The previous entries all lead up to my experience in a new type of therapy referred to as Somatic Experiencing. You can do independent research about it, but I think the best summary is this:
SE® restores self-regulation, and returns a sense of aliveness, relaxation and wholeness to traumatized individuals who have had these precious gifts taken away. – http://www.traumahealing.com
It works by guiding individuals to truly experience emotions in their physical forms. Our nervous system is hardwired to react to emotions in a way to perpetuate our survival. It’s a beautiful thing our Creator instilled in us in order to help us overcome the trials implicit on this Earth.
The issue is that our traumas have changed a lot as we organized ourselves into complex societies. Technology, our increasingly sedentary lives, media, and cultural constructions of appropriateness have stolen our intrinsic coping mechanisms. Both the types of trauma and our coping have completely changed.
We are no longer running from bears. Instead, we are dealing with the traumas of self-consciousness, toxic relationships, abuse, war, workaholicism, drugs use, and any number of other things. And instead of running, hiding, climbing, or sleeping to process and release these traumas, we overeat, undersleep, fuel on caffeine, escape to television, or otherwise avoid these sensations. We occlude our awareness instead of paying attention to our bodies and letting them do what they naturally do.
While, unfortunately, the traumas of physical threat still exist, there are other, more subtle traumas in our life. I believe that these subtle traumas are less tolerable in our society because we’ve disconnected with those primal coping skills. If you have an acute physical trauma in your past, then you are even less connected to those physical alarms of trauma.
I found my tranquility by learning to follow those cues from my body and allowing them to be, and seeing where they lead. In nursing school, I learned and witness the physical effects of epinephrine and norepinephrine, fight or flight neurotransmitters on our bodies. We release these in response to everything from stumping our toe to breaking quickly in traffic. When I try to ignore that release of epi or norepi, it builds up tension in my body. Everything from my emotional eveness to my basic bodily processes changes depending on my practice of Somatic Experiencing.
I’m learning to trust that if my body asks for rest, I rest. If I need to dance I dance. Stand, sit, lay, walk, run…every emotion triggers a physical response, and that’s OK.
By releasing these traumas one at a time, instead of letting them build up, it clears my head. It allows me to fully engage with the world outside of me. I have more patience with others and am significantly more productive.
While my interpretation of this middah was steeped in psychology and biology, I feel like it is inseparable to my faith. By trusting in God’s handiwork, I recognize the importance of caring for these intricate systems. I owe that to this beautiful construction of my body, my community, and my life.
And You Shall Love 