In An Unspoken Voice - Peter Levine

bm said:
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Pashalis said:
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Of course we encounter in life also constantly situations in which we are thrown into the bathtub of that "big thing" that is "to far away for us". Or situations in which we just have to face "the big thing". The same applies then: Try to find something "small" in that moment that you can "will" to do good or better, like moving differently. A good thing to always keep in mind in any given situation is "be externally considerate", it can give valuable insight into what we do in any given moment. And then try to think of "small things" you can do in that direction. As with everything else it needs practise.
[...]I will remind myself of that last paragraph - that is quite some precious advice. I find that if I keep a strong intent expressing humility in my interactions, things usually work out well. However, it takes a lot of energy to be humble, I realise. It's about being unselfish and considering the other as deeply as possible. That means you give up all your preconceived notions about life and everything you know, to SEE the person in front of you for who they really are. To give up automatic thinking for conscious apprehension of reality is an energy-consuming act and it seems like the greatest expression of love for another.

Yes it is amazing how little things like that can seem to be so difficult and energy demanding and yet are so very important for growth towards a real will. It is also amazing, even though we know rationally that it is a good thing to do it, our mostly automatic programs in the body and brain, think and act differently. I guess it has partly to do with the circumstance that most of us are not used to the practise of "external consideration" and "humility and patients" towards others.

We have behaved a certain way for so long that it has become the normal automatic condition and thus feels comfortable. Now if something new enters, like trying to make an extra effort to be external considerate towards others, all of a sudden we feel not that well anymore, since we are simply not used to activate those useful pathways in the body and brain. With constant practise, over a long period, of that "new thing", or to say it better, this more constructive behaviour, it becomes a useful habit that we can use for good.

Sounds to me like this wedding trip is a perfect opportunity to practise without judging yourself for "failures" so much. Indeed it sound like one of those "big things" for you, so you could try to make an extra effort to not measure yourself by "your ideal future self" there, but try to make small steps in that direction, so that you don't get overwhelmed. And yes the 4 "S" words are just some of those useful "small things" you can practise.
 
[quote author=bm]
I have an upcoming "big thing" happening next week, as a matter of fact. I'm to attend a friend's wedding in another country and I will be there for a week. I am quite apprehensive about the whole thing, and I can't really seem to shake the feeling of something bad happening. Part of me is happy that I feel more connected to the group and participating at hopefully a more open and honest level, and this part is a little afraid of being swept up by what's about to happen during this coming trip. I'm not sure if it makes a whole lot of sense. I think it's the whole fear of being "re-traumatized" that's egging me. It's actually a good reminder for me to firm up my travel plans and not leave things to chance, as much as possible.
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Do you have specific negative experiences with traveling or is it a generalized anxiety for being away from your routine? From what you have shared in the past, you have had positive experience traveling to a different country. So maybe keep that in mind to allay the anxiety? At the same time, do what is reasonable and under your control to ensure a smooth trip.

[quote author=bm]
I will remind myself of that last paragraph - that is quite some precious advice. I find that if I keep a strong intent expressing humility in my interactions, things usually work out well. However, it takes a lot of energy to be humble, I realise. It's about being unselfish and considering the other as deeply as possible. That means you give up all your preconceived notions about life and everything you know, to SEE the person in front of you for who they really are. To give up automatic thinking for conscious apprehension of reality is an energy-consuming act and it seems like the greatest expression of love for another.
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Maybe. I look at it differently though. Humility need not be about the other person. It is about me realizing and accepting my knowledge and abilities are limited and expressing that understanding in the way I act.
 
Pashalis said:
Sounds to me like this wedding trip is a perfect opportunity to practise without judging yourself for "failures" so much. Indeed it sound like one of those "big things" for you, so you could try to make an extra effort to not measure yourself by "your ideal future self" there, but try to make small steps in that direction, so that you don't get overwhelmed. And yes the 4 "S" words are just some of those useful "small things" you can practise.

Thanks Pashalis. I will pay attention on pacing myself, and hopefully this will let the experience unfold slowly.
 
obyvatel said:
bm] I have an upcoming "big thing" happening next week said:
[quote author=bm]
I will remind myself of that last paragraph - that is quite some precious advice. I find that if I keep a strong intent expressing humility in my interactions, things usually work out well. However, it takes a lot of energy to be humble, I realise. It's about being unselfish and considering the other as deeply as possible. That means you give up all your preconceived notions about life and everything you know, to SEE the person in front of you for who they really are. To give up automatic thinking for conscious apprehension of reality is an energy-consuming act and it seems like the greatest expression of love for another.

Maybe. I look at it differently though. Humility need not be about the other person. It is about me realizing and accepting my knowledge and abilities are limited and expressing that understanding in the way I act.

I did not think of it in that way. How interesting, it is a very mindful way to approach the subject. I appreciate this piece of wisdom. Instead of forgetting what you know, you accept that you do have knowledge. It makes more sense this way, rather than what I wrote - I think my approach would be tantamount to something like devotion and too biased towards the emotional center.
 
I thought I would clarify a bit about my travel anxiety even with my previous experience travelling in another country. I feel that, though I had a good experience in general, and tried to make the best of it, I seem to have this overarching feeling of constantly being overwhelmed by everything that was happening. It's sympathetic hyperarousal, in a nutshell. I swing between the dissociation (immobility) and hyperarousal (fight/flight) and that makes my personality so unstable. Shades of bipolar disorder. Trying to control arousal is tricky - the sweet spot of social engagement is hard to reach and sustain because it's so darn evolutionarily new. The function of those older systems are so conserved for survival that any given chance situation triggers them.

I'm posting this while at the airport, through my smartphone. I'm keeping my senses online and paying attention to what's going on around me, and inside me. Babies crying, people talking, etc. Let's see what this trip is like.
 
I had a thought about 'Sammy', the case study that Levine talks about where he worked with a 2.5 whose personality had changed after a traumatic experience:

Here is the story of Sammy, a two-and-a-half-year-old boy, where setting up a play session led to a reparative experience with a victorious outcome. [....] The following is an example of what can happen when an ordinary fall, requiring a visit to the emergency room for stitches, goes awry. It also shows how several months later, Sammy's terrifying experience was transformed through play into a renewed sense of confidence and joy.

Sammy has been spending the weekend with his grandparents, where I am their house guest. He is being an impossible tyrant, aggressively and relentlessly trying to control his new environment. Nothing pleases him; he displays a foul temper every waking moment. When he is asleep, he tosses and turns as if wrestling with his bedclothes. This behaviour is not entirely unexpected from a two-and-half-year-old whose parents have gone away for the weekend - children with separation anxiety often act it out. Sammy, however, has always enjoyed visiting his grandparents, and this behaviour seemed extreme to them.

They confided to me that six months earlier, Sammy fell off his high chair and split his chin open. Bleeding heavily, he was taken to the local emergency room. When the nurse came to take his temperature and blood pressure, he was so frightened that she was unable to record his vital signs. This vulnerable little boy was then strapped down in a 'paediatric papoose' (a board with flaps and Velcro straps). With his torso and legs immobilised, the only parts of his body he could move were his head and neck - which, naturally, he did, as energetically as he could. The doctors responded by tightening the restraint and immobilising his head with their hands in order to suture his chin.

After this upsetting experience, mom and dad took Sammy out for a hamburger and then to the playground. His mother was very attentive and carefully validated his experience of being scared and hurt. Soon, all seemed forgotten. However, the boys overbearing attitude began shortly after this event. Could Sammy's tantrums and controlling behaviour be related to his perceived helplessness from this trauma?

When his parent's returned, we agreed to explore whether there might be a traumatic charge still associated with this recent experience. We all gathered in the cabin where I was staying. With parents, grandparents and Sammy watching, I placed his stuffed Pooh Bear on the edge of a chair in such a way that it fell to the floor. Sammy shrieked, bolted for the door and ran across a footbridge and down a narrow path to the creek. Our suspicions were confirmed. His most recent visit to the hospital was neither harmless nor forgotten. Sammy's behaviour told us that this game was potentially overwhelming for him.

Then Levine and the other adults set up a play exercise that both increased Sammy's confidence in being pinned down and delivered a means for him to experience a successful escape. They started out by pinning Pooh Bear under the covers of a bed, and them all helping to get him out, and celebrating Pooh Bears escape. Each of the adults then took turns in being pinned down by the covers, and escaping, followed by celebration. As Sammy's confidence in the game grew, he also helped the others escape. Finally they pinned Sammy down and allowed him to successfully fight his way out while they also helped him escape, finishing with a celebration for a successful escape. Levine tracks the growth in excitement and confidence in Sammy as the game progresses and how Sammy exhibits more power and triumph instead of hyperactive avoidance and aggression.

That reminded me of particular games I used to play when I was a kid.

I remember reading that olympic swimmer Steve Holland used to pretend there was a shark following him in the pool. I wanted to be a faster swimmer so that's what I used to do - dive in, pretend there was a shark chasing me, swim the lap as fast as I could and get out the other end imagining that a shark was snapping at my feet. The thing is, it did give a sense of triumph and confidence, even though imagining the shark could increase stress!.

We also used to play a version of hide and seek of a warm night that involved getting from point a) to point b) without being spotted by someone with a flash light.

So I wonder if, being a little childlike and playing these games could help reduce the impact of trauma, and that we suffer more as adults because we stop playing?
 
In early 2019 I was researching on somatic therapies that combine techniques adapted from yoga or aikido, conversation, meditation and breathing exercises, as tools to heal traumas.

Synchronically, in July we received an email at the Taiji school I attend, in which a research scientist from the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, asked if it was possible to take Qigong classes at our school, since she would be visiting Santiago, on her way to see the eclipse in northern Chile. It turned out that she was Mardi Crane-Godreau, a member of the Somatic Experiencing Trauma Institute and co-author of several investigations by Peter Levine, author of the book I am telling you about.

So, honoring this synchrony, in the school's Newsletter I published the extract of one of the fascinating research articles on somatic experience, written jointly by Peter Payne, Peter A. Levine and Mardi A. Crane-Godreau: "Somatic experiencing: using interoception and proprioception as core elements of trauma therapy"

You can see the complete scientific article at this link: Somatic experiencing: using interoception and proprioception as core elements of trauma therapy

Some dates:
SE differs from cognitive therapies in that its major interventional strategy involves bottom-up processing by directing the client's attention to internal sensations, both visceral (interoception) and musculo-skeletal (proprioception and kinesthesis), rather than primarily cognitive or emotional experiences. SE is not a form of exposure therapy; it specifically avoids direct and intense evocation of traumatic memories, instead approaching the charged memories indirectly and very gradually, as well as facilitating the generation of new corrective interoceptive experiences that physically contradict those of overwhelm and helplessness. Why this is an effective approach is the core theme of this paper.

SE shares this focus on internal awareness with traditional methods of meditative movement, such as Yoga, T'ai Chi and Qigong, as well as many forms of seated meditation (Schmalzl et al., 2014). Less well-known Western-grown therapeutic (“Somatic”) systems such as the Alexander Technique (Stuart, 2013), the Feldenkrais method (Feldenkrais, 2005), and Continuum (Conrad-Da'oud and Hunt, 2007), also use this general approach. The explanations and suggestions in this paper apply to some extent to all of these systems.

We believe that the sophisticated and precise theories and techniques of SE offer a way of understanding the processes that occur during mindfulness meditation, both the beneficial mental, emotional and physiological effects of mindfulness meditation and the flooding or dissociation that can occur when traumatic memories surface. In addition, SE can suggest ways in which mindfulness meditation practices could be modified to enable meditators to process traumatic material, and traumatized people to use mindfulness-based techniques to help them recover.

SE avoids asking clients to relive their traumatic experiences, rather it approaches the sensations associated with trauma only after establishing bodily sensations associated with safety and comfort; these become a reservoir of innate, embodied resource to which the individual can return repeatedly as they touch, bit by bit (titration), on the stress-associated sensations. Biological completion and autonomic discharge occur in controlled and manageable steps as the therapist guides the client in attending to visceral sensation or subtle motor impulses associated with incomplete defensive responses.

Other “bodymind” systems
We believe that the mechanisms elucidated here explain the effectiveness of traditional Asian bodymind systems as well as Western Somatic disciplines and body-oriented psychotherapy. We also believe these mechanisms explain the value of the emphasis on bodily experience, breathing, posture, and balanced muscle tone in seated mindfulness meditation, and extend current theories about the mechanisms behind the long-term beneficial effects of this practice.

In the practice of mindfulness meditation, as well as other forms of contemplative practice, challenging physical and emotional experiences often arise (Kaplan et al., 2012). At times these experiences can pose significant challenges to mental and emotional health, and may lead to the abandonment of the practice. We believe that the SE perspective offers a way of understanding and working with such issues. Although it is beyond the scope of this paper to give an exhaustive treatment, we wish to offer some reflections.

A painful or disturbing interoceptive or proprioceptive experience may be pointing to the necessity for some kind of “biological completion.” Simply maintaining a neutral awareness may not lead to resolution if movement impulses and imagined movements are unconsciously impeded; and many meditation traditions do discourage movement. The question, “what does it feel like my body wants to do?” can often reveal the obstructed impulse, the completion of which may restore comfort and ease.

During contemplative practice, a disturbing experience may arise too intensely or too quickly, resulting in overwhelm and a reactive suppression of the feeling. However, neither overwhelm nor suppression are productive strategies. Temporarily diverting awareness to a positive, safe experience, such as the support of the ground or positive imagery, can allow one to regain inner balance; then a consciously “titrated” process of returning attention to the disturbing experience one little bit at a time may facilitate the assimilation of the experience.

The emphasis in mindfulness meditation on remaining detached from discursive thought may sometimes encourage a remote or uninvolved attitude toward arising images, feelings, and insights. We believe that such an attitude may subtly impede the opening-up, de-conditioning process intrinsic to meditation. SE encourages an active, curious exploration of arising phenomena, which is nonetheless not conceptually based. We believe that a familiarity with this form of exploration can inform the practice of mindfulness.

Finally, SE focuses especially on interoceptive and proprioceptive experiences, and puts these in a broad, meaningful framework that can enable one to understand directly the meanings, motivations and implications of such experiences. Traditional Asian practices that emphasize bodily experience, in their full forms, also provide such frameworks (for instance Qigong, Laya Yoga, Tibetan Tsa-Lung practices), but these frameworks may not be appropriate, available, or comprehensible to the Western practitioner. SE provides a broad and sensitive framework firmly rooted in Western scientific understanding, yet also in concert with the above traditional approaches, to help guide one's encounters with difficult material. Moreover it does so without diverting the practitioner into psychological analysis, which may be a significant diversion from the intent of body-focused and meditative practices.
 
So I wonder if, being a little childlike and playing these games could help reduce the impact of trauma, and that we suffer more as adults because we stop playing?

This is a good question I think, On the one hand I can imagine a surgery not being particularly traumatic to an adult who better understands how the surgery came to be, there's less emotional impact or at least a structure to work through the physical trauma of the surgery. For a child I can imagine it being almost torture, mostly because the lack of a framework to understand it more objectively. There are experiences that for an adult seem normal, that for a child can be quite damaging.

But, I also see how having a certain level of innocence and humility, allowing certain clarity of authentic communication between what we feel about how our body is dealing with the world is crucial to navigate a lot of issues. I think we can all relate to living through emotional reactions that we can't really articulate, we feel something, and we somewhat know what it looks like, but we don't understand it, or we're afraid to do so or too proud or simply oblivious.

So I can see how a well structured set of games might help the body and mind better understand a certain experience that is still not properly "metabolized" or integrated. You know, games that might enact certain dynamics or have certain elements specific to the original trauma.

Also, thanks @Cordillera, that is quite the story! and thank you for sharing the links and the information about the SE, a lot of food for thought.
 
Interesting thread.

I recently started getting interested in this as part of the Third Way centers work and listened to several lectures on Somatic Therapy by Levine. I hope to dive into his book soon to learn about practical exercises to use to do emotional center work.

I've also come across TRE - which seems to be Somatic Therapy, but idk what to make of it. I've tried the exercises and I have to say that I think its a scam. I'm not throwing out the idea of Somatic Therapy in general, and I intend to give Levine a fair shake, but I do want to know what do people think of TR and what are their experiences?


^ I tried the exercises and nada.

I'm think that the concept is sound, but that there is quackery afoot. Furthermore, I am not sure how safe "shaking" is. We all know about the Shakers and the Pentecostal loonies who use such techniques to enter a shamanic ecstasy state and then start speaking in tongues, which appears to just be demonic possession.

Levine seems really into New Age and that seems to be the angle he's coming at this from, not from the angle of neutral scientist or w/e.

So it begs the question: how effective is this shaking stress therapy and how safe is it?

@whitecoast you seem to know and comment a lot about practical applied exercises (reading your G thread right now, its great) and seem to be a practitioner, I thought maybe you'd want to pop in, I'd love to hear your thoughts.
 
I'm think that the concept is sound, but that there is quackery afoot. Furthermore, I am not sure how safe "shaking" is. We all know about the Shakers and the Pentecostal loonies who use such techniques to enter a shamanic ecstasy state and then start speaking in tongues, which appears to just be demonic possession.

The context of the shaking is important, though. Evangelicals hypnotize crowds into suggestive states which leave them open for programming and picking up attachments. The seizures that people have in those environments and the reasons for them are altogether different. In the case of dealing with trauma and the TRE exercises, shaking and trembling is a way to release and discharge pent-up and stuck energy in the body and is a natural function established throughout Nature. This video by Peter Levine explains it really well. Also, there's a thread about these exercises here where people have shared information and experiences with it.

 
Posture and Emotions

Regarding the value of therapy involving strong emotional expression to relieve trauma as well as repeating nature of traumatic relationships, Levine cites an interesting study concerning Naloxone which is an opiate antagonist. Naloxone attaches to opioid receptors in the brain blocking the action of both external opiate drugs like morphine and heroin (Naloxone is administered in emergency room to people overdosed on heroin), as well as the body's own internal opiates like endorphins. In a study conducted by Bessel Van der Kolk on the PTSD treatment of Vietnam vets where the vets were subjected to reliving battlefield trauma in a controlled setting leading to emotional catharsis as a form of therapy, the administration of Naloxone before the therapy session resulted in loss of interest in further therapy sessions. The conclusion Levine draws from this is repeated emotional expression in a cathartic manner (screaming, pounding pillows etc) results in release of endorphins which could be addictive and brings people back repeatedly to such workshops or therapy sessions for further fixes.

The mention of naloxone reminded me of something.

There has been quite a bit of research done using low dose naltrexone (LDN). From what I understand, naloxone is used to treat overdose, while naltrexone is used to help recovering addicts deal with cravings. Naltrexone used for recovering addicts is generally used in 300mg plus doses, however when used therapeutically for other conditions the dose is between 1 - 5 mg. It's a while since I read the material, but it seems to operate by first blocking the receptors, then when the dose wears off there's a kind of endorphin sling back affect for a few hours. The idea is that it's during that sling back that the body can do some healing. It's apparently helpful in a number of different medical and psychological conditions.

I had an interest in trying it a few years back, and the website gives a list of practitioners who will prescribe it. It's an off label use of naltrexone though and if there isn't an educated doctor near it's difficult to convince to convince others of the benefits, so ultimately I didn't try it.

Here's a link to the LDN Research Trust and a list of conditions that it has apparently been useful in helping, and clinical trials.
 
This video by Peter Levine explains it really well. Also, there's a thread about these exercises here where people have shared information and experiences with it.

Oh yes, I've seen most of Levine's videos at this point. I think the concept is sound, I just can't help but notice parallels between shaking and Shaking (the ecstasy technique). Do you practice Somatic Therapy?

What exercises work for you?
 
So it begs the question: how effective is this shaking stress therapy and how safe is it?

I've done some TRE exercises. I find that if anything, it is a gentle emotional release method. As in, it's not very obvious that some emotions have been processed. The sheer physical exhaustion can play a part in this. Sometimes when exercising and on my back, I will do the TRE exercise because my legs have been sufficiently fatigued.

I think you have a legitimate concern about safety. And I mean physically. You will end up twisting your back some, so you may be extra careful if you have back problems. I am able to stop immediately, so as with exercising, you would stop at the first signs of discomfort and before injury. I don't mean to give medical advice, but that's my experience.

Maybe I'm afraid to give in fully and that's why I'm in control of it, and it not in control of me. But it still seems to help. That's why I don't think there is any sort of possession or spiritual thing going on. It's just emotions that get stuck in the physical body.
 
I've done some TRE exercises. I find that if anything, it is a gentle emotional release method. As in, it's not very obvious that some emotions have been processed. The sheer physical exhaustion can play a part in this. Sometimes when exercising and on my back, I will do the TRE exercise because my legs have been sufficiently fatigued.

I think you have a legitimate concern about safety. And I mean physically. You will end up twisting your back some, so you may be extra careful if you have back problems. I am able to stop immediately, so as with exercising, you would stop at the first signs of discomfort and before injury. I don't mean to give medical advice, but that's my experience.

Maybe I'm afraid to give in fully and that's why I'm in control of it, and it not in control of me. But it still seems to help. That's why I don't think there is any sort of possession or spiritual thing going on. It's just emotions that get stuck in the physical body.

I guess you need to exhaust your muscles first before you can get the shakes. In the warm-up, they recommend wallsits, but they dont really explain the concept of getting your muscles close to exhaustion. Also, most of the people in the videos look quite sickly and unhealthy, so I suppose for them, any mild physical act can induce the shakes. I'll try again after a hard workout and see if there are better results.

I'll also read up on Levine's exercises, I get the feeling that he's gone far more in-depth on this and there will be more value in his work.
 
Peter Levine and Thomas Huebl (who works more with collective trauma rather than individual) discuss healing trauma and spiritual growth:

- healing trauma is not spiritual growth, but it can open pathways to it.
- trauma doesn't necessarily have memories associated with it, but it does have symptoms. Working with symptoms may help to recover specific memory, but can vary in the time it takes to get to it if at all.
- perception of time is different where there are unhealed traumas.
- healing trauma is one thing, but changing the associated personality can be a lifetimes work.
- uses an analogy of waves created when a bunch of pebbles are dropped into water and where the waves intersect is where the trauma response is and there is blocked energy disrupting connectedness with self and others. Healing trauma allows the wave to move on unimpeded.
- discussion on collective trauma and how the narratives may be different, but the trauma is pretty much the same.

53mins
 
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