PTSD – post-traumatic stress disorder occurs as a result of mental trauma. This trauma could be some kind of accident, disaster, war, violence, etc.

PTSD manifests itself in sometimes unexpected attacks of horror and fear.  As a rule, the triggers for such repeated experiences of trauma are often innocent things - smells, sounds, images that are associated with the traumatic experience. These attacks are accompanied by muscle spasms, insomnia, increased irritability, distrust of the world and people, feelings of guilt and emotional anesthesia.

Peter Levine, a renowned specialist in the psychotherapy of traumatic experiences, offers several simple exercises that will help reduce the severity of the experience.

Of course, for high-quality development of PSTD, it is better to seek help from a psychotherapist, but as self-help tools it is good for everyone to master them.

They are associated with touching the body. It has been observed that the nervous system responds to touch, and the laying on of hands has been used since ancient times as a method of treatment. Various theories say that this is due to our childhood memories of being held in our arms and being calmed down, or electromagnetic waves, some believe that switching attention to bodily sensations is healing. 

Oddly enough, such exercises allow you to feel your “I” and its position in time and space. Through physical sensations and the boundaries of the body, it is easier for us to realize our place in the world here and now, experience our existence as real, and restore a sense of self-esteem. These are usually the sensations that are lost in PTSD. Contact with your bodily sensations strengthens your ability to express yourself. If access to the “I” is closed, this creates a feeling of stupor, immobility, passivity or dissociation (mental escape from one’s body), hyperexcitation.

The following bodily exercises help you get out of your stupor and establish contact with your “I.”

1.  Hug yourself

This exercise helps you feel your own boundaries, enter your own shores. Acute emotional experiences take us out of our “shores,” “cover us,” and “knock us off our feet.” To feel yourself again and gain control, it is useful to do this simple exercise.

It is the body that contains all experiences, and it has boundaries. When you feel the boundaries of the body, you realize that experiences also have these boundaries.

Execution technique: hug yourself with both arms. One hand is placed under the armpit, and the other on the shoulder. Direct your attention to the body, feel its boundaries. Observe changes in sensations in your body and breathing. If you want, you can stand up (if you were sitting) or sit down (if you were standing) to see how the sensations change with the change in the position of your body in space.

A variation of this exercise is  pat your body with your palms everywhere to feel your boundaries

2. From head to belly   

This exercise helps to cope with the nervousness and agitation that occurs when reliving a traumatic experience and restore a state of balance - homeostasis. It is also useful for coping with obsessive thoughts.

Execution technique: As in the first exercise, you also rely on your bodily boundaries.  Eyes open or closed - as desired. Take a comfortable position while sitting or lying down (you can do this before going to bed).

 Place one palm on your forehead, the other on your heart. Attention should be directed to the place of contact of the palms with the body. You can transfer this attention from the body to the palm and vice versa, or to what is happening in the space between the two palms - the forehead and chest. Keep doing this until there are positive changes.

You may feel waves of energy or temperature changes, tingling sensations. This is individual, you may have different sensations.

Put the hand that was on your forehead on your stomach and also watch the sensations and their changes.

When you feel a change, finish the exercise. Depending on how nervous you are, more or less time may be needed. Don't rush.

 3.  Neck - solar plexus.

The exercise is aimed at overcoming feelings of fear and anxiety.

Technique: As you understand from the name, one hand is placed on the back of the neck (where the head begins) and the other on the solar plexus (two fingers below the chest).  As in previous exercises, direct your attention to the place of contact with your palms, to the space between them and your sensations before the changes.

4.  The head is a container

Helps fight obsessive and overwhelming thoughts.

Technique: First, place your palms just above your ears (as if you were holding both hemispheres of your brain in your hands). Direct your attention to your palms, the point of contact and the distance between them. Feel the change in sensations, then move your palms - one to the back of your head and the other to your forehead - do the same with attention as before. Please note that your palms seem to have created a box - a container for your thoughts.

I hope you found these Peter Levine techniques helpful. If you need serious psychotherapeutic support, click on the button below to sign up for a consultation.

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