HOLISTIC REMEDIES FOR MIND & BODY: SOMATIC PRACTICES TO CREATE BALANCE
Written by guest blogger: Sarina Harris
Like a key that unlocks a door, holistic remedies give us access to new worlds of knowledge and understanding about our minds. Implement holistic remedies to discover what it feels like to live with a sense of harmony and well-being in both your physical and mental health. From meditation and yoga to herbal remedies and nutrition, in this article we will discover how these practices can bring about a sense of balance and inner peace.
The Role of Emotional History in the Present
Understanding the impact of emotional history on your current mental state is the first step in discovering true balance. Our emotional state can appear difficult to mend because it holds on to all of the conscious emotions and the subconscious emotions we experience. Even the emotions that are woven deeply within our genetics have an impact on our emotional state to this day.
“The mother’s emotions, such as fear, anger, love, hope among others, can biochemically alter the genetic expression of her offspring.” Bruce Lipton
Have you ever heard of the saying, “Change your thoughts and you can change your world”? It’s important to understand where the not-so-positive thoughts are coming from first. They can arise from negative experiences that have happened to us in the past or they may come from seemingly nowhere. Scientific evidence supports that there is a genetic impact on our emotional makeup, which can make the journey of healing look different for everyone.
Because the body holds on tightly to our emotional experiences, we may be going through life unknowingly carrying heavy emotions that manifest in ways, like anger, anxiety, insomnia, or pain.
Whether we are recalling a pleasant memory or one that is traumatic, the body recalls the bodily experiences as if it’s happening– almost as if we are reliving the experience all over again. Neurocognitive psychologists, Antje Gentsch and Esther Kuehn discovered, “Within a mental simulation framework, trauma memories are therefore assumed to be stored and experienced via the sensory modalities through which they were originally perceived…Such re-enactment of preverbal trauma has been described, for example, as a form of ‘spontaneously’ triggered internal mental simulation and imagery mediated by mirror neuron networks” (Gentsch and Kuehn). When we recall something traumatic that happened, the neurons can actually change their structure and the trauma could lie dormant within us, if not addressed.
Holistic therapies that include the combination of somatic (touch) techniques with CBT will best help the body regain its balance with the mind.
Somatic Therapies: Creating Balance
Somatic therapy takes a holistic approach to healing the mind by considering the mind and body connections. Without healing our bodies, which hold on to stress and emotion, somatic symptoms such as intrusive images, tension, and panic. When you start to use somatic therapies to release the weight of trauma, you can begin to feel relief in your whole body.
“The unconscious insists, repeats, and practically breaks down the door, to be heard.” Annie Rogers
Tips to Balance the Mind with the Body
Breath Practice
Intentional breathwork is one of the quickest and most effective ways to ground your mind. Focus on inhaling for five counts, holding it for five, and letting go for another five counts. Allow yourself to focus on your breathing patterns and feel the release it gives your body. Ground in Senses
Immerse yourself in your sight, touch, smell, taste, and in what you hear. Simply focusing your attention on what is around you can aid in pulling the body out of the pain it's feeling.
Try holding onto a stress ball or something ice cold and focus on what it feels like in your hands.
Body Scan
Focus your attention on the feelings and sensations starting at the crown of your head and down to your toes. Release any tension or discomfort as you scan by it. Grounding through Movement
Do your favorite physical movement to release the emotions in your body. Do this by walking, running, jumping rope, dancing, yoga, and anything else that is going to help you connect with your body.
Self-Regulate
Help your body stimulate and regulate its parasympathetic nervous system by giving yourself a long, needed hug. You can also cup your hand and tap all around your body. Tuning into the sensations that come about is needed in order to reap the full benefits. Doing this is helping your body slow down and pick up on the safety cues that you provide it.
Therapeutic Practices that Explore Emotional History
Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT)
CBT is what helps an individual recognize their thought patterns thus influencing their behavior patterns. It’s rooted in the ideology that our thoughts, emotions, and behaviors are interconnected and have a substantial impact on each other.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
CPT is focused on shifting one’s thoughts or perspectives of a traumatic event, to get their mind flowing again and out of its negative thought cycle that will keep them “stuck” in the trauma. Learning new ways to see experiences is what will help an individual become more rational and balanced in their decision-making.
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing Therapy (EMDR) EMDR is a therapeutic technique developed to help “stuck” individuals heal through mentally recalling a traumatic image while doing specific eye movements. EMDR doesn’t require its users to talk about their traumatic experiences. On a neurological level, it allows the brain to uncover hidden emotions both unconsciously and consciously, speeding up the recovery process.
References
Gentsch, A., & Kuehn, E. (2022). Clinical Manifestations of Body Memories: The Impact of Past Bodily Experiences on Mental Health. Brain sciences, 12(5), 594. https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci12050594
Counseling, R. (2021, September 23). 5 Effective Trauma Therapy Methods. Restorative Counseling.
https://rcchicago.org/5-effective-trauma-therapy-methods/#:~:text=Cognitive%2 0Processing%20Therapy%20(CPT)
