Embrace Your Shakti

When we think of trauma, we often think of the mental pain that is stored in our minds. However, Trauma can be experienced in a physical sense as well. This tends to be a direct result of CPTSD and/or from being in a prolonged high-stress environment. The article An Introduction to Somatic Memory by Charlie Health states that Somatic Memory occurs when “ the mind has processed the events surrounding a period of chronic stress or trauma, the body still holds on to the stress and unease.” Essentially this means that the trauma is stored on a subconscious level within the nervous system. Psychologists theorize that this is due to a disconnect that occurs between the brain and the nervous system. Therefore traditional therapy such as talk therapy isn’t effective in addressing the physical manifestation of trauma. 

5 steps need to occur for Somatic Memories to form.: 

1. Observation- our 5 senses: sight, hearing, taste, smell, and touch are engaged during a traumatic event. 
2. Encoding- our body and mind processes these sensory inputs. During this time the brain builds connections between these sensory inputs and emotion. 
3. Storage- our subconscious stores these sensory inputs in short term or long term memory.
4. Retrieval- The memory is retrieved either consciously or subconsciously. This is when the memory is triggered. 
5. Reaction- Our subconscious brings to the surface the sensory memory causing our bodies to feel those negative sensations even when there isn’t something traumatic.

I know this is a lot of information to process, so over the next few weeks I will cover each step more in-depth.

References:

• An Introduction to Somatic Memory 
• The ABCs of Somatic Experiencing