Peter Levine and Irene Lyon - On Healing Trauma

[Hepatica]

Hey everyone, I have just discovered these two therapists and really don't know all that much, except that their specialties are on healing the nervous system.

Has anyone read Peter Levine's work? Has anyone found any good sites to learn techniques to heal the nervous system?

I am confused about all of it and I've only read the two chapters of Peter Levine's book on Amazon - talking about the freeze response in wild animals, and how if the impala escapes a cheetah attack, they shake it off and return to their herd. Of course the impala would learn very well that cheetahs are predators and avoid them at all costs. But they are returning to their own herd! Whereas for humans, we have to return to the human tribe, who hurt us! The predators!

How then, do we as humans, if we have been dangerously hurt by other humans, esp. a love partner or mother or father, feel we have a herd to return to? It is so confusing to me and makes me realize that perhaps, this explains my fear of being in groups of people. I cannot feel safe around humans as they were my original predator. At a physical level and a soul level. My parents did not mean for me to ever feel safe. Often times they deliberately meant to harm me.

No wonder I am so scared of trusting anyone. But how, now do I ever heal my nervous system?

[Sheppane]

Hi Hepatica I can relate. That's a great analogy about the herd and finding the herd to return to.
I am learning to be my own herd, and supported by healthy people in my life of my choosing. Good friends , acquaintances, people I feel seen and heard around. I'm also learning to show up for the inner child part of me and reparent. I find the work of Richard Schwartz on YouTube ( internal family systems) very healing. He talks about all the different " parts " inside and how they interact with each other, those that became exiled due to trauma and those that developed to protect the exiled parts- in both healthy and unhealthy ways. He talks about meeting these parts and the journey of integrating them.
I find him very powerful.
Somehow getting to know these parts makes me feel less alone - now I feel I have a great " team" inside - maybe that's my herd ??
For me it's all about self love.
I don't know much of the others uou have mentioned but I will look them up now ! 

[athene1399]

I am not sure about that herd analogy either. I do not know where he was going with that one. I have a hard time trusting others as well.

I agree with Sheppane on the inner child work. I have done some inner child meditations where I speak to my younger self and forgive myself and acknowledge that I was doing the best I could at the time. That helped me a lot. Sometimes I hug my younger self and give her the love she wasn't given.

If meditation isn't your thing, I would suggest trying positive self affirmations or self validation. People who experience trauma are usually invalidated, so self validation is helpful. It just takes a bit of practice.

[losingmyself]

I listen to Kris Godinez every week, and she talks a lot about healing the inner child, using the practice that athene mentions.
Also, if you go to her fb page, she has a list of books and authors that she recommends, and also workbooks.
It is all about self love, and self esteem.
Last week she mentioned this site as a place to come and help find your tribe! Because it's a safe place to say how we feel without judgement or repercussions.

[Hepatica]

Thanks for your support and responses.

Check out Irene Lyon on Youtube and Sukie Baxter, if interested. Both are giving excellent education on somatic healing, which is new to me after, hmmmm... thirty years of on and off talk therapy.

What i find really interesting about this approach is its focus on healing the nervous system, so therefore working specifically on trauma stored in the body.

One exercise I did on Sukie Baxter's youtube video was super informative for me. She guides you thru a very short exercise, where I discovered something amazing. My left side is "frozen." Sounds weird but, I have much more pain, always on the left side of my neck. As she explains this more, I recalled one major trauma - sorry TW - but my father hitting me when I was a young girl in the head, on the left side of my head. Years later I had two car accidents, both of them left side hits! She said where a trauma is can become a blind spot and we can find patterns like this.

She does exercises that are really simple and enlightening. I am finding it incredibly helpful for releasing my trauma. I think I've come to the point in my healing where talking about it is not the best approach. Meditation, yoga and this kind of somatic therapy seem to be really helping me.

[1footouttadefog]

Animals tend not to be complicated like humans. They keep to their roles for the most part.

The herd is the support.  Herding animals seek comfort in the herd.  As long as they are with the herd they have safety in numbers.


Humans can choose their herd.  Your family of origin may indeed be the danger.  If so find a new herd.  People who give support and comfort and who make you feel safe.