In an Unspoken Voice: How the Body Releases Trauma and Restores Goodness

carefully graded, expression of our instinctive responses will allow the traumatic state to loosen its hold on the sufferer.

What ethologists call tonic immobility—the paralysis and physical/emotional shutdown that characterize the universal experience of helplessness in the face of mortal danger—comes to dominate

This capacity is especially important when we are frightened or injured.

ingesting psychoactive substances, to name a few. Of these various methods for altering one’s way of being, modern medicine has accepted only the use of (limited, i.e., psychiatric) chemical substances. The other “coping” methods continue to find expression in alternative and so-called holistic approaches such as yoga, tai chi, exercise, drumming,

We are “scared stiff.” In human beings, unlike in animals, the state of temporary freezing becomes a long-term trait.

the same psychophysiological systems that govern the traumatic state also mediate core feelings of goodness and belonging.

Orthopedic patients in a recent study, for example, showed a 52% occurrence of being diagnosed with full-on PTSD following surgery.

the capacity for self-regulation is what allows us to handle our own states of arousal and our difficult emotions, thus providing the basis for the balance between authentic autonomy and healthy social engagement. In addition, this capacity allows us the intrinsic ability to evoke a sense of being safely “at home” within ourselves, at home where go

Since time immemorial, people have attempted to cope with powerful and terrifying feelings by doing things that contradict perceptions of fear and helplessness: religious rituals, theater, dance, music, meditation and