Healing all the bodies of who you are.
Why I created the Healing Body Method
When someone has experienced trauma, people must stop asking, “What’s wrong with you?” and start asking, “What happened to you?”
I heard these questions one day while reading a book on trauma and simultaneously listening to a TED Talk on voice-hearing related to trauma. We have all been there: doing too many things at one time. But when the presenter spoke these questions, I instantly knew my journey of being a trauma therapist had just changed.
Until that point, I had created programs, a therapy practice, and an approach to healing that involved every aspect of trauma research, holistic approaches, and heart that I knew to provide. But it did not include the “happen.” The “happen” was missing, and I knew at that moment that the approach I was taking in working with individuals with trauma needed to be recreated to include the “happen.”
“Trauma happens and imprints on the body; it changes you on a cellular level and survival is chosen. This event happens to your life and then changes your reality, your truth, your relationship with yourself, your environment, other people, and your body.”- Dr. Tasha
So what is the “happen”? Traumatic events "happen" to people; people don't choose these outcomes, but understanding this point is not enough. Trauma happens and imprints on the body; it changes you on a cellular level and survival is chosen. This event happens to your life and then changes your reality, your truth, your relationship with yourself, your environment, other people, and your body.
Trauma “happens” on a level so deep that it reaches areas of our soul we may not be aware of but now carry in our existence, leaving a new version of us that is unrecognizable. A new version of us that has changed emotionally, mentally, physically, and spiritually. If a person is going to heal, all areas of being human must be addressed.
The Healing Body Method is not just a healing modality; it is also meant to be self-educational, transformational, and compassionate work in moving forward on your life path. You can choose to do your own personal trauma work, self-development, or gather more tools for the healing practice you already have or need.
-Dr. Tasha Browning
The Healing Body Method Approach
Trauma is a feeling, an experience, a cellular imprint, and most of all, a life-changing event. Trauma can be violent; it can look like living through a natural disaster, going through a divorce, experiencing childhood abuse, being in a toxic relationship, etc. Below is a list of traumas people have experienced when they are considering whether they should do trauma work to address and heal these experiences. This list contains only SOME examples; there are many more.
Types of Traumatic Events
Caused Naturally
Tornado
Lightning strike
Wildfire
Avalanche
Physical ailment or disease
Fallen tree
Earthquake
Dust storm
Volcanic eruption
Blizzard
Hurricane
Cyclone
Typhoon
Meteorite
Epidemic
Pandemic
Famine
Landslide or fallen boulder
Cave In
Sinkhole
Caused by People
Unintentional Acts
Accidents
Technological Catastrophes
Train derailment
Roofing fall
Structural collapse
Mountaineering accident
Aircraft crash
Car accident due to malfunction
Mine collapse or fire
Radiation leak
Crane collapse
Gas explosion
Electrocution
Machinery-related accident
Oil spill
Maritime accident
Accidental gun shooting
Sports-related death or injury
Overdose
Botched surgery
Chronic Medical Issues
Child Birth/ Birth Trauma
Caused by People
Intentional Acts
Arson
Terrorism
Sexual assault and abuse
Homicides or suicides
Mob violence or rioting
Physical abuse and neglect
Stabbing or shooting
Warfare
Domestic violence
Poisoned water supply
Human trafficking/Kidnapping
School violence
Torture
Home invasion
Bank robbery
Genocide/ Racial Injustice
Medical or food tampering
Political gaslighting
Cyber propaganda
Child Abuse/Neglect
Adapted from Trauma-Informed Care in Behavioral Health Services (2014)
The Five Bodies
Because of the diversity of traumas that exist in the world, The Healing Body Method attempts to address trauma work and healing through the realms in which individuals experience traumatic stress in what we like to call the five bodies. Trauma is experienced in the physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, and collective bodies, and it is in all these bodies that trauma healing must take place.
Mental Body
Mental trauma affects the way you think and respond. It affects your ability to make logical decisions for your well-being and changes your ideas about safety. It can cause you to question what is right and wrong, but it may also make you question what is real. It is common to suffer from dissociation as a coping strategy. Trauma healing takes place with practices of grounding and centering. The mind is trying to make sense of experiences and sensations that may not have logical explanations. Connections need to be made to the present moment so the brain can get reacquainted with the idea of having a choice.
Emotional Body
The impact of emotional trauma usually takes on two facets: feeling either too much (overwhelmed) or too little (numb). Both leave people stuck in a place of loneliness, isolation, confusion, and disconnection from what they want out of life. Practices that are freeing, provide a safe space for strong emotions and allow embodiment to soothe the nervous system, and allow ease to become available again to the individual.
Physical Body
Trauma healing takes place when body awareness skills are practiced and taught so a reintroduction to the body takes place. Newly felt experiences of body sensations to open and uncover forgotten memories are given attention, and new definitions of our relationship to our bodies are developed, while scars of past traumas are accepted with body compassion.
Spiritual Body
Spiritual trauma is a soul injury; it leaves no physical mark, but the emotional toll and mental distress are very much felt on deeper energetic levels. It carries a pain through life that reminds you that your spirit has shifted and been wounded. We need activities that remind us who we are, what protects us, were higher forms of strength come from, and the connection with our higher self that has been lost because of trauma. No trauma is ever completely healed without attending to the spiritual needs of your existence.
Collective Body
There is no bootstrapping your way through healing from trauma. We determine how we want to heal and take ownership of our recovery but as human beings, we need the support of others as part of this process. According to Peter Levine in Healing Trauma, “Human beings do not feel completely safe when alone, especially when we need to focus our attention inside ourselves.” You can contribute this to our ancestors, current trauma state or the need for connections, or whatever. The truth that remains is that if we are weak and vulnerable, we can’t establish safety to heal unless we know someone has our back, we need to know someone is watching out for us when we go deep to do the work. The Healing Body Method believes this to be the BIGGEST MISSING ELEMENT in most traditional ways of approaching trauma healing. Relying on any therapeutic avenue that is rooted in individualism and exceptionalism does not support healing. Community is needed to support healing and building the right community for your mental, emotional, spiritual, and physical well-being supports your path. No journey is walked completely alone, especially not the journey after trauma.
The principles of the 5 bodies lead all of our retreat and training experiences. While also incorporating peer-reviewed research in mental health and yoga. This research includes an understanding of somatic therapy, body-relational and body-centered practices, expressive therapies, neuroplasticity, yoga philosophy, social-cultural considerations, and movement therapies.
We believe in working with the whole person and not just engaging with pieces and parts of who you are. Our intention is for YOU to heal all the parts of who you are.