Can you fathom telling your child or best friend to just wait until they are done with their task for water or food? Or to just be quiet if they are filled to the brim and take one more bite? Likely not. AND that is often what we do to ourselves, our body, our greatest consort in life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nWhen we hit rock bottom, what happens? Our bodies and minds desynchronize. Our bodies begin to scream for attention.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
This is where I was when I found Somatic Experiencing. Peter Levine found the method after years of study in Physical Therapy and animals\u2019 responses to stressors or traumatic experiences. We each have our own unique nervous system architecture that determines our capacity to respond to stressful situations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nIt turns out that Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) are the only direct link to health.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
The greater the stressors during development actually CAUSE<\/em> illnesses such as heart disease and cancer. The only other causation in science and health is smoking. Wow\u2026. Nadine Burke\u2019s The Deepest Well is a great book to refer to for more information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nAdverse experiences can cause psychological issues such as anxiety and depression and lead to physical conditions such as chronic injuries, pain, autoimmune, fatigue, and diseases.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
This is where somatic (pertaining to the body) experiencing thrives as a therapy. Somatic Experiencing (SE) focuses on the mind-body connection in order to address both mental and physical concerns. The focus of SE is to help you complete processing experiences, notice the mind-body connection and cultivate awareness until you have enough capacity to work through distressing situations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What is the freeze?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Much of the focus of SE is on the \u201cfreeze\u201d response. An example of an actual freeze is the body\u2019s response to drowning, your body shuts down to conserve energy in order to survive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When we are faced with a threat, we can fight-flight-freeze or appease for survival. The freeze usually happens when our bodies assess a threat and realize that the chance of escaping harm is questionable. Your body builds tension, in your muscles, your heart rate increases as do shallow breaths, and your body is flooded with stress hormones. This is great when you have a chance to confront the said threat or run, but when you don\u2019t and you freeze, that moment in time becomes stored in your fascia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\nFascia keeps all of our memories, holds our muscles and organs, and communicates with our entire system. I like to think of it as the mycelial network of the body. Mycelia helps trees and plants communicate for survival and growth. Our fascia does the same for our entire system.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
So, when you are no longer faced with a threat and have no way to mobilize in order to protect yourself, the level of activation remains the same in your system, someone is trapped. In response to freezing, you may no longer be in a fight-or-flight response, you froze, the energy wasn\u2019t used, and your system often does not return to baseline. Another way to say it is your body doesn\u2019t reset in order to prepare for the next response and continues to repeat little bits of the trauma response, which leads to symptoms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Symptoms include, but are not limited to:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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- Chronic pain<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Digestive concerns<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Hormone issues<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Muscle pain and tension<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Sleep issues<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Heart rate dysregulation (racing heart or slow heart) <\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Autoimmune like symptoms<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- And more..,<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
What Does Somatic Experiencing Look and Feel Like?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Somatic Experiencing is a \u201cBottom-Up\u201d approach to adverse stressful experiences. The primary focus is to uncover bodily sensations linked to feelings rather than examining memories and emotions associated with a traumatic event or an event that caused major stress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Almost every Somatic Therapist begins with education to help you learn and understand your nervous system more. From there, your therapist guides you to become more curious and familiar with your body sensations, which are almost always connected to your story<\/em>. Your therapy sessions are designed to help you stay aware of your body; or embodied, as you build tools to stay with your body as you explore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n