When I became a somatic psychotherapist I was seeking a language to describe the changes I had experienced in my own body after a trauma. It seemed like my body got caught in fight and seemed to armor up and not let go. I really had no language to explain this except to describe my experience.
When I was in graduate school, I learned about Stanley Keleman’s Formative Psychology which theorizes that we unconsciously hold trauma responses in the body; strategies to manage overwhelming emotional and physical experiences. Stanley wrote a very important book called “The Emotional Anatomy”, explaining the body’s pulsation between experiences in our external environment and our unconscious internal reactions which are translated into action in the body. Keleman suggests that we can unwind these responses by shifting them from involuntary and unconscious bodily states to voluntary and conscious ones. We do this by titrating our way into them and out of them. Keleman’s theory gave me the language and answers to explain my body’s transformation and to also explain how trauma interacts with our bodies.
So it is by no coincidence that parts of our bodies are tense, or even injured. I find using the emotional anatomy with my clients to be a really effective and rich part of working with trauma or stress; we cannot leave the body behind when we think of trauma. It can also be applied to situations which aren’t necessarily traumatic. For instance, a lot of us respond to anything that is overwhelming by squeezing, or contracting to try and make that which is overwhelming smaller. This is instinctual and we are usually doing it on an unconscious level. Most of us experience tension in our shoulders which is a response to squeezing, trying to reduce our stress or other feelings. This can also be more of a retreat by pulling the body in towards itself or even creating a suit of armor for protection by stiffening all of our muscles.
The important piece here is titration. When we are unconsciously squeezing, tightening or clenching it is used as a defensive strategy. It is what our body knows to do and if we try to suddenly force the body to do something different, we will feel defenseless. I always say to my clients that we need to respect what their bodies are doing and offer them a different choice slowly and mindfully.
So what does this look like?
I will give you an example. I had been a dancer all of my life and then transitioned into a yogini. So I was pretty accustomed to being in my body. When I was in the Peace Corps I experienced a very frightening trauma and was sent back to Washington DC to get treatment for post traumatic shock and PTSD. All I knew to do was take yoga twice a day. The board of doctors and nurses for the Peace Corps asked me why I was moving through the shock faster than others. All I knew at the time was that Yoga was doing something for me: I felt safer again, my intrusive memories were getting less intrusive and my body was loosening it’s vice grip. This is a great example of titration. Because yoga works with the breath, it is impossible to force the body to open. And breath in and of itself is titrating, with each inhale we expand and each exhale we relax. So we are opening a little and relaxing a little moving out and then coming back in. If you are experiencing chronic squeezing or contracting somewhere in your body and you think it is related to trauma I do suggest you see a professional either who has a somatic background or a mindfulness background. But if it more stress related, try sending your breath there and see if you can squeeze a little more on the inhale and then on the exhale try doing it a little less. Continue to do this titration, more and less over a span of 10 breaths and see how you feel. Sometimes the body just needs a little support and guidance. It might be helpful to use the tool of mantra or affirmation here, as you try your titration perhaps remind your body that the stress is within your control something like “we can handle this” or “I am ok”. Offering the body a different coping mechanism will ultimately help it to relax. I cannot stress enough that forcing the body to release does not work. Just like forcing a stretch does not work. The basis of this work is offering the body a different choice without stripping it of its strategy too soon.
As usual, I hope this was helpful. And share in the comments below your own thoughts and questions regarding the emotional anatomy.