The Language of the Body – By Sergio Ocampo LMFT, SEP
The human body is where our perception and assessment of the world around us begins. It serves as a sophisticated sensor of the environment and of people. Evolution has created a system that conveys, through different channels, the experience of life. It is through our bodies that we begin to form a picture of what the world is and how to navigate its possibilities and limitations.
Through millennia of evolution mammals have developed an amazing array of tissues to sense differences in temperature, pressure, and light. Through these crucial elements, living organisms identify orientation, threat and resources with relative ease. Finding shelter, food and like organisms with which to reproduce is fundamental to survival.
Besides sensing physical phenomena in the external environment, there is our internal environment. It is the perception of what our organs, muscles, and tissues are doing. What tightens or releases. What feels numb or active. This is Interoception: the awareness of our internal sensations.
Our bodies are forever in a state of flux. Our organs and tissues constantly respond to the basic needs of nourishment and elimination of waste. Movements translate to parts of the body to become loose and others, tighter. Reactions to toxic encounters cause increased activity towards healing affected areas.
When we bring attention to our interior world, we become aware of subtle shifts and changes. By bringing our full awareness to specific areas of our body, we become present to what is occurring deep inside.
Suppose we are on a quiet walk and suddenly a squirrel runs across our path. We automatically react either by stopping all movement or by jumping to avoid it. When we come to the realization that it is only a harmless forest denizen, we begin to recover. If we bring our attention to what is happening internally, we might sense our accelerated heart rate, a tightened diaphragm, tingly legs and arms, and a general sense of hyperactivity. This experience is an awareness of our internal dialogue. It is spoken in the language of sensations—the only way the body communicates to us.
Sensations are where our awareness of the external world is most powerful. This is where we experience and feel the world.
Sensations are important as this is where the full impact of all our experiences is most pronounced. It is the place where emotions are born. First, we feel the sensations, then our brains translate these to feelings and ultimately, to emotions. From here, our complex brain takes these sensations and interprets them, forming ideas and images to be perhaps stored as memories.
When traumatizing events happen to us, it is our sensations that become powerful and overwhelming. . The sensations of fear, helplessness and rage may get stuck in the body. They may even endure for weeks, months or even years. This is where trauma lives.
Approaches such as Somatic Experiences help unwind the effects of overwhelming experiences through the channel of sensations in the body. This is a gateway were the body expresses trapped survival impulses and intense emotional responses. This approach seeks to locate, track, and allow the body’s own internal self-regulatory system to neutralize sensations of overwhelm. With this comes a quieting of the body resulting in quieter emotional system.
Sensations are the vocabulary of the body. It is through them that we not only feel the world, but also measure our state of being. It is through this language that we can access past and present experiences which cause us distress. They are the key to healing, and where Somatic Therapies work most effectively.
Sergio Ocampo specializes in the use of Somatic Experiencing and EMDR to help his clients resolve past difficult and overwhelming experiences. His practice is located in Los Angeles, California.
Copyright Sergio Ocampo – 2019