Somatic Personal Practice
Chemistry of Somatic Reactions
There are parts of us – unconscious patterns in us – that have oversized reactions to ordinary and objectively safe enough social situations.
These oversized reactions lead to the release of stress chemicals in the body. Even when our minds understand that things are ok, our bodies still believe there is an urgent need for some sort of action or response.
In working with these overreactions, we follow two parallel paths:
First Aid.
Interrupt the stress chemistry in any way that works: meditation, reflection, movement, singing, music, dancing, distraction. For some people, medications might be useful here depending on various factors.
Healing, Reorganizing.
Work with the beliefs, emotions, and somatic experiences (felt sense) in the body, gently and gradually guiding the body to update the unconscious beliefs and uncouple the overcouplings that are present.
Effective healing modalities (somatically based or not) support both first aid and longer term reorganization.
Behaviors will change automatically as we implement first aid and long term reorganization. Intentional behavioral modification may be needed for some but is not an inherent requirement in trauma healing.