Trauma and Addiction - Peter A. Levine

 Vegas nerve is 80% afferance, sense from the gut.  Then send signal to the brain (efference) and got amplify and come back down.

chanting - with abdomen - learn to sooth themselves, rather than using addiction to release pain (release is not a discharge.  it release the tension, but it will come back).

connect with heart, and other body parts together - co-regulating with some breathes together - to allow deep contact (connection).

Have you find in your experience that addition of toxi shame... 

Shame has many dimensions. it is like a cancer. it starts as a tumor, then start to spread to different parts of the body, drag us down - co-regulation to dis-regulation

shame and disgust are companions.  Once guided them to breath slowly (symentic therapy) be more mindful of how their postures are feeling - contraction/expansion/contraction/expansion - you will see the person's spin is elongated - ventilation - mindfulness - bodifulness... when thoughts come up during the exercise.

I have the thoughts that it is not going to last ---oh may be that's not the reality. may be that's not who I am, may be that's just a though.

strategies for addiction

Trauma is the force, the bridge that protective barrier that leading to an overwhelming feeling of helplessness.

whenever there is an vertex, anboother vertex in opposite direction 

You have to do both - 

each time you moved to the inner vertex, you have a piece of experience

Red constriction one hand, and blue the expansion the other end.

everytime you come back, you come back with more energy, more aliveness

now, come back to the main stream

I am alive, and  i am real

always working towards integration

Tibet buddhism a traditional thats very consistent of what Peter has put together.

Earlier at stone age religious temple - have to pass thru the paired vertexes to go in (to be inner)



Stream of life

above tools - having someone be your mirror (like children who are more calm and creative) - connect with children - trauma proofing your kids


Why do we find that people with trauma histories usually have some level of addiction? So often, trauma leads to states of dysregulation. Without other support, many people turn to substances to address the dysregulation they experience. Unfortunately, this approach offers only a temporary fix, and what’s more, actually increases the dysregulation over time. In this session, Dr. Peter Levine helps us understand the connections between trauma, addiction, and shame, providing tools and body-based practices for breaking the cycles.

Session Highlights:

  • An overview of the different types of substances different personalities tend to be drawn to
  • The physiology and role of the vagus nerve in our bodies, and what occurs when we experience trauma
  • The role of toxic shame in feeding addictive behaviors
  • How working with the breath is a powerful way to regulate the nervous system



Peter A. Levine, PhD
Founder of Somatic Experiencing® trauma recovery

Dr. Peter Levine received his doctorate in medical biophysics from the University of California, Berkeley, and also holds a doctorate in psychology from International University. He has worked in the field of stress and trauma for over 40 years and is the developer of the Somatic Experiencing method. Dr. Levine’s original contribution to the field of body psychotherapy was honored in 2010 when he received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the United States Association for Body Psychotherapy. That same year, he also received the honorary Reiss-Davis Chair in Child Psychiatry for his innovative contribution to therapy for children and adolescents.

Peter A. Levine, PhD

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Tea meditation - Plum Village

Image
  This cup of tea in my two hands,  mindfulness is held perfectly.          My mind and body dwell in the very here and now.  Wherever you are drinking your tea, whether at work or in a café or at home, it is wonderful to allow enough time to appreciate it. If the weather is cold, you can feel the warmth of the cup in your hands. Breathe in and recite the first line; breathe out and recite the second. The next inhalation is for the third line, and the next exhalation is for the fourth line. Breathing mindfully in this way, we recuperate ourselves and the cup of tea reclaims its highest place. If we’re not mindful, it’s not tea that we’re drinking but our own illusions and afflictions. If the tea becomes real, we become real. When we are able to truly meet the tea, at that very moment we are truly alive. There is no way to home. Home is the way. There is no way to happiness Happiness is the way to us. A day to return to ourselves, to take care of ourselves to contemplate what's goin
Read more

Mindfulness of Breathing

Image
16 stages/ approaches to mindful breathing  https://www.mindfulnessbell.org/archive/tag/16+exercises+for+mindful+breathing Day 1 Basics of mindfulness meditation. breathing is one of the core practices of Buddhist meditation practice. Two ways street - as the world around us changes (mood, intention, mind), our breathing changes, as breathing changes, our relationship to the world changes.  As we got trapped in our thoughts, our breathing changes.  As we relax our body, our breathing changes. Breathing sitting in the crossroad of all aspects of our life.  Fight/flight mode, breathing changes. When we change our breathing and relax, fight/flight response changes. Sitting there in breathing and watches the world goes on. Easy breath - be in touch with the breathing.  how your breathing changes is related to how your mood/ mind is changing. Area of control - the front part of the body.  focus on the back of the body is easier. not to be concern of a controlled breath. just be very content
Read more

5 Daily Recollections (2) - Sickness

The body is subject to sickness.  we are not immune.  no one is immune.  Suffering stress is part of the human condition, specifically the sickness. Setting in the body with the breath with the body.  how to have a sense of freedom in the midst of sickness.   Dropping in the contemplation into the body, a more stable available ready space. Let it vertebrate.  Later will drop in the body the reflections as if the pebble in the water.  Making space for emotions, or planting seeds for you to be with the reflection throughout the day. I am subject to aging, I am of nature to age.  Aging is inevitable. All the practice we do, with sitting, with meditation, consider all the waves in the ocean, the waves will always be there, better and better with bigger waves. For today/s practice, my invitation is as if there is any sickness and working the sickness and befriending this body's nature.  noticing the narratives with mindfulness befriending them because seeing them is really the first ste
Read more