Emotional Health & Somatic Memory: What Your Body Stores and Remembers | Praise Podcast

Your conscious self may not remember trauma, but the body never forgets. Tune in for more!

https://momo634.com/p/emotional-health-somatic-memory

#bible #anxiety #depression #stress #mentalhealth #ocd #neurodiverse #neurodivergence #Christianity #faith #mentalhealthawareness #mentalhealthawarenessmonth #anger #science #mind #mood #research #somaticmemory #somaticmemories #ptsd #grounding #breathwork

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00:00:00 --> 00:00:05 Your conscious self may not remember trauma, but the body never forgets.

00:00:06 --> 00:00:07 Tune in for more.

00:00:07 --> 00:00:11 Hello,

00:00:11 --> 00:00:13 and welcome to Momo 634,

00:00:13 --> 00:00:18 the daily podcast chock full of faith-filled inspiration and motivation.

00:00:19 --> 00:00:21 Please like, share, and subscribe.

00:00:22 --> 00:00:27 Momo 634, motivational moments just for today.

00:00:42 --> 00:00:45 Today's episode may have a fancy pants title,

00:00:45 --> 00:00:47 optimized for search engines,

00:00:47 --> 00:00:49 but I'm calling it The Body Electric,

00:00:50 --> 00:00:52 and shortly I'll explain why.

00:00:53 --> 00:00:55 I have had a week.

00:00:56 --> 00:00:57 When I say a week,

00:00:58 --> 00:01:04 I mean it has been a really tough week in just about every way

00:01:04 --> 00:01:05 imaginable.

00:01:06 --> 00:01:10 We're dealing with severe weather here in Texas and a few other states.

00:01:11 --> 00:01:15 Tornadoes, torrential rains with damage and extreme heat.

00:01:16 --> 00:01:20 My phone has been buzzing three or more times a day with

00:01:20 --> 00:01:21 watches,

00:01:21 --> 00:01:22 warnings,

00:01:22 --> 00:01:23 and weather updates.

00:01:24 --> 00:01:27 Many of these conditions trigger my asthma,

00:01:28 --> 00:01:28 migraines,

00:01:28 --> 00:01:30 and other responses.

00:01:31 --> 00:01:35 But the worst of this week has been the electricity in my body.

00:01:36 --> 00:01:38 At least that's what I'm calling it.

00:01:39 --> 00:01:41 After a couple of months of blissful sleep,

00:01:42 --> 00:01:45 thanks to binaural beats and my Bluetooth sleep mask,

00:01:46 --> 00:01:48 my body rebelled this week.

00:01:49 --> 00:01:51 But it's not true regression.

00:01:52 --> 00:01:53 This has felt different.

00:01:55 --> 00:01:56 Back in 1980,

00:01:56 --> 00:01:57 I was,

00:01:57 --> 00:01:58 like many others,

00:01:59 --> 00:02:02 captivated by the movie Fame with Irene Cara.

00:02:03 --> 00:02:06 Being that I was a dancer, I found the movie interesting.

00:02:07 --> 00:02:13 My favorite song was an overlooked tune called I Sing the Body Electric.

00:02:14 --> 00:02:18 That's what my body has felt like all week,

00:02:18 --> 00:02:21 getting progressively louder and buzzier.

00:02:22 --> 00:02:26 until my body felt like it was thrumming with electricity,

00:02:26 --> 00:02:29 and I just couldn't relax enough to sleep.

00:02:31 --> 00:02:33 So OCD Me went into research mode,

00:02:34 --> 00:02:35 as you know about me,

00:02:35 --> 00:02:38 from episodes like Knowledge is Power and all of the executive

00:02:38 --> 00:02:39 functioning and

00:02:39 --> 00:02:41 anger anxiety posts recently.

00:02:42 --> 00:02:47 Since I knew from close work with PTSD sufferers that the body

00:02:47 --> 00:02:49 holds on to trauma,

00:02:50 --> 00:02:51 I looked up the definition for that.

00:02:52 --> 00:02:55 It's called somatic memory.

00:02:56 --> 00:02:56 In essence,

00:02:57 --> 00:03:01 it means that even if your body can't recall specific events

00:03:02 --> 00:03:03 because the brain is

00:03:03 --> 00:03:05 shielding you from traumatic memories,

00:03:06 --> 00:03:10 the body stores that kinetic fight-or-flight energy.

00:03:11 --> 00:03:12 Now,

00:03:12 --> 00:03:14 if you've listened for very long,

00:03:14 --> 00:03:19 you know OCD is a byproduct of a broken amygdala.

00:03:19 --> 00:03:22 The part of the brain responsible for what class?

00:03:23 --> 00:03:26 Yes, the fight-or-flight response.

00:03:27 --> 00:03:29 So I dug deeper.

00:03:30 --> 00:03:34 Could somatic memories be endemic to other conditions?

00:03:35 --> 00:03:37 Guess what popped up first in my research?

00:03:38 --> 00:03:40 Stress and anxiety.

00:03:40 --> 00:03:41 Bing, bing, bing.

00:03:43 --> 00:03:46 Many of my recent episodes have discussed a ramp up of

00:03:46 --> 00:03:48 stressors in my life.

00:03:49 --> 00:03:52 So my body clearly rang some warning bells.

00:03:53 --> 00:03:58 What I instinctively did when I couldn't sleep was to try belly

00:03:58 --> 00:03:58 breathing.

00:04:00 --> 00:04:04 That was a good instinct because my research said breath work

00:04:04 --> 00:04:05 can be helpful in

00:04:05 --> 00:04:06 releasing the tension.

00:04:07 --> 00:04:11 Our old friend grounding was also mentioned as a helpful tool.

00:04:13 --> 00:04:16 Guess what else somatic memory is responsible for?

00:04:17 --> 00:04:19 Headaches and panic attacks.

00:04:20 --> 00:04:24 Two things I've mentioned as of late that have really sidelined

00:04:24 --> 00:04:25 me in being

00:04:25 --> 00:04:27 consistent with this podcast.

00:04:29 --> 00:04:31 So armed with this knowledge, what do I do?

00:04:33 --> 00:04:35 I will continue the belly breathing and grounding.

00:04:36 --> 00:04:39 I'm looking into other breathwork techniques as well.

00:04:40 --> 00:04:44 On Thursday, the zenith of all the buzzing.

00:04:44 --> 00:04:46 Things got so bad,

00:04:46 --> 00:04:49 I had to break out my 70s boy band music,

00:04:49 --> 00:04:53 as recounted in the episodes It Hurts and My Origin Story.

00:04:54 --> 00:04:59 I sang very loudly and horribly off-key.

00:05:00 --> 00:05:01 At one point,

00:05:01 --> 00:05:04 I was tempted to dance around just to get moving,

00:05:04 --> 00:05:06 get rid of this stupid energy,

00:05:07 --> 00:05:08 and get some endorphins pumping.

00:05:09 --> 00:05:11 And guess what my research today said?

00:05:12 --> 00:05:16 That that is what I should have done and can still do.

00:05:17 --> 00:05:22 Because, yeah, it dispels the energy, and the endorphins do help.

00:05:23 --> 00:05:28 It's hard to move when you are stressed and depressed and completely

00:05:28 --> 00:05:29 counterintuitive,

00:05:30 --> 00:05:33 but it's what the body needs.

00:05:34 --> 00:05:36 Another benefit of endorphin release?

00:05:37 --> 00:05:38 Restful sleep.

00:05:39 --> 00:05:44 Armed with this knowledge, this electric body is ready for the next time.

00:05:45 --> 00:05:48 God created us as complex beings.

00:05:49 --> 00:05:51 Though living in this world often breaks us down,

00:05:52 --> 00:05:57 his intelligent design means there are ways to combat whatever

00:05:57 --> 00:05:58 the world throws at

00:05:58 --> 00:06:01 us if we'll do the research and trust in him.

00:06:03 --> 00:06:06 What do you think of the concept of somatic memories?

00:06:07 --> 00:06:10 If it struck a chord with you, chime in below.

00:06:13 --> 00:06:18 Thanks for listening to Momo 634, motivational moments just for today.

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