A favourite healing tool in my somatic therapy tool kit
I learnt a new motto when I came across this work “If something is hard get help!” and now if I am stuck or struggling I reach out, I get help, I don’t struggle on alone on trauma island.
Resourcing (my favourite somatic therapy tool) is like that. When we make contact with a threat response (trauma response) what we do is resource by calling in layers of support through our awareness, and through our felt experience.
Resources help us to find stability. When you’re anchored into a wide base of support through resourcing you shift from being IN the feeling (lost in it) it to being *WITH it.
(*It's by being WITH it that we have the potential to transform it.)
The body can shift its state simply by being with a resource, we can go from feeling overwhelmed activated and distressed, to stable, calmer and more centred with this simple practice.
When we are lost in a trigger or trauma and don’t have access to any other reality, the threat response in the body will not release — it doesn't feel safe to. We have to create the right conditions for a somatic sense of safety. This is where resourcing comes in.
Want to know how Somatic Therapy can help you to resource yourself and find layers of non-invasive support?
In Somatic Therapy we tune into four different categories in order to find the right resource that we need at any time (depending on the difficulty we are working with).
The idea is to feel more stable, capable, nourished, supported through connection to it:
External + Tangible - The stability of the floor, furniture, earth below, the doors, windows or walls, a blanket, a candle, pet, plants, trees outside, tea, a favorite sweater
Internal + tangible - Something we can see or feel and touch that's inside of us like the stability of your bones, legs, feet, the steadiness of your heartbeat or breath, the sensations of gravity or your back against the chair. Your sit bones in connection to what's beneath you.
Internal + Intangible - The energetic awareness of your Soul, higher/wiser self, or true essence, the flow of your toric field inside you or a sense of your energetic boundaries.
External + Intangible - Support from well-ancestors, angelic guides, spirit guides, animal guides, elements in nature, memories of power places, Divine parents, cosmic celestial forces, archetypes..
Once you’ve found the right resource, just hang out with it, allowing your system to harmonize with its frequency.
Just by doing that alone sometimes when you go back to the trauma something has shifted. And if it is still there, now you have support!
Also, in between sessions resourcing can look like - making sure you are living in a more resourced way ie:
Do I have support in my life, friends, community, social life? - we are social emotional animals we need connection to thrive.
Do I get enough sleep, am I eating well, am I nourished?
Are my relationships reciprocal? Are there any boundaries I need to work on with people I have in my life?
Do I feed my spirit and Soul? What do I do that nurtures that connection?
Is there any areas of my life where I need more support? And if so who can I turn to for help?
How can I support myself to feel more resourced?
KEY TIP FOR PRACTITIONERS:
Before I move into the nitty gritty difficulty of a topic with a client we spend some time resourcing and tuning into what specific layer or layers of support would help amplify a wide base of support in their body, mind heart or Soul - and make more space for healing to naturally happen, without pressure or forced interventions.
Depending on which zone of activation we are in when in our trigger/trauma might inform us as to which type of resource might fit us best.
For instance if the fight response is activated there is sensation, heat, constriction in jaw, chest, arms or possibly anger we might intuit that a resource that is valiant and as strong as the trigger ie a powerful protective shamanic presence of a wolf is the right fit. As it needs to be able to meet the level of intensity.
Or if we feel frozen and numb disconnected and checked out from our physical presence (and we keep spacing out) we might choose something simple and practical and tangible like the ground, our feet on the ground or a tree outside that we can see, or something else we can see feel and/or touch.
Another way dissociation shows up is when we go up into our head and try to figure it all out. Using something simple, physical and tangible in this instance is a great way to bring in more capacity to be present to what is going on in your physiology. So can titration but that’s a whole other blog, I’ll save that for next time!
Also its good to know what Resourcing is not:
A forced calm down - we tune into what feels like a layer of support or offers stability in order to be with the difficulty. We might pendulate more towards stability and resource for some time (on purpose) before coming back to the difficulty. But we are not ignoring the difficulty we are amplifying the field of support in order to create the right conditions for healing to happen naturally.
A way of by-passing difficulty - it's an AND rather than an OR. We can feel like life is complex and alot right now AND feel the support of the comfy sweater, pet in the room, warm tea in our hands, stable floor beneath us. We can feel something both simple AND complex at the same time. This can have a neutralising effect on the trigger.
It's not the same every time - Sometimes all that's available to us is the stable floor beneath us, or the trees outside to tune into, rather than trying to feel for more intangible things like Soul, Archetypal forces or Wiser Self and that's totally ok and just as effective. It’s always best to trust your intuition and not second guess the body wisdom of your intuitive side.
