The Body Keeps The Score - Bessel Van der Kolk
A Meditation Series
The Body Keeps The Score
Dr. van der Kolk shares his research on how trauma is a force that deeply affects both the brain and body. He explains how traumatic experiences leaves lasting imprints on the nervous system, triggering a persistent "fight, flight, or freeze" (and, more recently, fawn) response. Using case studies, he shows how trauma disrupts brain function, impairing emotional regulation, relationships, and bodily safety. He then shares an antidote, how neurofeedback to help rewire the brain and restore a sense of control.
Filling in the Holes: Creating Structures
The greatest discovery of my generation is that human beings can alter their lives by altering their attitudes of mind.
—William James
It is not that something different is seen, but that one sees differently. It is as though the spatial act of seeing were changed by a new dimension.
—Carl Jung
Rescripting our Lives
Psychomotor therapy offers ways to create positive, sensory-based “virtual memories” that can sit alongside painful past experiences, providing feelings of safety, support, and connection. These new experiences help counteract the frozen or panicked states caused by trauma.
Participants within a group can safely project their inner reality into a space filled with real people, where they can explore the cacophony and confusion of the past. Structures harness the extraordinary power of the imagination to transform the inner narratives that drive and confine our functioning in the world. With the proper support the secrets that once were too dangerous to be revealed can be disclosed not just to a therapist, a latter-day father confessor, but, in our imagination, to the people who actually hurt and betrayed us.
Review and Rehearse
When we cannot rely on our body to signal safety or warning and instead feel chronically overwhelmed by physical stirrings, we lose the capacity to feel at home in our own skin and, by extension, in the world. We can remain stuck in interpreting the present in light of an unchanging past.
While we can’t change the past, powerful emotional scenarios can help rewire our emotional responses, offering a sense of being cared for and truly welcomed.
In this weeks practice we are going to gently explore being with various versions of ourselves, rehearse new scenarios and be with them with compassion. The scene you re-create in a structure may or may not be precisely what happened, but it represents the structure of your inner world: your internal map and the hidden rules that you have been living by. It gives you permission to feel what you feel and know what you know one of the essential foundations of recovery.
You are the Expert in You.
I am not assuming you have experienced severe trauma, but I know each one of us suffers and struggles and has experienced hardships and challenges. We know that life is inherently unsatisfying and that our drive to move beyond this is an important part of our survival. We also know that one of the keys to living a contented life is to be grounded in the present moment, and this is what we’re practising.
Today will be a gentle movement-based meditation, really listen to the boundaries of your body.
There’s no right or wrong way of doing these practices. We’re learning to take great care of ourselves. There’s nothing to fix, we’re exploring how to soften the edges and find safety. Follow my guidance only if this feels right for you.
Be interested, and curious and as best you can bring a non-judgemental approach to your experiences
We’re learning to observe our habits and tendencies. To live life well. To be content and fulfilled.