdiHN9G6

Thank you for trusting me with your healing journey ✨️