Somatic Experiencing®
Nadia came to Somatic Experiencing® (also known as SE) through her primary modality (original training) of Mindfulness. Other Somatic Experiencing® Practitioners may have other primary modalities, such as yoga, psychotherapy or body work.
SE background
Nadia explains that Somatic Experiencing® gently supports the release of held or stuck survival stress (we might call it trauma) in the nervous system, reintegrating a sense of self or life force energy, that was lost at the time of a traumatic event. Trauma being used to describe something that has been overwhelming for us or an event (or events) that has been too much; too soon; too fast.
This model was developed by Dr Peter Levine, PhD. His theory is based on observations of animals in the wild being exposed to predation and therefore with a potential threat to life, yet these animals don’t seem to become traumatised. Their primal instincts activate their autonomic nervous system, i.e their survival mode of fight/flight/freeze and once the threat has passed, they automatically discharge any accumulated survival energy and return back to normal life, with no adverse reactions.
Dr Peter Levine saw that humans too have this innate ability within us, although we often bypass these automatic reactions due to our rational brain taking over, thereby overriding our primal instincts. Our autonomic nervous system may then get stuck in a survival pattern – it assumes this is helpful in the overwhelming moment, but actually we can get stuck in a response of fight or flight or freeze (fixity) rather than having access to all of these options and being able to opt for the best survival strategy in real time (a feeling of flow).
This can lead us to feeling overwhelmed and powerless. Always being in a survival mode, as the fight/flight/freeze energy is effectively trapped in the body, can lead to a number of symptoms that can happen immediately or even years after the original overwhelming event. This can look like anxiety (fight or flight energy) or depression (freeze, shutdown or collapse).
The beauty of presence
In time and staying with moment-to-moment sensations with the support of an SEP, and the resource established to do this, SE® supports the release of any symptoms stored in the nervous system, restoring the natural flow of your life energy, bringing the body back to a state of wholeness.
The SE® model promotes the natural flow of our being, often allowing us to feel more alive and present to life. We become more consciously aware, living explicitly and no longer implicitly.
Contact details
If you would like to contact Nadia to make an appointment, please see https://bodywisenaturalhealth.co.uk/therapists/nadia-miller/.