I use a combination of recommendations and reviews to find new things and I stuck them in Audible.
Shortly after arriving, I booked a session with a cranial sacral therapist.
She asked a question that often triggers me to tears…
‘How are you doing?’
After a mini sob, she suggested we try something different – a somatic experiencing session.
Gently, she guided me back into my body to look for areas that needed attention.
As Gabor Mate says…
‘Where there’s tension, it needs attention.”
Mine was my stomach of course.
As she asked questions, stories and memories revealed themselves.
Emotions like guilt and shame arose, an understanding that I needed to apologise to my body for not listening, not connecting and offering it the compassion I have for others.
I left with a sense my gut was trying to guide me (go with your gut) and would continue to rebel against any choices that didn’t serve me.
That same week I worked with a physio who also does visceral (abdominal) massage. She couldn’t believe the tension in my abdomen, diaphragm muscles and psoas. She recommended I look at Somatic experiencing.
The following day I dived into my Audible selection and looked at the books I downloaded.
Two were based on…guess what… somatic experiencing:
- Waking the Tiger by Peter Levine
- Radical Acceptance by Tara Brach
Coincidence or just meant to be?
Both discussed a body up approach to recovering your health.
It’s a science-based approach to chronic illness and mental health issues.
I’ve worked my way through each book and I’m continuing to benefit from somatic sessions with a trained psychotherapist at home online.
When combined with talking therapies you can work through memories and experiences that have changed your body’s biochemistry and resulted in tensions, trapped energies, emotions and other symptoms
If it’s something you might like to try you can find more details via the Somatic Experiencing Association’s official site: https://www.seauk.org.uk
