Decrease Fear, Decrease Tension!

How Breema Bodywork and Self-Breema exercises can support your outlook and your relationship to others, to life, and to your body.

Mar 06, 2026

We all hold tension in our joints and muscles. While some tension is unavoidable, a great percentage of the tension we carry is created by fear, in particular, the fear of being criticized.

We actually internalize the criticism we are afraid others may have of us, and we even add our own self-criticism. Often without knowing it, we blame ourselves for not being able to eliminate the possibility that others may not perceive us as perfect!

Fear makes us uncomfortable, discomfort causes tension, and so, we are constantly tense. The net effect of tension is constriction, and it affects every single structural and physiological system in the body, so that not one of our systems can function naturally and optimally.

When we receive Breema bodywork treatments, practice doing Breema treatments, or practice Self-Breema exercises, we start to replace a portion of our mechanical, fear-based thoughts and feelings with organized, purposeful thoughts which are based on our experience in the moment and understanding of the Nine Principles of Harmony. The result is a decrease in tension. The mind, instead of exacerbating the body’s tension-based state, begins to work with the body, and transforms from an enemy of our health into an ally. Our outlook, relationship to others, to life, and to our body shifts in a very positive direction. We heal and recover more quickly. We begin to recognize opportunities for mutual support, and we attract the well-wishing of others. Life gradually transforms for us, from something difficult and threatening, into an unfolding possibility for belonging and fulfillment.

We begin to look at our body and its health challenges as opportunities to grow in understanding, and we can more often meet our various challenges with confidence and humor, instead of with suffering and fear.

We begin to see health from a more universal perspective, and take step after step towards recognizing that real health means harmony with Existence.

Jon Schreiber, D.C., is the director of the Breema Center and Breema Clinic in Oakland, California, and has been teaching Breema internationally since 1980. He has presented at conferences in the fields of medicine, psychology, bodywork, and holistic health, and has authored numerous articles and books on the universal philosophy of Breema. In his clinical practice, Dr. Schreiber integrates Breema, Self-Breema, and the Nine Principles of Harmony to help patients discover the real meaning of health.