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- Do somatics actually work?
In October of 2007 Monica LeSage was feeling great.
Monica was on a business trip, and just finished rock climbing at the 2nd largest gym in the country. Monica left the gym and started to drive down narrow roads of Philadelphia to meet her coworkers.
But there’s a problem with Philadelphia's narrow roads.
Because Philadelphia is one of the older cities in the U.S. and it has the oldest roads in the U.S. the narrowness makes it hard to see traffic. To a stranger, it’s easy to get confused.
When Monica saw that light ahead of her as green, she didn’t realize that was the wrong light.
A taxi cab crashed into Monica’s car.
Causing the car to flip 1.5 times, smash into a street light, and spin around horizontally. Monica had to wait for the firefighters to get her out of the car…
But when Monica exited the smashed car, she was fine.
…Or so she thought.
Monica was brought to the hospital and treated as “full trauma”. Meaning her clothes were taken off, she was prodded with needles to draw blood.
Monica started trembling uncontrollably.
The pain started to set in, and because of the nature of the accident, the hospital thought Monica was drunk. So there she sat in the hospital shaking with pain. Freezing. Alone. And without medication.
6 years later Monica called her therapist and cried these words:
“I’ve never had a day without pain. I can’t work. I can’t make my bed. I can’t vacuum. I get bouts of anxiety. Bouts of depression. I don’t know what to do.”
As if Monica’s words were a desperate last attempt to survive they landed on the right ears.
Because her therapist was Dr. Nancy Bement, who taught Monica about Somatic Experiencing. And that is the reason Monica got to share her story on stage in 2019, at a Tedx Talk.
If you’ve ever:
Been attacked
Lost a loved one
Faced a car accident
Been abused as a child
Or experienced chronic stress, then Somatic Experiencing can work for you.
Here’s how you can start healing today, with 3 simple steps.
Be comfortable with trembling
This is your body’s natural mechanism for release of energy. When the brain recognizes you’re in danger it builds up energy. And trembling allows you to release that energy.
What Monica didn’t know was that the trembling in the hospital was natural.
Reconnect
Trauma and stress makes you shut down from the outside world. From social events. And time with loved ones.
Some people refer to this as collapse.
Collapsing sometimes physically manifests itself, by making you close your eyes, and tuck into your body. Like you’re trying to protect yourself from a car accident that’s not there.
But the best way to get out of this is reconnection. Specifically, reconnecting with the present. The simple sensation of smelling cookies baking helps. Feeling the warm hug of a loved one. Hearing the laughter of your friends.
You have to reconnect with the present, but increase sensory awareness.
Body Scan Pendulation
If you’ve experienced trauma, you may not feel safe in your skin anymore.
This can manifest as a sensation of pain in your body. And the more you think about the pain, the worse it gets..
Enter Body Scanning.
You know when you walk through security, and the guard waves a wand around you to detect metal?
That’s what you need to do with your body.
Except your brain is the security guard, and you have to consciously guide your wand through the safe parts of your body. Scan the place that hurts, that feels tight, or where you have strange sensations. Then scan the place that lacks the pain.
This simple process will make you feel better.
Because of these 3 simple steps, Monica travels the world sharing her story because she discovered what millions of people with trauma, chronic pain, and stress-related symptoms are now learning:
Your symptoms aren't permanent. They're patterns.
The same neuroplasticity that kept Monica trapped in pain for 6 years became her freedom. When she learned to work with her brain's natural healing mechanisms instead of against them, everything changed.
And unlike woo-woo positive thinking. Science backs this up:
Clinical trials show that 66% of people practicing brain-based healing techniques become pain-free or nearly pain-free in just 4 weeks. The results hold long-term because you're addressing the neurological root cause, not just managing symptoms.
Your brain created these symptoms to protect you.
Now it's time to teach it that you're safe.
The doors open in 7 days.
To your healing,
— Kimia
PS
For more on Monica’s story watch her Ted Talk here: