Dr. Peter A. Levine, a pioneer in the field of psychology, visits the Rerooted podcast to discuss healing trauma through Somatic Experiencing.
Dr. Peter A. Levine has worked in the field of stress and trauma for over 40 years and is the developer of the Somatic Experiencing method. Peter was awarded the Lifetime Achievement award from the United States Association for Body Psychotherapy (USABP). He also received the honorary Reis Davis Chair in Child Psychiatry for his innovative contribution to therapy for children and adolescents. Learn more at traumahealing.org.

Trauma and Memory
What is the connection between trauma, stress and our memory? Peter speaks about the important differences in explicit (declarative) memory, body (procedural) memory, and emotional (limbic) memory. He and Francesca discuss the interconnection between these forms of memory and how they relate to trauma.

“A specific class of procedural memories are the memories that have to do with threat, danger, helplessness, and shutdown. These are profound global states that the nervous system and the body goes through. What happens, if we have been unsuccessful where we have been threatened and we were overwhelmed. Is that memory will become long-lasting. Sort of like how the memory of riding a bike becomes long-lasting. These memories tend to be permanent. But they are not. We have to access them. And the way to access them is through the body. Through sensation.” – Dr. Peter A. Levine

Healing Through Somatic Experiencing (12:35)
How can working with sensation relieve our deep-seated traumas? We explore the mind, body, connection that allows Somatic Experiencing to heal in an integrated way. Peter shares a practice that uses with clients to get in touch and work with the senses.

A Gateway to the Heart (24:00)
Can the journey to healing trauma become a portal to a spiritual awakening? Francesca and Peter discuss the way that traumatic experiences can get in the way of our social engagement system and cause isolation from our interconnection with the world. They look at the ways that trauma shifts us out of our natural state of calm and locks us into a detached state of fight or flight.

“To really have an authentic experience in the meditation practice, we do need to in some ways 
address the trauma that is there in the territory of consciousness.” – Dr. Peter A. Levine

https://traumahealing.org/

#ReRooted: Dr. Peter Levine of Somatic Experiencing on Trauma, Memory, Spirituality & Healing

Please come along! As of April 2019, #WiseGirl has rebranded as #ReRooted and can now be found with new podcasts posted every other Friday on Ram Dass's Be Here Now Network at:  https://beherenownetwork.com/category/francesca-maxime/
and on my website https://www.maximeclarity.com/podcast

My podcast still sits at the intersection of mindfulness, psychology, neuroscience, the creative arts and social justice.  ReRooted: Unearthing Our Natural Radiance, And Remembering The Roots We Share

Welcome to the ReRooted Podcast with Francesca Maximé, trauma-sensitive mindfulness meditation teacher and poet. Together we’ll take a closer look at approaches to transforming trauma with insights from psychology, neuroscience, spirituality, social justice and the creative arts. Join Francesca and her guests for an exploration of our shared connection and how we can cultivate greater compassion for ourselves and for others.
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#WiseGirl is where we invite you to discover your own inner wise girl or wise guy -- the wisdom within that has always been there, deep inside. The show aims to help us connect to our wisest self, to help guide us through our interconnected lives, with respect and compassion. WiseGirl aims to help us understand why we do what we do, and how we can relate to things differently so we can shift into a new way of being: to go from surviving to thriving.

About me: Brooklyn-based TV personality, certified  mindfulness meditation teacher, and wellbeing and life coach: Creating Space for Wellbeing & Mindful Brooklyn.  Journalist, poet/author/writer. Haitian-Dominican Italian-American. Harvard. Cats. Tennis. Yoga. Gratitude. Love.

#ReRooted: Dr. Peter Levine of Somatic Experiencing on Trauma, Memory, Spirituality & Healing

Francesca Maximé: #ReRooted on BHNN & #WiseGirl