Saturday, November 23, 2013

Somatic Experiencing Session® - 22 November "Being Safe"

Having had a period of being rather unwell, I had missed several weeks of SE® work, so the session today was very much a re-introduction to the work to ensure 'safety.' T (Therapist) said that we would  be doing very little in the next few weeks so that I could both experience and know what 'being safe' meant in my body - focusing on all the areas that felt OK. I had trouble with the fact my left TMJ, face and arm felt 'frozen' and immobile, but T said you can move your arm - and so I explored movements with my left arm and had my right hand on the most 'frozen' part of my left arm. T asked me to do movements with my arms that involved pushing away to the front, to the ceiling and with my arms outspread to push forces away and to explore use of space. T also asked me to stand very slowly so that I could experience feeling very grounded and very strong. T requested that I sat down very slowly also to continue to feel the strength in my legs - particularly in quads. The session ended. T reminded me of my earlier points of safety - e.g. the restaurant in Piccadilly, the 'butterflies' and other positive imagery to focus on in times of difficulty.