Friday 27 March 2015

I have finished my three year training in Somatic Experiencing

I have finished my Somatic Experiencing training - it has been an amazing journey. These last 3 years have changed my life! Step by step I learnt to understand my own (pretty tricky) nervous system. Trauma symptoms that no other counselling approach could touch are now beginning to shift. It is such a relief to notice this profound change in myself and I feel humbled being able to share this now with my clients and the world around me!

It was a privilege and great honour to be called up on stage and have Berns Galloway work with me during the training to demonstrate SE eye work. I loved the process - it released deep seated and long held stress and contraction while at the same time bringing me into contact with the richness of my inner world. Somatic Experiencing never ceases to amaze me and I am excited that learning in this area will never end – it might take a life time to understand all nervous systems.

It is such a joy diving into this alivenes, with a body full of amazing sensations and a nervous system with new found order and strength. In the last module we learnt about touch work to heal trauma, opening up joints, diaphragms and releasing trauma stored in organs – works best for my nervous system! 

I felt inspired to write a few words, celebrating arriving back home again after the intense last module of SE:

                                 Warmth of the earth spreading inside me.
                                 Wind rustling my hair whispering its song to my ear.
                                 Dancing shadows of trees sharing the sunlight with insects on the floor.
                                 Dogs waiting for a game dancing around me on soft paws.

                                 It’s good to be home again!

Friday 13 March 2015

Corrective experience creates a new imprint in cells of our body

Corrective experience creates a new imprint in cells of our body

Thursday 12 March 2015

I wish I had read this article 16 years ago when I was giving birth. It talks about the importance of Rest and Repair (which we learn in Somatic Experiencing as well). I believe that if the significance of this rest was well known post natal depression could be prevented in a lot of cases. It would have made such a difference to me, I definitely rushed too much and didn’t give myself enough time for this massive transition to motherhood. Whenever the body works hard, especially after an accident or an operation (and also after giving birth) rest is detrimental for recovery and healing. Rushing into the next phase without having completed this important stage means paying a dear price in the end. Here some words of the article: “There is no rush to get the baby onto the mother’s chest. The mother has a moment to take a breath, to come back from the work of birthing her baby. “This pause,” says Karen Strange, “allows the mother to integrate this moment of transition”. A woman will exhale from the work of birth before she begins to inhale the presence of her child and her new identity as a mother. There is no rush to initiate her as a mother. Most mothers’ first moments after giving birth include a stunned kind of relief, bewilderment, and shock. The mother is not there yet and needs to take a pause first. “ by MARY ESTHER MALLOY