You can enter the healing journey from many points.
There is no one right way.
My way in was through the body (and creative process).
I once thought "trauma" had to do with people who were severely hurt. I didn't think it had anything to do with me.
I also thought dancing was for other people before I did my Feldenkrais training. I didn't know it was possible until I felt a change. One day, driving home from my training, I began moving my shoulder forward and back, forward and back until I realized that I could move it small and quick. I shimmied my shoulders for the first time!
Feldenkrais helped move me out of a freeze state.
Check out this cool illustration of the autonomic nervous system based on the Polyvagal Theory by Stephen Porges. There is a lot here. What do you notice in your bodily experience as you look at this image?
From www.rubyjowalker.com
If you are curious to learn more about this subject, check out some of the resources below:
Book list!
Here is a list of books I have been reading/ listening to on Audible in the last 2 years that I highly recommend:
Neurobiology of Trauma, Stress, Connection & Healing
- Healing Trauma by Peter Levine
- Healing Developmental Trauma by Aline LaPierre and Laurence Heller
- The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma by Bessel Van Der Kolk
- When the Body Says No: Exploring the Stress-Disease Connection by Gabor Mate
- The Upside of Stress: Why Stress is Good for You and How to Get Good at it by Kelly McGonigal
- Your Brain on Love: the Neurobiology of Healthy Relationships by Stan Tatkin
Beyond Trauma: Teaching, Creativity, Wholeness & Meaningful Work
- Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World, by Cal Newport
- The Courage to Teach: Exploring the Inner Landscape of a Teacher’s Life by Parker J. Palmer
- Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire everyone to Take Action by Simon Sinek
- An Undivided Life: Seeking Wholeness in Ourselves, Our Work, & Our world by Parker J. Palmer
- Hidden Wholeness: The Journey Toward an Undivided Life by Parker J. Palmer
- The War of Art by Steven Pressfield
- Do the Work by Steven Pressfield
To be continued...