In an Unspoken Voice: How the Body Releases Trauma and Restores Goodness

This preparation for action was absolutely essential on the ancient savannahs, and it is “discharged” or “used up” by all-out, meaningful action. In

This capacity is especially important when we are frightened or injured.

We are “scared stiff.” In human beings, unlike in animals, the state of temporary freezing becomes a long-term trait.

I will explain how our nervous system has evolved a hierarchical structure, how these hierarchies interact, and how the more advanced systems shut down in the face of overwhelming threat, leaving brain, body and psyche to their more archaic functions.

the capacity for self-regulation is what allows us to handle our own states of arousal and our difficult emotions, thus providing the basis for the balance between authentic autonomy and healthy social engagement. In addition, this capacity allows us the intrinsic ability to evoke a sense of being safely “at home” within ourselves, at home where go

What ethologists call tonic immobility—the paralysis and physical/emotional shutdown that characterize the universal experience of helplessness in the face of mortal danger—comes to dominate

ingesting psychoactive substances, to name a few. Of these various methods for altering one’s way of being, modern medicine has accepted only the use of (limited, i.e., psychiatric) chemical substances. The other “coping” methods continue to find expression in alternative and so-called holistic approaches such as yoga, tai chi, exercise, drumming,

carefully graded, expression of our instinctive responses will allow the traumatic state to loosen its hold on the sufferer.

Learning to live through states of high arousal (no matter what their source) allows us to maintain equilibrium and sanity.