Be very still like a cat waiting on a mouse, like the snow blanketing at dawn. Quieting. Breathing. Allow the cords of pain writhing to stop, to yawn, to gaze at shadows dancing on a safe child’s ceiling; allow the panicked what-ifs squeezing your mind to hold teacups instead and to contemplate the steam rising …
Tag Archive: immobility
Feb 16 2017
The 8-Step Immobility Healing Exercise – How To Turn Immobility into a Door to Healing Past Trauma
If you find yourself frozen in immobility, what should you say – and what should you not say – to yourself? What can you do to help yourself get out of it? Today I Felt Paralyzed This morning I felt like I didn’t want to get up. It wasn’t voluntary. I didn’t decide I wouldn’t …
Nov 24 2015
Immobility, The Freeze Response to Trauma – The Story of the Deer in the Road
It’s Story Time! “The Deer in the Road” Once upon a time a deer wandered out of the forest and onto a flat, stone-like piece of ground. It was night. A few clouds passed across the moon and the wind rustled the tufts of grass along the edge of the gravely surface. All was quiet …
Jul 03 2014
All About Self-Regulation – Learning To Manage The Hot and Cold of PTSD (Pendulation Article 2)
As I wrote in Pendulation Article 1, I have been doing the Pendulation Exercise lately because of dealing with a lot of triggers. Here are some of my own results from doing the Pendulation Exercise: Sometimes after about 10 minutes of doing Pendulation I feel a 30% reduction of activation. Sometimes there is a moment …
Jun 26 2014
Pendulation Exercise – Connecting to Resources (Pendulation Article 1)
Pendulation is an exercise to develop a relationship between the “unresourced” and the “resourced” parts of our consciousness or inner universe. Between the lost and the found, the fragment and the whole. Note that this is all from my personal experiences as a Somatic Experiencing client who experiences PTSD. Stressed Out of My Mind. …
Apr 06 2014
Rapid Resolution Therapy – Visual Symbols (Session 2)
Here are some visual symbols that came up for me as a result of my second session of Rapid Resolution Therapy. Terms related to generating images of inner states: active imagination, visualization, symbolic representation, guided meditation, visions, visual intelligence The Three-pointed Flame – Symbol of Freedom, Clarity and Wholeness I saw a symbol of a flame …
Apr 03 2014
Rapid Resolution Therapy – Visual Symbols (Session 1)
I went to my first session of Rapid Resolution Therapy. In this post I am going to share some of the images that came up for me as part of my healing process during and after the session. Terms related to generating images of inner states: active imagination, visualization, symbolic representation, guided meditation, visions, visual …
Jan 06 2014
7 PTSD Feedback Loops
In the book I have been working on, The Art of Healing Trauma (tentative title), which chronicles my healing journey through PTSD, I identify 7 Feedback Loops that act like quicksand, pulling one further into PTSD even as one desires to find one’s way out. This needs further research, but feedback loops could be one …
May 03 2013
Trauma Healing Exercise – Body Awareness & Art
This exercise combines Somatic Therapy and Art Therapy. I have gotten so much from doing somatic therapy for PTSD. Although I am an artist, I have not yet explored expressive arts therapies for PTSD (art, dance, music etc.) In this exercise the main healing mechanism is somatic, however the art component enhances the somatic component …
Oct 21 2012
Are You Part Rageaholic? All About Rageaholism and PTSD
The definition of rageaholic is, “a person who gets excited by expressing rage; a person prone to extreme anger with little or no provocation” (Dictionary.com). This is a rather underdeveloped definition. On the Wikipedia page there are more details, mainly focusing on developing self-control and anger management skills. But what is going on underneath? Eliminating …