Body College: Finding Safety

Finding Safety via Embodiment

Steve Haines 2019

1. Trauma Changes the Body 2

Patterns of experience are imprinted on the
body 2

2. Resources are Essential to Heal 3

Trauma and resources 3
Awareness Exercise: Questions to help
spot levels of overwhelm. 3
Awareness Exercise: Finding places of
health in your body 4
Anything can be a resource 5
Staying present via meditation: Some
easy introductory videos 5
Awareness Exercise: Finding Resources6
3. Dissociation is Confusing 7
Dissociation is common and often over-
looked 7
4. Practice Mapping Your Body 8

How is your brain mapping out your body?8

Use WOSI as a tool to feel: Weight, Out-
line, Skin, Inside. 9
Floating is not necessarily good 10
Awareness Exercise: Exploring how you
map your body 10
References 11

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1. Trauma Changes the Body Patterns of experience can be created by:

• Anything that overwhelms your resources.
Patterns of experience are imprinted on Including living in unequal power dynamics of
the body poverty, race and sexuality. Other people are often
Sometimes we meet events in life that we cannot the biggest threat.
deal with because they are too overwhelming. These • Pre and perinatal events.
experiences are then held in the bodymind as imprints
• Developmental Trauma. Clearest research is
and memories, and create physiological affects.
Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), but any
We can use the term ‘patterns of experience’ to sustained period of distress during childhood.
describe how the body centres and responds to the
• PTSD due to single events or a series of events.
conditional forces of life events.
Most of the research was done on soldiers and
How much you are affected by an event depends woman who experienced sexual violence, but also
on your resources and your relationship to health. We clear research on car accidents, physical trauma,
all do the best we can, given our history and current sudden death of a loved one. Sometimes called
circumstances. Many of our responses are rooted in ‘shock trauma’.
primitives reflexes embedded in old parts of our
nervous system. How we as individual express the • Overwhelming stress or toxic stress. An
accumulation of relatively small things that trigger
primitive reflexes of mobilising (‘fight-or-flight’ or
the same response as if running away from a tiger.
immobilising (‘freeze’) is are based on previously
successful strategies we have learnt as we developed. • Vicarious trauma. Also known as caregiver fatigue
Bringing awareness and choice to our habitual Patterns of experience are formed when the forces
responses and our deepest imprints is a huge part of of health are unable to dissipate the effects of an
finding safety. This is necessarily an embodied experience. Often these patterns emerge and resolve by
awareness as most of our defining experiences are themselves. However sometimes the system needs
encoded non-verbally and non-consciously in our help. Patterns of experience are places of resistance and
bodies, mediated by old, reflex parts of the brain. fixation in the body. They are formed by the inability to
recover from an overwhelming experience.


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2. Resources are Essential to Awareness Exercise: Questions to

Heal help spot levels of overwhelm.
Some simple questions can help you identify that your
Trauma and resources body might be working harder that you realise to try and
protect you:
The understanding of trauma is fundamental to
health. We are all hardwired to respond to ‣ Do you get cold hands or feet? This is a common
overwhelming experiences in the same way. We sign of a’fight-or-flight’ being turned on; we divert
blood away from the periphery towards the big
contract away from danger, we run, jump fight or
muscles when activated.
shutdown.
‣ Are you sensitive to bright lights or loud noises?
The control mechanisms (nervous, hormonal and Another sign of ‘fight-or-flight’, the pupils get bigger
immune) take us immediately into states of being and the ears more sensitive in the stress response.
mobilised (‘fight-or-flight’) or immobilised (‘freeze’).
‣ Do you bump into things or are you clumsy? We
The good news is that we evolved to respond lose spatial awareness when dissociated and in
quickly to trauma and have the innate ability to ‘freeze’.
process and overcome trauma. We would not have ‣ Do you ever have a sense of being detached or
survived as a species if this were not the case. feeling dreamy or have you been described as
having your head in the clouds? These are very
Connecting to the body is essential to support safe,
common signs of dissociation. Do you feel
contained processing of traumatic experiences. disconnected from your body or, even, sometimes
Resources are anything that supports health. They outside your body.
are fundamental to healing. Creating safety involves ‣ Are you more anxious than you would like? Sign
finding resources and reconnecting to experiences of of ‘fight-or-flight’. Have you ever had panic attacks?

health.


Fig 2.1 Some questions that can help draw out your resources and start the process of deepening in to sensations and
the felt sense.

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 Body College: Finding Safety

Awareness Exercise: Finding places ‣ Overtime, as you practice, you will build up a library
of things that help you feel safe. Some core, reliable
of health in your body sensations will emerge that you can remember and
‣ We have lots of health within us. Try to find things be with even in the darkest of times. 

that make you feel good in your body, thoughts or
ideas that make you feel more alive, people, food,
places can also make this connection to health.
These are health resources. Sit for a while and think
about what objects make this connection for you in
your life.
‣ Spend time on your own doing this exercise. Let your
awareness spread through your whole body as if it is
a fluid.
‣ Are there any places that feel good? Try to find these
places. They might be an area of the body, a
particular structure or just one spot. When you’ve
found one of these places simply be with the
sensations of it for a while. How does it make you
feel and what affect does it have on your body and
mind?
‣ Stay with this for 5-10 minutes.
‣ Try and be specific about the sensations associated
with your resources. How do you know what safety
and health feels like? Push yourself to find three
specific sensations.

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 Body College: Finding Safety

Anything can be a resource Staying present via meditation: Some

Resources can be defined as anything that supports easy introductory videos
health. All healing occurs in relationship to the amount
Here are some good resources on staying present.
of resources that we can bring to bear in a given The first two videos are quick and fun.
situation. In healing the first priority is often to
‘How to Meditate in a Moment’ from One Moment
establish your ability to find your resources. Can you
manifest present time, embodied awareness of those https://youtu.be/F6eFFCi12v8
resources? ‘Changing Perspective’ from Headspace

Someone who is in a stable and happy family/ https://youtu.be/iN6g2mr0p3Q

relationship environment, has a strong network of ‘Neuroscience Of Meditation: How To Make Your Mind
friends, is fulfilled in their work, is able to express their Awesome’ from Barking Up The Wrong Tree
creativity, likes where they live, has a relationship to http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2016/09/how-to-
the natural environment and has a strong sense of their meditate/

body, is often in less pain and overwhelm than
someone who is isolated, feels unsafe, is disconnected
from their body, has no contact with the natural world
and has very little stability.
Resources are very personal. They are a mix of
external events or objects and internal beliefs or
frameworks. They tend to generate body sensations of
ease, calm, warmth, space and stillness. There is an
inner sense of being ok, strength, hope, vitality and
safety when we are in relationship to our resources.
As resources are so personal these words will not
work for everyone - for example a sense of cool rather
than warmth or dynamic energy rather than calm may
be important. Resources are not fixed and cannot be
imposed from the outside. The right fit of resources
will emerge with practice and will evolve as work
progresses.
Developing resources needs to be handled
creatively and with a light touch. Too much insistence,
and a formulaic approach, on finding a resource can
get in the way.
Pain and suffering act like a magnet that grabs our
awareness. The journey to embody our experience is a
big step in developing resources. The body gives a
whole new theatre in which our experience and
emotions can be played out.
We can move towards and away from sensations,
slow things down, control what is centre stage in our
bodies in a way that is not possible with mental
functioning alone.
Learning that we have emotions and sensations and
that we do not need to become them is very important.
Pain is unlikely to be the only sensation possible.
Stepping back and finding a wider context and other
sensations is often a transformational shift.


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 Body College: Finding Safety

Awareness Exercise: Finding ‣ When was the last time you can remember feeling
well?
Resources
‣ Can you pick a peak time in your life when things
Sometimes it feels as though there is nothing that were going better than normal?
makes us feel good. Unfortunately this is not
uncommon. This sequence of exploring different types
‣ Objects and places can be useful – a favourite toy, a
of resources can help if you are struggling. book, a picture, a familiar walk, a room.
‣ Pets can be fantastic – sometimes the unconditional
Present time embodied sensations resources
love experienced in relationship to a favourite pet is a
‣ What are you aware of in your body right now? Often bedrock experience.
it can feel like a string of aches and pains.
Fantasy of resources
‣ See if there are any other sensations present –
something not painful even if it is the tip of your nose ‣ Can you imagine what it would be like to feel really
or the elbow.Try and be playful - Can you feel your well? Try and picture your self in a completely safe
bum in the chair? Everything is painful, even your little situation where you have total control.
toe?. ‣ In that safe place, imagine what you could hear or
‣ Can you find any sensations in your body right now smell or how your skin would feel, find as many body
that speak of warmth, ease comfort or a sense of sensations as possible. How would your body feel on
being ok? the inside in that safe place?

‣ Can you feel your feet right now – if not try and press ‣ Be very creative here – remember It is a fantasy or
your feet into ground. ideal. You can create completely empty white room,
castles, islands, sitting in an armchair cosied up in
Memory of resources front of a fire, sitting in the top of a huge tree, running
‣ Can you remember a time when you felt really good? on grass……..

‣ When was the last time you were not in pain?

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3. Dissociation is Confusing from any given region of your body is, by

‘I heard a shout; starting and looking half around its fundamental nature, anti-pain’
I saw the lion just in the act of springing upon
me ... Growling horribly close to my ear he shook Merzenich 2013
me as a terrier does a rat. The shock produced a
stupor similar to that which seems to be felt by a
Dissociation is common and often
mouse after the first shake of the cat. It caused a
sort of dreaminess in which there was no sense of overlooked
panic or feeling of terror, though I was quite
Dissociation is part of the body’s response to
conscious of all that was happening ... This
peculiar state is probably produced in all animals overwhelming stress. It has well-documented
killed by the carnivora; and if so is a merciful physiological consequences that affect the internal
provision by our benevolent creator for lessening mapping of the body, posture, and tone in the
the pain of death’ myofascial system. It is part of a range of responses
The explorer David Livingstone giving a classic that can be described as communication, mobilisation
description of dissociation. Kandel et al (2000:489) and freezing.
Dissociation is a well-established phenomenon
Freezing is an often-overlooked
occurring in people who have experienced some form
of trauma. According to DSM-IV (American response in movement and
Psychiatric Association, 1994), the essential feature of
bodywork therapies, which tend
dissociation is a disruption of the normal integrative
functions of consciousness, memory, identity, and only to focus on the fight or flight
perception of the environment. acute stress reaction.
Much of the research on dissociation emerged from
Dissociation can be an extreme experience of
the identification of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
prolonged numbing with a sense of disconnection
(PTSD) as a distinct condition. Van der Kolk (1996)
from an embodied reality. It is a well-recognised
identifies core symptoms of PTSD as intrusions
phenomenon in the psychiatric profession and among
(thoughts, dreams, flashbacks), hyperarousal and
body psychotherapists working with traumatised
numbing. The numbing or dissociative element is
individuals. The literature from these professions
primarily a parasympathetic response that involves the
makes extensive reference to somatic symptoms
limbic system and brainstem and is experienced
associated with dissociation. It is not just a
through the body. It is important to remember,
psychological event.
however, that dissociation is a last-ditch strategy and is
seen alongside other responses of attempting to Dissociation is a common subclinical experience
communicate or mobilise. that confuses the communication between the somatic
nervous system and the brain. Dissociation limits
Trauma affects the somatic nervous system (mainly
incoming nerve signals to the nervous system. It
muscles) as well as the autonomic nervous system
follows, therefore, that it is extremely important to
(mainly organs). Unresolved trauma has many
clear dissociation to allow bodywork interventions to
consequences, including effects on our musculoskeletal
be fully effective. It is important to go slow. Too much
health.
change too quickly may be perceived as a threat and
Some degree of dissociation is very common in may even provoke an overwhelm response in a client
people with musculoskeletal complaints. There is a holding unprocessed traumatic reactions.
continuum of responses from feeling slightly numb in
Dissociation is often associated with conditions that
one part of the body when focusing on body sensations
present as musculoskeletal pain. Clients with an
to feeling completely detached and outside of the body
element of dissociation often find it difficult to focus on
as a basic state. Back pain, neck pain, joint pain are
simple body sensations; this can be in their whole body
frequently associated with poor skills in feeling. When
or a part of their body.
our brain does not neglect body feelings, consciously
or unconsciously, then control of the body is enhanced Common feedback might be feeling numb,
and healing is possible. disconnected, as if they are floating; they cannot feel a
clear sense of their skin, their body may feel too big or
‘A strong, refined, detailed and too small. Orientating to body sensation in a slow,
coordinated representation of information contained manner is the essential first step in resolving
dissociative states.


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4. Practice Mapping Your Body a very powerful to come into relationship with your
skin and take up occupancy in the whole space of your
It is important to note that the model offered is that
body.
dissociation is not an all or nothing experience. Also it
is much more than a pure psychological withdraw. Frequently there will be bits missing. Some
Dissociation has many nuances and graduations and common outlines that people report; missing or tiny
has huge consequences for the experience of being legs, very diffuse bodies, absent abdomens and pelvic
embodied. bowls, one side or one limb being absent.


How is your brain mapping out your

body?
An extremely useful skill is to learn to check
whether you can perceive the size, shape and weight of
of your body. This is not a given. Try the meditation
below to work through the Weight Outline Skin Inside
(WOSI) sequence. Can you really inhabit the whole of
your body space?
Rothschild (2000) is very keen on feeling the
boundary of the skin. It helps differentiate who we are.
Our skin is a transition place between me and not me.
A layer of the nerve rich skin grew from embryonic
ectoderm which also forms the brain. We can engage
with the skin as an outpost of the nervous system. It is

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Use WOSI as a tool to feel: Weight, Inside

Outline, Skin, Inside. ‘How does the inside of your body feel?’
‘Does the inside of your body feel full, flowing,
Below are some sample questions that can help you
alive or are there bits that feel empty, fixed,
draw out a clients ability to feel their body. Initially it
numb or hard to contact?’
can be useful to go through them as a sequence, using
the mnemonic WOSI; Weight, Outline, Skin, Inside.
with more experience you can be much more flexible.
Often the simple question ‘how does x compare to y’
can open up a realisation of an incomplete mapping of
the body.

Weight
‘How does the weight of your body feel on the
table?’
‘Do your shoulder blades, hips, knees and ankles
feel even on the table?’

Outline
‘Can you feel the outline of your body, the
silhouette it makes?’
‘Does the outline feel the same from the inside with
your eyes closed as it would if you were looking
at your body or touching it?’
‘How close or far away are your hands and feet.
They are not too big too small or too close or too
far away?’

Skin
‘Can you feel your skin as a clear boundary
between the inside and the outside?’
‘Does your skin feel sharply defined and easy to
contact or is it a bit blurry or amorphous?’

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Floating is not necessarily good Awareness Exercise: Exploring how

The pleasant, dream like quality in dissociation is you map your body
often confusing. People often frequently enjoy being
1. Start at by siting or lying quietly
dissociated.
‣ Take some time to slow down and explore your
As a young child, one of my clients learnt to sense of your body.
dissociate when her parents were arguing. When I first
2. Orient to the size shape and weight of your
started treating her, and did not understand this body.
model, we both thought the sessions were productive
‣ Deepen your awareness to really focus on simple
because she consistently reported a warm, floating body sensations - the size, shape and weight.
quality. A space where her body did not constrain her.
‣ Notice the bits that are hidden or missing or hard to
However, her symptoms never changed. It took me
contact.
over a year to work out what was going on. Her
healing started when she made friends with her
‣ Try noticing if your perception of both your legs is the
same. It is not uncommon for one leg to be quite
‘boring’ body.
different. Is one side hazy or heavy or floating or
Many people can misinterpret the dreamy floaty sinking.
quality of dissociation as an expansive, spiritual, ‣ Do you have small far way feet or big hands? Can
healing experience. I have treated many long term you feel aliveness inside your belly?
meditators, yoga teachers and spiritual searchers. The ‣ Compare top to bottom, left to right, middle to
relationship to the body offered through an periphery.
understanding of trauma and dissociation has been
3. ‘How is your brain mapping out your body?’
surprising and beneficial for many of them. It is
essential to not be too quick to let go of the body. ‣ Use a light, responsive approach here. The goal is
develop awareness of present time sensations. Try to
Before we can transcend our body we have to have a
find simple, words. Slow down too many stories,
body. For most of us there is a life time of work
encourage differentiation of sensations.
involved in exploring our flesh.
‣ Be curious: ‘So thats interesting, my brain is
Deepening into our bodies is the necessary step that mapping out my left leg differently’ Try to just notice
allows us to widen our perceptual horizons and drop what you are feeling for a bit. Try not to want it to
into deeper tides and stillness. It is true that the sense change.
of the body can become much more diffuse and fade ‣ For more detail try WOSI Weight Outline Skin Inside
into the background. However the form is never lost, (see opposite)
as in dissociation, and is always available for our
return. 


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Guyton, A.C. and J.E. Hall, (2000) Textbook of Medical Physiology
10th ed, Saunders
Haines S (2015) Pain Is Really Strange. JKP
Holmes J ( 1993) John Bowlby and Attachment Theory. Routledge
Kandel, E., J. Schwartz and T. Jessell, (2000) Principles of Neural
Science 4th ed, McGraw-Hill Education
Levine, P. and A. Frederick, (1997) Waking The Tiger – Healing
Trauma, North Atlantic Books
Lumb, B.M. ‘Inescapable pain and escapable pain is represented
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Aδ- and C- nociceptors’, (2001) Experimental Physiology, The
Physiological Society
Merzenich M (2013) Soft-Wired. Parnassus Publishing
Nijenhuis, E.R.S. (2000) ‘Somatoform Dissociation: Major Symp-
toms of Dissociative Disorders’, Journal of Trauma and Dissoci-
ation 1(4)
Pert C. (1999) Molecules of Emotion. Pocket Books
Porges, S.W. (2003) The Polyvagal Theory: phylogenetic contributions
to social behavior, Elsevier Science
Rothschild, B. (2000) The Body Remembers – The Psychophysiology of
Trauma and Trauma Treatment, WW Norton
Sapolsky R. (2004) Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers (3rd ed) Owl
Books
Schore A (1999) Affect Regulation and the Origin of the Self.
Lawrence Erlbaun
Shapiro, F. (2001) Eye Movement Desensitization and Processing –
Basic Principles, Protocols and Procedures 2nd ed, The Guildford
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Van der Kolk, B., A. McFarlane and L. Weisaeth (eds), (1996)
Traumatic Stress: the effects of overwhelming experience on mind,
body and society

All images Haines 2015

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