Sublime

If the amygdala is the smoke detector in the brain, think of the frontal lobes—and specifically the medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC),12 located directly above our eyes—as the watchtower, offering a view of the scene from on high.

We were more open to the value of other age-old, nonpharmacological approaches to health that have long been practiced outside Western medicine, ranging from breath exercises (pranayama) and chanting to martial arts like qigong to drumming and group singing and dancing. All rely on interpersonal rhythms, visceral awareness, and vocal and facial com

trauma. I have found that the newer energy psychology technologies, such as Emotional Freedom Technique (“tapping”) and Matrix Reimprinting, can facilitate this process rapidly and with a minimum of difficulty, but again, the practitioner must be skilled at managing the client’s level of intensity so that she doesn’t go into overwhelm

(whereby in the face of imminent danger, we freeze or faint), or, especially in women, a tend-and-befriend response (whereby in the face of danger, we seek out the company of others120). Such responses are adaptive; they help us to survive, and they helped our ancestors avoid

There are fundamentally three avenues: 1) top down, by talking, (re-) connecting with others, and allowing ourselves to know and understand what is going on with us, while processing the memories of the trauma; 2) by taking medicines that shut down inappropriate alarm reactions, or by utilizing other technologies that change the way the brain organ

This is where a bottom-up approach to therapy becomes essential. The aim is actually to change the patient’s physiology, his or her relationship to bodily sensations.

The Neck Lock