Over the years of helping people recover from trauma, I have built a tried and tested toolkit of strategies. I know these are powerful catalysts for change that work when clients practice them regularly – even though some individuals have resistance to using them (which is another post). But when clients dedicate themselves to their recovery and try all the things as suggested, near miracles can occur.

One such strategy is a mindfulness practice devised by the brilliant Babette Rothschild, which I incorporate into work with both couples and individuals. My slightly adapted version of Key 1 of Rothschild’s 8 Keys To Safe Trauma Recovery involves a regular checking-in via bodymind-scan to identify:

• Thoughts and images in the mind
• Feelings and emotions
• Moods or states of being
• The felt sense – experienced in the body as sensations.

You can try this right now – preferably with your journal to reflect in afterwards.

Sit somewhere comfortable and private where you won’t be disturbed. Take a few deep breaths in through the nose and out through the mouth. Close your eyes or look down with a soft focus. Scan your mind and body from your head to your feet slowly from side to side and moving downwards, observing thoughts, feelings, moods and the felt sense of all that is going on in your body. Make a mental note what you identify and the location within yourself. Then, write in your journal, reflecting on what you found and what sense you can make of it. If you are doing this as a couple, you can invite each other into the bodymind-scan and share your reflections.

If you do this practice on a regular basis, you will build self-awareness that will help you to deal with a wide array of issues that can thrive with a lack of self-awareness (mindlessness). Mindfulness is associated with the Buddhist practice of meditation from 2,500 years ago, and has been used very successfully with a range of mind and body therapies in the West since the 20th century. When we are mindlessly operating without awareness the ravages of trauma and stress can consume us without us understanding what is going on inside us. All we know is that we feel frightened, anxious, angry and lost – and a whole host of other distressing states. These states are often blamed onto proxy problems commonly associated with stress such as money, family and health issues, and the underlying root causes (that may be traumatic events) can remain unacknowledged for years – a lifetime, even.

By bringing awareness to what is going on in the mind and body in an intentional, focussed way – and noticing regular thought patterns, feelings, moods and body sensations, we can build an understanding of what Rothschild called a mindfulness gauge. This is gauge is unique to each individual and can help guide a person towards and away from sources of stress and trauma triggers.

For instance, someone who has become stuck in a victim mindset can discover that when they are in this state, they feel angry and bitter, have negative and upsetting thoughts such as envying the success of others, and have a sharp pain at their solar plexus that feels like someone is sticking a knife in them. Without awareness this is likely to be experienced simply as anger at the injustices of the world and the person may rant and rage at everyone and anyone before numbing their pain with something like alcohol or computer games. But with regular mind body scanning and becoming aware of this particular mindfulness gauge, they can come to recognise the cluster of thoughts, feelings, state and felt sense of this in their body – and, then, finally work on changing this behaviour for good with a therapist or other appropriate source of support.

To request a free consultation or make a booking

email: hello@frayazellawolf.com