The Wisdom of Your body

It is easy to assume that everything comes down tot he life of the mind. That all challenges are mental. It is true that good thinking is helpful in life, but many challenges in life relate to our bodies. In fact, in his landmark book, The body keeps the score, Bessel Van der Kolk describes that trauma is kept primarily in our bodies. 

Perhaps you have felt grief physically - pangs of grief have pulsated through your body. Perhaps you have felt anxiety and panic in your body. Perhaps you have felt stress and overwhelm coursing through your body - something happens and you feel something deep in yourself. If you have, it probably sounds intuitive to say that the body keeps score. 

Pychologist Hilary Mcbride has written a book called, The Wisdom of your Body where she articulates from research that not only is trauma kept in our bodies - there is wisdom in one's body. When one feels something physiologically it means something. 

In the book, she writes, "If you're willing to pay attention to and dialogue with what's happening inside of you, you'll find that your body already knows the answers about how to live a full, present, connected, and healthy life. We heal when we can be with what we feel."

Later in the book she writes, “Our bodies are telling the stories we have avoided or forgotten how to hear - and sometimes our inability to feel our feelings (the messages that precede the alarm bells) means that our bodies have to scream in order to get some attention.” 

In short there is wisdom in your body. Perhaps you have felt some things that you want to process in a safe place, reach out today and we can connect you with a therapist. 

Notes

The body keeps the score, by Bessel Van der Kolk

The Wisdom of your Body by Hilary McBride

Photo by Greg Rakozy on Unsplash