As the Focus on Health Doctors explained recently, clients can continue to have pain even when all known sources of injury have been cured. 

I think this is what happened to me.  My sophomore year of college, I sustained a whiplash injury during a pick-up soccer game.  I went to a chiropractor immediately after the whiplash and in just a few short sessions my symptoms were gone.  Two years later, though, I was in a car accident.  The driver hit a patch of slush on the highway and we hydroplaned off the road and spun around before coming to rest gently in a ditch.  There was no impact and nothing was found “wrong.”  And yet, I had debilitating symptoms.

One explanation of this phenomena was provided by Dr. Bob Scaer: “The patterns of muscle contraction are associated with procedural memory for a threat…. Calling for the contraction of muscles that once participated in a failed defensive act activates abnormal autonomic cycling, leading to periodic constriction of blood flow to those muscles, with resulting [pain] and spasm.” (1) 

In other words, when something scary happens too fast for our bodies to be able to react to it, whether that’s a car accident, medical procedure, or other physical mishap, we can go into a momentary freeze.  This creates a new patterning in the body, like a train that has suddenly shifted to a different track.  When we are then later called upon to use those same areas of our bodies--especially if we are already under stress--we can subtly shift onto the old “freeze” track.  That means the body is now trying to do two things at once—respond to the accident and get the peanut butter jar off the shelf.  It is fighting against itself, resulting in pain and dysfunction.

How can we re-work those freeze patterns?  We can repeat and strengthen new ones, as at The Movement Lab.  But we can also slow down the movement pattern and allow the defensive responses to emerge and complete naturally.  This lets the impulses exit the body and the movement pattern to reorganize.  This is a somatics-based approach.  The word “somatics” means “the body as experienced from within” and can be described as a body-mind modality. 

Accessing the stored survival energy can be triggering so it’s recommended to have a guide in the process.  But here’s a preparatory exercise you can try at home that can help you learn to listen to the subtle movement cues of your body:

1)   You’ll start by lying down on your back on a firm surface such as the floor.  So grab any props you think you might need such as a blanket or a towel for under your head or knees. 

2)   When you are ready, lie down and invite yourself to tune into your breath.  There is no need to change your breathing.  Just gently allow your attention to rest there.

3)   Begin to notice the experience of your body. Is there a spot you feel yourself holding your weight up?  Can you yield into the support just a little bit more?  Where else?  Any place else?  If you notice you are holding your breath, letting it go may help you find spots to rest into.

4)   Begin to tune in to different parts of your body.  What sensation words might you use to describe what you are noticing in yourself right now?  Is it the same everywhere or are some places different?  How would you describe those other places?

5)   It might seem like nothing is happening.  That’s okay.  Simply resting mindfully may be all that happens today.

6)   But you might also notice a desire for a part of your body to move.  For example, maybe you notice a twitch in your shoulder, a shift of the hip, or an impulse in your hand.  What would it be like to allow that?  Can you feel the transition from the desire to move into movement itself?  The key here is to go slow…way slower than what you probably imagine.  And then, likely slower than that.  The metaphorical train needs time to find the right track. 

7)   Next, what would it be like to allow that small movement to sequence from one part of your body to another, without using your mind to direct it?  The shoulder twitch, for example, might lead to the shoulder and head curling in towards each other or perhaps to a bend in the elbow as if protecting the head from an impact.  The key here is to engage with the new movements in curiosity, not judgement. 

Eventually, the movement can sequence all the way through the self-protective response, releasing the pattern and allowing you to grab that peanut butter jar without pain.

If you are intrigued by this approach and would like more guidance about how to integrate somatics into your rehab program, Form with Flow offers support drawn from Somatic Experiencing® trauma healing and Rolfing® Structural and Movement Integration, including hands-on touch options.

Resources

(1) Scaer, Robert (2005).  The Trauma Spectrum: Hidden Wounds and Human Resiliency.  W.W. Norton & Company. (p. 232).  Scaer, Robert (2014).  The Body Bears the Burden: Trauma, Dissociation, and Disease (3rd Ed.).  Routledge.

Rachel English is a Certified Rolfer®, a Board Certified Structural Integrator©, and a Somatic Experiencing® Practitioner.  She is the owner of Form with Flow Somatic Integration Studio.  Somatic Integration is an experiential approach to restoring wholeness that uses body-based trauma healing, hands-on bodywork, and movement education to help you move out of pain, trauma, and old patterns and into better health and well-being.  She grew up in Columbia, MO and moved back to town in 2021.