"We must get to the emotional root of our discomforts."

Paraphrasing those who have recognized that there is more to our physical and emotional pain, such as Gary Zukav and "unconscious intentionality," Dr Phil, Oprah, Elaine Aron in The Highly Sensitive Person and don Miguel Ruiz in The Four Agreements, it is time to probe the past.

None of us is without trauma. Just consider the emerging studies on Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, or the nightly news. Yet this trauma is the mechanism underlying and sustaining the majority of our illnesses and emotional pain. Such traumatic experiences form the foundation of our addictions, depression, diseases, disorders and many chronic pain syndromes. These distortions are stored not only in our memory but in our cells. Fortunately we can improve our immune system functioning, rid the body of disease and free ourselves from emotional triggers. Our own healing resources are capable of restoring the body to wellness and bringing the body, mind and spirit back into balance.

What comes to mind when you hear the word "trauma?" Do you think only of the extremes of the trauma continuum: sexual abuse, physical abuse, serious accidents/injuries, deaths, etc? In reality, the nervous system remembers any experience that overwhelms it. Many now believe that everything that we have ever experienced is encoded within the bodymind. This new information about the functioning of the nervous system indicates that we are all alive today precisely because of our "built-in" ability to freeze painful moments and store them in our memory. Any overwhelming moment, or trauma, physiologically activates the limbic hypothalamic pituitary system—the self-protective system that acts to freeze frame our perception until we are ready to deal with it. Our bodymind remembers thousands of stressful events. They can group together as a series of events or be just one gating event where the bodymind was overwhelmed. Once the emotional charges are cleared relating to that moment in time, the body is ready and infinitely more receptive to changes initiated by other therapies. Literally we are ridding the bodymind of emotional clutter.

When we work with trauma, we work with the act of perception. This concept is an important one. It is the reaction of the individual and the resulting perception that is important as to whether or not an event is encoded as a trauma. What may be stressing to me, may not be to you and vice-versa.

Release—Reframe the emotional past
All illnesses are occasions for healing. The physical manifestation of what we call disease is typically the last stage of our body’s disclosure process to get out attention. The body is crying for help. Fortunately we now have the keys to unlock our painful emotions, without the pain, and bring forth our own healing resources.

Any stressful or overwhelming event is stored in two places: physiologically in cells and nerve centers in the body and emotionally in the subconscious. Literally the bodymind remembers. Both aspects need to be treated. Stresses on the bodymind vary in intensity; it’s just a matter of degree on a continuum.

Regenerate—Imagine the future
One therapy that can effect profound physiological changes in the body is guided imagery. Even short periods of imagery have been shown to reduce blood pressure, lower cholesterol and glucose levels in the blood and heighten short-term immune cell activity. Imagine what it can do when emotional blockages are cleared and cell memory is brought back to its pre-traumatic state. Even if the cells can’t ‘remember’ what their healthy state was like, guided imagery provides the mechanism to relearn and manifest healthy interactions throughout the body.

In the Journal of the American Board of Family Practice (16:131-147 2003), an article on mind-body medicine concluded that "there is now considerable evidence that an array of mind-body therapies can be used as effective adjuncts to conventional medical treatment for a number of common clinical conditions." Their study examined several psychosocial-mind-body interventions such are relaxation, behavioral therapies, meditation, imagery, biofeedback and hypnosis.

Please Contact Us for a more personal approach on how Healing Alignment™ may aid you in your search for wellness and health. A free 30 minute consultation is available.

N B The techniques for clearing away this emotional baggage are based in part on the work of Brent Baum and Holographic Memory Resolution®. See HMR for more detailed information.