Do you want to be free? Do you want to overcome PTSD? In healing from pre-verbal trauma, unconscious material is allowed into consciousness. Breath habits are treasures of information, especially patterns of holding. Each day for a short time, I sit quietly, following my breathing and listening. Frightening emotions often emerge that have no basis in present… Continue Reading
Magnolia blossom–the healing flower
While I am getting excellent care for my concussion from my chiropractor and my medical doctor, who is trained in craniosacral bodywork, I realized the other day that I needed to participate more directly in my healing. In drawing a magnolia flower and meditating on its image, I came to understand that I needed to… Continue Reading
A Ceremony: Healing from Post-traumatic Stress
For those of us who’ve had a major trauma as babies and still suffer from post-traumatic stress (PTS) as adults, a ceremony may be in order–a ritual of some sort for the self that says, I am safe now and can live my body without fear. My body is a place of comfort. Each morning,… Continue Reading
Fear Brain / Flower Brain
I was raised on fear: fear of falling, fear of drowning, fear of being snatched by a stranger luring me with candy. Fear of my father’s anger, fear of my mother’s rejection, fear of failing in school, fear of humiliation from classmates. Fear, fear, fear. Fear of being me–if I’m me, I won’t be loved;… Continue Reading
Egg as Friend
Last week, ice-skating with a friend, I fell and hit my head. What an egg I got! I’m a good skater and the fall was a big surprise. The next day, I felt light-headed and my vision was unfocused. My head was sore. I was ultra sensitive to light and had difficulty concentrating. I easily… Continue Reading
A Puppet's Life: PTSD Pulls the Strings
1976: I’m running along the street on a beautiful day in Berkeley, California. I’m wearing running shorts and a t-shirt and enjoying the breeze as I skim along in my running shoes. I feel that I can run miles. I look up into the sky and see a series of bright white fluffy clouds. Something… Continue Reading
Of Daggers and Diaphragms
Of Daggers Many of my afternoon 1A students want to know more about my exploits as a greaser gang member when I was a young teen. I’ve included a memoir excerpt and posted it above under Pages/Memoir/First Waters – Chapter 2 after the *********, hoping that it communicates the flavor of the life that I… Continue Reading
My Body and Spirit are One
I’m back from Ecuador. Since I’m relatively new at this blogging thing, I didn’t realize I could set up some automatic posts to be published while I was away. Alas! But here I am with a fresh perspective and some insights to share. A few quick impressions about Ecuador. Did you know that pink dolphins… Continue Reading
Pediatric Trauma: Getting the Word Out
I’m thrilled! I just left a website for the First International Conference on Pediatric Psychological Trauma. I didn’t know such a thing existed until two days ago when I spoke to someone on the phone who told me she had attended the conference last February at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. I’m… Continue Reading
Harmonizing with Hemi-Sync
Just got back from Mount Shasta with my partner, where I took an Excursion Workshop with a group of twelve others. How to explain this work without getting bogged down in detail? I have been meditating for many years and recently hit a plateau. Wanting to deepen my daily experience, I signed up for this… Continue Reading