Did you know that Touch – your first sense – developed when you were the size of a jelly bean? For 7 more months you were touched by a warm fluid bath, so, what a shock when, at birth, latex hands, a chilly room and a world governed by gravity replaced the womb’s soothing touch. Skin-to-skin contact between
Trauma is any event that overwhelms a person’s ordinary capacity to cope. What Might Traumatize People? Illness and/or invasive surgery Giving birth Childhood hospitalization Death of loved ones Imprisonment Experiencing or witnessing a crime or traumatic event Accidents – after an auto accident, most people experience post traumatic stress Physical, mental, emotional and/or sexual abuse
Disconnection is part of many post traumatic experiences Disconnection • from calm Traumatic events jangle the nervous system, knock the breath out of people, and leave them in a state of high alert – disconnected from the capacity to calm and modulate their responses. • from trust After trauma, the disconnection from a sense of safety
Erratic storage of traumatic memories leaves many people with an incoherent or incomplete narrative of the traumatic event For instance, if several people witness the same traumatic event, they may each relate a different version. Deprived of real memories, the thinking brain spins its wheels in a futile attempt to talk about and understand the
Repairing itself is the body’s full time job It does this more efficiently when we understand how we can support its work. The term ‘body-mind” refers to the intelligence in every cell in the body – not just the brain. Information about what happened to us is stored through out the body and communicated to
Natural pain-relieving agents released during massage comforts body and emotions Medical & surgical treatments can be rigorous and draining. Anxiety and pain often accompany treatment and convalescence, and a “pain cycle” may develop. Pain cycle can often be interrupted with body-centered care Body-centered care releases natural pain relievers in the body that are many times stronger than morphine.
• loosen adhesions that form after mastectomy and certain other surgeries; • low back pain related to tight hips, thighs and low back muscles • shallow breathing, reflux or congestion related to tight diaphragm and chest muscles • Many people say it helps with anxiety and fibromyalgia A client whose low back