Healing Stress And Traumatic Anxiety
From Rik Center:
Discomfort and Unwanted Pain
In the process of recognizing a sense of discomfort or an unwanted pain, we may observe that many times our reactive state sits in judgment of the experience; right or wrong and/or good and bad. In healing deep wounding, we want to invite in the possibility of sitting with the inner body sensation of the experience vs. the built-in stories and thoughts that may arise around the emotional, psychological or physical pain. By keeping a focus on the sensation our higher thought cognitive process perceptions will shift, changing the neurobiological process within the brain/body connection.
If we are unable to become aware of the physical felt sense, we often stay trapped in a vortex of story and thought continuously feeling like a victim of life (this shows up in our belief system). These thoughts send signals into the felt sense body which are constantly activating our autonomic nervous system, putting it into an instinctive survival mode of fight, flight or freeze syndrome. If a person can learn to reference into their sense body we then begin connecting to a somatic resource and build new synaptic pathways within the brain in how we are perceiving our experience. Our higher thinking brain will resource itself into the present moment, the here and now. This somatic experience will allow for a momentary drop in the perceived story of judgment or past remembrance that continues a cycle of suffering, that layer of pain that walks with us throughout our daily life.
Thought in itself feels no pain; our body is interpreting these thought impulses that are being sent through a wiring system within our biological body that feels sensation.
In the process or surrendering to our felt sense, we are not giving up our experience rather we are choosing to be present to our full experience of the moment through our psycho-neurological process of feelings, thoughts, perception, and connective muscle tissue. We are not looking to push anything away. We are creating a willingness to work with the body, emotions, thoughts and perceptions just as they are. We are making a choice to heal from the now, creating an integration and equanimity balance within our neurobiological system.
By taking an active participatory role in our healing we are introducing a new process into our brain thought patterns. Somatically this allows for the discharge and regulation of our autonomic nervous system, the Somatic Experiencing ® work created by Peter Levine. Also in bringing our attention to the body and what is happening we are building in a process of mindfulness awareness. In this process, we begin creating integration. As Dr. Dan Siegel expresses, “by bringing two opposing forces together we create integration which creates mental health and well-being.” Focusing the higher cognitive brain on tracking body felt sensations, we create a new synapse connection.
In creating a new neurobiological pathway of awareness we begin to alter our instinctual survival patterns, moving us away from modes of thinking that no longer serve us and that typically cause large amounts of suffering. In this mode of somatic mindful awareness, we are laying the groundwork for new neural pathways of thinking and how we react to our world. In utilizing a Somatic Experiencing ® process of discharging high energies of past trauma our body can and will regulate itself back into homeostasis, feeling whole and creating positive boundaries within our life. Our ability to interact with the world changes as old sufferings and fears begin to loosen their grip. Feeling healthy and happy, being present and healing from this moment. Not of the mind that constantly rehashes and rehearses our thoughts over and over that is always seeking a quick escape that never offers true-grounded emotional freedom and tranquility in meeting each moment of life as it arises.