Hello all. It has been a while since I have replied to the group. I am still
in San Diego enjoying the wonderful life here safe from the hurricanes in
New Orleans. I read with great interest one of the last posts by Margaret
about
her seminar in Poland. We all come from such unique backgrounds to this
fascinating work. I need to set up my question to Margaret with a short
background.
I am writing a book about my experiences in New Orleans with clergy(incest)
abuse, and have read three fascinating books about sexual trauma in my
research. I am doing a stream of consciousness book, but it based on
redemption and
healing from my trials and aftermath of sexual trauma. Two of the books are
by a neurologist named Robert Scaer( The body bears the burden and the Trauma
Spectrum) and the other is a Peter Levine book describing the flight fight
freeze response during the parasympathetic phase when a child is terrorized.
Scaer defines the freeze in a body's brain body mind spectrum when the
incident is perceived as life threatening. Having said that I want to ask
Margaret
if she is referring to this as the "shock" in the body's physiology.
From Dr. Scaer's research a lot of unexplained diseases and problems in the
muscles of the body derive from this disrupted physiology that occurs to
structures in the brain during this shock or freeze. Researchers use lots of
new
kinds of imaging that can see lots of damage in the amgydala, hippocampus,
prefrontal cortex, cingular gyrus and other structures of the brain. According
to Levine(developer of Somatic Experiencing) until the freeze is shaken out
of the major startle muscles that occur during this freeze one is sort of
"frozen in their growth", and the old trauma keeps them being "Kindled",
sucking
them into a kind of trauma vortex at times.
The major muscles he names are the psoas, multifidi muscles in the back,
levator scapulae and upper trapezius and sternocleidomastoid in the neck,
along
with the periformis. It took me a bit of time to lay this out, but I am
wondering if you might comment on this as a physical therapist, and relate it
your
comment about the Six archetypal ways of using the muscles.
Stefan Bajon
San Diego
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