Trauma Training Tip
Our blood is the substance associated with the Wood Element, and in particular the Liver Organ. When we experience “too much, too fast, with inadequate support,” our heart communicates a sense of life threat to the kingdom of the body via the blood pulse. The blood carries the Heart’s message of pending threat to every corner and crevice so we can respond in a comprehensive and coordinated way.
One of the many roles of the Liver is to “restore the blood.” It cleanses it of toxic substances and restores its inherent regulation. If the blood is overwhelmed by the presence of alarm it is carrying, it can be challenging for the Liver to do its job.
Our blood gives us a sense of embodiment, substance and presence. It moistens our ligaments, tendons and eyes. It carries the spirit of the Liver, called the Hun or etheric soul and supports our capacity to have a vision for our future. If your client feels hopeless, brittle, unable to rest into sleep, or lacks a sense of embodiment – you may be called to touch their Liver Blood.
Rest your hand gently on the right ribcage. It may feel dry and brittle under your hand at first. Look for a sense of moist, dense, tissue to emerge. “I feel a water balloon in my belly” is a common experience. See what they experience – perhaps a greater sense of presence or fullness, a softening of emotions, opinions or tissues or a greater capacity to rest at night.
Alaine’s Two Cents
The Covid-19 virus is a world-wide public health concern. Many of us care for sick people, and have people who look to us for advice and support. It is important that we protect ourselves so we can remain healthy – and continue to serve.
One suggestion from the world of integrative medicine – for both our patients and ourselves – comes from my colleague Carla Cassler, Interim Director of Acupuncturists Without Borders, and involves the use of Essential Oils.
Essential Oils are known to have strong antiviral properties that can help for both protection and reducing contagion. They are safe to use everyday. You can make a mix of the oils listed below, dilute the combination with water, put in a spray bottle, and use on doorknobs, phones, airplane trays, hands, etc.
You can also add drops to a small bottle of carrier oil and apply on the body: dab it inside your nostrils or put 5 drops inside a mask and wear it on a plane or in a large crowd. The mask provides a platform for the oils so you can inhale them. You can also put them on a scarf and inhale regularly.
Here’s your recipe: Put 20 drops of each of these oils in a 2 oz spray bottle and add water. Use liberally!
- Thyme
- Eucalyptus
- Tea Tree
- Lavender
- Oregano
Check This Out
Blessing for the Senses
John O’Donohue
May your body be blessed.
May you realize that your body is a faithful
And beautiful friend of your soul.
And may you be peaceful and joyful
And recognize that your senses
Are sacred thresholds.
May you realize that holiness is
Mindful, gazing, feeling, hearing, and touching.
May your sense gather you and bring you home.
May your senses always enable you to
Celebrate the universe and the mystery
And possibilities in your presence here.
May the Eros of the Earth bless you.
Clinical Curiosity
Q. My patient is in her mid-30’s. Her goal with treatment is to feel “more in my body.” When I invite her to explore her body-awareness, she finds “darkness” below her waist and lightness above it. What are some approaches that might help her?
A. So glad she found you!
One definition of trauma is having experienced something as “too much, too fast, without adequate support.” In such circumstances, we may have to “leave” our body as part of our instinct for survival. Like a house that has fuses that turn off power when an electrical surge creates a risk of the house burning to the ground, we too have the capacity to shut down and leave our body when we feel at risk of burning to the ground.
So – we know that she experienced something highly alarming to cause her to be so absent in her pelvis and legs. You will want to support her to move slowly back into body-awareness. Your key tool will be accessing her interoception – her awareness of sensations and the meaning she makes of them.
From an acupuncture point of view – our capacity for interoception arises from the Po, or “animal soul” of the Lung, which supports instinctive and embodied awareness, and the Liver Blood, which gives us a sense of having substance or solidity in our tissues. Depending on her constitution, you may want to support her Lung Qi or her Liver Blood.
There is a risk in going too fast. You could bring her head-on with the event or events that required her to leave – it will be overwhelming and only deepen the braced, absent quality of her lower body.
Best to start with guiding her to feel an embodied awareness in her upper body where she feels more regulated. Then you can help her begin to explore the boundary between her upper and lower body – the line that divides her in half. Go back-and-forth in “tick-tock” fashion to support the movement of her Qi at that boundary.
If bringing her awareness towards her pelvis is too alarming, you might try going to her feet. Her proprioceptive nerve beds in her ankles will want to wake up at some point – and she may find her thwarted fight or flight response. You will want to help her access this still-present impulse to defend and help her experience it in a sensate way.
Completing her self protective response will help her re-embody her tissues and feel more whole again.
All good wishes to you both!