(#98) The Body Keeps the Score: Understanding Trauma & Healing Through a Somatic Approach

Episode Transcript
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SPEAKER_00 (00:00):
Welcome back to the podcast.
If you are new here, I'm Ray.
I'm a somatic coach andbreathwork facilitator.
And if you aren't new here,welcome back.
I'm so glad that you are tuningin to today's episode.
So for today, we're going to betalking about the topic of grief
and trauma.

(00:20):
And so this is building off oflast week's episode.
And this is a super layeredtopic, but we're going to be
doing the best that we can.
I'll be sharing a lot ofdifferent material today just
from studying and treatingtrauma for many years.
My background is originally insocial work, and I have taken

(00:41):
quite a few trauma-specificcertifications and also just
through like reading andself-study and diving more into
this topic of how you knowsomatic work and trauma and
grief can all go together.
So a lot of what I'll be sharinghere is from the book The Body
Keeps the Score by Dr.

(01:02):
Bessel van der Koalk.
And we'll explore really, youknow, what trauma actually is,
how it impacts the brain, how itimpacts the body, and how we can
move closer towards healing.
So whether you have experiencedtrauma for yourself or you
support others in navigatingtrauma, or if you are just, you

(01:24):
know, curious about themind-body connection, this
episode is going to really helpyou understand, you know, why
our body holds onto things andmoments and experiences that our
mind can't always make sense of.
So when it comes tounderstanding trauma, there are
so many different aspects of it,so many different parts.

(01:46):
And I like to break it down inthis way where there are the
three E's is what I call it.
So the first E is uh, you know,it's it's an event that happens.
And from this event thathappens, there is an experience.
So we have our experience ofthat event, which is what, you
know, determines if it's atraumatic or not.

(02:09):
And then we also have the effectof what that event and
experience can be.
So this can include, you know,physical, social, emotional,
spiritual consequences from thatevent or experience.
And there are, you know, so manydifferent forms of trauma, and I
won't go into all of them, buteven if the event may be

(02:30):
completed, the body can stillperceive things to be a threat.
And so oftentimes it leaves somesort of imprint on our body and
our mind.
And that can be reflected in ournervous system, in our posture,
and even in our digestivesystem.
So lots of times unprocessedtrauma can reflect in other

(02:54):
areas.
And that is where this kind ofquote or book title to bring it
full circle comes to be, whichis the body keeps the score.
And what can happen in thesemoments of, you know, trauma
where an event, an experiencehappens.
Um, we can, in those moments,we're trying to survive.

(03:14):
And so we can often getdisconnected from the body and
disconnected from emotion tosurvive.
So this can be reflected in likenumbness, disassociation, or
feeling stuck.
And what happens is oftentimeswe try and navigate these
experiences from a healing lensby trying to think our way out

(03:34):
of these experiences.
When in fact, when we invite thebody into the conversation and
not just the mind, both are soimportant.
When we invite the body into theconversation as well, that's
when we're really able tointegrate and move forward and
find safety.
And so an excerpt that I want toshare from uh the book, The Body

(03:55):
Keeps The Score, but with Dr.
by Dr.
Bessel, the one that I uhreferred to in the beginning of
the podcast episode, is reallyhow trauma affects the brain.
And so there's four uh ways thatI want to share with you that
that trauma can affect thebrain.
The first is the brain's alarmsystem, which is the amygdala,
and that be can becomeoveractive.

(04:16):
So, what that can look like isalways scanning for danger,
always on alert, definitelyaffects the nervous system and
definitely becomes this constantstate of you seeking safety
because you're always lookingfor danger.
Then we have the relationalbrain, which is the prefrontal

(04:36):
cortex, and that can just gooffline.
And so when that goes offline,the rational brain, it is harder
to feel safe, it's harder tofeel calm, and it's harder to
really meet with logic becauseagain, we're trying to survive,
something has happened, and nowwhat happens with the brain is

(04:58):
that it can completely just shutdown and it's much harder to
find safety.
The third area is the speechcenter, and this also can shut
down.
So this can help when uh thiscan help explain when people
struggle to find the right wordswhen they're recalling a
traumatic event, because thespeech center in the brain just

(05:18):
has completely shut down.
And then the fourth area of thebrain is the body's memory
system.
So this is somatic memory, andthis is where we store
sensation, emotions, responses.
So even if the event can't berecalled in the mind, it can't
be recalled consciously, it canbe remembered in the body and

(05:38):
stored in the body.
And that is when we can do, youknow, sensation awareness and
somatic curiosity and followdifferent sensations in the body
to see what might be storedthere, what information might be
there for us.
And I think the information I'veshared so far, you know, is a
great foundation to really leadus into the practices that we do

(06:02):
and why we do those practices,because there's this idea of
embodiment, which is like havinga felt sense in your body, a
felt sense and awareness in thebody.
And in order for us to moveforward, you know, past trauma
and heal and integrate theseparts that have been fractured

(06:22):
and ruptured, is by feeling safeagain in the body and having
that sense of safety feelembodied, like feeling like a
real sensation of safety in thebody.
So some of the ways that we cando this, and many of the uh
other episodes I've talked abouta bunch of these examples, but

(06:44):
the first is gaining somaticawareness, so reconnecting and
learning about the differentsensations that are present in
your body without judgment andwith curiosity, and doing that
in a way that feels safe, thatfeels um, you know, within your
capacity and at your pace.
And this is a great practice anda great way to really understand

(07:10):
anxiety, understand grief,understand different sensations
in the body that might come upthat don't necessarily relate in
the mind consciously, but whenyou actually sit with sensation
and you understand it, it canprovide you with so much insight
and so much differentunderstanding that maybe

(07:30):
wouldn't have been there if youdidn't approach it from that
way.
Another modality is yoga andsomatic movement.
So really allowing yourself torebuild a sense of presence,
rebuild a sense of autonomy, asense of safety.
So really being allowed to moveyour body in a way that feels

(07:53):
good for you and brings you asense of safety and peace.
Another modality that I speakquite often about is breath
work.
Breath work is really helpfulfor calming your body's fight or
flight, for regulating yournervous system, also for
expanding your capacity to feeland to feel safe.
So this kind of connects withthe first modality of building

(08:16):
somatic awareness.
Breath work can help you to feelsafe in your body, to feel
sensation in your body, to feeldifferent shifts and things
happening in a place that feelsreally safe and empowering for
you.
And then two other modalitiesthat I'll share with you EMDR
and neurofeedback.
These are two that I am not, Idon't specialize in either of

(08:38):
these areas, uh, but they dodefinitely help with processing
from a somatic lens.
They're both somatic processes.
And then the last one that Iwould share is being able to
express yourself in a creativeway.
So if we're looking to movethrough a traumatic event and
integrate and heal from atraumatic event, we might not

(09:00):
look outside of the box, so tospeak, something like art
therapy, writing, music,different creative ways that
help us to express and integrateparts of the self that were
fragmented or ruptured orseparated from trauma.
And when people are processingtrauma, trying to really move

(09:21):
forward, there are a fewdifferent themes that I think
really are supportive forgetting that somatic healing
experience.
And really what we're, I think,looking for a lot oftentimes
when we're doing this kind ofwork.
So the first is safety.
You really want to create aplace where the body no longer

(09:42):
feels like it is in danger.
So really feeling like you aresafe in your experience, whether
that's a physical, like somaticexperience, but also that you're
safe in the mind as well.
So really regaining that senseof safety and healing helps with
moving forward and finding thatsafer connection, which leads me

(10:06):
to the second theme, which Ithink is connection.
Really having relationships thatfeel safe, that feel attuned and
supportive.
And these are relationships thatcan be, you know, in your inner
circle and also the relationshipwith yourself.
So repairing that relationshipwith yourself and also um having

(10:28):
strong, safe, supportive, andattuned relationships in your in
your life.
And the third theme that I wouldlove to share with you is this
sense of empowerment.
So oftentimes with trauma, itcan take away our sense of
control.
And so healing is an empoweringprocess that allows you to gain

(10:49):
your autonomy, to restore yourown agency over your body and
your choices.
And so it's an empoweringexperience that I think really
brings the sense of wholenessand integration.
And then the fourth theme isintegration.
So the goal isn't necessarilyto, you know, erase the past,

(11:11):
uh, but it is to integrate itinto your experience, into your
story in a way that no longerfeels, you know, dominating or
feels um like it's robbing youof your set your presence and
safety.
And then one other thing that Ilike to mention before I sign
off here is this idea of we needto do like all of this work and

(11:35):
like all of these, you know,things in order for us to become
quote unquote like healed.
But there is, you know,something to be said about
diving into all of this work, ofcourse, when it comes to
processing trauma.
And I think that is extremelyvaluable.
And nobody should really need tonavigate any of these like

(11:56):
harder experiences bythemselves.
I think that's part of, youknow, reaching out and asking
for support.
And there's nothing wrong withthat.
And it's also not about, youknow, becoming like the most
healed person or like nevergetting triggered or never
struggling or never feeling anykind of pain.
And I think a lot of, well, atleast I hope I do a good job of

(12:20):
this, but a lot of what I talkabout is really being able to
build capacity to move throughsomething that maybe previously
would have felt like reallyoverwhelming and really
uncomfortable.
And allowing ourselves to learnnew ways to respond and choose

(12:41):
new habits and feel, you know,less impacted by our past and
relate from a place that feelssafe instead of like survival.
And so even after, you know, youdo all of all of the things, all
of the work and all of that, youknow, you still might get

(13:02):
triggered, you might getdysregulated, you might feel
uncomfortable.
Um, all of those things willhappen.
And then hopefully when thosethings happen, you'll have, you
know, way more tools andcapacity to navigate, navigate
all of those different forms ofterrain in life.
So if you're feeling, you know,behind or anything like that,

(13:24):
there's no such thing as beinglike ahead or behind.
We're all on the path, we're allon the journey, just putting
like one foot in front of theother, and we're all trying our
best out here.
So just keep going and yeah,reach out if you need any kind
of support.
And so that is what we have fortoday's episode.
Let me know what your favoritetakeaway was.

(13:47):
If you would like to stayconnected, you can sign up for
the somatic healing newsletter.
The link for that will be rightin the show notes.
And yeah, I hope that youenjoyed today's episode.
I hope that you have anincredible rest of your day, an
incredible rest of your week.
And I will talk to you soon.
Thank you for being here andtuning in to Somatic Healing for

(14:10):
Wellness Focused Women Podcast.
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moment to leave a rating andreview on Apple Podcasts.
It truly helps the podcast growand helps more people find me on
their healing journey.
Make sure to check out the shownotes to sign up for the monthly
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(14:32):
with me, and ways that we canstay connected.
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Send me a DM.
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I am so happy you're here, and Icannot wait to talk with you on
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(#98) The Body Keeps the Score: Understanding Trauma & Healing Through a Somatic Approach

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